HomeMy WebLinkAboutTRC Transcript - January 4, 2024[00:00:00] [00:00:06]
It is 7:08, and we will start.
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Commissioner Simmons?
[00:00:16]
Here.
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Commissioner Tassinary.
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Here.
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Commissioner Nobiss.
[00:00:25]
Um- commissioner.
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Here- here.
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Thank- commissioner Merritt.
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Here.
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Commissioner Krebs.
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Here.
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Uh- commissioner Gathua?
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Yeah, here.
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Commissioner Dillard.
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Here.
[00:00:42]
Okay. Next, we will do the reading of the Native American land acknowledgment. We meet today in
the community of Iowa City, which now occupies the [00:01:00] 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, Meskwaki, and Sauk. And because history is complex and time goes far back
beyond memory, we also acknowledge the ancient connections of many other indigenous peoples
here. The history of broken treaties and forced removal that dispossess 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. Uh, so Number 3. Uh, are there any public comments um, that
are- [00:02:00] items that are not on the agenda? Okay.
[00:02:07]
Hi. Greetings. David Stirring from Iowa City. You're not counsel, but I don't know if I need to say that.
Um, uh, I'm just coming here because uh, obviously, a lot's been going on in town about the conflict
going on in the Levant, Israel, Palestine, Gaza. Um, and I feel like the TRC is a model for helping
bridge gaps in the community and bringing us all together might be effective at addressing the gap
that's going on in the Jewish community here. You know, not just generationally, but, uh, there's just a
large gap in interpretation of what's going on in world events, And uh- uh- in particular, I feel like it
would really help if there was some dialogue on what the definition of antisemitism is. Uh, speaking
[00:03:00] as a Jewish person myself, it only took like five minutes of reading for me to discover that
uh, most people of Arab heritage actually descend from the Semitic peoples themselves. So a lot of
arguments about preserving the lives of Arab peoples being called antisemitic by various people,
Jews, non-Jews, Zionists, non-Zionists. Um, it's just- it's a messy misuse of the word. So, yeah, I just
wanted to bring forth that I would love to work with anybody on the commission on uh, finding some
ways to engage with the local Jewish community and start bridging that gap. Thanks.
[00:03:42]
Thank you. Was there anybody else?
[00:03:48]
I would love to. As we- as tonight we- um, you- we um, begin looking at specific things to do. I- it's
been on my mind [00:04:00] for a while, and it was on the- on the commission's mind a long time ago
to weave in members of the community. Early on, the commissioners made a list of potential partners,
organizations, and um, I just encourage you to remember that and I know you do. I'm just- I'm just- it-
it helps me as a community member to remember that there are a lot of people out here who would
love to be part of this work. And maybe as you're thinking of having events and meeting people who
are at the door and people who um- are trained in being with people who are being re-triggered, that-
um, that we have a community of people who would like to be part of this. So it's just reminding you
that it's not all on you. And um, and just wanting to say that because it feels good for me to
remember that. Um, the other piece is, um, this is like general, [00:05:00] so I'm not talking
specifically about anything specific on the agenda. But um, I encourage you all as you look at
information or hear information to ask for what you need. Ask your questions, ask well what about,
ask um- ask anything, make requests, cause this is generative. This converse- these ongoing
conversations are generative, and you have a say and need to have the information you need to
make decisions. Check.
[00:05:32]
Thank you. Anybody else in the room? Okay. I guess, next, we will be going to Number 4. Approval of
minutes from December 7th meeting. [00:06:00] Do I have the motion?
[00:06:03]
Go moved.
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And seconded.
[00:06:08]
It's been properly moved and second to approve the meeting minutes from December 7th.
Commissioner Dillard?
[00:06:20]
Yes.
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Gathua?
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Yes.
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Commissioner Krebs?
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Yes.
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Commissioner Merritt?
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Yes.
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Commissioner Nobiss?
[00:06:32]
Yes.
[00:06:34]
Commissioner Simmons?
[00:06:35]
Yes.
[00:06:37]
And Commissioner Tassinary?
[00:06:38]
Yes.
[00:06:39]
The motion passes 7, 0.
[00:06:41]
Okay. Um, before we start Number 5, we're actually gonna do a little um, shifting of the agenda. And
actually, we're gonna go to um, 7A about the proposed phase roadmap [00:07:00] before we go to the
MLK. So whoever was going to present for the roadmap, please pop in. Hello.
[00:07:12]
My name is Larry Schooler from the Facilitation Team. Can you'll hear me okay?
[00:07:18]
So real quick. Um, so- sorry Larry. We want to go um, presentation type stuff first. So we have Melinda
with the um- the truth telling presentation on witnessing, and then talking through the listening posts,
and then your line by line walk through of the roadmap. So if Melinda is here?
[00:07:50]
Hold on one second. Didn't quite hear that very well, you?
[00:07:55]
Yes. So that's Leo, one of our colleagues from Think Peace, who indicated [00:08:00] that Melinda
Salazar from Think Peace wanted to make a presentation related to an upcoming listening post event
at the MLK Day commemoration. Unfortunately, I don't see Melinda uh, connected on our uh, Zoom.
So I'm looking to see what is going on here. I see a hand from Chair Dillard, so let- let me see the
floor.
[00:08:33]
I just wanna make sure that uh, we are talking about the roadmap right now and not anything like
jumping into MLK Day, Leo?
[00:08:44]
No, no, no. So there's- if you remember from our meeting, we were going to do the um- the truth
telling and witnessing presentation and then um, do kind of an overview of listening posts and then
jump straight to Larry for [00:09:00] the walk through the roadmap.
[00:09:03]
Okay.
[00:09:04]
Do we have- Melinda would need to be promoted as a panelist.
[00:09:13]
Doesn't make Melinda one?
[00:09:17]
Yeah, we don't- we don't have a Melinda listed as attendee or a panelist at this time. At least not that
I can see.
[00:09:26]
Right. I was thinking she might be in the docket under the truth telling project, maybe.
[00:09:31]
No.
[00:09:32]
And Gmail?
[00:09:34]
Not- not here. Not that I can see.
[00:09:37]
Yes- yes not online.
[00:09:40]
Okay. Well, I guess we're going to jump in to the roadmap. Sorry for the interruption.
[00:09:44]
[LAUGHTER]
[00:09:46]
That's okay. Well, I guess, I'll say good evening again, and thank the commissioners and the team for
the chance to share with you all some thoughts that we've assembled [00:10:00] related to the Phase
2 roadmap. I'm a little bit distracted, trying to figure out what is going on with Melinda. And I guess if
Melinda can hear me, she should maybe try to exit and reenter the meeting or reach out to Stephanie.
Uh, we'll see if that can be arranged. I don't know if I should hold and see whether we can get Melinda
into the meeting or if I should proceed. So I'll pause for just a minute, see what is best.
[00:10:33]
We don't even shunned out panel.
[00:10:34]
I think we're working on getting people promoted as panelists. So one second.
[00:10:47]
Come back maybe, here.
[00:10:49]
Technology is not always our friend.
[00:10:54]
It occurs to me while we're waiting Vice Chair and commissioners that I don't know whether Leo has
had [00:11:00] the chance to introduce himself to the Commission. Leo, am I- am I wrong that uh, you
may not have formally gotten introduced here?
[00:11:08]
I have not yet. And I do have a face.
[00:11:13]
Well, it appears that Leo's second personality has emerged in the form of Melinda Salazar, that's
great. But maybe.
[00:11:21]
Okay, good.
[00:11:22]
So this is a little bit crazy tonight, so let me just um, reset for us for just a second. So um, what we
have is a presentation about the Phase 2 roadmap, but tacked on to the beginning, if I understand
correctly, Think Peace wanted to discuss protocols, some ideas for uh, listing posts that will occur
across the roadmap, across the project, and they wanted to discuss that prior to the overview of the
entire roadmap. I do wanna defer to the Commission. This is your meeting, and I just wanna make
sure that we're presenting in the way that makes [00:12:00] the most sense to you all. So we could
hear from truth telling project as it relates to their piece, because you do all- you all do have some
listening post events in the near term. We could do the roadmap and then come to the truth telling
project or do it the other way around. Just wanna get some direction.
[00:12:22]
Not to speak for Chair Dillard, um, but I believe she can confirm that uh, from the- that this is actually
per the request of the Commission uh, to have this presentation go first as kind of we'll deliver this.
And then because the roadmap is more hands on and back and forth in decision making processes,
this is the partial deliverable of the work that has been done so far.
[00:12:49]
Yes.
[00:12:51]
Okay. So I'll go ahead to Melinda Salazar from Think Peace first.
[00:12:55]
Hi, everyone. I have been here the whole time. It's- [00:13:00] it's- what it's like to not be seen. It's-
it's quite an experience. Um, welcome, everyone. We are um, honored and- and thrilled to be here,
Think Peace Learning and Support Hub, sharing with the Iowa City Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, our presentation on trauma inform truth telling and witnessing protocol. I am Melinda
Salazar with the Truth Telling project. And I introduce to you Leo Hilton from Think Peace, who'll be
running tech tonight, as well as contributing as a restored and transitional justice practitioners. But
before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge yet another painfully tragic and senseless school shooting in
our great- in your great state of Iowa. Our hearts break for you all um, and for all of us in this
nation.So if we could just take a moment of silence to center ourselves as we acknowledge the lives
[00:14:00] lost and those injured at Perry High School. Thank you for that. In keeping with our practice
of welcoming our ancestors into this racial justice work, I would like to acknowledge my Colombian
mother tonight who transitioned on this sacred day two decades ago and who descends from Spanish
Muisca Chibcha people, the first indigenous community to be decimated by conquistadors and who
are reclaiming their language and identity. Because of our hybrid arrangement on Zoom and in
person, I'd like to invite you to turn to the person sitting next to you, to name [00:15:00] out loud or to
put in the chat or write on a piece of paper, an ancestor you would like to acknowledge tonight.
[00:15:17]
Grandmother passed?
[00:15:19]
You ought to have in front of you the document we created? And I want to underscore here that these
slides cover the high points in the protocol and do not include some of the very important substitute-
substance that the commissioners would greatly benefit from reading in the printed document. We
have made available to you a copy of these slides electronically in which we have hyper linked to it.
And could- could you all let me know, are you- are- are you seeing, do you have the document in front
of you?
[00:15:57]
Yeah.
[00:15:58]
Okay, cool. Thanks, thanks. [00:16:00] Um.
[00:16:03]
All right.
[00:16:03]
Um, going on, let's see.
[00:16:09]
Uh, hey, going on to the next slide, we've included here a table of contents, just to give you an idea of
how robust this document is. As you can see, we've included background and history of giving
testimony and bearing witness as a way to acknowledge this truth and reconciliation commission. You
are all standing on strong foundation. The lineage is long, and the history of testimony is powerful in
practice and study. We invite you as commissioners to hold and to stand in this power. [00:17:00] So
as to overview, uh, these are the three areas that we're going to touch on tonight. The basic trauma
basics and trauma informed truth telling, what to expect in preparing truth tellers, conducting
testimony, preparing witnesses, and what do we mean by post truth telling processes. Next slide.
Thank you. Think piece presented to you a few months back about the basics and science of trauma
from a neurological and physiological perspective. We encourage commissioners to be aware the
truth telling project can directly or indirectly trigger memory held in the body that may be known or
suppressed in truth tellers witnesses, commissioners, and the public. We noted- [00:18:00] we note
that to the brain, it doesn't matter if a threat is real or perceived. The body keeps score of
experiences and traumas. We may have willed in our minds and hearts into no longer seeing. So we
intentionally look for the impacts, as you can see here, felt and held in the body that we've included. I
want to emphasize again here that we're highlighting the key points in giving testimony and
witnessing truth telling and encourage you all to take a deep dive into our document, particularly
around this aspect of trauma. Think peace and the truth telling project, apply a race lens to our truth
telling work, which is why I borrowed the term trauma-informed from health care, [00:19:00] uh,
practitioners and clinicians to acknowledge how members of the African American and indigenous
communities develop adaptive behaviors as a consequence of multi-generational oppression,
resulting from centuries of chattel slavery, forced removal from ancestral lands, immigration,
colonization and other manifestations of pervasive systemic racism. We call upon the amazing work of
our colleagues, Dr. Joy Degruy, and what she point post-traumatic slave syndrome. Dr. Resmaa
Menakem notion of somatic abolitionism as a way to heal the body from the virus of white supremacy,
and psychoanalysts, Nichols and Connelly's idea of transforming ghosts from our slavery past into
ancestors [00:20:00] that can unsilence and heal all of us from past historic harms. We did not go into
tremendous detail in our trauma presentation that would be more like a trauma two workshop. And
for the purpose of concision, uh, in our document, we've included only Dr. Joy Degruy work in the
current version of this document. But certainly, if the Commission would like to an expanded version,
we would be honored to expand this section for greater depth and comprehensiveness. The next few
slides will include clips from truth telling hearings. This is the heart of the work that we do. Let's put a
pin in this and be sure to come back to the idea of a method for the creation of a notion and process
of consent that is how we ask for permission to record [00:21:00] and to indicate the future use of
testimony. Our document does go into greater detail about the preliminary steps commissioners can
take to find and prepare truth tellers for giving testimony. And here are a few highlights from that
process. The pre-meeting, um, preparation with truth tellers to check in with them as to their comfort
level. Being sure that in the preparation stage, we address trauma and the need for preparation
protection against re-traumatization. Meeting with truth tellers in advance to hear what they will say.
