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Home My WebLink AboutTRC Transcript - April 4, 2024[00:00:00] [00:00:06] [MUSIC] Here now at 7:15, I'd love for you to call. [00:00:10] Okay. Commissioner Merritt. [00:00:14] Here. [00:00:16] Commissioner Dillard. [00:00:17] Here. [00:00:18] Commissioner Johnson. [00:00:19] Here. [00:00:20] Commissioner Gathua. [00:00:21] Here. [00:00:22] Commissioner Quiche. [00:00:23] Here. [00:00:24] And Commissioner Simmons. Well, we know you fierce so [LAUGHTER]. [00:00:31] So thank you, Stephanie. I would love, um, for Commissioner Merritt to read the Native American land acknowledgment, please. [00:00:40] We meet here today in the community of Iowa City, which now occupies the homelands of Native American nations to whom we owe our commitment and dedication. The area of Iowa City was within the homelands of the Iowa Ms. Squawking and sock and because history is complex and time goes far back beyond memory. [00:01:00] We also acknowledged the ancient connections of many other indigenous peoples here. The history of Broken Treaties and forced removal have dispossessed indigenous peoples of their homelands was and, is an act of colonization and genocide that we cannot erase. We implore the Iowa City community to commit to understanding and addressing these injustices as we work toward equity, restoration and reparations. [00:01:27] Thank you, Commissioner. Merritt, I'm going to move to, um, public comments, uh, and it looks like unless Annie you had something you wanted to. Okay. Then we'll move past that. Um, onto approval of meeting minutes, um from March 18th, 20th-20th, and 21st. [00:01:45] I approve. I move to approve. [00:01:47] I second. It's been properly moved and seconded to approve the TRC meeting minutes from March 18th, 20th, and 21st. All those in favor say aye. [00:01:57] Aye [OVERLAPPING]. [00:01:58] Any opposed? [00:02:00] Motion carries 6-0. [00:02:04] Thank you, Stephanie, I'm going to move on to, um, agenda item number five, um, debrief from fact- finding and true telling events held in March. Um, I'd love to, um, open up for public comments first, if there's anyone online, um, that attended the events that would love to give their thoughts on how the events went. Um Please raise your hand now. Okay. Well, I see that there's no one, um, in the, um, and the public that would like to comment. And I'd like to open up for us, uh, to just talk about how we believe the, um, March 18th, 20th, and 21st events went. Something that we do at my organizations. We do swat meetings where you talk about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. I think that would be a good way to kind of discuss [00:03:00] um how we think things went in, how we believe they can move forward. So if there's anyone that would like to talk first. [00:03:08] I'll go first, ah, I felt like it was a very productive. I felt like we all did a good job at, ah, communicating and making sure that everyone had the opportunity to speak and things got a little heated at certain points. But, uh, at the same time, I feel like the hill in circles were fantastic. I felt like that really brought out the humanity and everybody, uh, and we already knew that these situations were going to get heated and, ah, there will be a lot of feelings involved. But with that being said, ah, there were still growth. And that's the most important thing. I feel like everybody really came together and, uh, gave their truth and then showed that each one of us are-are in it for the right reasons. And, [00:04:00] uh, that's what I took away from that big circle at the end. And I-I honestly feel like we need more of that. Felt like that was something that if we did that throughout the city, it really can make a huge difference. I felt like it just brought people together right way. Other than that, er, everything was pretty organized. Everybody ran everything smooth. I Just say thank you to everybody for the hard work you guys do well. [00:04:31] Thank You, Commissioner Johnson. And also thank you for letting us use your space [BACKGROUND]. Anyone else wants to take a turn in debriefing the events, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats for moving forward. Yeah. Go ahead Amos. [00:04:51] Commissioner Amos. I think the events went very well, er mostly as we planned and personally, I'm going to talk [00:05:00] about what I got. Ah, I was able to learn a lot from the truth tellers. Some of the issues that are still confronting our communities, especially in treatment of people of color. Whenever they are interacting with the police, either in areas of business, on the roads and, er, in their busi- especially business establishments and er sometimes these things are likely to affect their customers, can affect their businesses, can affect their freedom to do business or operate the way they will. And that is an injustice and in itself. That was an important thing I learnt. It is not that something that I experienced myself as somebody who has a small business a year, but I got other information that it is not only me, a fellow commissioner also is experiencing that. So that means that if we do out s-survey or talk to other people in the community, [00:06:00] you might find it is, er, a common problem people are facing. I also learnt that, er, we still have injustices in the way our people are treated in the justice system. Um they don't get enough support that actually they have a right to. And we can still sees somebody falling in their correct just because the system fail then. The system being the school system, er, law enforcement system, the court system, and other things. So those are two important things that we're very, very important to me. And, er, I also learned that there is still discrimination people facing. They could be people who are like us or are associated with us where they don't look like us, but [00:07:00] they are in our families. If in my family I have somebody who is not black, anything that affects me, affects the other person, even though they might not be black or minority. So we need to consider it holistically that relationships in the community, are not just about color, sometimes it goes beyond color in business, in, er, marriages and other things. So we need to consider that aspect as we go along looking at telling the truth. Those were the good things I learned and, ah. But I think uh I have some areas that will need improvements on. I'll talk about that. And on forthcoming truth-telling to triggering events if you have them, but er we might be having different types of events so on truth-telling. I think we need to really vet the people [00:08:00] whom we are going to hear from very well. And the we thought we had guidelines for vetting, but, er, probably we didn't stick to them that much. So vetting was mainly done by the chair and the think people maybe one commissioner thing, I think it is important that may be more commissioners are involved in vetting people, ask questions as these people so that they also know something about the persons they are going to hear from. It even helps you prepare the questions you are likely to ask so that we're not surprised or ambushed in any way. Yes. So that's a weakness that I so in the last meeting. Yeah. And I also saw that we need to stick to the guidelines on how we do things, maybe on the events, if they're supposed to be done a certain way. I think we [00:09:00] need to be very clear about that. Who's doing what and er and er who's not doing water at different times because that confusion, uncertainty, you can create a lot of problems and, er, we almost ran into that. Yeah. Thank you Chair. [00:09:17] Thank you. Would someone else like to debrief? [00:09:24] Yeah, I like to make comments on the topic of the- the vetting process. As long as we make sure- make sure that people know that anybody can do truth-telling, but when it comes to the actual public- public truth telling, that- that's where the vetting process. I don't want people to necessarily think that there is a censorship process, but I- I to wholeheartedly believe that we do need to do a better vetting process, so we know what [00:10:00] to ex- relatively net what to expect. That's going to be publicly discussed to the weekend and we can't necessarily make everything completely safe, but he's trying to make it safer so that to try to avoid any kind of sort of risks to people in the audience are other two tellers so that they're not triggered. So I do and I think maybe we can probably set up like written guidelines of what our vetting processes and so that we're consistent with each one. Yes, and like that. [00:10:41] And we do have written guidelines that were provided to us by think piece so that we can choose to tweak. [00:10:49] But that are also maybe and have a deadline so there's enough time to know and to [00:11:00] give notice to people who are coming that what kind of things they can expect. I do like how at the end a glass one, the circle, the healing circles I think as a group we all needed it because we- I know from at least for myself I mean not expecting having the unexpected happen and not knowing how it's going to factor as it was definitely very nice to have that the group healing into that before when we left there that things were in a much better place than what could have been without it, so I think that definitely be something that we should put in place for sure, but I do think as a whole I do think things were a success. We had an idea of this is [00:12:00] what- what can happen. Some things that we have suggest how we want to do differently and this is was- this is was the first run. We're just learning and I think this was a perfect example of even in a short notice how much we could do and what more we can do in the future, so yeah. [00:12:26] Thank you commissioner Marie. Commissioner Simmons, would you like to go? I don't think we can hear you. [00:12:36] Now I can hear you. [00:12:37] Okay, now we can hear you. [00:12:38] Do you hear me? [00:12:39] Yes- yes. Stephanie, can we turn it up a little bit? [00:12:43] Yeah, Chad just start talking I'll try to see which is blinking the most and that's probably what's controlling your volume. [00:12:51] We'll be- be the experience of the actual [00:13:00] work that was- that was happening and I thought was- was done that was very well. I thought that the process in that sense that it was in place as far as having the fact-finding and having the truth-telling and even the healing circles and again I thought that went- went well. There were some things that I was very challenged about. The first one was that it was inconsistent with a model that we talked about. The model was that we would come up and listen to these things and would not be in public and then we would then choose to again who would then be the ones who would actually then present after we inactive paradigm and I think we got very caught up into following the lead of our consultant, but not necessarily doing what and that's the part of our mission. So the model that I suggested was for us all to gather information and then determine who would in that sense be the speaker and I don't believe that we [00:14:00] had enough time to do that. Second thing is- is that as it relates to reconciliation we really didn't hit on anything related to reconciliation. Traditionally there has never been a problem with people being heard. People were heard for black lives matters. You know they've- they've been heard. They've- they've, that's how we in essence created this- this concept. Our mission ultimately was to do this experience so that we can get to the place of finding solutions to help the city make changes and adjustments that the city needs to make and I don't believe that in that sense, so we have even set up time today to really have some of those conversations about what- what our expectations are. The presentations that- that even that was presented from the- the consultant is a great summary of the work that has been done, but it's not very consistent with what [00:15:00] the- the goal was just to be able to come up with some solutions that was going to get us one step closer. The thing that I did find that was even very surprising but more interesting to me is that these areas are significant topic that you have to find time to educate yourself on. We all know about the police from our own personal experience, but there are things that we need to better understand about the police, about education, about housing that will then allow there to be solution that you can get it to the city that will allow the city to make it better for the community and I just realized that we- we spend more time on the system than we actually spent on the other pieces, and when it comes to the reco- reconciliation a lot of what they're going to be looking for within the presentation is justification of why they should give us additional money to be able to continue the part of the work that we didn't actually get a chance [00:16:00] to do, so I am very appreciative of where we've gotten to. I think in the past nine months we've done a lot more as it relates to more results and activity that was done previously. We reduce the issues around I think conflict between commissioners. I think that the conflict was though created around different factions of the city which would include us, the consultants, the city council, and the- and the staff that created challenges for us to be able to move faster than we want it to, so I'd like to have more of a discussion around the model and more of discussion around what next. [00:17:00] [00:17:01] Thank You Commissioner Simmons. We'll definitely get into that in the next agenda item. Commissioner Eric. [00:17:09] Yeah, I want to make sure that Rose is going to say it was not something for the next agenda item. Suddenly the top touch base on what you had said talking about needing more work on like the solutions and one of the first thing that popped in my head is that when- if someone's doing a truth- telling there has to be some sort of time to process what they've said and thinking of what is the solution or what are the options that we can try to go to a solution which means that- that can be done at the same time as like a truth-telling event. That's something that happens later. So again we've been talking about the things were going too fast. That is maybe something again we can put in place or part of the recommendation whatever [00:18:00] else is having that time to process the truth-telling, being brainstorming options for solutions, meet with the people who- the key people to help formulate a solution and then put something in potentially in pla- in place but- but I do agree that we haven't done as much with that kind of rec- reconciliation the solution part, but again with a short amount of time we- we need more time to do that. [00:18:35] The timer have been. [00:18:36] No. [00:18:37] The timer or some type of timer I like the way the city has that timer for both. I think there should be definitely one for both whoever's speaking and then for everybody else, so everybody knows they have even amount of time and then also I really feel like we should have to advertise more. To have more people involved would have been a lot [00:19:00] better. That was only other thing that I really happy to have. Yeah, and that's it. That's all I have. [00:19:08] Commissioner Gathua, would you like to go before me or would you like me to go? [00:19:14] I will repeat what I said to Doctor Schooler and to us that fact finding on the one topic of discrimination and racial injustice in law enforcement and the court system. For me on that topic I am satisfied. Of course we've barely scratched the surface, so when we- we get to our recommendations, by the time we get there if it would be [00:20:00] right now we haven't touched the other topics that we had listed. [00:20:09] But then fact-finding is a work in progress. We continue doing this until we eradicate a ratio injustice. On truth-telling years, we did start but I'm seeing on the - our resolution, it's supposed to be multiple times and from many people, and, uh, we've barely scratched the surface of- of that. And either if we continue with doing truth-telling, yeah, then we shall continue. And one of the things we would do differently [00:21:00] is something like what Cliff has said, laying out the rules and really- for example, the- the way we usually do it when- as the chair or the vice, uh, or the way this city counsel does it to- when somebody gets stopped, they stop. So- and the other thing, uh, is, uh, we, I guess, prepare for the, kind of, uh, we- we pay attention to any escalating- emotionally escalating and triggers if we observe them and- uh, [00:22:00] and act. So, yeah. But at the same time also remember that a- a retelling of- of racism triggers it can actually even lead