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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTRC Agenda 11 21 2024 Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission Thursday, November 21, 2024 Regular Meeting 7 PM – Emma Harvat Hall, City Hall 410 E. Washington Street AGENDA: 1. CALL TO ORDER. 2. READING OF NATIVE AMERICAN LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA (COMMISSIONERS SHALL NOT ENGAGE IN DISCUSSION WITH THE PUBLIC CONCERNING SAID ITEMS.) 5 MINUTE MAXIMUM FOR EACH SPEAKER. Only in-person comments will be allowed for Public Comment. Public comment for specific agenda items, which must be directly related to that agenda item, may be made in-person or remotely. 4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 17, 2024. 5. ACTIONS FOR PHASES THREE AND FOUR: A. FINAL REPORT. B. RECOMMENDATIONS. C. PRESENTATION TO CITY COUNCIL. D. OTHER. 6. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF COMMISSIONERS. 7. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF STAFF. 8. ADJOURNMENT. In order to encourage input from the public, the Commission intends to offer the opportunity to participate in the meeting remotely. However, this meeting is in-person, and those wishing to ensure their ability to participate should attend the meeting in-person. If you instead wish to participate remotely, you may attempt to do so by joining the below link. First Thursday Meetings ID: 867 2424 8095 Third Thursday Meetings ID: 895 3695 0485 If you have no computer or smartphone, or a computer without a microphone, you can call in by phone by dialing (312) 626-6799 and entering the meeting ID when prompted. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all City of Iowa City-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in these events, please contact the Office of Equity and Human Rights at 319-356-5022 or humanrights@iowa-city.org. 1 November 7, 2024 Draft Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Minutes Emma Harvat Hall Commissioners present: Amos Kiche, Chastity Dillard, Lou Tassinary. Commissioners on Zoom: Chad Simmons, Lubna Mohamed. Commissioners not present: Kayla Rossi, Wangui Gathua, Cliff Johnson, Lauren Merritt. Staff present: Stefanie Bowers. Recommendation to City Council: No. Meeting called to order: 7:17 PM. Reading of Land Acknowledgment: Dillard read the Land Acknowledgment. Public Comment of Items not on the Agenda: No. Approval of the Minutes from October 17, 2024: Dillard moved and Tassinary seconded, motion passed 5-0. Final Report: Kiche presented a draft of an agreement for the report writer. Kiche requested that the commission review the agreement together and make any necessary changes. Dillard thanked Kiche for his work and stated she had read through the document and had no changes. Tassinary shared he has reservations with Section 3: Obligations of Party A and Deliverables. Tassinary was under the impression the work with consultants had covered this area and rather than repeating that aspect the commission can refer to the original report made by the consultants. Dillard agreed with Tassinary and his idea to consolidate the information of section 3 to highlight their main takeaways from the original report. Specific areas of the report Tassinary was referring to include History of the TRC in Relation to George Floyd’s Murder, The Results of Community Negotiations, The Charter, The Mission, and Other TRC Worldwide in the U.S. Kiche understood Tassinary’s concerns and shared he wants to be sure all aspects of the work the TRC has done are documented in their final report. Simmons proposed some questions to be considered by the commission in relation to both the report made by the consultants and the pending report to be written. The first question was, where will the report address the challenges and overall experiences of the commission. Dillard agreed that should be an additional section to the report due to the fact it was not included in the draft. Simmons suggested making it the main framework of the report to highlight how the commission 2 operated during those challenges. Some challenges mentioned by Simmons include commissioner turnover raters, commissioner relationships (within the commission), inconsistencies in promises and delivery, challenges working with the City, etc. Kiche agreed that these topics are important and should be included in the report. Kiche suggested adding these concerns in section two. To clarify, Dillard asked if the suggestions from Simmons should be a sentiment throughout the whole report or if he would rather see them assigned to a specific section of the report. Simmons confirmed he would like it to be a sentiment throughout the whole report. Dillard suggested allowing the new report writer to sit down with each commissioner and get their personal experience of their time on the commission to execute Simmons’ sentiment successfully throughout the report. Simmons agreed to Dillard’s suggestion. Kiche suggested adding a “Challenges Faced” section to each main subject of the report. Simmons stated that the main focus when mentioning the challenges would be to highlight the challenges the commission faced together as a team working under the City Council. Simmons also mentioned the lack of support he felt the commission received from the City Council. Kiche asked Simmons if the challenges specific to City Council could fit in section 6 of the report dedicated to recommendations. Simmons agreed section 6 could serve as one section of the report to include comments of culture within the TRC. Tassinary shared he agrees with the need to include Simmons’ suggestions however he also shared concerns that what they are asking of the report writer may not be achievable due to time. Simmons suggested giving the report writer highlights that the commission would like to see included in the report. The report writer would then do interviews that would allow him to touch on the topics highlighted with each commissioner. Dillard agreed it may be a large undertaking for the report writer and that the interviews would be helpful in understanding the work and experiences of the commissioners. Dillard also suggested commissioners write out their experiences and thoughts and give those to