And most importantly, building a relationship, getting to know the truth tellers beyond their
testimony. They're more than their harms, they're more than their hurts. We're human beings and
building a relationship [00:22:00] with truth tellers, um, is very important. And of course, taking
special care for youth, young truth tellers through community support and an after care plan. We're
going to show you now Mike, um, testimony from Mike Brown Senior about the murder of his son, 18-
year-old Mike Brown Junior on the streets of Ferguson on August 9th, 2014. This year will mark a 10
year anniversary. It's hard to believe that this milestone event is coming up. History definitely speaks
for itself. But I want to bring your attention to the two additional people besides him and the witnesses
in the audience that you'll view in the testimony. You'll see a support person standing next to Mr.
Brown. Truth [00:23:00] tellers may want to identify for themselves someone with whom they feel
safe and who holds space while they speak. You'll also notice that the truth teller- that there's a truth
teller hearing facilitators. Commission- Commissioners do not have to serve as facilitators. It's entirely
possible that a commission member might feel unable to engage with truth tellers and witnesses with
the level of care and support called for in this document. This can be due to personal reasons around
the place of emotion in this work or for reasons related to perhaps his her or their pain and trauma. In
either case, commissioners may identify a member of the community to serve as facilitator. So we'll
now play about five minutes of Mike Brown Senior's [00:24:00] testimony. As Leo brings up this
testimony, I encourage commissioners to note the website, hyperlinked to this picture. It's from the
truth telling projects. It's time to listen website, and online educators resource we created that holds a
sacred the original truth telling tellers, where each testimony is accompanied by discussion and an
activity guide that could be used in living room conversations, could be used in the classroom. Um, so
we have spent time analyzing, as you may do, uh, the testimonies themselves for- for the themes,
um, that the truth tellers address.
[00:25:00] [00:25:01]
Michael Brown Senior from St. Louis, Missouri.
[00:25:07]
Alright. Brother Michael, tell us your story of what you and your family experienced in police brutality
and police violence.
[00:25:27]
Well the story is um, growing up, myself, I had to deal with those issues, you know, it's sad when you
have to tell your son or your loved one how they have to interact with police officers. You know, just to
warn them to- to- to obey would I wouldn't say obey, just to follow directions. [00:26:00] Um, I had a
lot of in interactions, but my son had more, you know, because of his size, his weight, you know, from
behind, he looks like a grown man. Uh, he had a lot of issues with them, you know, talking to him and
he not knowing what to do and- and knowing procedure of if you come in contact with a police officer.
Don't forget some. Make sure you call me or your mom. When you had a age of 10, Mike was always
tall. [00:27:00] Always. Wait. So just coming up and being a big guy.
[00:27:30]
Leo, if we're having some technical issues, maybe we want to move on.
[00:27:37]
It's just speaking. But, yeah. [NOISE] So the fight is the fight. [00:28:00] However they want to call it.
[00:28:08]
Leo, we seem to be having some tech- good. There you go. All right.
[00:28:16]
Sorry about that. I'm back.
[00:28:19]
Okay. Um, let's just queue up back to the slides and skip this part of- of the video. Awesome. Thank
you, Leo. Um, so those from the community who want to come forth to witness truth telling also
require preparation. Commissioners will want to acknowledge the physiological and psychological
impacts that can emerge, as well as prompting witnesses as to the art and [00:29:00] active listening,
which we include in our document. You'll find these slides and the relevant material in your document
under what's the role of truth- of a witness on page 10 and 11-12. During the testimony, there are
important protocols to follow. And you will have these slides, and in case we are having that technical
issue here, you'll be able to look at those testimonies yourself. Again, there's a more comprehensive
and nuanced list in- in the main document where we want to thank each of the truth tellers for
choosing to show up and to sharing their testimony, asking if there's anything more that they would
like to share, providing gentle invitation for them to share their experience, and then of course,
honoring-inviting and honoring the presence of a support person. Um, as commissioners, whether
[00:30:00] we are acting as facilitators or just or organizers, engaging with curiosity, asking follow up
questions, like, can you clarify, say more about and allowing spaces of silence for the tooth teller to
breathe, remote, however they need to. As you saw in the video, or you did not see the support
person acting intervening in any way with Mike Brown Senior, and always being gentle and patient in
speech compassionate in responses offered. And next slide. During the testimony, there are, um,
sorry. Let me go on to the next one. Following up with both truth tellers and witnesses as a
responsibility [00:31:00] of commissioners. Members of the community may be raw, perhaps
triggered and re triggered, which means they're experiencing trauma, and we want to ensure that
you are sensitive to the experiences and contribute to their individual and collective healing. We're
not suggesting that any post truth telling process is abetted. The aim of a truth-telling commission,
Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to contribute to systemic change. The root cause of these
concerns in the first place. We suggest that follow up be immediate as well as over time. So as you
review these slides, you'll be able to click on each picture to access the reference video segment. And
you'll also find brief notes beneath each slide to help guide you, to guide what you listen for as each
one has been carefully selected to provide you with various perspectives [00:32:00] and experiences
from national and international truth telling initiatives. At this time, let's pause and invite any
questions for myself or for Leo. Thank you for your time. And I am unable to see anybody in the
audience at this time, so I would invite, uh, Chair Dillard to call on anybody with questions.
[00:32:46]
I'll defer to Vice Chair, Merritt.
[00:32:52]
Anybody have any questions? We're good, so we can keep going.
[00:32:59]
How [00:33:00] are you-all doing? Maybe we just take a moment. Um, let's queue up, uh, Leo's face so
we can all see the other person behind the screen. And for those of you who have not met Leo Hilton
on the truth telling project team. Leo, a few words you'd like to say on the spot?
[00:33:31]
Well, sure. Never probably be put on the spot. So I am Leo Hilton. I have been working with Think
Peace for the past two years, supporting their, uh, transitional justice education initiatives. I've been
invited back, uh, due to my expertise in restorative justice and restorative practices, uh, as well as
transitional justice. And so [00:34:00] I'm very much here to support how I can. I do plan on reaching
out, uh, individually to commissioners to really hear from you so that I'm not just another talking head
coming in, uh, claimed expert to tell you what you need to do, but to really hear from you, um, and
support you and be responsive to you in how we do this work. Um, so what you may not know is that I
am also currently incarcerated. Uh, I am 15-and-a-half years into a 50 year sentence serving in Maine
State prison. I have caused serious harm in this world, and I am committed. It happened young. And
so I have many years to work to repair harm, uh, in as many places and ways as I possibly can. And so
that is interpersonal, communal, and here, structural, which is, um, both exciting and obligatory
[00:35:00] for who I am and how I am in the world. And so I come to this feeling the connection
between us that existed before I joined this team or before this commission was formed, and that will
exist afterwards. Um, so while I may be here as a contractor, um, I'm very much here as a human
being and honor that and who this team is and who this commission is, and who the community
members are, uh, who really need this space of healing and support and structural transformation in
ways where we can collectively transition from this place of inter-generational trauma into one where
it is just a little bit more healed. And so thank you. Just shoot from the hip and saying, hi. I'm here to
help and to serve how I can.
[00:35:53]
Thank you.
[00:35:54]
Thank you so much, Leo. And to close, um, we want to acknowledge and respect the successes
[00:36:00] and challenges that you-all as TRC commissioners have experienced throughout this
process. And as we've noted in our agreements or maybe it was in training when we were all
together, we operate at the speed of trust. This is not easy work. You've all been through years of
joys, tests, and difficulties to get to where you are now. We want you to know that we see you, we
believe in you, we support you, and we hold you up as stewards of peace building and as models for
other communities seeking truth, healing, and repair for systemic racial justice. It's pretty amazing
what you-all been through and what you continue to show up for. So please do not hesitate to reach
out to any one of us at any time, if you have questions, comments that come to you after we close
today. And as you see in [00:37:00] the document, our emails are in the closing slide. So I want to
thank you-all for your time. We'll pass it back on to you.
[00:37:13]
Thank you, Melinda.
[00:37:19]
Vice Chair, is it okay to continue?
[00:37:22]
Yes, it is.
[00:37:23]
Okay. I'm, uh, here to discuss the Phase II road map. I appreciate truth telling projects, um, Think
Peace rather's presentation on the elements of that aspect of the map, and I'm meant to kind of cover
the map in total. I'm going to go ahead and share my screen as well, but what's on my screen should
be a part of the materials that were handed to you. So I will refer to this. Pardon me. What's that?
[00:37:54]
I think yours are easily readable.
[00:37:56]
Easier to read. Got it. Got it. Yeah, so I'll- [00:38:00] I'll keep this shared on screen for everyone's
edification. And will do my best to avoid any kind of straight read of this, but I think it's important to
do my best to give you a sense for how everything knits together. Um, I'd really want to acknowledge
that a lot of the work that went into this was done by people other than me, especially Laurel Cohen,
in terms of putting pen to paper, but also each member of the facilitation team contributing their own
parts. To orient you to what you're seeing, you'll notice that there is some color coding. The orange
refers to tasks that would be undertaken by the TRC, by the commissioners themselves. The green
refers to native partners and healing partners. The blue, the lighter blue here, kind of the royal blue,
is for fact finding for Kearns & West, and then the purple refers to Think Peace and truth telling.
[00:39:00] You'll also notice at the bottom of the screen a couple of different tabs on the spreadsheet.
It may not be obvious on the printout. But we'll talk a little bit later about this notion of pace or timing
or cadence associated with culminating events towards the middle or end of March. The basic
difference between culminating cascade and cascade spread is the idea of how much to concentrate
culminating events day after day versus having either a day or two of break in between or even a
week in between those events. So that's in essence, what the distinction is between those three
modalities. And then obviously, this is oriented as sort of a calendar with goals, and then what is
meant to be completed by whom they're in the third column where it says completed outputs. Any
questions before I keep going.
[00:40:00] [00:40:01]
I think we're good so far.
[00:40:03]
So we're here, of course, on Row 5, the first week of the year, and, of course, happy New Year to
everybody. We're presenting the roadmap, and you've just heard the Peaces of truth telling event
presentation there. Our goal tonight is both, of course, to get your feedback on this roadmap, but also
to make sure or to check, I should say, to see whether notion of these March culminating events
would satisfy your original request for some pilot programs during Phase II, and if so, get some
commitment on specific dates so as to allow us maximum amount of time to do some planning. We
also have indicated that the TRC, in this initial part of the year, would be working on some listening
post planning for a focus topic for those March events. And just to refresh everybody's memory, when
we [00:41:00] talked about listening posts before. We're talking about an event for a subset of the
commissioners who arrive at a community event - an existing community event, make themselves
available to the public. The mayor, we understand, has also done this as a listening bus tour. There's a
variety of different ways to do this. It certainly is up to you-all to decide the exact format, the exact
configuration. But the notion here is that these listening posts can serve as kind of many opportunities
for the public to be exposed now to opportunities for testimony, opportunities for truth telling,
opportunities for fact finding, and ultimately for reconciliation. Next week, we would be undertaking a
list of target community organizations for the listening post outreach, and we would do this on the
basis of the focus topics that we reviewed with you-all a meeting or so ago, including [00:42:00]
topics related to public safety and law enforcement, economic development, and education. As you
can see, we've indicated that the TRC itself would be undertaking the planning for an event on MLK
Day, and we know that's a separate agenda item here. The following week, of course, would be MLK
Day itself, and a listening post potentially would occur at that event that has been publicized. Now we
would also be endeavoring to schedule the dates for the culminating events in March by this point. So,
as you can see, trying to give ourselves a minimum of two months lead time, if at all possible, to
commence with all of the planning that we think is- is important to do for these events to be
meaningful, um, to identify both the dates, the times, how long the events would go and their
objectives to do that in the middle of January. To then the following week book a venue for those
events [00:43:00] and create a calendar for promoting them. It's really important not just to, um, you
know, kind of put an event together and have a flyer and hope people see that flyer, but really have
an eye towards multiple ways and multiple opportunities for people to know about these events and
make plans to attend. They are historic events, in my opinion, for Iowa City, and we want folks to get
ample notice and hear about it from a lot of different sources. You'll see here for the first time, the
light green, and what we have on this roadmap is one of two possible optional time frames for what
we're calling experiential community healing circles, and, uh, the notion of a- of a training for the
commissioners in conducting healing circles. Monope and Donielle are here, and I don't want to speak
for them, they'll share more about that at their agenda item, but the idea is that we want the
community to experience what a healing circle can be. [00:44:00] We want commissioners to receive
the tools and skills to- and the practice to be able to conduct these after our work, uh, on your behalf
is complete. And then, of course, uh, if the- once the listening post event happens on MLK Day, the
idea would be that you-all would debrief it either at your next meeting on the 18th or perhaps that
week of 22nd of January. Moving to the beginning of February, you'll see that the idea or the goal is
for us Kearns & West as your fact finding liaisons to present findings associated with public safety,
criminal justice, and law enforcement. And the idea is that that could, um, end up being a- a focal
point of a truth telling event happening, um, later on. The Think Peace team is also going to be, I
assume, [00:45:00] expanding on what they've presented tonight in the way of a document on
witnessing and a way for you-all to prepare for culminating truth telling event. And then we would be
working on what's known as a concept note or basically a, um, a plan, a memo that outlines what we
think would be, um, a way to approach the culminating events in March. I keep using this phrase,
culminating events. What I mean to say there is our work on your behalf is meant to wrap up by the
end of March with some presentations to counsel in April. And so what we're trying to do is drive
towards some signature events, some big public events at the end of our time with you-all so that
then the TRC would be in a position to use those as templates to continue the work into the remainder
of your time of service. Moving on, we have another opportunity [00:46:00] for a community healing
circle in the second week of February and a document from the Think Peace team on public hearings.