to- because I do believe and I applaud ourselves for intervening so that it did not become violent. So just been, uh- it caught me by surprise that it can. It shouldn't have because I've read and taught on that. But it still did being part of that. So in future, being aware that [00:23:00] it can happen and- and sort of be prepared on what to do, or on what to do again. And this is also touching on reconciliation, uh, and also still as part of the truth- telling. Yes, it is great. We did sit in a circle. It was great. But when I looked at- uh, at what was written by Daily Iowan, uh, I did- I- I- in future- we discuss, are we going to have a journalist when we're doing a circle. Because- uh, because she [00:24:00] quoted a direct quote of somebody's pain right there. That one is- it shouldn't happen. And I'm thinking in reconciliation, oh, I'm looking at the charge again, talking of facilitating direct conversation, uh, between BIPOC people groups and the white community. In future, we do- uh, I'm not very trained on circles, I've sat in them. Oh, I sat in one way back when I was training as a facilitator of a group, and that was direct. This was between the now Veridian bank, [00:25:00] and, uh, they were directly having a conversation on how to work with BIPOC people. But so far, uh, in our circles, it hasn't been direct. Actually, it's only one that I attended that I think Donnel was holding brief for Manappe where even the word racism was mentioned. So, uh, as we keep moving forward, move towards that having direct conversations. Easy, no. Oh, yeah. Painful, of course. So yeah- yeah. So the word I was looking for is that when they realized a [00:26:00] journalist was there and they were quoting people, that made it very unsafe and even very harmful to even- especially to the people who were quoted directly, and I will stop there with my processing with you. Thank you. [00:26:18] Thank you, Commissioner Gathua. I will go ahead if there's no one else, um. Did you- [00:26:25] Commissioner, I just wanted to add on a positive, in-information I learnt. Um, as one of the truth- tellers was talking, he was able to tell us how an interaction with law enforcement is actually destroying his grandchild. So when we always talk about these things, we talk of police injury, [00:27:00] direct physical injury, and that's where sometimes there's a lot of emphasis on that. But because we never have a good data on this impacts on the families, we might underestimate or discount the impact. The data might not reflect that very well, and that to me was very, very important and I believe is happening out there. And that's why there will be a lot of emphasis, we'll recommend to the city on training on issues like that. That the- the process or the mechanisms don't stop when the police has left and gone. They are gone, they didn't hurt you, it looks like it was resolved. But the impacts follow you in the long run could be a child. The child can develop animosity to the law enforcement. Usually children when they're in school, the first person their- their friends is the police officer. [00:28:00] I remember my kids when they were four or five years, they all want to be police officers. You ask them because they interact with them- with them and positive in schools. So they know these are good people who help people when they are in trouble. But the thing turns around at a certain age, the curve go- goes down. And now you ask them who wants to be one? They don't want because now they see them in a different perspective. Some of that could be due to those long-term effects they see in the community and other things, and should be part of the training. There are those who are good at training, whatever. I do not know the extent to which. I've never looked at the curriculum. But it's something I would want to look at in the diversity trainings that they do have and other forms of training. How does the curriculum look like? Does it consider that aspect or not? We, as a commission need to know what has the law enforcement being trained on. Is not just about diversity, is about other things too, so. [00:29:00] So I picked that, that was very important to me I wanted to add. I also want to talk about, um, inconsistency. [00:29:09] But this is I think a divergence of opinion on the models we are operating on. I believe that event we were not gonna get enough time to discuss all the resolutions, recommendations, and things like that. Me personally, I was trying to be very patient to listen. I didn't even want to talk, I only talked when I had to ask a question that I think can help me help the commission. And I believe we still have opportunities for those to come from the community, not in the form of truth telling in gatherings, that's an area we have not even gone into, yeah. There are people who still want to talk about these things in different forums. So I believe those are the things we'll guide our community so that they tell us. And truly, I never believed the commissioners have the solutions. If you think or if I think as a commissioner that it is me who has the solutions, [00:30:00] I'm really, really, really wrong. It never works like that. The solutions are in the community. They are the ones experiencing these things, they are the ones who know the- the best way to do these things. So we- we'll need to listen to them much more, discuss with them in different foreign, especially our groups who are responsible in the initiation of this group, the Black Lives Matter, all of those groups who are tangentially with us, but we have to make a great, great effort to- to work with them. They have some solutions. They are hurting too. So they want to be heard, they want their voices to show up somewhere and I think that's an area where. So we're a long way, I don't think I wanna judge right now that we didn't do anything good in terms of recommendations and other thing, we are just starting. Yeah- yeah that's where I am and there will be live the facts are helping us do that very well, yeah. [00:31:00] [00:31:01] Thank you, Commissioner KJ. And, um, I appreciate what you just said because I- I totally agree that, um, we need to hear more from the community. And I think that's one of the things that I learned from this is that, uh, we have worked hard to learn about a process, we, um, practiced the process, uh, or some processes or trials, we were doing pieces, um, of it. Uh, and now it's time to really invite the community, um, to really invite or go to them. Not invite them to us, us go to them, uh, to show them what we've learned and how we would love to work together with them to make what's- wha- what is best for the entire community. So I, uh, see that as an opportunity that we- that learning from these events that we have gotten some great tools and now we just, not us only, but we need to do more as a community. And that would probably start with the community. There's opportunities too for more research and more help [00:32:00] from the committee. I was, uh, I would say I was- I think it was good and bad. We had an audience. It wasn't exactly the- the populations that we were wanting to serve the most, the people that we wanted to see there. I mean, there were some, but that- that was probably the most people we've seen in a while that were engaged with us. And if they're engaged enough to come out three times, I think we can utilize those people as volunteers or however for whatever we decided we're going to do moving forward for the rest of this year until, um, we're supposed to end in December. So I see that as an opportunity, but I also see that as an area of improvement or weakness if we do not seize the opportunity as we've been talking about for awhile. Um, some of the good things, the strengths, um, I thought the process that we saw can work and it was good. I did really like having the mobile crisis. Um, people from community there, uh, I imagined as we move forward, we'll find better ways to engage [00:33:00] with them and find some situations where we could definitely use them. Um, and they were very helpful for us as well. Uh, healing circles, I think, uh, most of us agree are very beneficial, especially, uh, on Thursday. And, um, the feedback that I've gotten from people, uh, over the last few months is that they want more of those. So I would like to see us find ways to do more of those for our community. Um, from my end, I learned that vetting works- worked the two people that I was able to have speak. I was able to go through the vetting process, and I don't think we should call it vetting because we're not trying to decide who has a better story or who is telling the truth, we're just trying to help people curate their- their truths so that they feel comfortable and safe and are able to speak in pu- in public. Um, so I- I really loved that experience. It was time consuming but I believe it was very necessary. So that brings me to, I think, on the other [00:34:00] side of it. When we don't all collectively do that process, we get surprises and those surprises can hurt us. And I think we should, if we all collectively agree to do something, we should all do it. Uh, that helps me as- as the chair and you know the representative of our commission, um, to just put my- my foot best for- for everyone here. So, um, I would love for us if we continue this- to move forward in this and we decide that we're going to do something that we just move forward. And I understand it was a very busy two-and-a-half months trying to get to what we did. And I think we did a wonderful job with the help of our facilitators, the city, and ourselves to put on some pretty good events just looking forward. Um, I mean I think a big threat to our process or something that could hold us back is not taking the time that we need. Unfortunately, we were under [00:35:00] a time commitment because of our contracts. If we had no contract, I'm sure you would have taken a little bit more time or a lot more time. And I do agree with what Chad said that, uh, we did do things a little out of order, which I- I do believe that we should have had more time to talk to people and then come together and say, well, we think that this person should be at a public event. But give everyone an opportunity to speak outside of that. I'd love to see us do more of that moving forward because, um, as Commissioner Amos said, uh, there are a lot of people that would love to share their truths on multiple topics and I think they deserve to be heard. Um, I do agree, advertisement, I was a little disappointed in advertisement. Uh, I think that we collectively could do better at getting the word out but the city, I would appreciate to have more consistent, um, set of information put out there. Um, everything was kind of last minute, so I think we've learned what we need to do and, um, I think I want to point out that, uh, these events would not have happened if our facilitators [00:36:00] or local facilitators were not, um, on the ground like putting all the stuff behind the scenes together. So without facilitators or whoever helping us, and, um, Stephanie and Redmond, we- we would have to do more. Um, it already was- was a lot. Um, the final thing I'll say that I think, um, is- is that I believe, uh, for us to move forward and do what's best for the community is being a united front. Um, a North Star, as we discuss so long ago, I think, um, we don't want to get, uh, any- our message muddied up, we want to make sure that we're always framing from racial injustice because that's where we are- because that's what we're here for, that's what our charges are about. Um, I think that moving forward, uh, from my perspective, that's what's the recommendations that we're going to be putting out should be centered around. So, uh, yeah, I think those are [00:37:00] my thoughts as of right now for as far as debriefing. Does anyone else have any other discussion, other things? Yeah, go ahead. [00:37:09] The only other thing I- I'd just have a thought and I was wondering what you guys are thinking about or what- what- what you would think about it. Uh, I've been brainstorming on loca- or groups of people and I go in to meet them at the most peaceful and best places and- and get the most diverse groups. I was thinking, are there churches that would be willing to let us come in and do times where we sit down and we talked to everybody. Those are usually some of the best places to kind of go to. Everybody is already in a certain mindset, you've got everybody from all over the place coming. If we could get a few churches that are local around here that would be willing to, on a Sunday, possibly, uh, give us some time to work that out, I feel like that'll be a great idea, so. [00:37:55] I love that idea and I want to keep talking about it. It kinda ties into the next agenda item. If you don't mind if I- [00:38:00] if everyone is okay, I'm gonna end this debrief unless there's someone else that wants to talk about it. Um, I'll invite Dr. Schooler or Annie to make any comments at this time. [00:38:23] Annie, did you have any comments? [00:38:25] I think um, I think one thing that I would say is there are ways that circles are part of reconciliation. Part of reconciliation is having your tooth heard and understood by maybe someone who hasn't understood it before. So, um, they can be part of a reconciliation effort. And, um, in talking with Sakawa, she considers healing circles different than talking circles which [00:39:00] have a lot of the same things but not someone who is holding the spiritual guidance. So, I guess I just wanted to add those to our thinking. Thanks. [00:39:11] Thank you. Dr. Schooler. [00:39:16] Thanks, Chair Dillard. I'm- I'm here to listen, but I would want the commission to hear from me directly how proud I am of you all, if I can say that in a way that lends the right way of what you've achieved. And I- I- I hope that as you, you know, analyze it in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, uh, you take a moment to metaphorically or literally pat yourselves on the back. This is an extraordinary achievement. Conducting fact-finding process, conducting truth-telling events, and then finding ways to, at least begin the incredibly difficult work associated with reconciliation. And I echo what, I think it was Commissioner [00:40:00] Merritt- Vice Chair Merritt may have said, which is that there does, I think need to be time taken at each of these phases to reflect upon what you've heard before you can really meaningfully progress to the next meeting. You've got to have time to absorb the data, uh, from fact-finding before being certain of how best to conduct truth-telling events. And then take the time to absorb what you heard there before you progress onto efforts at reconciliation which are complex because in some ways, the reconciliation needs to wait for recommendations that this body will have to remedy the problems that you've heard about in truth- telling. And sometimes people won't want to, so to speak, reconcile until they see that happening. But to an additional extent, there could be ways that parties who feel harmed and those who they hold responsible for the harm could be in circle and really reach profound understanding of each other. [00:41:00] And to Andy's point, I think it's very important that people who feel that they have been harmed by- in this particular case, law enforcement, be given an opportunity to engage, in a way that they feel, uh, safe when the way that they feel protected in terms of being able to speak their truth, but also to understand some of the truths that, uh, law enforcement may have. So I- I do think that's an important next step to take. I just would be remiss if I didn't also say that to Chair Dillard's point around surprises, I was very surprised by some of what took place on the 21st of March. Uh, I did not in any way expect for things to evolve in the way that they did. And I do think that I bear some responsibility for that level of surprise because perhaps I could have been more inquiring of what [00:42:00] was planned there. I've done my best and I know we've- Lauren and I both have tried to do our best to respect the work of each of the members of our facilitation team and to grant them the same autonomy that, I think, we've been able to enjoy. But we are after all, one team to the vast majority of people, there's not a distinction there. And so I just regret that I didn't know more of what to expect. Uh, perhaps so as to mitigate it, but at least to um, be, more prepared for it. And I do still feel some- some pain around some of what took place there that I'll have to, you know, work on my own. So I just wanted to share that with you all, but I appreciate the space. Thank you. [00:42:51] Thank you. [00:42:54] Thank you for everything as well, too. [00:42:58] Okay. Well, if there's no other [00:43:00] comments on- on the de-brief section, I'll