the report writer in place of an interview (or along with an interview). Dillard suggested adding into the agreement that the report writer will consult with each of the commissioners for information on their experience. Simmons asked Dillard about suggestions on how the commission’s work could have been done differently and when the commission could discuss that and later be included in the report. Tassinary suggested presenting the information of what could have been done differently in January when the commission meets with City Council (separate from the report). Simmons stated he planned to share information with the group before the next meeting for it to be discussed and possibly used in the report. Dillard encouraged other commissioners to do the same and to speak with the report writer if they feel they have time and information to share. Staff clarified the changes made to the draft report 3 include two additional sections for experiences and challenged face by commissioners. Staff also confirmed the original report will act more as a guide for the commission’s report rather than a document to be referenced alongside the final report. Mohamed mentioned she would like to meet with the report writer to discuss her experiences. Staff encouraged the commission to utilize the recommendations area of the report to also discuss experiences and challenges leading up to the commission’s Dec. 31 deadline. Dillard inquired about the flexibility of the report or if it would be necessary for the commission to insert a clause that allows for changes to the report after the first draft is complete. Staff answered that the flexibility should be part of the process in receiving the draft and returning any corrections to the writer before the report is finalized. Kiche brought up that the writer has not discussed payment. Dillard suggested getting the draft to him asap. Staff recommended confirming compensation and deadlines among the commission to get an agreement to the writer. Staff mentioned keeping past compensation in mind when coming up with a total to be paid for the written report. Tassinary added that work is looking to be roughly $8,000.00 if the writer is paid $50 per hour. Staff confirmed that work on the report cannot be started until an agreement is signed between the writer and the City Staff also stated that the agreement would be with the City of Iowa City. Staff stated submission dates and end dates stated in the agreement must be firm and specific. Dillard asked if there was any way the report could be finished by the 31st but submitted after the commissions end date. Staff stated it should be completed and submitted by the 31st of December. Dillard brought up the possibility of asking for an extension, if necessary, in the future. Simmons suggested prioritizing shortening the report and finalizing the report by the commission’s last meeting before it is time to submit. The commission summarized a timeline of: •Signed and Finalized Agreement: (around) November 19 •Final Draft: December 17 •Report Submission: Prior to December 31 4 Simmons suggested starting with an offer of $4,000 for the written report and to negotiate from there. Simmons suggested voting for the commission chair (Dillard) to green light the final negotiation price with a cap of $8,000.00. *A brief pause occurred due to lack of quorum* The meeting resumed with a motion by Tassinary to authorize City staff to move forward on the MOU with the writer with the edited changes, Simmons seconded, passed 5-0. Mohamed expressed concerns about the $8,000.00 payment to the writer. Clarification of the content and purpose of the report was shared with Mohamed. Mohamed expressed her frustrations with the commission and that she feels there could have been more done to help the community. Dillard clarified there has been work with the community and the purpose of the commission has been to find and understand the challenges facing the community to report back to City Council, which will be the focus of the report. Mohamed feels as though her work towards change through City committees has been unacknowledged. Dillard encouraged Mohamed to share these concerns in the report. Dillard also informed Mohamed on her right to vote against the motion concerning compensating the report writer. Mohamed expressed concern that the City Council will read the report and no change will come from their efforts. Before Mohamed gives her vote on the amount to be paid to the report writer, she asked for clarification and wants to know what will happen after the report is given to City Council. Dillard answered that it is hoped that the City Council will hear out the commission during their presentation and encouraged Mohamed to bring these concerns up during the presentation. Dillard agreed to continue the conversation regarding Mohamed’s concerns outside of the meeting. Simmons moved that the commission chair has the ability to change the financial agreement with the contractor for writing the report up to $8,000.00. Tassinary seconded, moved 5-0. Kiche questioned the need for a timeframe to be added to the motion concerning the payment for the report. Kiche expressed concerns of paying before receiving any draft/ materials. Dillard questioned the need to redo the motion previously agreed upon. Staff suggested waiting for the 5 City Attorney for definitive answers. Staff will ask for clarification and will report back to commissioners outside of the meeting. Announcement of Commissioners: None. Announcement of Staff: None. The meeting adjourned at 9:09 PM. The full meeting video can be viewed at this link. AD HOC TRUTH & RECONCILIATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2024 (Meeting Date) NAME TERM EXP. 3/21 4/4 5/2 5/16 6/20 7/18 8/1 8/15 9/5 9/19 10/3 10/17 11/7 Dillard 12/31/24 P P P P P P P A P P Z P P Gathua 12/31/24 P P A A Z Z Z A Z P P P A Kiche 12/31/24 P P P P P P P P P P P P P Johnson 12/31/24 P P P P P P P P P A A A A Merritt 12/31/24 P P P A P P P P Z A Z A A Muhamed 12/31/24 - - - Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z A Z Simmons 12/31/24 P Z P P A P A A A Z Z A Z Tassinary 12/31/24 P A P P P A P P A P A P P Rossi 12/31/24 - - - - A Z A A A A A Z A P = Present in person A = Absent Z = Zoom