Uh, the following week, we would share a draft run of show for the culminating events during your
meeting, as well as present findings on fact finding associated with economic development. So we're
doing each of the three topics of fact finding spaced out over, uh, the next month and a half or so.
We'll also want to check in with the TRC relative to any additional listening posts that have occurred,
any progress that's been made, and make sure we have a focus topic for the March events. We like to
prepare what we call facilitation guides for our events, where it's very clear in great detail, who is
responsible for what part of the meeting and who's helping with technology and who's helping with
other logistics. And so by the later [00:47:00] part of February, very early March, we want to have
created that facilitation guide for your culminating events and review it with you at your first meeting
in March, as well as present the findings from fact finding on our third topic of education. We would
also be working as we get ready for the culminating events to ensure that we can be ready for a
council report and presentation, uh, after the end of March in early April. But the focus, of course,
would be preparing for and holding and helping facilitate your culminating events towards the latter
part of March. So this of the three tabs, of the three scenarios represents the compressed schedule
and, you know, I'm sure that my colleagues could share with you their own take on, uh, pros and cons
of each of the scenarios here. Obviously, we are very well aware of how your all volunteer service
[00:48:00] to this commission is taxing on your work and on your personal life. And so it may be that-
that it is best to do these events spaced out, but it also may be helpful to allow for the community to
provide their testimony as soon after the receipt of facts- fact finding as possible and for there to be
healing opportunities following shortly thereafter. That's a choice for the TRC to make. We're just
giving you a couple of- of flows of calendar, depending on how you want to proceed. But in general,
the last two weeks of March would be given over to culminating events, both fact finding, truth telling,
and reconciliation to be followed by presentation to the city council in the early part of April. I did go
very fast, but I wanted to be efficient and focus on any questions that you-all have or any concerns
that you want to raise about this roadmap about the culminating events and about this [00:49:00] in
general. So I'll pause there. Vice Chair.
[00:49:06]
Thank you. Um, I think this roadmap is- I like it. Do you have any thoughts?
[00:49:23]
So I'll say that I like it too. But I'll also say that I'm- I'd be less than honest if I didn't say I'm concerned
about how much is happening in this short amount of time. So I'm wondering, are there any other,
um, alternative paths that you've thought about or considered if we had to streamline, like, if we get
to two or three weeks in, and all of a sudden, we realize this just isn't going to happen. So- so what
are the- what are the ways that we still can succeed [00:50:00] by April even if we can't accomplish
everything?
[00:50:04]
Well, let me- Commissioner Tassinary, let me speak for myself or for Kearns & West for fact finding,
and then I'll- I'll certainly would welcome think peace or healing partners- native partners to share.
Uh, I think one potential way to streamline this or to manage it in terms of its scope, would be to
endeavor to take even just one single topic and follow this thread through. So as you noted or as you
would note, I mentioned treatment of public safety, treatment of education, and treatment of
economic development over this period of time. Um, I think It would be certainly meaningful to have
one of those topics be treated in depth with fact finding, as well as truth telling, as well as experiential
healing circles. Um, it may be a modest achievement to- to have that be the crux or [00:51:00] the
bulk of what you achieve by quarters end. But from my perspective, that would certainly allow for a
depth of understanding of that topic, uh, that would be harder to come by if you were attempting to
tackle, you know, multiple topics in that same quarter. You know, the tricky thing, of course, is, a, we
obviously have a- a time frame. We have to abide by contractually. And so we're trying to make sure
that we equip you all with the very best in tools and in templates so that you can carry on once our
work with you is complete. But then separately, there's just the notion of your overall timeline and the
number of topics you all want to tackle and the extent of the mandate you have to, address issues
related to racial discrimination, systemic racism. So on the one hand, I would say that it might make
sense to shorten, or excuse me, to reduce the scope of the first quarter to be just [00:52:00] on one
topic. On the other hand, that could leave you that much more work to do in quarters 2, 3, and 4 to
make sure that you sufficiently address the other topics that were of interest, uh, to you all. So I hope
that answers your question to some degree. I do see my colleague, Laura Colman's hand raise, I don't
know if she wanted to- to get in there. But Commissioner Kayla, can I help it all anymore?
[00:52:25]
Well, I just I was- that's great, and I appreciate that. I'm just thinking I wanted to have a bit- I wanted
to- um, to get a little bit more of your expertise and your experience with respect to these kinds of
issues, to give us all, er, a sort of reality check. So- and we- we can all choose to do lots of things,
right?
[00:52:55]
Right, but.
[00:52:56]
You've seen other examples where things have gone really well and things [00:53:00] have gone
terrible, not so well, but terrible, not so well.
[00:53:03]
Right. Right.
[00:53:05]
That- that's what I'm looking for, it's just something like that.
[00:53:07]
Well, you know, when you're- when you're a facilitator in settings like this, one of the things that can
prove to be most challenging in my estimation is stranding- straddling a line between wanting people
to speak from the heart as to whatever it is that they want the TRC to know, and keeping the focus on
a particular topic. And, you know, when I think of the Greensboro example, which was the- the most
noteworthy and first TRC in the United States, and I think in North America. I feel that one of the
things they did well was that each of the public hearings really had a pretty singular focus. Now, you
could argue that each of those hearings, one talking about the before of the events, one talking about
the events, and one talking about the [00:54:00] aftermath was still very expansive, and to be sure,
these were, you know, multiple hour, multiple day events. But I just felt that they, um, packed a
significant punch by having people be able to kind of wrap their arms around what was going to be
discussed in a more concise way than necessarily having the floor be completely open to any of the-
the topics at hand. So I think you can accomplish a version of both by ensuring that people have ways
to bring forward their truth and their testimony on any topic asynchronously, meaning at any time.
Whether it's with staff, with commissioners, with maybe members of our team, you know, to provide
that testimony privately on whatever topic at whatever time is convenient for everyone. But then
separately from that, have your hearings be very tailored to, you know, a single topic, a topic that
could be explored in depth through the fact [00:55:00] finding process through archival research and
data-driven research, and through extensive testimony, and through reconciliation with particular,
um, parties that really should be a part of that process. So, you know, again, I really want to stress
that this is, you know, not for me to, you know, direct you all or even to- to, you know, I'm reluctant
even to give recommendation, but- but Commissioner, to your question directly, I think, um, if you
have the ability to spend all your time on a particular- on a particular topic, uh, and deepen your
engagement with that topic, both from fact finding, truth telling, and reconciliation, um, I think the
fruits of that labor will be pretty significant.
[00:55:48]
I- I wanted to bring up, this is a- like your merit. Um, because I think on a previous meeting, we kind of
talked about maybe of targeting one concept [00:56:00] going through from beginning to end,
knowing that, I would say other ones are going to be coming up, and I wanted to, um, think like we're
going to keep a list of those. Those are the ones that we're going to probably have to do some future
fact finding, because as we talked about when things trigger. Different things are going to come up,
people are going to come up with different things they want to talk about. But to keep us because we
are under, you know, a tight schedule, and to keep us from not spreading ourselves too thin, trying to
touch all these bases, because we know there's plenty of information out there for us to be touching
base with- with the community and getting involved with. But trying to stay focused with one to the-
we are thorough, going through all the steps from, like I said, beginning to end just to- to set up that
template for the other concepts that we're talking about, and we can jump into- into [00:57:00] future
things. But, um- and I don't know, this maybe if we focus on one, but still have the others kind of that
you talked about here, um, and check, kind of making note as we go forward. But still trying to target
more of one of them as opposed to. Because these are big ones.
[00:57:20]
Right.
[00:57:21]
[LAUGHTER] For us to be dealing with this sort of time period. So- so I like the idea of maybe trying to
decide on one of them that we all think would be a good one to work with and go forward. Um, I'm not
sure what point we can make that decision, but I- I- and I would like to go maybe with the other
commissioner to see what they think about.
[00:57:41]
Sure.
[00:57:41]
And I like that too.
[00:57:44]
One- one other thing that I would say, Vice Chair from a process perspective, is that my observations
of you all, um, as we've gone through this process together, are that it's important to give you all the
space to really sit with information [00:58:00] that's given to you before then immediately asking you
to react to it and act upon it. And I think as it relates to the topics that we've laid out here, the hope is
that fact finding around these topics won't just be a regurgitation of things that many of you already
know or suspected. But reveal information that- that you didn't know. And speaking for myself, if I am
given information that's new to me, it's very difficult for me in the span of that same meeting, to then
say, well, here's what I think we should do about it. I want to sit with it, whether it's for at night or
more time. And so if we were to shift the focus to one and not three of these topics over the quarter,
then I think some of that space might- might exist. In other words, where we were going to start on a
second topic, we could potentially go deeper on that first topic and really allow for more information
to be shared, more time to be spent reflecting [00:59:00] on it and deliberating on how to act upon it,
if that makes sense.
[00:59:05]
It is. I'll say one more follow up. I was just thinking while you were talking that, and again, I just want
just your general experience or anybody else on your team. Are- are these kinds of commissions, are
these kinds of events associated with commissions, do you believe more successful. If they are
organized around a topic like public safety or they're organized around a particular event? Because it
seems to me in some of the examples, the ones that are really successful seem more event-based to
me, but I don- I don't know if that's true or not. Buddy, point out that out.
[00:59:47]
Yeah, I think Commissioner, not to sound like I'm ducking the question or- or, you know, being
political, but you are using terms in your question that, of course, uh, require interpretation. Meaning
what is success [01:00:00] associated with this- this endeavor. And I- I just couldn't pretend to know
exactly what that- that might be. I certainly when you contrast Greensboro, Maine, and Canada, for
example, Greensboro was very much about a single event, um, whereas Maine and- and Canada were
less so, Maine and Canada were very much about eras of time, you know, significant epochs of time. I
see Eduardo and Melinda, so I'll be brief. Um, but I- I think that the mandate of this Commission to me
doesn't seem to be event-driven. And so I would be reluctant to lead you all down that path in the
absence of counsel direction for this to be event, uh, driven as opposed to topically driven. But I'll
yield to Eduardo and- and Melinda.
[01:00:49]
Thank you, Larry. So, um, I think that we- we need to- to take very practical decisions and be in
general very practical [01:01:00] about what we want to do, um, in the work of the commission in this
year. The commission has the mandate to work over 2024, and you have our support until the end of
March, which is why our roadmap is pretty detailed regarding this first quarter. It is detailed because
of our work for you. So don't be anxious about the roadmap looking extremely detailed or extremely
charged. That is basically for our own guidance so that we can divide the work among ourselves and-
and support you. But to look, um, at the roadmap with the perspective of the year, what we wanted to
propose, and this is in a narrative text, what we wanted to propose is that we focus the first quarter in
learning how to do the public events. [01:02:00] That is why we're focusing on the support to
statement givers that we're calling truth tellers, and how those events link up with the actual
research, the actual fact finding. And so if we dedicate the first quarter to, um, set up one particular
event. Then you are going to be prepared during the second and third quarters to continue doing
those events. We think that it would be better and not practical to do this first event about one
particular topic, a topic that you choose as the- uh, the one that would be more important, and our
colleagues in Kearns & West are already doing some fact finding. So If we say invite in March, people
to talk about one particular issue, for example, education, then we can find a few testimonies about
the issue of education, we can organize a- a dialogue [01:03:00] and a discussion about education
and race, etc. And then you can decide on using that model, that template for events in the second
quarter and in the third quarter. Why am I not saying to the fourth quarter? Well, because you also
have the, uh, obligation to present a report to counsel about your activities. So what we are thinking is
that dedicate the last part of the year, third and fourth quarter to prepare that report. Um, specifying
the findings that you made during your, uh, fact finding, listening to people who came to you to give-
um, to give testimony, and organize and compile that information in the form of a report with
findings, and with recommendations. So- so that is how- how we look at it. But the first quarter is
specifically to- uh, to learn to err how to carry out these events. What you [01:04:00] told us in
previous meetings is that you wanted to do a number of informal, small meetings called listing posts.