go and open it up to, um, public comments. If there's anyone online, I can't tell if there's anyone else besides. Please raise your hand. Okay. No one has raised their hand, so I'll go ahead and move on to our discussion on, um, agenda item Number 6, Phase 2, um, and I believe I'll turn it over back to Cliff to continue, like, next step suggestions. [00:43:35] Yeah. Uh, when it comes down to the- our local churches, I think that'll be a great idea. People were coming in there and they are from many different backgrounds. And you can get- you can go to certain places where you have more of one demographic to another. But the whole point is that if we were to take the circle aspect and then add that in, I feel like that'd be really helpful because [00:44:00] it connected everybody. I feel like we all got a little bit more connected to each other and hearing, uh, everybody's truth, everybody's own personal truth themselves, even if it was short and sweet and if we add to take away the religious aspect of it a little bit more and just only stick with, uh, that structure, I think that'll be a great idea. Um, so reaching out to our local churches, they would be the great- they would be great- that would be great advertisement. They will be great places to kind of get hold of as many people as possible and get the word out. So for future reference, if we can advertise possibly through the churches would be a great idea. And, uh, I don't really see any negative output really coming from that. Everybody usually comes in good spirits and usually leaves in good spirits as one of the reasons why they make it there anyway, so [00:45:00] uh. And then a little valuable lessons can be taught in there as well too because there's a lot that we can learn from religion that can be thrown in there a little bit as well too, as long as it's not overlapping too much, that's all. Uh, I think I have anything else with that? That's all I have for right now. And I'll think about it a little bit more than that on. [00:45:23] One day I was thinking to piggyback on what you're saying is that one thing- that's their safe space to- that already, kind of sets the foundation of me to tell him that they feel safe there. You know, we're coming in as the visitor rather than having them come to us or even to our van, that's not their safe space. So by- by going to the church there, they already have their- have their- their family, their community. You know, they have their support and [00:46:00] puts us in the place of to listen. And I think that's a valid point that, uh, we need to continue with. [00:46:13] I really, really support and I like that idea very much. We know in the hi- history of US, religion has played a very important thing in terms of justice, education, and health. Ad Hoc, is a model that actually those who read models of engagement, and development, and other things, have just come to realize I'm an economist and these are things we used nowt to consider. But we've come to realize that those models of engagement, I then cultural events and religious institutions or faith institutions, are very powerful. They are- we haven't seen any other model that works better than that in terms of putting [00:47:00] people together. And at some stage, we were not taking it very serious. But it's good. Commissioner Cliff, you put it back again- to- to us again and we'll explore different models. We can use our best to use it, our best to go to them, how to facilitate it with our facilitators. And maybe after their service, there's an- a lunch or an evening, whatever they- they are- they want to work with, we have to use their models. That's why they go to church. There isn't anybody out here that gathers more people in a building than a church. [00:47:38] Uh-huh. [00:47:38] So we have to be very realistic. We will also loo beyond the church, and communities, youth groups and the different groups also, what they are working in with. Two commissioners can go or one, the people that are comfortable with, yeah. At different times. So as we will come to discussion on the budget, I think [00:48:00] these are things that will inform us better. That is a powerful model, but we are also think of other models of engaging our people to hear from them, yeah. [00:48:11] Yeah- yeah. I definitely agree with that. So, um, as we move forward, um, just thinking about what we want to see before our time here ends, um, for this Ad Hoc version of our commission. Now I know a few of us have talked many times that we believe that this should live on, but what do we want to achieve, um, and be able to hand to the public, um, before, you know, this ends. And now, again, if- if it isn't our recommendations that this commission is revived as a full, um, and- and truth commission, um, that is, you know, permanent in the city, then we can make that. But as of right now, we have until December 31st. Um, [00:49:00] I was challenged earlier this week to- to just think about wha- how I feel our North Star is, what is, like, my vision for, um, the commission. And I would love for us to talk about that as- as a group, um, because again, I really don't believe that we can be successful unless we are united in these last few months, are gonna, um, be in few months left are, um, going to be important. And we need to all be in agreement on how we want to move forward. Um, this has been- the last seven months, has been a lot of work and I'm not looking for us to have to add on more work. And that's why I'm really excited about the engagement that we got the last few weeks, and I'm hoping that we can, um, like add onto that, um, with people that are eager to jump on board with what we are. So, um, on- on the fourth page that Annie provided with us is the North Star framing question that we talked about a long time ago. Um, and I- I still believe this is like our North Star, like our guiding vision when we're- when we're trying to do [00:50:00] this work for the community right now. I also believe that after- if this commission becomes permanent, it could change, but I'm going to read it. It says, "How can we strategically build capacity and amplify the voices of BIPOC and ethically oppressed peoples in order to express your truths all while addressing historical oppression, genocide, racism, and the need to deconstruct an O'Neill systems, ultimately creating foundations for safer spaces for healing and empowerment." It's still a mouthful, but I think it touches every piece of what our charges say. Does anyone agree or disagree? [00:50:38] Absolutely, I agree. [00:50:40] Okay. Um, and so moving forward, thinking about how if we take that vision and just showcase to the community, um, a piece of that over the next six months, what could that mean for 20 years from now? What could our impact mean for Iowa City's community [00:51:00] in bringing- in bu- bridging the gap within racial injustice in our community? Um, so what does that look like for us? My view, and um, I know, um, Commissioner Simmons is going to talk about, um, his, um, his model, and let him go after this. But my view is we take what we've learned and we adjust this model and we implement it over the next few months. But I think we need to go deep into the community underground if I- if- if you may. Um, where we're going- and we're having those individual meetings with people so they can tell the truth. We need to connect with the University of Iowa and the historians and the people that have the knowledge to get the facts. The- the housing commissions that have been working for a- a decade, if not more, on gathering the information so we can come back and present what we've found so far. Um, [00:52:00] in my mind, we spend summertime doing that, going to different events and all that. But not just us, the people in the community that want to work with us. So between now and maybe June, it's very important that we reconnect those co- uh, those connections. And then later on this year, we can choose to do another one or two public events from those curated people. Uh, I'm hoping that we by then have had an opportunity to sit down with multiple like tens of people, um, to share their truth on camera or behind the scenes with small group of us or whoever with organizations. And then invite people the correct way to come share that in a public setting, and form a presentation around whatever topic we choose to move forward. And then, um, over that course of that time, working with the people in the community [00:53:00] to help us, um, get the data that we believe is missing and whatever topics we choose, um, to present the recommendations that we'll have to start working on now, um, slowly, uh, to present fully to the city council. Now to do all that, we're going to need some dollars which we've already asked, uh, for a budget, but we'll need to itemize or whatever the right word is, line out what exactly we want that to be. Um, but vision-wise, I am hoping that we all can leave a legacy of hope that lasts generations. But if- if not, like, um, if I leave the city and come back in 20 years, know that we made an impact and it started because of, um, the protesters four years ago almost. So, um, that's my thoughts on it and I'll let you all talk about what you think we should do moving forward. I see that, um, Chad has his hand up and I'm going to turn it over to you Chad. [00:54:00] [00:54:02] My question is just that, what is the message that we're attempting to deliver, um, based on the division that you have for us over the next nine months? What is the message that we're attempting to deliver on April 16th to the city council? [00:54:20] So that's- I'm glad that you brought that up. Um, I was hoping that we wouldn't have to do that- um, that message on April 16th. I was hoping that we'd have a little bit more time to really sit down and discuss, um, at least what our plan is, um. As we're talking right now, I don't believe that we have enough time to deliver that. But if we are, um, going to have to speak, um, the message is that we've learned, we have tested, and we know that we need to do more. That's how I see it right now. Um, and that [00:55:00] the Iowa City community deserves more and we are ready to show them what is possible. [00:55:09] I- I- [00:55:12] That question just about bizarre court for interrupting. So the last question is that if we do not get the money in April or in May, is that a showstopper for the work that we need to do? [00:55:26] No. [00:55:27] No. [00:55:28] Absolutely not. [00:55:29] Um, I'm going to agree with my fellow commissioners. I believe it would be a challenge, as we all know, um, because there was a lot of things that need to happen for that to- for us to move forward as you asked Chad. But, um, if the City of Iowa City would like us to do the work that they asked us to, then we need the money to move forward. [00:55:54] I have thoughts. For [00:56:00] one, yes. If- if our city is going to say that we are such a progressive city, we need to hold them accountable to it and stick with that and be progressive and do some outside the box thinking. And there's always sponsorships too. I was just thinking about the shows that we throw for boxing. When we do shows for boxing, we get sponsorships from some of the local restaurants and- and its local businesses and things like that where people are willing to donate money to help us put on events, or to buy equipment or to do anything else along those lines. If we are really serious about this and not want nice to die out, regardless, the city should support us in every way possible, because it's only going to benefit and bring everybody together a little bit more. But there's always local businesses, and there's always businesses who are bigger, who might be willing to help [00:57:00] us. If we have an organized plan like we've been working on, they- they- we can make this an annual thing. We can make this going on every- I- my thought on it is throughout the year, every few months have some type of circles, some type of a gathering. And that's where these businesses that come into play. They can sponsor and help provide food, help provide, uh, entertainment and things like that just to- just make our city a more pleasant environment. If- if you have these situations going on, people will feel a lot more comfortable. They'll fill a lot more open. And then people are a lot nicer to each other and better to each other because they they've seen each other around more and more often. So I don't- yeah, I definitely see this moving forward in a positive direction. [00:57:52] Go ahead, Jack. [00:57:53] Commissioner- so Commissioner Johnson, I very much disagree. [00:58:00] If our charter is to provide recommendations to the city for the city to make changes to themselves and the city chooses that of the million dollars that we're not going to be able to have access to the 600,000 that is remaining, then isn't that simply saying that they don't necessarily believe in the work that we're doing. Are they communicating to us by their inaction, that they don't believe in the work? And if they are communicating that, right, then why would- why should we continue to move forward if- if the group that brought us together no longer supports us? [00:58:39] I believe because it's our duty period. And if they don't support us, they will eventually or they- we will do it ourselves. And they'll look the way they look for not supporting us. And that's their choice. But I- I believe personally, uh, if we've already started the fire, we got to make sure it burns. And there's no reason why we should [00:59:00] backoff because we don't have their support. I think their support, if we're such a united city that is so progressive, let's hold them to it. I go right back to it and say it every day and all the time and every one of our maintenance. Put in a paper, put it everywhere we can. Our voice can't be tampered unless we go quiet. So they can make that choice, but that's their choice and then they're gone against being such a progressive city. And then you've got to wear that label. That's what I believe personally. [00:59:33] I wanted to add to that, clerk. [00:59:35] Of course. [00:59:37] Based on experience and history, my job, the social changes, movements never come from the government. And we do not want to spend or really input all our eggs in one basket in the way we think, in the way we act and implement things. Communities have always asked for these things, even [01:00:00] when sometimes they don't get any money from the government. We're just fortunate that these local governments, cities were willing to work with us on this. But we can not only act when they want. There are things we can do on our own in the communities ourselves. Many of us here are doing community things that sometimes are making changes in people's lives. They don't get a dollar or a cent from the government. And the- the model of the government that if their government does not want to work with you, then you stop, is a fallacy. And if we want to make changes, I think let's look at history- our history. When I say the history of the black movement, we say when our- me I'm an immigrant, so sometimes I don't want to put myself there because I've not been there. My parents were not here to go through that. History always tells us this is what has worked. And then private organizations doing things on their own working windows were willing to work with them, really make changes. And [01:01:00] we do- we do things in the communities. I remember in our African community network. Sometimes we are- we- we have to do a study ourselves even with no send somebody just volunteering. What's the problem with the child abuse or something among our groups? We don't wait for Johnson County. They tried to help us actually become but we have to work with them. If they don't want to tell them what our people are saying. If they wanted to do something, but they can do about it. But at least we've done the message and it will try to help our original programs among ourselves if we can. So I do not see us getting into a situation where the city is not going to work with us. Yeah, I think they have signal to us that different times. But it doesn't mean we don't do our work. They have a right to say no or stop the thing. If they think we are not rigorous or we are- let me use the word playing around in quotes here. If they think all [01:02:00] the sense that we are playing around, they can easily say no, because we are using public funds. This is public people's money we are using here and we don't have a right to it. Of course we can claim a right to it because of the injustices and other things as a form of compensation. But they are people's money, so I just believe will work with them very well. But we have to be very relaxed. Commissioner Shears has said on the North Star framing, what is it that we're doing that it's