And those are a good learning opportunity on the one side and on the other. They are very simple to
do because it's, um, basically having a number of commissioners that do not constitute quorum. So it
is an informal conversation to listen to people, to exchange some information and for you to get a feel
of the situation in- in the city and in the ground. And it is that information that you get to receive in
those listening posts that is going to probably, um, uh, inform the so called culminating event. Uh,
that- that you- you want to have. That- that is the general logic.
[01:04:54]
Okay. Thank you. Again every question maybe I shouldn't be thinking out loud, but the question
[01:05:00] was really more about thinking down the road, about how it's just- it-it seems harder for
this event to come together when it's topic based because there's so many unknowns. And when it's
an event based, it becomes a little bit easier in term- in lots of ways, but I just wanted to air that a
little bit, but I understand completely what you're saying. And I agree with you completely that this
first phase we should, um, it's all about training ourselves to be able to- then replicate it to finish the
process.
[01:05:34]
Well, this actually is a discussion you should have, uh, among the commissioners, uh, because it's
basically a tactical decision, meaning, um, one option, we are having our colleagues in Crimson West
investigating one particular topic, which I understand is, uh, uh, education right? So that means that
there are going to be documents, there is going to be information [01:06:00] about that particular
topic. And so an event based on that topic, can result in you inviting professors, teachers, students, et
cetera, to have a dialogue and a conversation on that topic, education and race. So it is feasible. Now,
you can also say, uh, look, perhaps for this initial event, we are not going to have all the information
we want or we don't feel that we are going to feel comfortable with all that. So let's have a more
generic meeting, right? And then we invite people to talk about different issues. One can be
education, the other can be security, the other can be economic empowerment and so on. Uh, the
only difficulty with that is that if you feel unsure about an event about one topic, you may feel more
unsure if the event comes with a number of different topics that may, you know, come out of left field.
So- so that is why we were thinking perhaps [01:07:00] the simpler way to do it is, uh, is to focus on
one particular, uh, topic for the event. Thanks.
[01:07:10]
I would like to say something if that's okay. Um, this is Sikowis. Yeah, I just like, I don't feel like we
need to necessarily have topics. Like, I think we should just go into our communities and have a
listening session and see what they have to say. From that, we will figure out what the topics are. Um,
this makes more sense to me than this top down approach that's been, um, I guess, pushed from the
beginning, you know, having leaders come together and decide what should be talked about. Um, I
think that a- a few other commissioners would agree with me that it's just basic grassroots organizer,
uh, I know that it's just best just to have a meeting and see what people have to say. So I'm- I'm
guessing we can have meetings like that as well.
[01:08:00] [01:08:03]
Without questions, Comisioner, I think that's true. Eduard. I- I also just want to honor Melinda Eduard.
[01:08:09]
Yeah, sure.
[01:08:10]
A while ago.
[01:08:11]
I'm sorry.
[01:08:16]
Just- just to, uh, clarify, uh, or to add to this conversation. The, uh,- the commission that happened in
Greensboro came together to-, uh, to seek truth about a particular event that happened in the past.
Ferguson, uh, truth telling was the event was the murder of Mike Brown and the subsequent violence
that took place on the streets during the protests and the months following. So those were different
kinds of they were events, but they were different kinds of truth seeking Then- then-, uh, [01:09:00]
then the tops- the topical events that- that- that you, uh, have been thinking about. I just wanted to be
sure that that distinction was made. So there was a crisis in the community and the community
responded to that crisis by holding truth seeking and truth telling. That's it. Thank you.
[01:09:26]
Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that, um. Yeah, this definitely makes our, uh, work harder because I- I
I've, you know, been privy to the, you know, to- to the sorry, the truth or reconciliation process uh, in
Canada as my family is a part of that. Uh, and it's definitely different. But I mean, like, uh, I hope that,
we still consider our, you know, charge to be, you know, racism. Uh, and that, you know, we just keep
the top- all the topics related to that. [01:10:00] Um, and then I wanted to say one more thing, um, I
guess I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed at like this idea that somehow we're going to take this work
on. I feel like we paid a lot of money to, like, get this work carried out, like on our behalf as
commissioners. And, like, I can't imagine like having to carry out, like all of this work like for free. Um,
and like- like I mean, we're basically going to take on, like, a job for the city. I mean, like, I'd love to
hear what other commissioners have to say about this because I'm just, like, kind of like I'm seriously,
like really shocked to think that we would have to do all this for free.
[01:10:42]
[LAUGHTER] This is, uh, this is the chair. Uh, I guess my also understanding that it wasn't so much
that the facilitators were going to be [01:11:00] doing the work on behalf of the TRC, but they were
going to be educating and helping us with the training for us to set up the templates and, uh,
presenting to the city, something that they could go forward in-, uh, hopefully in the future, basically
commit mo-, uh, money to that. Um, and yes, it is a lot of work [LAUGHTER] for the TRC. There's no
doubt about that. But, uh,- but the facilitators would still be working with us. As we're going through
this, and I think this, um, road map has helped out quite a bit [LAUGHTER] in giving us an idea. But
also, I wanted to touch base with something you said earlier about, uh, going to the communities and
listening to it, uh, what they had to say with, like, topics, whatever. And I think that with these
listening post events, it kind of does exactly that. Uh, if we set up a- [01:12:00] a few of these
listening posts out to the communities to get their input on whatever, and I think that it is possible for
us to still gear you know, a general topic and have the listing posts and have the community prevent
us, uh, or present to us specifics that we can move forward on. Because I still think that since we
have a short amount of time, it would be very helpful to be a little bit more structured [LAUGHTER]
you know, with the community, but that's just my opinion on that but- Yeah, and I'm just going to say,
I don't have capacity to do this. So I mean, does anybody- like I'd love to know what other TRC
members think? Like, do you have capacity to do this?
[01:12:46]
This is Commissioner Wangui. I want to respond to you Nobiss. And I'm, uh, thinking when somebody
applies for a job, [01:13:00] there is usually a job description, and I don't know about the other
commissioners, but when I applied to be a TRC Commissioner, I was going off having served in the
Human Rights Commission and the other commissions and boards in the city that meet one hour one
month or- in a month. So I think I'm agreeing with you, Commissioner Nobiss that, uh, we came- we
came in blind, and I think of a blind date, you don't know what you're going to find. And am I again
feeling like Alice in Wonderland, and the I keep going down. It's- it's a lot.
[01:13:58]
Yeah, it's like- It's like never end.
[01:14:00]
I didn't expect.
[01:14:02]
Yeah.
[01:14:03]
Yeah.
[01:14:03]
It's like, it never ends?
[01:14:04]
Yeah.
[01:14:04]
So it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Kind of feels like my work I'm doing right now
for, uh, our budget for our organization [LAUGHTER]. Marie knows what I'm talking about. Anyways
[OVERLAPPING].
[01:14:14]
So that is. Yeah. But probably this is me reacting to the road map that we were just given and thank
you very much. Uh, Dr. Scholar for presenting, uh, that. And I think you also mentioned that some
times when you're presented with something, one needs a moment to kind of, uh, process. So I'm
processing. Although it had been the face is sort of an outline, but now the details, and I guess that's
what they say, the devil is in the details. I'm right there, and I'm ri- I'm kind of relating [01:15:00] to
what you presented, Commissioner Nobiss. Uh, I'm off the floor.
[01:15:06]
I mean-
[01:15:06]
Welcome to fate [LAUGHTER].
[01:15:08]
Yeah. So I'm- yeah, I'm of the same So, I mean, yeah, like, starting, you know, coming on to the TRC, I
had this understanding of what we're doing. I had this understanding that- that the- the facilitator
literally, the word facilitation is in this, right? Like would be doing this work, um, on our behalf. And
then over time, it's morphed into this. I mean, I'm- I'm not like I've been following this change, right? I
have an understanding of what the facilitators are doing. But, likeI guess I'm just, like, at a point
where I'm like, Wow, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Uh, and like, you know, I run
off- I run a nonprofit and work, you know, probably 50 years a week, and I'm a single mom. So, like,
I'm just starting to feel like this is not okay. And also, [01:16:00] I'm really tired of people saying that,
like, this kind of work, like, you know, should be done by volunteers and that it should, uh, be done if
you have passion for it. It's not that I don't have the passion for it. I mean, that's obviously why I've
been on this commission for almost three years. Um, it's like- It's just it feels like this is not what the
TRC is meant to be. It shouldn't be taking the free labor from BIPOC folks. Well, I guess, mostly BIPOC.
Now we have a white person on the, you know, commission, uh, to do this work, and honestly, maybe
it should just be white folks at this point that do it for free. I mean, that's kind of how I feel like
reparations. I mean, that's why we're here, right? That's why we're trying to get to some truth and
reconciliation and reparations. So like maybe it's time for white folks to stand up and do this work
instead of us.
[01:16:53]
Uh, Chair Dillard has had her end up for a while.
[01:16:58]
That's it, uh, [01:17:00] Chastity Dillard mac, please.
[01:17:02]
Uh, actually, want to say, um, Commissioner Nobiss, thanks for bringing that up because, uh, from my
perspective, I believe that there has been a misconception that the facilitators were coming in to
come do the work for us. Uh, from the beginning, especially in July, when we all discussed this, it was
under my understanding that they were coming to show us education, teach us how to do this and
work with us to complete this. But it was always going to be the Commission leading the work. Now, I-
I wanted them to share this roadmap because it is a lot. I agree with you. It is overwhelming work,
and it's going to take a lot to get it done, and unfortunately, we're on this impossible time crunch that
was put on us. I'm going to say because of all the different things that happened in the last three
years, and we need to figure out how we can get something done. Uh, [01:18:00] but, uh, as far as
capacity, I think we're all burnt out, uh, but we all did decide to be on this commission so we can try
to get the work done. And I don't know. That's just what I'm trying to say that we're here to do the
work, and this is the work that's being presented. It's- it's sucks that it's us that has to do it, but it's- it
needs to be done.
[01:18:31]
I mean, I don't know if that's, like, the answer that I want to like I mean, I don't- I'm tired of that.
[01:18:37]
You know what I'm saying? Like this is why we pay like our staff at our organization a living wage.
Because people get burnt out. People- people commit suicide from being burnt out and overworked. I
mean, like, especially in BIPOC communities. I mean, like, I'm- I'm taking this very seriously. Like, I
don't think that- that this amount of work should be tasked upon us. Because [01:19:00] it keeps
changing, it's worse. It gets bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger. Like it honestly feels like an upside down
pyramid at this point. It's just another form of capitalism. We're just being exploited. Again. And I'm-
I'm not- I'm not for that anymore. So like I- I- I'm not- I would like to quit, but, like, I know that my
voice on this commi- commission is important because, like before Marie, I was the only indigenous
voice on here and, you know, got these indigenous folks on board to do the work, like Monopo
Danielle and T, which otherwise, they would have been exploited to getting paid 50 bucks an hour,
while these facilitators are getting paid between 150 and 200 an hour. So, like, it's I- I don't want to
quit, but I'm not going to do the work. Like, so we got to find a way to- to get this work done and- and
not have like us, that carry out this moment like this mountain of work.
[01:19:55]
Manape?
[01:20:00]
[Inaudible]
[01:20:05]
I just wanted to- you know, I just wanted to kind of offer a little bit of, you know, maybe it's
reassurance a bit. But the piece that the native partners are offering in these healing circles, you
know, the intention is to offer this to the community. Maybe the commission might- uh, I don't- I don't
expect the commission to do the healing circles, um, unless they want to, but, uh, but the intention
was for this to be offered to Iowa City for Iowa City to have a method of grounding a safe space to
discuss hard dynamics, you know, and, you know, to have people get up and tell their story, a place
where they can come and decompress from [01:21:00] things. Um, there's- you know, it's healing
circle for a reason, you know, but, um, I just want to offer that the piece that we're offering isn't
necessarily for the commission to do. So I feel like that could be kind of swiped off the road map a
little bit. I don't know if that offers any-
[01:21:25]
Actually, if you look in the thing, it says that you guys are going to be teaching us how to carry out the
circles.
[01:21:32]
Um, no, the intent- well, maybe that's- maybe a- maybe a typo or something, but I think the intention
is- is that the community. That's- the first thing that we're going to do is going to come and
demonstrate how natives do it. And then the second part is we offered time when we first constructed
this. We offered time for the community to process this. And for- maybe a bit of the work [01:22:00]
might be just for the commission to do a little call out in the community to see who might pick this up
from the community, not necessarily the commission to do it, but for people in the community to take
charge. That way they're investing in this, you know, and- and not just airing grievances, or, you
know, they're- they're actually participating in the healing, as well as the- as well as the- the truth
telling, because all of this is preparation for reconciliation, which is a whole another beast, you know,
so I just want to clarify that maybe- maybe- maybe we need to change the wording on that, but that-
we did want to offer a little bit of space in between our initial talking circles to allow the community
some time to think about maybe- maybe- mabe that's a role that I want to do, and we would
[01:23:00] be offering, uh, uh, we would be offering, uh, lessons on how to facilitate those.