going to have a legacy next time? If we do a shady job, who would want us or want anything like that again? So we have to be very serious. To me, I take it very serious and very rigorous. As to the best of my abilities, what I've learned in school, whatever land in society, and what I can learn from the community to do the best I can do in terms of informing ourselves. [01:03:00] Putting down a framework that somebody can follow next time. We read textbooks. Textbooks are written for other people to read and learn more. So this thing we are working on the Commission Report and other thing, is it something that we wanted people to- to learn from in the future, our kids to learn from. They did this, but here there are a lot of gaps. Let's improve on this. So we have to really be very serious. Like chair said, stick to the our staff framing and do the best we can do. Thank you chair. [01:03:32] Thank you. Commissioner Simmons, did you have your hand raised? [01:03:40] Just wanted to say this just so that it is the part of the record. I do understand the- the ability for us to want to be able to do the work. I just wanted to remind us that we're doing the work under the commission that was put together by the city. If we don't do what in essence is consistent with what the city wants, then we're going [01:04:00] rogue and do it, and I don't mind doing that, but I wouldn't want to do it underneath the city. I would say that we're going to form a separate group and we've flipped and do it separately. That we're not going to be leveraging and using resources of the city. And that says To be able to do to achieve our own separate agenda. The North Star is fine, and I- I think there's a sense of word salad. But what guides us is, what we were as a commission put together. We have nine months to do it. I less than I- I just say that if we're not going to get the resources, if- if the city shows any sign and I think they've shown many, they show any signs and not supportive of the work that we need to do. Um, this want to definitely have an impact on whether I choose to continue or not. So I just wanted to make sure that that's crystal clear, that whatever the conversation that does happen, whether we get the resources in that has a clear- [01:05:00] has a clear impact on me because I can do the work and have been doing the work outside of the city without having to follow any of the city rules. The rules that are put in place are put in place for good reason. But, um, I'm not willing for my commission perspective to go rogue, and do something that's outside of what the- what the commission was put in place to do. [01:05:36] Um, why wouldn't the city work with us at this point? Let's talk about that. What's the reason why the city won't work with us? Because that's what I would like to know. What's everybody's thoughts? [01:05:47] Well, I think- well if I were to give you mine quickly, is just that the city will work on them. But if it took us two years and that's us to be able to get mindless. Then it's [01:06:00] showing that there were some challenging discrepancies and that's an even getting money to do consultant. We struggled when it came to even a part of, um, having a pause so that we can really sit down and think about the work that we're doing. We had to rush through to be able to put together based on the contract, the way the contract was written. We had to rough together, to put things together. We made a recommendation in January for money. We all agree in January. It is now April. We still have not heard on that recommendation. So I'm just simply saying the city is speaking to us. There has to be a point where there is, they make a decision. Right now they don't have to do anything. So that's what I'm seeing from my end, is that we are traditionally have been delayed, as far as moving forward with the things that we are- we are supposed to do, to achieve the mission that's been given to them. [01:06:57] I believe we've, uh, we've accomplished a lot under [01:07:00] all of that chaos. And I feel like that's something that, the city has to recognize. And the people after recognized as well too. We- we've done a lot with everything that has taken place. And I- I feel like, because this has been our first run, it should be understood that this was gonna- there was gonna be some trips and some stumbles, but, the jobs still got done. And when- when I was in a marines, it's like you- you have a mission to accomplish, you have a job to do. And, there's many different ways of accomplishing that mission. But the jobs to get the mission done, and I feel like they will- I feel like we will represent ourselves well. And- and that hopefully the city will recognize that and work with us. But at the same time, if worst- case scenario, we- we are still gonna keep working irregardless. I- I just [01:08:00] it- it the more- the more we bring each other together, the better will be. So that's my own personal thoughts with that. [01:08:08] I have some thoughts on answering your question and um, I will start this out with saying, this is my personal opinion. But we're still looking at um, a political entity. We're looking at, um, one who's, you know, the fiscal year ending in June, starting July. Um, looking at disciplined news and the environment and of money. And, um, and there's- since there's, even though that money is um, that was set aside the million dollars and there was, um, specific targets. So that money was supposed to find. Though it's still kinda broaden. [01:09:00] And um, I'm- I believe I feel that there are probably some people who feel, they have an agenda that, um, could also be, um, financed with it. And, um, I can see somebody saying, well, this is a great start. We have good idea, which actually we've kind of set the, er, set the pace there. Somebody else could take it and run with it, you know, If they hadn't- If somebody else had the money and s- somebody with, um, I hate being pessimistic about, um, but- I mean, this environment right now is, money is tight and you might want to have money go some- go elsewhere. Now thinking, they still [01:10:00] believe that we did a good job. Believe of what we did, and that it's something that, uh, needs to be done more. But I can still see somebody piping up and having- or me when you have- haven't already laid out, you know, and just waiting for the money to- to be, final at that direction. [01:10:21] I- I've definitely, I believe that, I say fight back. And that's all there is to it. I- I'm sure there's agendas I- I know that there's political agendas at every angle at every- in everything. Well, we got one to, and there's no reason for us not to fight back to try to keep whatever we might have or was promised to us to, possibly make our city a better place. They wanna go against that, that's fine. But I- I am a fighter and that's how I say we- we need the role to fight back. [01:10:49] Yeah, it's not seeing it as they're going against us, but they basically want something else to, kind of go along and it's down there turn to, what else, but that's like- [01:11:00] that's just my personal opinion. I hope that's not what will happen. Yeah hopefully we'll, see what we have and what we have laid out for the next,you know, nine months. And what we can do. Um, Just a little devil's advocate, a little cynical, mine. [01:11:22] Understood? [01:11:22] Yeah. [01:11:23] It goes back to my thought pattern of we- we should definitely fight them to make sure that this commission continues on. This should be a permanent thing. I have said this on the record over and over again and I stand by it. There's no such thing as, oh, well, we've gotten those truths out and it's over and move on, no. This is something that there's always going to be truth, that there's always going to be reconciliation that's going to be needed and this is something that needs to be funded and taken care of, it's a part of our communities, it's the way to keep peace. If not, then what happens when it all abrupts again with the next situation? What are we? Just groundhog daying it? I don't- I don't think that's- ice skating uphill [01:12:00] all the time don't make sense to me. If we can start finding the source and start dealing with the source and fight as much as we can move it forward then so be it. That's very optimistic, I know I get it but you know, somebody's got to do it, you know. We got to- we got to set our- set our feet in the ground, set our stance and then uh, move forward as much as we can. Those have done it before us and that's how we got here. [01:12:27] I just wanted to add on uh, staying positive. If there's a situation where we signal that we are not committed to our vision, we are not taking this seriously in our personal, internally as we look at it we can be manipulated and there could be people playing games of interest, opinions, motivations that actually sometimes undermine us. I guess if they're anything like that, I'm not [01:13:00] saying there is in our commission here, but if there is anything like that or attempts of that nature we will recognize that. The commission will recognize that and will do the best it can do to foward that. Failure to get to 50,000 that was proposed at one time probably the blame cannot be blamed- cannot be put on the city itself. It could be that we didn't write a good budget. I don't even know I was not a commissioner by then but I know, I know the commission approved that. I do not know how the budget was presented to them, what we wanted to do with it. This is a government entity, they always follow pro- procedures on how to spend money. Even when we're spending our money for tea here, breakfast, lunches we always have to account for those things. So if we don't do our budgeting very well, if our house is not in order in a certain way either because of some reason, the city will be reluctant. [01:14:00] That does not mean they don't want to work with us but there could be the other aspect that we are talking about. So that's why I'm talking about the issue of rigor. If they're not seeing any rigor in us we will be manipulated. But we have to tell them that we are aware of anything that is likely to happen around a different interest that can be there and we do not want anybody to waste the time of commissioners here. And I believe that is not where we're going and that's not going to happen. We also have to- to indicate and signal to the community that, well, it is the city they're the ones who have the money, but who said that they're the ones who decide what people do on Earth? That if they don't want this based on the contract other people cannot do it in another way? I don't think getting justice or anything about these things rests solely on the city. And the second thing, who is the city? [01:15:00] The city is us, we elect them. It is not something that came from heaven we elect the city. So when we are talking about the city, we're also saying we are also thinking like that. Because the city is supposed to express our opinions, they're supposed just to guide us on how we use our resources and improve our well-being in the community, that's what the city's job is. I don't think what we're doing here can be contrary to that and as far as we express that they are always been working with us, with other communities, improving lives in Iowa City, that is why it is a good place. I do not imagine those things or somebody thinking like that having ulterior motive. And that's why I insist on doing- on completing our mission to the best of our abilities those who are here. If we get tired I get blamed somewhere, I can't do something for some reason we get help from another person and then using resources in the community, the [01:16:00] university, schools, heads of departments, or whatever we saw that we talk about these things. And uh, we know it is a contract with something to be del- delivered. And that contract does not say that, well, you are not supposed to do anything else or obtain resources from somewhere else that was not part of the contract. I want to be a commissioner here if actually other resources are suppose to come from somewhere else because I'm volunteering. So they believed they are going to be resources also that are helping skills, is not just the money, skills, knowledge, experiences that are going to come in here that are coming from the community. Of course, the whole the contract with the facilitators that is regarding financing. So our 250 request has to be put in nicely to continue with the [01:17:00] activities, the new models of engaging the community that are going to come up, yeah. So they're supposed to finance those things that is the purpose of the one million. There is nowhere where they say all that junk of 200 or 400 has to go towards the end of everything only. It's part of the process, financing the process. So that the process is clear to the community that actually we have problems. But if all the money goes towards some areas, some end based on some interest, I'm not saying this because I have no information whether that is really true, I don't even believe it, then I don't see a reason why we should be denied that. So it is the responsibility still rest on us to prepare a good budget, a good plan, or what we want to do with the remaining amount of money. And issues of compensation, reconciliation budgets are long-term things that's going to be partly in the re- responsibility of the city. But we have to recommend something based on the facts [01:18:00] so that's where we want to use the 250. So we have to really insist and tell them, well, this is our good plan and these are the genuine things we want to do in the community to generate information, talk to people, hear people, create events that are long-term sustainable events, models that are sustainable in the future. So that once we give them the document it's a living document for the city, for the community. Something the community can work on next time. So that the community- the city doesn't just put it somewhere there in the saving, whatever saving, I don't know where they keep their records, wherever that you have to dig deep and find if you want to know. But then let- let's- let's just uh, be positive and optimistic, that's what I can recommend. [01:18:53] Also fundraising. Why don't we just whatever money that we are taking out, of course we need money [01:19:00] and we need money to get things started there's money already there let's start working towards fundraising as well too. Make this a bigger thing, it needs to be and we need a start and the money is there to start us. But let it- but let it be known that this is Chapter 1 in a book, you get me? This is Chapter 1 just like he was saying before, there's a lot of holes that we have but we started from scratch. So each chapter can get better and better but we need a start and a start is the funding that we have from the city, from there the more we get our, just in this conversation that we've had I've already been thinking about new ideas, new thoughts just like the rest of you guys and there's no reason why we can't figure out a better way. But we need the funding, we need the city to help us out with the money that they said that they would help us out with, just hold them to it that's all. They want to go and deviate away because they have other agendas. Then like I said, put it on a record that's all but we have a plan. They asked us to come up with [01:20:00] a plan, they asked us to stick with something, we did, we're doing it, let's go, that's how I see it. [01:20:08] I really appreciate all these conversations. I definitely see all sides to it. And I- I mean, I- I- I hope that we're able to get the funding. I do believe that there are other alternatives. I see Commissioner Simmons' perspective and Commissioner Johnson's perspective. Um, the only thing I can say is we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there um, from my perspective. Um, but I do agree that this work is very important and I'm going to go back to um, the biggest thing we've been lacking is the community support. So the- the better, the more community support um, that we have the more likely that we would get the funding we need anyways. And how could the city deny um, a ton of people that are saying that they want this? I um, in this conversation had a thought [01:21:00] um, that maybe a way that would alleviate pressure on us maybe what we should do is start with healing circles and do them monthly in different areas of the community because people are getting a lot for them. Really make sure that they're focusing in on racial injustice because that is our purpose. Um, and then from there we'll find people naturally who will want to engage and other truth-telling or maybe learn some more facts or get involved. This is a practice that I would do in my daily- daily work as a community like outreacher, an activist. So I- I feel like if we- we really need the community building it can't just be us. Um, that's how we get burned out, that's how I get burned out I don't know about you-all. Um, but to make movement you need people to move along with. [01:22:00] One note that I wrote down here in the corner. Normally think about budget and whatever else and how we weren't happy about how things were advertised for our events. And I'm thinking like needed advertising budget so that we can put an ad in the paper. Yeah, whatever costs that- we can actually put it out on paper for something that's going on, things that obviously require some money. So I would thinking definitely have a line item that is the advertising budget that we can utilize to get the word out for our events. [01:22:33] I mean, I- I hear you all when you say advertising, but our people don't look at that stuff. It's word of mouth. Like we- that's why I believe we need to be in the community. We go to the churches. They bring their families and their friends, then they talk about it and they say, want to go- go do it. The woman that I brought was brought those- her four friends and they want it- they made her stay for the healing circle because they want it to be there because they saw the impact. [01:23:00] They're talking about it and they want to include it at their- in their own areas. Word of mouth, I believe, is stronger than- I mean, we should have an advertising. But it's- it's word of mouth is, again, my day work. That's how we get people to things, food and word of mouth. [01:23:20] I agree with word of mouth, definitely, but I also still stand by the- I know everybody thinks it's weird the billboard- the digital billboard, because I feel like information is not- it's not given out. Like that's the one thing I've heard the most when I've spoken with everybody and word of mouth is that- thatreminds me of me telling my people what's going on. But then they'll- they'll say, well, I didn't hear about it from anywhere else in the city. You- you get me. So I feel like sometimes I do- I'm strong on this billboard thing and I don't mean a paper billboard, I mean, a digital billboard of some sort that we can interchange [01:24:00] and make visually pleasing to catch the eye where the entire city can walk around and say, I know I can go there for information. I know I can find out what's going on here. I know I can find out what's going on there and it can easily be standby that wholeheartedly. We- we need some type of- I noticed that he has like or correct me if I'm wrong there's like laws against having any kind of digital billboards in our city limits. From what I'd- only reason why I'm bringing this up is because when I was first looking at the location at a gym, I remember them saying something about you're not allowed to have a certain size of a digital billboard because it's in the city regulations. Stephanie, do you know possibly anything about that? [01:24:47] That sounds familiar. [01:24:48] Yeah, it was a long time ago, but I heard that you can't have that if these are other small little avenues to go and see if we can possibly change that. And then I know that's another [01:25:00] at what you're asking for a lot of money and that's going to cause this and that and a third. But at the same time, if it helps bring up the city, that digital billboard that they have in Cedar Rapids, that's on a side of that- [01:25:10] Same company. That is their signs. [01:25:13] Well, you know, um, there's a will, there's a way. That's all where does the will is there way and we can figure out, and this- this is what I mean, if there's a company out there that sees what we're doing, they see to positivity and they see we're doing this right here and his little part of Iowa. Uh, and it's centered- centered a country, but we're making positive change, people are willing to step up and help out. They- they come out at a world works. It's just what it is. [01:25:39] One thing we can also do to utilize people who do have digital signs because I've got his previous job or whatever else, um, but asked Hills Bank in North Liberty on their side if they could you know, put advertising on an event. And they did. [01:25:56] Yeah. [01:25:56] You know, so people drive by, they see it, whatever else. [01:26:00] Those are the kind of things that we could, um, and they didn't cost anything. [01:26:03] Yeah. Well, that's what I'm saying. And, you know, the more people see things, like, you might have saw our truth and reconciliation symbol wants. And you're like, oh, there's that. But if you see it over and over and over and over again and constantly and it has a- bunch of positive information behind it and it- and it shows the progress that we're making. That's how people get involved. But if you don't give them the opportunity to learn about it and you don't give them the information and they're going to go about their average everyday life because we're all stressed out. We all got a lot going on. But if you have it constantly in their face, it can definitely move in the right direction. So I stand by the billboard. I- I love word of mouth because that is the number one way about going about things. But I also believe that we need to have somewhere that are a few different places that no matter what part of the city you're in, we are connected. [01:26:55] So I agree, we should make friends. Um I mean, if we can ever figure out money for a billboard, [01:27:00] sure. I'm- I'm okay with that. I don't know about the money, but we could get vanished-. [01:27:04] I still recommendation into the city for not necessarily us off of our budget. I'm saying that's something that the city itself- [01:27:10] Should do. [01:27:11] - should invest in. [01:27:12] Okay- [01:27:13] How else are we going to know that there is a human rights committee or a meeting at anytime for anywhere? We don't know this stuff. Everybody's walk in and go into them from an eruption by, but sitting right at my gym. I see two cars that sit there and they're- they're- they're sitting there doing nothing for a while. But you can if you had a digital sign, not even necessarily there or anywhere else, like even somewhere out here, that there's always information for you to read. And you know that that's a location that you can see it. That's something that we should recommend also to the city as well. I think that is a a very positive investment that could go- that- that goes for everybody. That's not just us. [01:27:55] Schools have them. [01:27:56] I mean, it's a good way. I mean, part of the reason why, um, [01:28:00] people of color don't come to certain things. It's because they just don't have-. [01:28:03] I don't know. [01:28:04] They don't- they're not exposed to it as much. So yeah, that- that's an equity issue. I agree with that. Should we- I think all these are great ideas and I think we should still keep coming up with them. I think we need to talk about one, April 16th. The city has, uh, set that as the date that they would like us to present, um, our updates or recommendations or what we've learned. I personally feel that we need more time, that's 10 days from now. Um, and with the way my life is next 10 days, I don't have time for- to really focus on that. So if we were to move forward with that, I would all of us would need to really, like, dive into that. Um, I would love for us to propose to the city that we are able to circle back in, give them [01:29:00] more information in May about our plans, not saying we can't do things and in- in the meantime,um, but really just- then we can have an exact plan to showcase this. What we're doing the rest of the year is what I would like to propose dots on that. [01:29:16] So we want to tell the city that we- we have that information, but we just want to come better prepared. Is that what we're trying to do? [01:29:22] I mean, that's exactly what we asked for the 250- 250,000. I believe that we should have line items that say exactly what we want to use the 250,000 for. So that helps your case when you're asking someone, um, for money. Um, I don't believe we have time to dive into that right now. I don't want to dive into that right now because it could be a lot of different things. That is a- a conversation that we should be better prepared for. I think we've had a lot of good plans. I think we're getting closer to consensus, but having it well laid out Is not going to happen coming from me in the next 10 [01:30:00] days now, if we all collectively worked on it maybe, but we won't have any time because we won't meet until after the 16th to discuss all in the same room and agree upon that this is what we want to do moving forward. So we'd have to make a decision, today, to either allow one person or a couple of people decide what we're going to do or try to have conversations in between and that just doesn't seem feasible. [01:30:28] Yeah. Is it wrong for me to say something? [01:30:32] It was- it based on the e-mail from earlier? [01:30:36] Um, yes. [01:30:37] No. [01:30:38] Okay. [01:30:39] We've already talked about it. Go ahead, Annie. [01:30:44] No. It's okay. At- at some point, it- I can wait after, you know, like whenever there's public comment. [01:30:50] Public comments. Just go ahead and say what you wanted to say. [01:30:54] I guess what I want to say is one way of looking at April 16th, [01:31:00] is that that's when the facilitation team has to report on what they accomplished within that contract to the City Council. And then when we were- when you were at one of the joint meetings, you said it would be great if we could do that together. I'm suggesting that definitely you guys could be part of that presentation, but it doesn't have to be that you are using that date as your deadline to present your plan for the rest of the year. Yet technically is our deadline, you know, and you guys can do anything you want within that, which is why I why we put this together so that you guys could have input. But it doesn't have to be your plant, you know, your presentation of your plan. [01:31:54] It's just showing them that we have a plan. We're moving on. [01:32:00] I think that what it's showing is the city is saying you consultants, you- we contracted with you to do something. You need to like get back to us and do a report. If you guys were ready. It could also be the time when you guys said, yeah, we did all that and now we're going to do this. But if you're not ready, I think the minimum is that it's on us to do. Here's what we did. [01:32:24] Yeah- yeah. I think that sounds- that sounds like that make sense. [01:32:26] So that- that gives you more time. [01:32:28] I like that. [01:32:29] That makes sense. Go ahead, Larry. [01:32:33] I apologize if I'm seeming to veer away- appear in a different direction than Annie, but I'm- I'm really neeeding some clarity. I'm hoping Redmond might be able to- to speak to this if he's still in the meeting because Annie just now was presenting a framework that's different than what I understood for the presentation. I mean, when we- when the TRC gave an update to the City [01:33:00] Council last fall, I want to say it was in November, maybe. Obviously, that was a TRC presentation. Consultant team contributed either words on slides or slide content to that presentation. We discussed it ahead of time. And then, if I remember correctly, most of us were either they're virtually or in person, but just for support, I don't remember, you know, speaking at all. That's what I thought we were aiming for as it relates to whatever date this presentation takes place on Danny's framing there makes it appear as if it's a- it's a presentation conducted, delivered by the consultant team. And so I'm trying to understand what the city believes to be our obligations under the contract relative to the presentation. [01:33:57] Redmond is gonna come over and answer. [01:34:00] [01:34:01] Thanks [01:34:02] Sit here [01:34:04] I could stand. Um, so sounds like, uh, there's- everyone's saying very similar things. Maybe the- the points are- are maybe nuanced and are something that we're missing it. But, uh, the contract speaks to, um, a joint effort to put together a closing of the activities and, um, recommendations that this experience that the facilitators have- have- have brought to you, um, to a close. Now, you continue on after that- that point, which I think lends to what Andy's- Andy's saying to at least December. Right. Cause that's- that's what the, your- your mandate that gives you two that time with that the extension that the council has granted. So, um, I- I think, [01:35:00] uh, to Larry's point, um, the contract speaks to a collaborative, um, process of some sort, which I think is up to the facilitating team and the TRC to- to really say what that looks like. Um, the idea is what work has been done to this point. And, um, at the end of the day, uh, what recommendations, at least from the truth-telling, um, fact-finding, reconciliation process, what- what recommendations moving forward with this process yield? Um, so that's my understanding. [01:35:39] And Robin, I'm- I'm sorry, I don't want to take too much time on- on the floor here, but, um, is it- is it- do you think it's your or the City Council's expectation that the consultant team at the facilitation team is offering recommendations as to how the TRC should continue [01:36:00] its work? Because I think there's a substantial difference between that and what we're resisting with before, obviously, because the presentation that just said here's what the TRC has been up to. In other words, there's a report of progress and then there's a report of progress plus, what we recommend from a process perspective happen once we leave the stage. So I'm asking whether you think we are being expected too, uh, deliver, uh, those kinds of recommendations in our presentation? [01:36:37] I just listened to you sound like, um, I want to say yes, but [LAUGHTER] there was a lot of nuances in your- in your explanation. So. [01:36:45] It's really just- it's really just kind of, uh, an A, a B, or all of the above. And it sounds like you're in the all of the above. [01:36:53] That's where I am. [01:36:54] But yeah, I mean, A is just- we hope the TRC compile everything that they've done in the [01:37:00] last, you know, seven or eight months. B is, we enumerate a bunch of things that we think the TRC as well as maybe the city, um, think about as the stairs she finishes its work the rest of the year. And then she is all going above, meaning we do both of those things. We help report on the progress of the TRC, but we also offer recommendations. So, I hear you saying, do both. [01:37:24] Absolutely. So and- and I- and I think maybe to the earlier point if you're looking at those recommendations to be like, you know, very strict policy type of recommendations. I think those type of things can be presented to the city council, uh, before your December, uh, mandate. [01:37:43] So I- I agree, A, B, C, all the above. And I- and what I also hear is, um, a desire to have very, um, pointed, uh, systematic, um, recommendations that can be held up from policy levels from, [01:38:00] uh, from the city, uh, council standpoint. And I think there's time for that. It doesn't necessarily have to happen here. If you allude to some of those things, that's fine. But I- I think, um, you probably want to have more, maybe truth-telling or taking processes, and you want to still be gathering. This is just kind of the process that gave you the framework or is- or at least recommending a certain framework, um, and you- you move forward, um, to December. Right. [01:38:34] Yeah. And just so that I'm clear, um, the recommendations that I'm referring to are not policy recommendations for the City Council to consider in light of truth deadline. They are processed recommendations for the TRC to continue carrying out its work. So everybody understands what I meant. [01:38:51] Good to go. [01:38:51] Good. [01:38:51] So my question is, because any suggested that we do this progress report, on the 16th with Kerns and West and our [01:39:00] facilitation team? But my concern is our commission. I believe we're not ready to talk completely about what our plan is moving forward. So, would we be able to- after that April 16th day, have another date in May. [01:39:17] Yeah. [01:39:17] Where we can come back and say, and here's what our plan is and this is what we ask- this is why we asked for this 250,000 and layout. [01:39:25] Yeah. [01:39:25] That's okay. [01:39:26] I think that's totally appropriate. [01:39:28] Okay. So if we can do that, then that feels a lot better to me. [01:39:32] Absolutely. That makes sense. [01:39:35] Okay. [01:39:36] Confirming that I'm, you know so that I'm- I'm 100%. The guidance literacy is giving us is to, as a facilitation team prepare a presentation to give to the city council on the 16th. That is both a report on your progress and