[01:23:09]
Just out of curiosity, you're planning on trying to find more native partners here in Iowa City to offer
the circles?
[01:23:16]
Absolutely- absolutely.
[01:23:17]
Okay. I would hope that these would stay with native partners.
[01:23:21]
Yeah.
[01:23:21]
The- the healing circle facilitation.
[01:23:25]
I think- I think- I think that would be good, but at the same time, you know, anybody that- anybody
that's wanting to step forward, we're willing to educate.
[01:23:41]
Okay. I- I'm going to have to bring that up later then because I don't want to keep us, um, on a topic
that's off agenda, but I'll talk to you about it later, but not-
[01:23:52]
Yeah, no problem.
[01:23:53]
Awesome. Anyways, thank you. Sorry. Uh, I took us a bit off agenda here. I [01:24:00] know we're
trying to get through this, but I think this is just really important to talk about as, um, I'm just can't-
Yeah. We'll have to maybe put it to bring it up in the next agenda item or next meeting or something.
[01:24:14]
I have some input. So this is Marie. Um, this is a tremendous amount of work, and we're all super busy
already, so I'm feeling, uh, you know, your concerns. I have those concerns myself. Um, so just a
couple of things that popped into my head, as I was sitting here is me- you know, adding the
community piece. I think that's really awesome if we could find a way to add community involvement,
um, in this process. But also, once we have the full training down, maybe we could even break into
teams. So maybe some people are better with the healing circle portion, maybe some people are
better with the truth telling, [01:25:00] maybe some people have skills to, um, you know, find
information. So possibly we could even break it down, so we're not all doing all of the things all of the
time.
[01:25:12]
But I think that one of things that we talked about was that we're going to reach- we're going to reach
out to the community. See what- I mean, obviously, we have plenty of resources for people here that
can do these things. We are getting the training, the guidance of how to focus on, ah, the truth telling.
[01:25:30]
Guiding the process.
[01:25:31]
Exactly. And ultimately, this is not going to be just something that's operated by nine people on a
commission. You know, this- this is something that we're actually going to be going out to the
community, using all the, you know those resources to help us and help the community. It's not just
us doing it for them. It's helping guide and bringing the community in and help everybody healing
each other. But, [01:26:00] facilitators and you know, this whole process is setting the template and
getting the- like I said, the training-
[01:26:08]
The foundation.
[01:26:09]
Exactly. I mean, because even though we're seeing this roadmap, I mean, I visually can already see
how it can be taken out and put into, you know, different areas, different time, you know, something
that is done even after our commission, you know, deadline is up. This- this helps right now with
setting up that kind of guideline. At least, you know, that's my visual how I'm thinking about it. But
yeah- yeah, it is a lot of work, but did we really think that this was going to be easy? Um,
unfortunately, not.
[01:26:44]
No, I want to try to put up- up maybe it's the wrong way of thinking about it, but a fine point on what
Sakawas has brought up. If in fact the workload of this commission is like she says [01:27:00] to be
like other commissions, so it's- it meets once a month, we have a discussion. There's two or three
staff people associated with the commission, and the staff people who are paid are the ones who do
the work. Okay. If- if that's what the model is, we can't do this.
[01:27:21]
Well, I think also, one of the recommendations, which I- I kind of knew was going to end up being a
recommendation in the end, is that, I mean, that the city would need to have a staff, either a person
that's hired, um, to help with doing facilitation kind of thing. But that's- but we're getting the
information based to say, "Hey, this is so big that city, you need more. This is what- we need this
information to help present to this, uh, proposal to the city. This is what we found. This is what, you
know- everything has been discovered." You're going to need more. [01:28:00] You need whatever
else.
[01:28:01]
Right.
[01:28:02]
But to me, that's- that's six months from now- at seven months from now, eight months from now. In
this period of time right now for four months or three months, if we're going to accomplish something
that will serve as the basis for making further asks and making this more routine and everything, then
it's going to require a significant amount of work in these four months.
[01:28:27]
Yep.
[01:28:29]
Well, we have to have buy in from- it can't fall on one person, it can't fall on two people or three
people, it's got to fall distributed. So either we have to be able to figure out a way to distribute it
equitably to make it work, or we need to just be honest and say it's not- we can't follow the roadmap.
I mean, I don't- I don't know how.
[01:28:50]
So- so- Cowes, what do you think?
[01:28:54]
I'll first of all jump in and respond to Commissioner- [01:29:00] for us not to lose what Commissioner
Nobiss keeps on reminding us that at the heart of what the TRC is doing, what has happened from the
beginning of ratio oppression? I'm thinking colonization and slavery is taking of colored labor- people
of color labor. And let's not lose that. As yes, I- I hear from you, Commissioner Lou, and I think
Commissioner Dillard that yes, the work is there and it needs to be done, and a lot of it between now
and I think April 5. Uh, but then, again, even if- if it's being divided equitably, you've used the word
equitable, [01:30:00] what does that even mean? Does that mean adding to the- because, like, when I
was- I said coming in, I was thinking one hour a month, like the other commissions and like the other
boards in the city. We decided that there's a lot of work, so we were doing two- two hou- not even two
hours, actually. It's two meetings in a month. And they go on until when they end. I remember at one
time coming out of here at 1:00 AM. And now, like Commissioner Nobiss said, we all know that it still
keeps on adding back to the word. Are we doing the very thing we are trying which is part of- TRC is
still trying to heal, [01:31:00] to move towards healing, free labor from a group of people of color. So I
want us not to lose that, even if we still want the work done. Are we going to take a pause as we get
into phase 2 as commissioners and have a discussion on this? No. Not that pause that has been
happening. No. I- let me retract that- a discussion. I retract. I had that and I yield.
[01:31:38]
Thank you, um, commissioner. Yeah, so that's basically what I would have just said right now. We are
doing the same thing to ourselves that we are here to, um, to address in a way, uh, and I'm tired of it.
I thought the facilita- I know the facilitators were, [01:32:00] you know, over time, I've realized that
they were here to teach us some stuff so that we could carry some stuff out. But, you know, we're
paying a lot of money for this. So I kind of just thought that they would carry out the process for us
and then write the report and we'd be done, give it to the city. And if you want to do long term work,
we'd hire somebody that would carry that stuff out. So um, that's how I feel about this.
[01:32:24]
And commissioner Nobiss, I also want to, I don't know whether I tell you sorry, because you said words
that I had said some time earlier to somebody here when you said, I used the words that, okay, let's
even actually have the whole commission consisting of, uh, white people. After all, in the justice
system, if somebody does something wrong, because we are trying to move towards writing some
wrongs, the committer of the wrongs writes those wrongs. But I'm sorry, [01:33:00] Commissioner
Nobiss, I don't think we are yet there just to quote at the title of an African book, the beautiful ones
are not yet born. So the- right now- the oppressor right now is not going to do that. Even whatever
achievements that have been achieved in colonization and fighting off slavery. The oppressed people
are the ones that have sweated, lost their lives, and to get the oppressor off their bats and of
themselves. So I'm sorry. It's no yet time for that to happen.
[01:33:39]
I definitely agree. I was being, uh, somewhat flippant, you know, um, because, yeah, my experience
also tells me the same. Um, white folks aren't ready for this. There's a lot of tokenism,
romanticization, uh, and just plain old racism that [01:34:00] they don't even comprehend themselves
yet. And that's why I want this group to be, um, you know, made up of BIPOC folks doing that work.
But, um, like I'm saying, though, here we are. It's like we're taking on a part time job right now, and
we're not getting any compensation for it. Um, or can we hire somebody to do the work for us? Since
we hired these facilitators to do all this work to teach us how to do it? Like, couldn't they just teach
somebody to do that work for us? I don't know. We're a commission, right? Like, are we supposed to
just guide people and give our recommendations as leaders of our communities?
[01:34:43]
Edward, you had your hand up.
[01:34:45]
Yes. Thank you. So, uh, a couple of things. Um, because there are two things that I think always has
raised - that I think, um, can be discussed in a practical way. One, is a question of the structure of the
[01:35:00] commission's work, and the other one is a question of the, uh, um, how to build the events
of the commission from below in a constructive, inductive way from the community. Uh, and not top
down. So on the first one, yes, I think we have always, uh, said for a long time, I think, that, uh, one
difficulty with the commission is that it was designed in this way, meaning you guys are a board that
meets only twice a month. Truth commissions normally are full-time organizations with
commissioners that are compensated for their work and with staff, because you cannot expect to deal
with the complexity of racial justice and genocide with two meetings a month. It's just not possible,
obviously. And, um, so that is why the difficulty has always been that. The only way in which the
resolution [01:36:00] that creates the commission addresses that is by saying the commission is
going to have a facilitator. In fact, the original plan was to have one person, and you will remember
that there was an effort to hire a facilitator at the beginning and then this person quit in less than a
week. And so when these four organizations apply for the position of facilitator, it happened, you
remember time ago, this was presented over a year and a half ago, when it was supposed that the
commission had only seven months to finish its work, which is why our contract is seven months long.
But what has happened after that is that the city council extended the time of the commission, right?
So that means, in practical terms, that if what you are saying is we have a role as a board, and
obviously we cannot be expected to have the role of a staff, then we can [01:37:00] think of how to
use the time of the facilitators. So far, they have done a lot of training for us, and they have shown us
how this is done in- in many other places. Fine. But perhaps what we want them to do is to help us
actually carry out the events, the activities of research, etc. Well, if that is the case, what that would
mean is mostly saying to the city council, "Well, we need this to continue." Because the facilitators
contract is ending in March and the commission is ending in December. So- and then you discuss how
do you want to have that facilitators coming, participating, etc. That's one possibility. Right.
[01:37:46]
Because I do agree that that has always been the structural difficulty of how the Commission was
established. Now, how to solve that, that is one avenue. The other possibility is [01:38:00] also, that
you will remember that the resolution allocated money for the Truth Commission. So that the Truth
Commission could in principle, as Commission, now said, hire persons. That is, if you are satisfied with
the facilitators giving your road-map, then you will need staff to implement that road-map. In which
case, what the Commission could do is organize a budget and go to the city and to request that
budget to be covered so that you have a small staff that can carry out these tasks, right. So that is
one possibility, I think it is a very practical issue. The second issue is also very practical. So it is the
Commission that suggested to have actually informal conversations first, called listening posts. And
those listening posts do not have a script, meaning that they are actually open for co-creation with
the community. It is a community [01:39:00] that is going to raise the topics. The only caveat that we
have put is that sometimes when the topic is completely open, there are difficulties to start the
conversation or to lead the conversation in a direction on the main topic, which is racial injustice. And
if a meeting is completely spontaneous, then it's going to be very difficult to just locate the topics that
come, but I completely agree, and I think everybody in the facilitators group agrees that having these
small meetings that you have called listening posts, right in previous meetings of the Commission is
going to help identify the pulse of the community. Now, for the event that we are proposing at the end
of the quarter, and actually, we're not proposing it, it was, again, the Commission in a previous
meeting that called it a culminating event. For this [01:40:00] kind of event, what we understand is
the logic, the vision of the Commission, is to effectively create a formal meeting, a formal activity in
which the commission does outreach the community and facilitates dialogues. So that is eminently
doable, right, you already have these kinds of these meetings now, and in every meeting, there is a
time for people coming and giving opinions, questions, raising issues, et cetera. It's just a matter of
doing it in a more organized manner and in a more formalized manner so that it raises one particular
issue, one particular topic. So I think it's more an issue of and rather than an issue of all, meaning
there is going to be in the form of listening posts, an opportunity for co creation with the community
and for having the everyday experiences reaching the Commission, and at the same time, an event
requested by the Commission, by [01:41:00] which one particular topic is discussed in a more formal
manner so that we can learn how to do that and how to replicate it later on. Thank you.
[01:41:12]
Thank you. Was there any more discussion on this? [OVERLAPPING] I see Laurel. Sorry, it wasn't up,
but I looked up, sorry. Laurel. [LAUGHTER]
[01:41:29]
Hey, good evening, thank you, Vice Chair, and good evening, everyone. I know this is going, um, back
a little bit, but I just wanted to say that, um, if it would help in terms of,um, representing the
conversation that we've had visually, so everyone can see it and see it clearly. We, the facilitators,
can produce a version of the roadmap that is just one topic. So people can see how that would be
spaced out and what would be expected in terms of workload, responding [01:42:00] to Commission
Tassinary, and Commission Novis' points, that this is not only a lot, it's a heavy burden on the
commissioners, but also that, you know, what Dr. Schler was saying, that it might allow us to get
more in depth in a given topic. So I'm sorry that this is jumping around a bit in the topic, and please
excuse my voice. I'm a little under the weather, but I just wanted to ask the commissioners if that
would be helpful to see, um, at this time, and we can produce that in the next week or so, or you
know whether or not that's helpful.
[01:42:35]
Yes, I think that would be helpful.
[01:42:38]
Okay. Thank you so much.
[01:42:47]
Okay.
[01:42:49]
If there isn't any more questions or discussions on this, is there another person?
[01:42:57]
I just wanted to thank you, [01:43:00] um, Eduardo, for the suggestion on some of the things we could
do moving forward to help with the overwhelmingness some of us are feeling.
[01:43:20]
Welcome. What is- what's the final outcome for this discussion?
[01:43:27]
At the proposed roadmap? Basically, give us an idea of- apparently it was asked in the last meeting
which I was present.
[01:43:38]
No, I'm sorry, I know the decision why came up and why they put the roadmap together. I'm just
asking, what is the conclusion, what are we doing now that we have seen the roadmap? That the
assumption is that our silence or our questions have said that we should move forward with the
roadmap, is that we are [01:44:00] not to do to move forward with the roadmap until once we see a
roadmap that only focuses on a singular topic. What is ultimately the end result of, based on all of our
discussions of what the plan is related to the roadmap?
[01:44:16]
I can tell you my opinion, then Chair, you might have more thoughts on it, but I believe at the next
meeting as a commission that we are going to discuss what is presented. And have some guidance as
to how we want to go forward, that's my opinion, Tassinary?
[01:44:36]
I was actually going to ask the same question that Commission Simmons brought up, what is our plan,
or next steps in an ideal world, we would have a plan or at least an idea of where we would move
today since some of the things happen beginning as soon as the MLK event coming up. If not, we need
to all go read and review and make a decision next [01:45:00] meeting that's fine too on what we
want to do for next steps, but definitely need to leave with an idea of what we're going to move
forward on.
[01:45:12]
I would suggest that we, um, at least do something for MLK day, and besides that, like, it feels like I
said a bunch of stuff, and we said a bunch of stuff, but we're going to go ahead with whatever was
said anyway, but we can always bring that up at the next meeting and maybe talk about hiring
somebody or getting somebody from the city to help do this work. We can add that to the agenda at
the next meeting. So I guess, yeah, I mean, that's my thought for now.
[01:45:47]
I also thought that it was going to be helpful to have the streamlined version of the current proposal in
front of us to look at, but maybe that isn't true, but it seems to me that would make it [01:46:00]
easier to make a decision one way or another.
[01:46:03]
Commission, can you clarify what you mean?
[01:46:06]
With going in depth with a single topic, the thing that-.
[01:46:10]
What Laurel proposed.
[01:46:12]
Laurel proposed, okay.
[01:46:16]
So you're saying you'd like us to represent that in writing alongside what we've represented tonight,
is that what you're saying?
[01:46:23]
That's what's-
[01:46:25]
That's what we responded back to Laurel, that we would appreciate seeing that possible.
[01:46:29]
It's very possible.
[01:46:33]
So just from clarification, so are we saying that we're going to hold the process until once we take a
look at that and then make a decision on whether we approve to move forward or not, are we saying
that we are going to move forward? We're just not sure how we're going to move forward, I still am
lost with what we are saying as a commission as far as what our next steps are related.
[OVERLAPPING]
[01:46:59]
I mean, what would [01:47:00] you like to see?
[01:47:06]
Well, in my opinion, there are still things on the agenda that I think we need to hear before we can
make a decision about that, like I said, but that's just be, Chastity, your thoughts?
[01:47:24]
I-I would agree with what you said, Laurel, there are some other things we need to talk about. I think
if we want to explore all of those options, what it looks like to hire someone, what it looks like to get
more help on all the things and really just decide, um, what we believe we can collectively do as a
commission in the next four months and then think about for the rest of the year, um, from our own
efforts using our consultants and the community's efforts, um, just [01:48:00] trying to figure out
what is feasible on all sides would be best. And if that's something we can't, um, agree on right now,
then I guess we will have to defer to the next meeting, um, just have conversations with each other in
between is what I'm thinking.
[01:48:22]
My Chair, if my colleague Laurel Cohen could weigh in, that'd be helpful.
[01:48:27]
Laurel.
[01:48:30]
I can't tell if my hand is raised or not, I'm sorry, I'm struggling with Zoom this evening, but I was just
wondering if it would be possible to land on continuing the planned preparation for the MLK Day
listening post. From the TRC's perspective, and then from the facilitator's perspective, we can make
sure we have that one topic roadmap prepared as soon as possible well in advance of the next
meeting. Um, so that way everyone can get comfortable with it. And then, um, by the next [01:49:00]
meeting, we can talk about, um, both the listening post and the one topic roadmap.
[01:49:06]
Yeah.
[01:49:08]
So I think, um, if we can table the 7A to the end of this meeting, we hear some of the other agenda
items, and then we'll come back and then potentially answer your question. Chair, that sounds good,
how do others feel okay with that?
[01:49:32]
Yeah, that sounds good.
[01:49:34]
Okay.
[01:49:38]
We will go back then and if we can go now back up to Number 5, MLK Day. I'm not sure who was doing
the presenting for that.
[01:49:51]
I was going to just update everyone based on our conversation from last meeting, if that's okay?
[01:49:58]
That's good.
[01:50:00]
Great. So in our last meeting, it was decided that we wanted to do an event on MLK Day. It was
presented to us from Commission Simmons. So I went ahead and worked with the city, um, and we
are a co-sponsor, um, for the city's MLK Day event, which will be happening at Mercer Park from 9:30
A.M to 12:00 P.M. We will have a table there where we can, um, you know, meet everyone. We'll have
swag, things that we can really interact with the community. We'll also have a space where we can do
a presentation, um, with our in partnership with, um, Friends and West, just to talk more about the
findings. I know that Larry and Laurel can talk more about exactly what they're thinking on that end. I
discussed with my contact, Mallory at the City, that we would, um, potentially do 1-3 different
presentations because if you haven't been to this event, people kind of come in [01:51:00] and go as
they want. So I was thinking a 10:00 A.M, 11:30 A.M, and then there's going to be another
presentation, um, an MLK Day event presentation by a different group of people from 12:30, um, that
will include food, and then to catch that group after they're done, I was thinking a 2:00 o'clock. In my
experience, in my own work, um, maybe a 30-minute presentation or, you know, just gathering to
discuss and talk with people, um, guided with our facilitators with how they think we should best
approach this. That's what I have, we did also give $500 to towards this so that we could be a co-host
and sponsor of this event.
[01:51:50]
Chair and Vice Chair, this Larry, Schler, could I ask a question?
[01:51:53]
Yes.
[01:51:55]
I'm sorry, but I want to make sure I heard correctly, or maybe I [01:52:00] misheard. Um, is there an
expectation that Kern's and West or that we as a team be present in an MLK Day event and or be
making a presentation around it?
[01:52:12]
No.
[01:52:13]
Okay.
[01:52:14]
I'm sorry if I misspoke, what I was referring to is, um, whatever findings that you all would give to us
to present, or like, we still need to talk through the details of what we wanted to share with the public.
Um, I don't know, talking about you being there.
[01:52:30]
No, yeah, I panicked only because we had originally planned to be then we were, you know, told not
to be, and so it would be difficult for us to arrange to be there, but thank you for that clarification,
forgive me.
[01:52:44]
I'm not sure if k Peace or even Kern's and lass or if anyone else had anything to add on their end, I did
hear mention from maybe Laurel about listing post on that day, Eduardo?
[01:53:00] [01:53:01]
Yes, exactly. Um.
[01:53:03]
Our understanding from your previous meetings was that this is going to be mostly a conversation
with the community. But it is possible also that some people in the community may want to share, uh,
experiences. Therefore, the event- the conversation informally turns out into some sort of a hearing
into some sort of a true selling situation. Which is why we wanted to have for you this document
about, uh, support for testimony, um, before MLK Day, uh, and that is why Leo and Melinda presented
it. Yes, that document is there, and we are at your disposal to go over it with more detail, etc. The
other thing is, I think, um, the time from here to the MLK event can [01:54:00] be useful for discussing
outreach and for discussion how to support possible through tailors, and also to discuss how you want
to see the logic from here to the end of the quarter- to the end of March. Because you have us fully at
your disposal until that time, um, that is also why we were thinking against a sting piece that we were
going to travel again, uh, to Iowa City to be with you, uh, for what you had called the culminating
event- the eventing arch in which we put together the strands of work that we are all doing. But- but I
see my colleague Melinda.
[01:54:44]
Thank you, Eduardo. Um, to that, I would like to add it might be interesting to consider creating a
little pamphlet, a little flyer that might have the heading, What is the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission? Who is a truth teller highlights [01:55:00] from the document that, uh, Leo and I
created, and we're happy to work with any of the commissioners who would like, um, would like us to
suggest, uh, what ought to go into something like that, that could be just handed out at- at an event.
[01:55:19]
I just want to jump on that, so, uh, Stephanie worked with her team to create a brochure for us, uh,
that we can use at these events. Uh, if maybe we can share those if there's anything else that needs
to be put in it. Maybe there could be an insert that can be easily printed and put inside it, uh, or
something like that. Because I believe those are already printed. Um, Stephanie, you can confirm,
maybe.
[01:55:47]
They've been sent to the printer.
[01:55:49]
They haven't. Thank you. But I do like the idea of putting an insert into it. That would be kind of nice.
[01:55:57]
Yes, we would be happy to make some suggestions [01:56:00] of what would be included, or maybe
the commissioners in reviewing the document would- would like to pick and choose, uh, what- what
you all feel is important to include.
[01:56:15]
I think, uh, it might be- this might be one of those things where, uh, you can tell us what you think
would be most important, uh, just so we don't have to go back and forth and decide, and we can work
together to put that in there.
[01:56:32]
Sounds great.
[01:56:36]
Um, if no one else has any other questions, um, what I do need from, um, fellow commissioners, since
this is, this is our thing is to know who would be available to join on that day, uh, for tabling, and to
you know, join in the community conversations. We can make this easy for everyone, so no one has to
be there all day. We could [01:57:00] set shifts, uh, one and half, two hours, um, for each person or
whoever's available so that we can, um, you know, try to work on making sure that it's not too
overwhelming because it is a holiday as well.
[01:57:21]
I'll be able to- I can do maybe a couple of hours. I just have to figure out what time slots and
everything that you were talking about, but I should be able to- be able to put some time in.
[01:57:33]
In Chastity, this is Lou Tassinary, I sent you, I think an email with some of the availability that I had.
[01:57:40]
I can see that. Thank you. This is something I can also follow up in an email after, uh, this meeting just
to, uh, try to set a schedule, see who is available, I mean, I'm sure we also have some people in the
community that might be able to help out as well. Um, I do see Leo has [01:58:00] his hand up, so I
will yield.
[01:58:04]
No, thank you. Um, I just- to make sure that we are responsive, um, by when would you like the
recommendations for inserts and how many would you like?
[01:58:23]
Stephanie.
[01:58:25]
If we were- if we were going to have inserts to put in the brochures for the event, when would- I guess
you need to have that, and then we'll have to go backwards to figure out the timing. [LAUGHTER]
[01:58:37]
Technically, we could mean if it's like a pager to the office could print them whether they'll cut and
meet the size of the brochure. I don't know, you know, if we do them. If they're professionally done,
obviously, they would present a lot better than us just printing them off in the office. Does those
answer your question to ASAP?
[01:58:56]
ASAP is wonderful and, um, so [01:59:00] to help with formatting and printing and such, um, do you
have handy what the dimensions are of the flyer that are being printed?
[01:59:11]
Yes, I do. I can look it up. I don't know it off the top of my head, though.
[01:59:14]
Beautiful. If you can send that then we'll do our best to, uh, adjust and make the translation a little bit
easier.
[01:59:21]
Thank you.
[01:59:21]
Thank you.
[01:59:26]
That's all I have for MLK day event unless there's any, um, questions or things that anyone thinks
we're missing or, um, for this first, um, event in the community for- for a commission.
[01:59:41]
Any the Commissioners have any more thoughts on MLK Day? No. Anybody in the room?
[01:59:54]
Thank you very much. Uh, I just have two issues here. I'll first talk about the MLK Day. I remember
[02:00:00] the last meeting, we talked about, uh, trying to inquire from the community. Using some
questionnaire, who would be willing, probably, of course, surrendered to some form of testimony,
experiences, and things like that. I thought this is a very important day that we can use that to collect
a lot of information from the community about their feelings about other things. One of the insights, I
suggest should be something to do with that. I don't know if it's going to help with that, uh, the
commissioners or the facilitators. Please. That is very- very important. We can't be talking about some
things, and then in the next meeting, we throw them away. It's like you are saying that we are not
making resolutions. The other one other question goes to Melinda. Thank you very much for preparing
the commissioners and the public for the truth telling events coming. I really appreciate and
[02:01:00] another- the only part that probably you would help us with is regarding truth telling, that
does not come from those who have experienced those things. We have people in responsible
positions. They are heads of departments, and heads of all bodies in the community. They are in
charge of data, they are in charge of council all things. I think the Commission probably also need to
hear from them. Because, uh, issues about education and other things, who is failing where, who's
doing what? Those things can't be all- only be given to us from the students only. We need to talk to
maybe a principal somewhere, I need to talk to somebody in Johnson County regarding public health
issues, data, and other things. That is an area that I would ask the facilitators to help the Commission
with it. What does it take? That one, probably the preparation is different. How much of reg
[02:02:00] will the commissioners be putting these people to? What if they refuse under things?