a set of recommendations for you, all should continue once our contract ends. [01:39:58] And that would be jointly, [01:40:00] is what you're saying, Larry or? [01:40:02] I- I had to spin it it wouldn't be Chair. Yes. I mean, I was assuming that we would develop, uh, the skeleton of the presentation and then share it at least with, uh, the Vice Chair. I mean, obviously, time is of the essence and we don't have another meeting. But, uh, presuming you could be, uh, entrusted to- to review it and so on, um, and look at it from the standpoint of reporting your progress. I think that was what I envisioned, at least. [01:40:30] Your work and then strengthen it. Uh, yeah. That makes sense. [01:40:35] So I want to be clear. Is that still on the 16th or we're talking about another date because? [01:40:40] No. That's still the 16th, it sounds like. [01:40:42] You're saying Commissioner is, that- that would be reported on the 16th, but a more detailed set of requests or- or line items for, uh, your work going forward. What happened, perhaps at the first meeting in May when you had more time to deliberate? [01:40:59] Okay. And- [01:41:00] and in your recommendation can you- you'll be doing your soul-searching to evaluate yourself and recommend how much progress you've made and, um, what do you think you can guide us on as facilitators and you know you have a better sense of- of achievements, of performance or what we're doing then we, you know. [01:41:23] There's- there's quite a bit and- and I do want to credit Annie and- and V Fixmer Oraiz who have already taken pen to paper, uh, on some ideas for that. And I don't want to speak for them, but I mean, I just think that I've listened to a lot of your conversation tonight, and have some thoughts and look, I mean, this is obviously an extremely complex endeavor, you know, the substance is, but so is the mechanics of doing it. And so, you know, that's- that's really what I'm going to spend my time on the next week, uh, crafting so that we leave you, uh, well-equipped to finish your work the rest of the year. [01:42:00] [01:42:12] You're muted if you're talking to us, Chad. [01:42:16] I didn't know that you called on me. [01:42:18] Okay. [01:42:19] Listen, these are political individuals. The meetings for them is not just simply to give a presentation. This is not a good idea, not good for us. I would strongly recommend that you don't know unle- until you go to them with a full plan, that you don't present anything. This is not good for us. [01:42:41] I don't agree with that at all. [01:42:44] Would you like to elaborate why you feel this way, um, Commissioner Simmons? [01:42:47] Commission Jo- Commission Jonathan, I think again, we're going to find out. This is political. It's a political environment. These are not like our bosses. This is political. They have $600,000 available [01:43:00] to them. Some of the people that are on this commission or not, um, some people who were on- who were on them on the board, were not on the board before. I'm saying that which- what they're looking for is, we gave the commission a charter of things that we wanted them to do. Now the goal is, that we want to see how you are as it relates to- how close you are, as it relates to bringing us recommendation to the city. And so it's not just about the presentation, about what stuff we learned, we- we- we're not in grammar school. This is not about that. It's about how what we learned, in essence is going to be beneficial, and why the- this- the benefits that- are of such value that you should give us more money. [01:43:45] Where do you see that? [01:43:46] My- my- my suggestion. Go ahead. [01:43:49] I'm sorry. No, I didn't mean to cut you off. I apologize. Go on. [01:43:53] No, I'm fine. You had a valid question. Go ahead with your question. [01:43:56] Where do you see that we are not doing that [01:44:00] at this point? [01:44:03] The goal was for us to be able to provide recommendations. We spent $400,000 on consultant. They are question is - because, you know, was it of great value? And if it's not of great value, should we give them more money? Now, there can be a lot of reasons why we can justify it is or it isn't. But that's the question that politically, they're- they're handling. Should they invest more money in this given project? Is this of good interest? So if you just simply go with the consultant- if you simply go with the consultant's presentation, which I looked at, which is the first phase, we taught them how to do it. The second phase, we show them how to do it. That's not going to be enough information for them to believe that in- in my opinion, that we're headed down the right path. I would give them more, and that I would not separate it, I would put it together. But if [01:45:00] you believe that they can- that they can share the information and it's going to be of great value to the- to the, um, to the city council, then- then by all means, please move forward. I just don't think it's politically, it's the smart mode. [01:45:16] Um, Chad, I- I agree with you. Um, I would much rather us do all this together in May when we have more time. But, we've been told from the city that contractually, we have to do this on April 16th. I personally don't feel that we have time to get all that together, um, but if you- if you know of a better way to pull it all together by the 16th, I'm all ears [01:45:43] To the city. Go to- go to, um, go to, uh, Geoff. Go to the mayor that we want to move the date. This- just go and have a conversation about moving the date. [01:45:55] I mean, I've already I'm- I'm working on that. So those are- those are already options [01:46:00] in the works. But if those are met with, we cannot move those- move the dates. And contractually our facilitators' consultants have to present on the 16th, what do you- what would you do? [01:46:18] We can't report to the commission. We are the city, they report to us. They don't report to the city council, they report to us. We can go to the city council and say, "This is what we'd like to- to do." I would not put it in a situation where it is, that they are reporting to the city council, about work that they're doing with us. [01:46:43] I thought, um, um, Mr. Edwin just talked about that. That, there could be some contractual obligations written somewhere that I don't have a preview to, regarding on reporting on the deliverables. We cannot change that in the middle of the [01:47:00] game. And, uh, I'm sorry. Yeah, we cannot change that. Yeah. [01:47:05] We're not changing that. They report to us. They do not report to the city council. They report to us. That's where this always been the challenge. Is that we've always going to the wrong place, giving people more influence and power than they should actually have. I'm not asking you to change the contract. The contract is simply says that- that they just need to submit something. They can- they- they don't even have to- to- to do them in-person. They can write a letter. We appreciate this's the work we've done. Thank you very much, and then let it- let it be- let it go from there. But, again, if you believe- if you believe that it is- that it is not going to negatively impact us, then fine, uh, uh, it's not much I can do. But if we're simply saying that because we believe that we as a commission are not a part of the city, and we have no right to- to determine when the- the consultant is supposed to be working with us, can talk [01:48:00] to, in essence, the city council. Then, uh, again, I- I think that- that's a little bit concerning. [01:48:07] Okay- okay- can I- [01:48:07] But I will support whatever effort- I will support whatever effort the- the, uh, if that is the plan to- to continue to move forward, I will support it. [01:48:18] I just wanted to provide a little clarification, so this might- might help. So if- if you can recall some of the discussion that we had, um, in- in lead-up to the discussion around the pause, uh, and- and the- and impact that the paws would have had on how the consultants were paid, and the language about each phase being connected to a certain period of time, I think phase 1, uh, was appro- approximately three months, phase 2 was approximately four months, um, and we've- we've gone beyond, um, the point o- of- [01:49:00] of the city manager's comfort level of his discretion in the contract, um, because of the time going beyond actually two months, now from when the contract was originally to close. So we recall, um, March was the time that we'll close and now we're into- to- to April and- and conversations is by even, um, going into potentially May, that would be- that would be, a- a- a substantial of contract, um, deviation. Now, doesn't mean that, um, it could- it can pos- there's- there's provisions to allow for extension, uh, but it's just beyond the city manager to be able to do that without city council approval. And, um, the conversation before, was trying to- to maneuver, um, what the contract would allow without having to go [01:50:00] and get additional, uh, support or approval from the city council. So, um, uh, I think there was, uh, some email trail, uh, of what that would- could potentially look like. Uh, the City Manager is comfortable for all- allowing the- the contract to be, um, closed out, um, on April at- at the end of this month, uh, which could be- or the presentation could be given, on the 16th, and the final- some final written report as- as the contractors spells out, could be undelivered, um, April 30th, and that- that is fine. Um, but if we're going to go and look at something outside of that, um, we just believe that the timeframe has- has been pushed for all kinds of legitimate reasons. But it's just been pushed beyond the point where, um, we're comfortable saying that's not a substantial, um, contract change that would require a council, um, [01:51:00] to be, um, ack- acknowledged and approved in that process. So that's where we are. It's not that it can't be done, but it- it's- is beyond the point of- of having administrative discretion over the process. If- if that helps. [01:51:20] Doesn't because I'm not under- sure- I don't understand how you believe, based on my conversation we were having was asking to extend the contract. [01:51:30] Yeah. [01:51:32] So i-it sounds as if more time would be needed as only one city council meeting uh, remaining in the month of April. Uh, if April 16th is not the date that the presentation would happen, then that would be in May. And, um, and frankly, I can't close out any of these contracts until that those deliverables are done. [01:52:00] So that's, that's. [01:52:01] Are you saying, but I'm-I'm trying to make sure I'm clear on this. Are you saying that the presentation to the city council is a part of the contract or is it that simply that they have to write their final report and then that concludes the contract? [01:52:15] The presentation is a part of the deliverables. The final report is also a part of the deliverables. They don't have to be delivered at the same time, but they ar-are two different deliverables. [01:52:32] So are you, so what, I just want to make sure I'm clear. So you're saying that they need to then communicate to the city council about the, um, about their progress, not to, not to the commissioner, but to actually the city council. [01:52:50] The way the contract speaks is that it's,um, a collaborative process that, that put that presentation be done, um, of the TRC [01:53:00] and facilitating team. [01:53:04] I think you're still starting the-. [01:53:06] What's that? [01:53:07] I'm sorry. Go ahead, go ahead please [01:53:09] I wish to say it doesn't provide, um, very detailed of who presents or how it's presented, but it does speak that it should be a collaborative of, of, it should be a collaboration of that presentation. And it does speak to a final report. So those two things are specific deliverables. The city manager has given to, uh, the end of the month for those to be delivered. There's only one opportunity unless you're suggesting a special meeting for the city council, which I will, I tell you what not go over well. Um, there's only one opportunity to have that be done in April. And then April 16th would be the date for the city council portion. Uh, the remaining of the month would be the remaining time for the final [01:54:00] report. If that, those timelines can't be met, then the appropriate process would be for the consultant team to say, we can't meet those, those and request a-an extension. Th-the chair, the board, TRC would say yes, the chair would provide in writing a request to city manager who would then put that on the city council agenda and the city council will then, uh, grant it or not. [01:54:30] But the only way they can grant it is on the 16th. [01:54:33] The 16th would, no, they could, they could. Apparently, they kept, their next meeting would be the first meeting in May that they can take that up, so, because the discretion of the city manager's goes to, uh, the third year to the end of the month. So until you get to the end of the month, w-you can have that on the agenda. The very first meeting. I don't have that off the top of my head, but it's usually the first week in May, in May. [01:55:00] So I guess I'm just misunderstanding. So we could put in a request that wouldn't get to city council until after the April 16th date? [01:55:09] After the April 30th date is what you're looking for. [01:55:11] But we are still required to present on the 16th. So we would be like what in delinquent status? [01:55:18] If the council didn't accept it, I guess you could make that case, yes. [01:55:22] So we have no opportunity to even appeal to the city council? [01:55:28] You have opportunity to appeal to the city council, but your timeline is running the risk of if if not being improved, you could essentially, it'd be not more to TRC, but the facilitation team could be out, you could make the argument is breach of contract. [01:55:47] So we just need to talk to city council members [01:55:52] I didn't hear you. What did you say? [01:55:54] If that's what you're, that's what she wanted to try to ask for additional time. [01:56:00] If you're, if you're looking at that approach that you're trying to get additional time, yeah, you want to speak to city council members, but I don t think that they'll have to, you can still get on the agenda on the 16th. [01:56:17] It seems like we're at a dilemma. [01:56:23] I just know with, with this particular meeting, I don't know how much you can actually take that issue up and let you might have to call a special meeting to take on just that issue if you want to get an extension. Because we have not really, we've been talking about it, but we really haven't gotten anything from the consultant team saying we actually need extra time. I think at the time that the 16th and, um, April 30th for the final report, I think has been accepted bowl, um, unless I'm hearing anything different. I don't think we've gotten the actual request from the consultant team for, for beyond, time [01:57:00] beyond that. Annie? [01:57:05] Actually, we only found out that that was a firm date this morning, you know, that on Monday when we all were talking chastity and you and Stephanie, um, were there. Um, we were talking about different possible time frames. We were, so today, finding out this morning prompted us to, um, be meeting and put together just a very rough draft. This is not meant to be anything final, but it does include stuff from the report that we wanted you guys to know and weigh in on. Uh, if we really are on that fast-track, we wanted you to have a say in what this report looks like and definitely we'd like to work with you if that's what you want to do. What, my point that I tried to make earlier is that you could separate presenting your plans [01:58:00] at a later time. So that's what I meant. Um, the other thing is, um, I-I admit that maybe my understanding is limited, but I believe I believe for-for me that I am not billing any of these hours. I never bill the meetings anyway, the TRC meetings, but that I'm, I'm done billing hours for my time here. And we're going to be working on this and that's okay. That's my understanding. I could be wrong, it could be that other people are thinking of getting compensated for time during this month. [01:58:42] And that's, that's great. I just know that none of this has been closed out yet. Um, and I still have to think peace, peace that I need to close out because I don t know what the ramifications are for the a final report because that's still kind of up in the air on if that's going to cost more for the other consultant [01:59:00] team. None of that has been communicated to me, so I don't know. [01:59:04] It's, it's really good that you brought up the fact that on the 22nd, they left our team. They left, they left, they were, um, their contract was ended. So we are working without them. We had begun working on the report before then, but, um, I don't think that, yeah, we haven't talked as a group what we're doing about that except that we're all working on it. [01:59:33] To go through all those details. I don't know if it's a problem for this meeting, but it does mean but I just wanted to make the point that these things can't be closed out until all the deliverables are done. And so this is the last of phase two. And these are the, these are the things that have to be kind of figured it out before we can actually close out final payments. That's all. [01:59:56] Oh. Understandable. I actually felt [02:00:00] like it might be useful for you guys to hear this other extraneous but related, uh, information. [02:00:06] I think it's very related. So I appreciate you giving this information Annie. [02:00:10] Okay. Thanks. [02:00:13] Um, so I'm just going to say my opinion is I agree with Commissioner Simmons that, in a perfect world, we would do it altogether because it will make us look the best. Uh, it feels like right now we're being tied, um, I will do my best to work out to see what we can do. Uh, but if we do have to present on the 16th, um, going to have to work together to figure out what that looks like, um. [02:00:48] So what is everybody's schedule? I'm sorry. [02:00:50] If I can hear you where you are- you want us to discuss the contents, our input into the joint presentation. What should be, look like? [02:01:00] I mean, I don't even know how to discuss that right now because as Andy just pointed out, uh, this is not complete. They- they weren't prepared to share this with us today because it was not expected to be presented on the 16th until this morning, so. [02:01:18] I think on this side of the facilitators, they know what they're expected to do, based on the contract,. I don't have it. I don't know how we're supposed to discuss it either. They know what- what it reads and what is expected. Ours is we're kind of implicated in a way because, jointly, we have not completed the process. And but then they have to approach the talk about termination of the- I mean ending, not termination, I mean closing in the contract. They have to necessarily because they are budgetary implications, other things here. But on our side [02:02:00] at the commission, we- we see the other things. Them they're seeing money, the city is also seeing money. On our side, me as a commissioner, I'm worried about the church. What I was told to do. And I didn't want to come here to worry much about the money stuff, although I use it, we use the money to eat and do other things. Print stuff here. Yeah. They have to do their- their part to 100% and recommend and state. This is alpha- our deliverable looks like this. This is what it is. Fact-finding, this is what it does come. This is where we are. Truth-telling, this is where we are. The commission believes that they have this other areas or gaps that they have to move into. And it is them to recommend also that have you been [02:03:00] jointly with us on not completed the whole process? I don't know whether that means they can't continue. I don't know about those implications here. But if it is that, I don't know how the contract was written because I'm not sure whether it was written in such a way that once it is, you reach the complete process of recommendations, everything, then the contract is over. I don't know if they are also flexibilities in-between where in different stages you show what you've done to continue to get paid or not. Those are things I really don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know this guys even get paid to tell you the truth as a commission here. Yeah. I don't know if they have been paid everything they're supposed to get. Yeah. That anything else they feel like they've done every part of what they're supposed to do, I don't know that either. Maybe it's ignorance on my part. But. [02:03:59] So [02:04:00] you're saying you would like a copy of the. [02:04:03] Yeah. Yeah. For us to discuss this very well, we need to know okay does it say that. Like now we are talking about continuing the some processes in the future, going the community and other things. What if it is a situation where they say, we're not going to be part of those things you're talking about. What do they consultants say? [02:04:22] Other consultants contracts are ending this month. They were supposed to be ended last month. So they will not be a part of our- our future discussions anymore. [02:04:31] Okay. Yeah. [02:04:32] Their- their contract is over. We are talking about their final activity, which is the presentation, and then they're completely done. They will be giving us a report. [02:04:44] Chair, can I add a clarification to something I said earlier? [02:04:48] Uh-huh. [02:04:48] So from a timeline, face is just looking at logistics. For the 16th meeting, staff has to have everything [02:05:00] in by the previous Thursday. I don't have my calendar in front of me. [02:05:06] The tenth or whatever? The eleventh? [02:05:08] Somebody get- somebody, whoever has a calendar. The Thursday before, the Tuesday, the 16th, that's when everything has to be in. So theoretically, if this body, since I looked over at with Stephanie over the agenda, the language, is, is not at a point where we're comfortable that the Commission could- could take a vote on if an extension is- is warranted and- and they would accept or approve an extension or request, uh, a recommendation for an extension, you can have a special meeting, take that vote, get it to. [02:05:49] We can't have the vote right now? [02:05:51] No, because it's not on the agenda. That language- [02:05:53] But it's part of the next steps. [02:05:55] Yeah, we don t think next steps is- is going to be something. [02:06:00] We have to meet in-person to have a special meeting to vote about something that it clearly says that we can talk about right now? Next steps, this is everything to do with next steps,. [02:06:10] You need something that says grant an extension, you need a wording of that level. It has to be pretty- pretty specific. [02:06:17] Cannot be a Zoom meeting? [02:06:19] Now, that part, I think it may be able, but I- that's a little bit out of my, that's a legal question and maybe Stephanie might know better. But, um, that's what you probably would need to do if you want to grant an extension. But again, we haven't really received anything from the consultant team. I know that they- they say time is the issue, but I- I'm under the understanding and please correct me, um, that they can still meet it within the timeline that's given. So I would- I would- I would make sure that that's- that's something that they actually need because part of the contract is that, that- [02:07:00] that they requested. It doesn't say that they have to request in writing, but that they actually request that time extension. [02:07:10] Exactly, I just want to make sure that it's clear that the understanding that I had of our responsibilities on the presentation was different before this meeting started than it is now. Um, when we were talking via email before, I understood that we'd be doing much of what we had done the last time the TRC updated the city council. That we'd provide them with some content, that they would make a presentation that we would be available for questions. We're talking about something very different now. And so without meaning to speak for Annie, or Vira, or anybody else, it does feel like a very short timeline for us to be able to agree jointly on the entire content of the [02:08:00] presentation in less than a week. If I'm understanding you correctly, you were saying that there's a deadline of the 11th to, I assume, produce the presentation even though we're not giving until the 16th. I assumed you meant that we needed to have the PowerPoint or whatever format to you by the 11th. That's less than a week from now. There are anywhere five to seven or eight of us that needs to be part of this in terms of the remaining members of the facilitation team. And again, I didn't know until now that this was really our presentation to make. So again, without meaning to speak for anybody other than myself, I think that we would like more time to prepare that. But if we are told that there is no alternative, certainly, I would comply with the deadline that you've given us. [02:08:53] So just to clarify your understanding before the meeting, um, it's in my mind [02:09:00] the same. I- I think the piece that's missing is it has to be a collaboration, um, with the TRC. So if- if the TRC is comfortable the way you have articulated what your understanding is before this meeting, I think from the city standpoint, that's acceptable. Um, the 11th timeline is only pertinent if a request is going to be asked for- an extension is going to be asked for. If it's just a presentation, um, yeah, that'd be great to have that presentation, but I think the city clerk really doesn't need to have that until the 24 hours in front of- of before the City Council, the City Council meeting, just from a logistics standpoint of,- of getting the PowerPoint if that's what you're using, um, and you're not required to use a PowerPoint. I think that's- that's the deliberation and collaboration that the contract speaks of. Where, um, you come to some mutable, um, um, amenable [02:10:00] understanding of how that presentation is going to be given amongst the TRC and the consultant team. Uh, so just- just as a clarification, if that helps at all. [02:10:14] I have a question. [02:10:15] I would like to give Commissioner Simmons opportunities. Had his hand up for awhile. We can't hear you. [02:10:25] This is - can you hear me now? [02:10:26] Yes. [02:10:28] Okay. So this is again, my concern about going down a rabbit hole. So there are several things that are being raised, but I want us to keep focused on what the initial conversation was. The first thing that has been raised is and let's - I'm go with the second. The second thing that's been raised is about the contract. There are two things that have to fulfill the contract. One is from presentation has to be given and the second is the report has to be given. The - the consultant should work on the report and get the report by the end of the month. That is something that should [02:11:00] be dropped here. They should do, if they don't do, they aren't - they're in breach of contract. As it relates to the communication as far as the presentation, the presentation is not the presentation that you saw. You don't need anything that long. You don't need to send them anything that long. Write a two-page summary of what the situation they had submitted on Friday, go and have a - just simply have a conversation at that meeting and this give them a summary of what we've done. Phase 1 we told you about in October - in November, and this is what entail with Phase 3. Here the additional things that we need to do. We want your support and doing it, we will come back in May to provide more details. Then you would have fulfilled their requirement. It's joined because we're the ones leading it, they're not presented, your secure the safety of the situation in the room, everyone gets to that what they're supposed to get and then we can then keep on moving. That would be my recommendation. [02:12:00] Two people don't have to be there. All of us don't have to be there. It's just one person that has to give that. You have a problem with doing that, I'll be on my best behavior and I'll do that myself. I won't go and go wild and come up with crazy ideas and thoughts. I'll just simply stay within the - within the color within the lines. It's simple and then we're fine. The contract should have been written better, but that's just another topic. Fulfilling the contract, we should fulfill it. We shouldn't try to ask for it, agreement it makes us look silly. It makes us look, like, we didn't do the planning. So that's what I'm recommending. [02:12:45] Who-who can't make it? Who can't make it on a 16. [02:12:51] I would rather not be there because I am doing so much over the next. I mean, I can be there, but anything mentally that has to do with [02:13:00] preparing for it, I'm not available. So I will take Chad's offer for - to present that - that night or - or whoever. But if we're doing that, I would - yeah. Preparing everything needs to be. [02:13:19] Chad, would you like to do it? [02:13:21] I mean, if I have to step up, I mean, good God. Yes. [02:13:31] More consistent with the feeling of the folks in the room, so I think that if you would step up and you wouldn't ask them, just simply provides them just a quick summary then I think - and then simply say that will give you more information in May, I think that will meet their needs. [02:13:44] I'll definitely consider it. I'll consider it, yes. I - I - I'm a little confused that if we knew this - this time- frame was coming up, then for us not to be prepared for it. [02:13:55] Here's - here's what's - here's what happened. I meet with [02:14:00] the consultants and the city every Monday and not this past Monday, the Monday before. I suggested and asked if we could move this meeting on Tuesday, the 16th too May. I was told that that was a very likely possibility, meaning that I would not have to worry about thinking about that for this meeting tonight. Had I known that we would have to do this on the 16th, we would have a very different discussion tonight. But because my life is busy, like everyone else's, especially right now, I went off what I was told and expected to not have to deal with this today. [02:14:40] Who told you? [02:14:41] Redmond told me this information. [02:14:45] So let me be clear, I said that would - could be a possibility and we would need to have something in writing and requesting that. We never did, I get that. So in addition, the [02:15:00] timeline of being pushed to the limit as worried as the city attorney and getting us to the point where the same issues that we dealt with - with the pause is so far - it's so far out of what was originally written that it falls into the world of having to be an amended a version of the contract. So - [02:15:24] Again, I will go ahead and say that we should do an update, but I will push back and say I was told that it was very likely that we would not have to do it. I was not told that I needed to provide any form of information to make that happen. So I would like that to be on the record, that - that was not the information given to me. [02:15:44] But this is normally what happens. City do not like risk. They don't do any type of risks. They keep their job if they keep everyone out of the risks. We can talk to the gentleman who has short burger because he filed a lawsuit so none of us can talk to him. He was an [02:16:00] excellent person for us to hear his true. So the cities are risk averse, they just start. Redmond could say the sky is green, but if the - if their lawyer say, kind of, bluish green, kind of - more of a aqua color, whatever, it - it ultimately changes. So it's not even - whoever you want to put it on, it is what it is, that's city. I'm just simply saying, just roll passive. It's not a big issue, just roll past it. Don't-don't let there be- don't let the be - be - consultant's be in breach. The city, it doesn't want to be in breach. If we want a new contract with anyone, we'll brand - we'll create a brand new contract. But let everything in the way it's supposed to in. It's really a 15 to 20 minutes conversation with the city council if that. Okay. [02:16:55] So we have brother Johnson, if you're willing to - if you're willing to do it, then again, [02:17:00] it should be - I think you have more of the - the - the sentiment of the people in the room. If you can't do it and you want me to do it, again, is this - it's a political play, that's all. [02:17:16] I want to comment a little bit close, I wanted to see one- what exactly the contract said. And I'll have to go back also to, um, remember recording of, uh, a previous meeting that we had that I know we specifically discussed this where we knew that it was going to be like four months for the phase 2, and that- and trying to figure out the timing of when the presentation had to be. And then I'm allowed to go back and check the recording to know specifically what the wording was. But I remember that our work whatever else could be done at the end of March, but there is the time frame afterwards. Like into April or whatever camera roll, what the time frame is for- for the presentation. [02:18:00] And the contract itself doesn't state any timeline as to when that presentation is presented. Even after talks about the four months of what is phase 2, and then sometime after phase 2 is the presentation to the City Council and progress, um, evaluation. So I understand that contractually money aspect, whatever else. Uh, so you might want to get it