Because I think, when you'll be talking about education or health. Yeah, you'll get a view, but I think
much of the data that we need to tell us about what's happening with the Bipok people is probably in
the reports and what these people know. Can the Commission subject- subject them to some kind of
inquiry? About what they know, what data they have, the data they're hiding, the ones they don't
want to tell us probably. Today I was looking at a police report and I was very suspiciate on the
conclusions. Statistically, it was showing that there were some problems with the number of contacts
with the Black people. The method was very clear, but in the conclusion, there was nothing to do with
that. I'm even suspicious of the researchers the city is using. Probably, sometimes they don't come to
the right conclusions, so Larry, this is to you. [02:03:00] Look at it carefully, and but the
commissioners agree, we'll also look at that carefully. Does the conclusions in the report match the
evidence? Thank you very much.
[02:03:13]
Thank you, sir.
[02:03:23]
If there is anything else to add for Number 5. I can go to the item Number 6, please, the Native
Partners Healing Circle Training and events. Who is going to be leading that?
[02:03:47]
Hello, it's Manape. I believe- I'm not sure if Daniel is still on here or not. Um, but I can speak to, uh,
what we've discussed as far [02:04:00] as, um, what we wanted to offer in the strategy behind that.
Of course, we're just offering- the Commission would have to decide on any adaptations to, uh, the
strategy. But, um, I do want to point out that, uh, what we want to offer the community is going to be
Iowa Cities, you know, and, uh, we wanted to offer that because initially, when, uh, when we all came
together, that- that the community had this feeling of people from outside of the community. You
know, we're all on indigenous land here, so I certainly don't feel like an outsider, but I can
understand, uh, that knee jerk [02:05:00] reaction from the community. I know that they might even
apply that to folks that are farther away. But when we put together this road-map, and contributed
our piece of the healing circles, uh, we wanted to, uh, offer this to the community first, um, to help
resolve some of that. What we want to offer to Iowa City. These healing circles, talking circles. Uh, we
wanted to lean heavily- heavier towards healing circle as opposed to really talking circle. The
intention is, I seen it in the video that Melinda tried to share, uh, earlier, and I could see right there,
the importance of after somebody shares, um, [02:06:00] to be able to come into a space and, um, a
safe space where they can express their feelings, and, um, maybe decompress from the heaviness of-
of a testimony or- or triggering and things like that, just to offer to reground. Also, when I say that we
want to offer some of these spaces is some of these things. Some of this is- some of this is part
conflict resolution. Some of this is part decompressing or re-grounding, um, and-and these aren't
spaces where we really debate. Um, these are spaces where we would all feel safe to open our hearts
up a little bit and connect one- we want one another. To find understanding at the end why [02:07:00]
did somebody make this decision? Well, they just told you like what they're going through, to find
some compassion, um, and empathy and- and, uh, I feel like these healing circles provide one of the
best opportunities for a community to connect and understand one another and, uh, I can see this
having a bit of a legacy throughout the whole process. Even once you get through truth and you get
into the reconciliation, there's dynamics involved that, um, we're not even able to dive into that yet
because we've got to get through the truth part. These spaces, um, can be offered to the community.
Initially, we decided that we would [02:08:00] do two talking circles to demonstrate through the
native lens how we do it, and- and how we might even recommend to the community how to do it.,
Uh, because I know there's concerns of appropriation and things like that, and we don't want to, um,
sometimes- sometimes people in the community read into the situation too much, and they might
consider themselves a shaman or- or some kind of healer from a healing, so go to a couple of healing
circles, and next thing you know, they're a healer. We don't want to- we don't want to perpetuate
that, and we're aware of it, and we don't want to perpetuate that. But, uh, at the same time, we
wanted to offer that to the community, [02:09:00] and then two initial ones and then maybe a week or
two or a month to kind of process that experience and we're hoping that somewhere in the
community, somebody might benefit from that, somebody might have a calling to that, and to call
them into the space to learn how to facilitate that. That's not necessarily the commission. Um, if the
commission feels compelled, as an individual, then that's good too. But also, I can- I can see where,
um, stronger relationships with the- with the Native community is very vital, and I- I certainly see I'm-
I'm pro indigenous, so I feel like, um, the best people to do this would be indigenous people.
[02:09:58]
Um, but we don't [02:10:00] know. We don't know until we put these on, and reach out to the
community to see who's willing to step forward, you know. And- but we've talked about those
dynamics, and we've talked about, well, what if nobody stepped forward? Um, I really- I really don't
want to go into the what ifs, but I just want to um, let everybody know that this second phase is- is a-
a preparation for we want to be prepared we don't want to do a survivalist knee jerk reaction. O crap,
we need to go into circle here to help remedy some conflict. We can anticipate that, and there can be
people prepared to catch other community members. Um, that's kind of the philosophy that I'm- I'm
looking at this. And- and I feel that [02:11:00] we can create something that is- is Iowa City,
something that folks would be proud of a contribution from the Indian community. I think we can
create something that's um, not so maybe indigenous. I don't know how- I don't know how to frame
that, but I think we can- I think we can head off any opportunities of appropriation, or anything like
that. I think we can create something really healthy. Um, I think combined the experience from the
native circle or the native partners, um, we have several decades of talking circle experience. And-
and I feel like this is very challenging. And uh, I never imagined all the dynamics and nuances that
would go [02:12:00] into this, but I- but I want to reassure the Commission that we're using every
brain cell we got. We're using all two that I have to really try to be empathetic and compassionate
towards the people that suffer from the traumas of all this. And- and yeah. I think that's about all I
have to share. Um, there's a lot of dynamics that can be discussed when we find somebody, um, or- or
maybe even in the future, calling in Native people to actually facilitate those things, but we want to
offer it, and- and I hope that the city can benefit whether we're on commissions, or just- just a worker
in the community. I think this covers a lot of bases, and I can see it really beneficial [02:13:00]
throughout the different phases of Iowa City's truth and reconciliation. Ache to Mataka.
[02:13:15]
I have a quick question because, on the agenda, when I was talking about the healing circle training
and events, and it was giving, like possible time ranges um, on January 27, 28th, but then I see on the
brochure, it looks like the time was set and the 11:00-4:00 on Saturday, January 27th and the 28th, is
that concrete then? So this is.
[02:13:46]
Well, question about not necessarily. Um, I think we all feel like the things that we want to contribute
are urgent, um, but [02:14:00] nothing's really set in stone on those dates. Um, it's good to try to
have things locked in at least a month out, you know, but- but it still can be tentative. I mean, you
know, we're if- if that might be too much with the rest of the stuff. I mean, we're- we're already paid.
We just got to fulfill our obligation. We're ready to roll. We- we could do this tomorrow, if you want.
We could do this next year if you want, but, um, we do have this sense of urgency to, um, find people
in the community, and to get them prepared for, um, some pretty heavy steps. So does that- does
that help at all?
[02:14:52]
Are you seeing this printout of the brochure like thing about the workshop details? I guess I thought
that [02:15:00] this was- I'm a little confused about what this is and what's on the agenda. So just the
agenda was posted, I think, prior to the dates being finalized. So, that's all. So the flyer is the most
recent with the confirmed dates and times. Okay.
[02:15:25]
I've had my hand up for a bit. I just wanted to respond to Monop- Monop story. Um, I'm saying that
wrong ever since I met you. Yeah, I am- just wanted to say thank you for saying that you want to be
pro indigenous because I think that this is a particular part of the, um, TRC mission that should stay
that way, considering how much erase we face and how small our population is in Iowa due to
genocide relocation and colonization, right? So it's not like, Oh, the population is small here, so it
[02:16:00] doesn't really matter. It's more like, well, the population is small here because of the things
that matter to the TRC. So I think it's important that we could keep a component of this work that
stays within indigenous hands, if you will, um, and that it doesn't just get passed off to white folks,
'cause, honestly, that would really make me mad.
[02:16:22]
Yeah, there has- there is an accountability to all this, you know, and I know me, Terry and Danielle,
since we're called in to peach and educate about this, then, you know, automatically, we're- we're
accountable to the community there and whoever steps forward. So um, but then, you know, there's
also.
[02:16:45]
You know that's not your job though, you know what I mean?
[02:16:47]
Right.
[02:16:48]
That's- that's our job to worry about like getting people in the right direction to you guys.
[02:16:54]
Oh, yeah-yeah. Yeah. And- and that's what I said earlier was, like, I think the only piece that I
[02:17:00] see you guys really having to worry about with the talking circles is, you know, just getting
the call out to college students or, you know, indigenous social workers or whatever's around, you
know, like, um.
[02:17:18]
Out of curiosity, um, will this be a paid position moving forward?
[02:17:26]
I don't know who can answer that question. Maybe the, um.
[02:17:31]
We- we do not have any money to pay anyone. So I mean, it could be if we get the money for it, but
this is not, as of right now, paid for anyone. We do have some dollars. I know that could be stipend for
certain people. I don't want to discuss too much because I don't know all the details. Maybe Stephanie
or one of the healing partners could explain a little bit more, but, [02:18:00] like we don't have any
set dollars for that right now. It could go into a recommendation, but yeah, just to let you know.
[02:18:20]
Jessi, was there something we needed to this- determine about the Saturday dates, the Saturday, the
February 3rd, Saturday, February 10?
[02:18:29]
As far as I know, these dates are set in stone, I as. These are not dates that we're required to be a
part of as a full commission. This is something if you are very much interested in this piece of our TRC
process, you can attend. As far as I understand, our job is to get people that we believe would be very
interested in helping us facilitate these type of reconciliation [02:19:00] pieces. So I know that our
native partners, V and Annie worked very hard to try to find dates that would work best for
themselves and being in our community. So unless Monop would like to say something different, I- I
think that these are very much set in stone.
[02:19:25]
Yeah. Yeah, I do want to thank everyone that was communicating with us to try to nail this down, you
know, I do feel like we- we- really, I think we were supposed to do these talking circles back in the fall.
And I think, like November was like when we were going to start training people, and- and then there
[02:20:00] was kind of a time out. And- and then this is kind of like the new dates where we're going
to push forward again. So we're ready. And- and you know, I think everybody wants to see those dates
to do what we- do what we is asked of us, you know. So but at the same time, it's- it's the
commission's call on if they want to push that back or not. Yeah.
[02:20:33]
If I could go one second. Sorry. I just wanted to clarify a couple of things. Um, the timing was really
looking at the roadmap and seeing, you know, we have this culminating event, and we want to make
sure that you native partners, whoever they're working with, people feel like they've had time to
really sit and digest and, you know, work with native partners and however that ends up working out.
And so that was really why you know, we were thinking at the end of January [02:21:00] at the latest. I
realize that everybody's trying to be sensitive to the overloading of you all. And I just also want to
clarify that. I know that it says in our written document, that this was a training that was for
commissioners. It's- it's not, actually. It's actually and I don't know how that got lost in translation, but
it's really training for the community as he was pointing out. So, um, I think that the- the offering here
is really geared towards community. And if commissioners want to attend, awesome, but I- I think that
really the intention was for the entire community, and it's really a matter of, you know, three weeks
trying to get the work out word out, you know, making sure we're getting as many people or the right
people as folks were talking about that to do the training to work with Monop and Danielle and T on
experiencing things and practicing if that were the case. So, um, I know that they have, like
[02:22:00] he said, they're ready to go, um, and I just wanted to clarify why those dates were. It's not
we didn't randomly pick those. It really was trying to look at the roadmap of things. Now, if you all
decide that that roadmap is not what you want, then, you know, we could adjust. I just worry that, um,
it is only three weeks. So if we- we would just need to adjust pretty quickly if- if that was the case.
[02:22:25]
The dates are fine with me. I'm not worried about the dates. Um, I'm sorry to be a sore thumb. I keep
bringing things up this, um, meeting that is slowing us down. I apologize, but who decided that this
was, like, for the community to train anybody in the community? Who made that decision?
[02:22:43]
We did as a well.
[02:22:44]
I- I kind of initiated that because earlier, when I first opened up my intro with this, I discussed the
dynamics of the community, feeling like we're all outsiders, [02:23:00] somehow, you know, or the
facilitators, we're outsiders. So mean a kind of talked about that, and- and I felt like a good- a good
way to, uh, quash some of that is to make them feel included.