done sooner than later. But if we're talking about, you know, the timeline as to when the presentation is presented after the phase 2 is done it's not in the contract. [02:18:40] So I will say we discussed that. And like we said, when we went through the whole pause, this- the attorneys, that- that work is part of phase 2. So that four month period includes all deliverables, [02:19:00] and that would be unbelievable. [02:19:02] You say that deliverable being done presented at the end of March? [02:19:06] Yeah. [02:19:07] That's not- that's not what was- what was agreed on at a meeting during that time period when we voted on whatever that option one. [02:19:14] Correct. [02:19:15] That's why I need to go back to see exactly what was written. [OVERLAPPING] So that's where- that's [02:19:18] where there's- there's a certain amount, a level of-of discretion that the city manager has that can grant amendments to as long as there's not a substantial change. And so the agreed amount of time before was within the comfort level of-of being not a substantial change. The problem is that was already kind of pushing it. And like it was like half of whatever, half a month or so up to three weeks. Now we're talking two more weeks on top of that and potentially couple of weeks on top of that because of the ability of the city council [02:20:00] to meet. So- so now that is going beyond the comfort level of what a substantial changes to a contract without requiring an amendment. [02:20:10] What- what- an amendment. How- why is that such a problem? [02:20:14] Timeline. Well- Things have to be [OVERLAPPING]. [02:20:17] Say for example, people wanted to get paid, right? [02:20:20] Yeah. [02:20:21] I can't pay you because it's not over yet. So people could actually be experiencing damages. We went through this whole conversation with the pause, right? Because there could be potential damages of not being able to take other work or other jobs or what have you? Um, not that anyone has said that there's some damages, but the fact of it is you want to close this out as the contract speaks, because then you do open up certain risks of damages being presented now. [02:20:52] Can we find out if there's any damages to anybody in order to make that move? [02:20:57] Well, I- I- I don't know. That- [02:21:00] I mean, that's going down another road I would have to look to legal on, but, um, but essentially, contracts are all supposed to be paid out at the end of March, and we're- and we're- and we're talking now, potentially May. [02:21:16] How long as our presentation supposed to be? [02:21:18] So, um, I think that commissioner- Commissioner Simmons laid it out, right? We just do April 16th, that seems to be the best option. We use art to the best of our abilities, our consultants to help us present, um, and we lay out. Like we did in November, our progress report in some highlights of what we plan to do moving forward with a promise to come back with more information in May. That seems to be what we- the only option to do. I do not want to call a special meeting for us to vote on asking for an extension. [02:22:00] I hear Redmond saying about damages, um, or in closing out the contracts. Um, this to me seems like the best option, so I'm sorry, we've had this long conversation on this, but I think we're back to where we started. So let's just move forward with that. [02:22:19] Before we move forward with- how long does our presentation need to be? Do we have a certain specific timeline? [02:22:23] There's no timeline, 15, 20 minutes. Um, I think it's great what, um, commissioner Simmons said. It- it's really just a progress report kinda similar to what we did before. Whoever can be there can be there. [02:22:39] I can be there. [02:22:40] I'm going to be there. So what I'm trying to figure out right now is, I didn't know that I was going to do it. But if worst-case scenario, I'll- I'll step up to the plate, but I was just unexpected. That's all. I was thinking something else. [02:22:56] Let's talk about it afterwards. [02:22:57] I don't like this- the thing that bugs me is when [02:23:00] we- we know we have a city that could possibly be one that's shut us down for whatever reason that every angle for us not to be prepared for that. That's all. That worries me. And if we go there on a 16th and give it any reason, uh, to trip us up. Uh, you know, I- I have no problem stepping up for it if need be, if that'll help. [02:23:23] I think it would be very helpful. [02:23:24] Just a question, commissioner Chad talked about two things. The report and the presentation, those things are different and failure. [02:23:34] Are they different? [02:23:36] They are different. It looks like they're different, they're different. [02:23:40] Okay. [02:23:41] That's right. [02:23:42] And we are implicated just because of maybe a failure for the facilitators, consultants to- to deliver their report. I don't see- I don't mean delivering, they have done services, the report. Dropping the department. So I'm looking at the [02:24:00] calendar that we got from them earlier on and it was on the 31st, they were expected to report to the city. Report due to City Council on March 31st. And after that is when we were going to go to a presentation to the city, which means they are completely two different things. So of course, the presentation on the 16th could have relied on the information from the report, and it could have probably held the city council to observe what we are talking about. The brief one-page thing commissioner Chad is talking about. The- by then they were expect it to have received the report, so even if we were talking about other things presentation, they understand where we're coming from. If right now they have not received any report, and we want to put this due two things together on one day, we're really messed up. [02:24:47] So you're saying- so the report is now due April 30th, correct? [02:24:53] Right. [02:24:53] And then the presentation that you're talking about on the 16th, but your- what is your question? [02:24:59] My question is, [02:25:00] we are putting these two things together and it looks like chronologically, logically, they were not planned to be like that. There's a contractual report that are supposed to be submitted by the facilitators. [02:25:12] So I don't think there was ever contract on the dates, it was suggested, right? [02:25:18] He- he's actually- he's correct. [02:25:20] Okay. [02:25:21] But what happened was, uh, think piece termination. And so- so since that happened, we all recognize that was unplanned on you. So the city manager felt comfortable with his ability to- because it didn't result in costing the contractor to city more money. And the time was amenable because we had already, uh, given to extinction to- uh, to the 16th at the time for the presentation. So there wasn't- there was ample comfort level to extend that time. Um, and- and [02:26:00] he's gone beyond that and said we can even extend that to the end of the month of April. It- it just becomes complicated when we get out of April. That- that's the- that's the problem. And- and he's just saying- and- and the lawyers are saying like, hey, if we got to go into May, that means we are definitely in the world of asking for an amendment. That's- that's what we're- that's what the situation is. [02:26:25] And what part of going into May the- the presentation or is it? [02:26:29] Just- just it for all deliverables remaining, which- which right now is the presentation and a report. The report like- like commissioner Amos was saying, was- was- initially was going to be done before the presentation. I was the presentation that was pushed back because of council's only meets twice a month. But then with the- the whole thing would think piece that- that- that kinda blew that up. [02:26:57] Does- does that answer your question, um, commissioner Quiche. [02:27:00] Yes. I get that, uh, we are restricted on how far we can stretch this. But I don't know how the city will take it when in one event. How do you- he said a presentation. How is the report going to be given? When? The same day? [02:27:18] So the report is going to be due on April 30th and it's not a presentation, it is just a piece of paper. [02:27:25] So we're going to have that. [02:27:27] Yeah. We'll have it. And those City Council will have it. And- well, I mean will City Council get the report. [02:27:32] Yeah, they'll get the report. It doesn't- you don't have to have a public meeting to get to report. [02:27:37] Okay. [02:27:37] So just as a short- a short speech to explain what we'd been through, and what we were going through on a 16th is all we really need. [02:27:45] And our consultants were helpful with putting everything together last time. So, um, of course, we can work together with that. Go ahead, Larry. [02:27:55] Chair, I'm sorry. [02:27:56] Um, I'm quite honestly, I need to go be a dead here. [02:28:00] It's- it's passed their bedtime. Um, I just wanted to ask, uh, whether the presentation on the 16th would be, um, during the session that starts at 4:00, or the session that starts at- at 6:00, just for my planning? [02:28:14] Good- good question. It- it would actually be during the work session, in which will be the four o'clock hour. [02:28:25] Thank you. Um, so long discussion. I think we all- are we all understanding now? [02:28:34] I was going to be present now, who's- who's- who's gonna be doing a presentation? I want to know that. [02:28:41] So you'll be- are you able to be there between four. [02:28:44] I'll there. [02:28:44] Okay. [02:28:45] I'll definitely. [02:28:47] I- I just have to ask for time off from work, which I can find out by tomorrow. [02:28:55] So it looks like we will be able to have people there. [02:29:00] I could probably be there, um, but I might have to let you guys know after this meeting. Um, especially since it's at four and for some reason, I- I missed that. [02:29:10] That's just the work session. And actually there's several things on that work session agenda. So if you would prefer to be closer to five, there may be some ability to do that, so- [02:29:19] Okay. So that might be better. Yeah. So are we in agreement with moving forward with what we talked about? We'll do the joint presence. [02:29:30] We're going to be making a presentation as well. I want to know. [02:29:34] Would you like to? [02:29:35] No. I wouldn't like to, but I will if I have to. I have no problem with that if I have to, but I'd rather not I didn't know I was going to have to, but I will. [02:29:44] Can we decide like after this offline, like and we can figure it out? [02:29:51] Yeah. [02:29:53] Yeah. [02:29:54] I don't want to have to like. [02:29:55] No, no, no, no. No. It needs to be certain decided [02:30:00] now. [02:30:01] Why? [02:30:03] Because there's preparation and work that in essence needs to be done. Once you tried to do it offline, you're right. You can't have the "official meeting". Once you tried to do it offline, then that's where you're going to get into a place of chaos. It's only a determination of who was going to do the presentation. That's all. You- I made an offer. I suggested that you really consider it because I think you have people again on your side. I don't have a problem with doing it, but we have to make the decision now. We cannot keep kicking the- kicking the can down the road. [02:30:37] I will work with Chad and Cliff on the presentation. This- is that in Lauren? Is that- us four, we'll make sure that this happens. Is that an okay decision? [02:30:52] I don't think it's a question about the presentation. I think it's a question about who is presenting. [02:31:00] We knew the 16th was coming up, guys. We knew it- we knew that we would have to step up and we got to take off. I got to take off work too, you get me. So I lose a lot of money doing this. I get it. We're all losing it. But we knew the 16th is coming up. So what are we doing now? Or we do. Am I doing it? Who's doing it? What's going on? Decision has got to be made. You know. [02:31:26] I can do with Chad- I can do it with Chad. [02:31:31] Lauren and Chad. Go ahead. [02:31:33] I'd be willing to do it with Chad if one- I don't want you to lose out on something. I mean, I'd be willing to do it together with Chad. [02:31:42] Okay. So Lauren and Chad presenters. Okay with that? [02:31:49] I don't have a problem with that. But on the contents, I would still want to go with your suggestion that you consult with other [02:32:00] commissioners according to what the content is gonna look like? [02:32:02] Of course. [02:32:04] Yes, of course. So presenters Chad and Lauren, if anyone has an issue, so yeah. Yeah. [02:32:12] I'm definitely going to be. [02:32:14] One more clarification. We have to have this too. [02:32:20] We don't have to have anything till Thursday. [02:32:22] Actual presentation, if you want it on the screen. The clerk needs 24 hours before the meeting. [02:32:28] 24 hours. [02:32:29] Also what was that- about the 11th. [02:32:31] That's just if we were going to vote for an extension. [02:32:34] Okay. [02:32:35] Okay. [02:32:36] Cool. Thank you. Go ahead, Andy [02:32:40] Thanks. So before the last presentation, a slide show was created that worked for Chastity and Lauren, too to present. So what was meant to be supportive and you guys did a great job. You did more than what was in there. [02:33:00] You- you know, you brought yourselves to it. If you look at the agenda on what we provided here, this was meant to be a very broad brush possibility of things and it does include stuff like recommendations that are currently in the draft of the report. But anyway, if you look at this- if you look at the agenda, it is just like the deliverables and there are lots of slides that indicate each of the deliverables what happened in November, December, January, February, March. The next thing is commissioners takeaways. It seems like that you guys could come up with things that you felt were beneficial to you and your personal and collective learning that you're going to take into your planning. So it could be even that simple. I'm- I'm- I'm riffing off what Commissioner Simmons said. And the- the recommendations that [02:34:00] are really coming from the facilitation team, um, don't have to be included. So it could be that simple. And as you look through it, you can see- you can see this. I guess I'd want to say that something that we thought was useful is the first three things after the agenda. First, the strategic plan, because the Iowa City strategic plan really is consistent with your duties. The next thing that we had was the charges, your charges. And then the next thing was your North Star framing question because that was the language you all came up with for your purpose. So that's what is here. So as you're all considering, what will we do, there? Is this stuff here for you to use in any way you want. And we're glad to provide the original so you can work with that. Or you can say, here's what we want, where- you know, here's [02:35:00] our takeaways we're just- we all just sent something to Stephanie and just add those in the final thing and then we'll say that we're we'll come back to you with our plan soon. So anyway, I just wanted to give you guys all that concrete stuff, whether it's useful or not. It is perhaps helpful as you're thinking about how you're going to approach the presentation. Thanks. [02:35:22] Good to go. Thank you. [02:35:24] I think we have come to a consensus on. [02:35:27] Yeah, Chad already signed up. [02:35:29] I'm sorry, I missed it. Chad. You had your hand up. [02:35:33] The only thing I will say is that, again, you want to take a look at who you're presenting to. You- You wanna get your maybe, the top five slides maybe. So it's going to be 3-5 slides as we really all we're going to use. Because ultimately what we're telling them is that this is the work we've done. This is what we plan on telling. This is the additional work we need to do and we'll talk to you more about it in May. That's it. [02:35:59] Perfect. [02:36:00] Thank you. Thank you all. Is there anything else that we'd like to discuss in this agenda item number 6? Can definitely bring this back up at our next meeting. If there is no protests, I'm going to move on to announce what? I'm going to put public comments. Is there anyone online that'd like to raise their hand? Looks like no. And so I'm going to move on to Commissioner announcements. Anyone have an announcement? Staff announcements? [02:36:56] I'll just add. I know that we had hoped to have [02:37:00] budget close out. We'll obviously have that ready once we are able to get our final numbers and everything. So you will get a report that will go down how much money we spent and how much money is remaining and all those things in- at a future date. [02:37:17] Thank you. If there's no announcements, I move to adjourn. [02:37:22] Second. [02:37:23] Thank you.