[02:23:17]
Yeah. Well, that's great. I love that myopia. So that's- yeah, that's not my issue. My issue is, the
reason I fought so hard to get native facilitators for these circles was because I didn't want white
people carrying out indigenous practices in our community to heal others as has been done for
centuries, um, you know, with people playing Indian and Shamans and, you know, whatever. Um, and
so, we're kind of coming back to that now. It's like a big- it's like a circle, right? It's like, hey, we need
to do this the right way, but now we're opening it up to the community, so anybody can do this. It just
doesn't make sense to me.
[02:23:57]
Well, then I think the Commission just would say, [02:24:00] well, no, let's just offer it to the Native
community then I.
[02:24:04]
Yeah. No, exactly. And I apologize because I was absent for a couple of meetings, um, just because
the nature of my work. I don't just have, like-you know, I just don't work 95. Um, so, um, if that
happened without me present to say anything, I apologize, but I would like these trainings to I mean, I
guess people can come, whoever can come can come because it's already out there, but, like,
wouldn't it be great if we could somehow rally indigenous folks in the area to show up? I mean, that
would be sort of a way around this. Just some thoughts I'm having.
[02:24:38]
Yeah.
[02:24:40]
The Cos, can I ask you a question? Who was that? This is Commissioner Dillard. Sorry.
[02:24:46]
Okay. Yeah.
[02:24:47]
So I want to be sensitive to your concerns. And- and I hear you you're saying you do not want to allow
white people to attend- to be able to do these- these trainings [02:25:00] and these experiences. Is it-
are you saying only white people, or other people in our community that are using restorative justice
practices that happen to not be white, would that be okay?
[02:25:12]
Yeah. No. It's like saying, like, hey, is it okay as an indigenous person if I wear this regalia from Africa
or carry out this practice from Africa, right? Like, I'm just- like we- we should try to get like indigenous
peoples from this area to carry out these trainings these circles, because what I'm trying to say here
is, there's Mape said at the beginning of his talk, all this land is stolen, right? And, like we have such a
little representation as it is. And We need that way of thinking, and these teachings to be a part of this
so we don't forget like who has been genocided, right? And if we just [02:26:00] open this up to I just-
I just- I have done this work for a long time since I was 19. And so I- I see- I see trouble if- if we don't
let like indigenous peoples carry out, like practices that are that were created by indigenous peoples.
I think that we need to respect that.
[02:26:23]
I totally, um, understand that. And I'm wondering if there's a way to incorporate other ethnicities that,
like, African indigenous people or other groups that would like to have their own practices a part of it,
which is one of the things we talked about when, uh, Manape and T did their training with us. Um, how
can we incorporate those other parts too that would also feel- fit within the healing circles process?
[02:26:51]
I think that would be great if we had some- because I mean, circles happen from all over, um, they
happen all over, right? So, like, it would be great if we had some [02:27:00] facilitators, like, could
carry out some, um, you know, circles that, uh, relate back to, you know, um, like, African ways of
doing things. Um, but all I'm saying is, can we respect the fact that this is indigenous land and that
this is, like, indigenous country. And that, like, if we're gonna start with some circles, let's respect that
one- that one, um, way of doing it initially. And then obviously, we can build from that. But I'm just,
like, this is, uh, I feel like an important point to make.
[02:27:36]
Is that what you said?
[02:27:39]
Okay.
[02:27:39]
Is that what you said how this is gonna be laid anyway?
[02:27:42]
Yeah. And then whoever you all want us to teach, who- whoever we can get there, um, we're willing
to- we're willing to share what we have. And honestly, like, even just in my own how I see if you when
I [02:28:00] say, we're offering this to the community of Iowa City, my mind is thinking of, uh, bipolar
people automatically. So, um, so yeah, yeah. May- maybe- maybe in my discussions, I didn't make
that clear. So my apologies, but automatically, that's what I think. So, um-
[02:28:27]
That's how I take it.
[02:28:29]
Yeah. Yeah. And- and I- I've met some beautiful people in Iowa City that- that- that, um, you know,
first generation African, you know, and I- and I think about what it might be like back there, you know,
and- and after talking with some beautiful folks on the commission, it really isn't much different. And
so that's a beautiful thing to me. And- and already we're connecting a little bit more, you know, so-
[02:29:00] so that's encouraging.
[02:29:13]
Was there any other- did you have anyone to say? I'm sorry.
[02:29:17]
Sure. So Sikowis, this is Annie. And when you and I had, um, an experience of the online circle, so to
speak, the online meeting you and I, like, and some other folks, but like in September a year ago. Are
you there, Sikowis?
[02:29:48]
Yes, I'm listening.
[02:29:50]
Sure. So I'm just asking for clarification. What- are you talking about what Manape is doing as healing
[02:30:00] circles, as opposed to what you were talking to me about, which was talking circles? Is that
the distinction that we're talking about?
[02:30:11]
All right. Yeah, I would- I would imagine. But yes, that's how 'cause I mean, Manape and T are
bringing in, like, a very distinct indigenous approach to this, as you know, because you've been to
them. Um, so that's what I'm worry about because we have prayer, we have our medicines, we have,
you know, a way of doing things that, like, is just again, I think is gonna be exploited.
[02:30:37]
I definitely hear you. And, um, and- and- so, so I'm fine with I'm just- I'm just hearing the distinction
of, these are the healing circles that are more like [02:31:00] Manape did for the commissioners. And
that's what's gonna be taught, is that?
[02:31:06]
Honestly, I don't even know why I'm still talking about this right now. Like, it's just- it's very simple.
We don't need to keep going down that road where we're parsing everything apart and where
everybody's trying to, like, eventually get back to, like, what they really want. And, like, I just think we
should respect indigenous ways of doing things and respect indigenous people and just let them do
what- let us do our thing. Let's try [OVERLAPPING] to indigenous.
[02:31:28]
Have you even seen this workshop details?
[02:31:31]
Yes.
[02:31:32]
You know I'm not after Sikowis. Have you even seen what's written out.
[02:31:37]
I haven't seen what's in the calendar. I only have, like, these things down in my calendar. So, like, I
just want to make sure that we, whatever. You know what? Sorry, forget it. It sounds like no matter
what we do on this commission, it's still going to go back to the status quo, okay? I just want you all to
know that.
[02:31:57]
That's not. That's not what my point is.
[02:31:58]
Just feels like that's what's happening.
[02:31:59]
Actually, [02:32:00] that's not my point. I just wanted to clarify the difference.
[02:32:03]
I-I just I don't want to clarify these differences anymore. I don't want to have to get into these, like,
conversations with-, like just- it's just I am saying what I'm saying. And it's like I said what I said about
us being overworked, and it's like everybody just talks around it. We're not actually coming up with,
like, solutions or responding to people's, like, very concrete examples of, like, what should be done.
So maybe I'm not for this commission. Like, maybe this is for, like, other people, and, like, people
need to do this work in just our communities within our own, you know, within our own organizations.
But I'm going to be quiet now for the next time until we're done.
[02:32:41]
And I'll be quiet now too. Thank you. I apologize. I apologize. I'm not trying to renegotiate. Just
understand. Thank you.
[02:32:49]
No, I understand, Annie. I'm sorry. I'm just tired.
[02:33:00] [02:33:02]
Any other comments or discussions, questions? Yes we move onto agenda item Number 8, the date
on fact finding.
[02:33:23]
I think that was the one that has already been taken care of?
[02:33:29]
No. Check your text. [LAUGHTER]
[02:33:32]
Check what.
[02:33:32]
I think it was asked to be skipped over, if I'm correct.
[02:33:37]
You text?
[02:33:38]
Just a second.
[02:33:40]
Yes. It's correct
[02:33:45]
This is Larry Schooler, advice chair. We don't have a separate update that we need to share at the
meeting. [LAUGHTER]
[02:33:49]
Okay. Thank you. Then Agenda Number 9. Discussion on TRC model presented by Commissioner
Simmons.
[02:34:00] [02:34:06]
So I think there are three- three areas that I would like us to discuss. One was, I made a presentation
about a model that we should use, then I updated that- that presentation about the model and
wanted to get feedback whether this is a model that we should try to explore and leverage and use. I
think the answer was yes, but I didn't get anything really definitive, because if it is yes then my hope
would be is is that we would then share the model with the, uh, city council so that they would know
this is the model that we're we're looking to explore. With the understanding that, again, we're testing
things out and so we wanna see what stuff works or not. So that will be the first thing, what needs to
be done to either approve the model as a model or to not approve the model as a model.
[02:35:00] [02:35:01]
You tell the presentation that you did, was it?
[02:35:05]
To-
[02:35:06]
So the presentation that I think that I did maybe the-
[02:35:12]
Was it in November?
[02:35:13]
It was either the last meeting in October or the first meeting in November. It was the- the presentation
that also had here were the projects that I would like-
[02:35:24]
Yes. Yeah.
[02:35:24]
For use t to be able to consider. Say again. The 16th of November was the time of the presentation.
And that's where the model was. So it was just simply the model that says, here's all of the items in
order and we're going to then test these different items to make sure that they work well in order. So
I'm really just asking that there be a vote that this model is approved [02:36:00] to be tested not that
this model is, um, is the model that we're gonna end up with, but this is the model that we're planning
on testing.
[02:36:15]
Stephanie, I don't have with me at the moment. What was the outcome of that? I mean, do we have it
in the minutes?
[02:36:26]
They would have been in the minutes at your December seventh meeting because they were from the
November meeting date. That it was the slide deck where Chad presented several suggestions for
programming and events?
[02:36:44]
Yeah. I remember the event that was in November, but I'm just trying to remember- I can't remember
what the outcome, and I wasn't here at the seventh meeting. So I was trying to remember what we
decided. Tessy, do you remember?
[02:37:00] [02:37:01]
Question.
[02:37:06]
Your question is, um, about- can you- you can you give me your question one more time, Lauren?
[02:37:12]
Yeah I don't. So I- I remember the presentation in November and the model, but I can't remember
what, um, we did not vote on it that day? We- I can't remember what we- we- what did we do it? Did
you say we talk about it at the next meeting? I'm not sure what, um, what the result was after
receiving the presentation. I just remember- I remember the presentation. I just can't remember
what- what we were doing after that. Do we decide that we're gonna vote later?
[02:37:45]
I mean, we- I don't remember us ever talking about voting on it. I thought it was mostly agreement
that we, um, like the updates. Is it something that we need to necessarily vote on or-
[02:37:59]
It sounds like [02:38:00] you- it was a model you wanted to maybe present to the city, exactly?
[02:38:04]
Well, yes, I think it just has two components. And if- if- if it is your desire to wait, then that's fine. The
one component that has was that it was a model that then will then allow us to validate whether
again, what has been presented as far as the roadmap, whether it fits that- that model. So that's the
first thing. So if we support the model to be tested, then we want to make sure the roadmap fits that
model. If we don't support it, and we- we're fine with whatever is presented in the- the roadmap, then
we don't necessarily have to approve anything, but we can't share. Here- we can't share to the city
council. Here's what the model is. And it's value, in my opinion of sharing to the city council, here's
what we believe the model is that we're gonna be testing. Okay. So we can- so I [02:39:00] have no
problem with holding off and then presenting again the same model and then having us make a
decision to vote on it if we choose to, as well as I don't have a problem with us just simply scrapping
the concept and going with- with what we ultimately make a decision upon, it seems today on the the
road map.
[02:39:21]
Well, actually, it might be a good idea if- if at the next meeting we wanna revisit your model. To- we-
we have this road map. We're also expecting the, um, the narrower road map. Um, and we can have a
discussion and look at your model, look at the roadmap, see how it works, whether we combine it
together or whatever and make a decision at the next meeting.
[02:39:50]
On that note, then I just- then the other question is- is that, I'm not sure if the dates will be adjusted
[02:40:00] for our, um, roadmap? Um, if the decision is to look at the- a rule map that's gonna be at
the end of January versus it be decided now. Will the dates be adjusted or are we saying that we're
gonna keep the exact same dates that we currently have?
[02:40:25]
Let's see. Um, and if we- when we continue discussing the model/roadmap, uh, I will work on, uh,
being very clear. Uh, I- I'm not sure whether it's the relationship or the difference be- because what
we've been doing or what the TRC is charged with [02:41:00] it's on a resolution, which spells very
clearly what's to happen. And that's what we have been doing and now with the additional help of the
facilitator. So, uh, before going forward I want to be very, very clear how it ties together to the
model/roadmap because I'm seeing we already doing this.
[02:41:42]
I think you bring-you bring up a very interesting and-and great point which is, again, you know, again
what is our charge? And I believe our charge was really related to, um, a identifying, kind of, the
things around truth telling, around fact finding, truth telling, and reconciliation. I also [02:42:00]
believe that in essence when we're doing that, we're trying to figure out a model to be able to make
this happen on a consistent basis over periods of time. And we were looking to figure out based on the
things that we had learned, whether it was related to strategic doing, whether it's relating to the
healing partners, whether it was related to um-um the um, TRC models that had been used before in
the past. What in essence best fits us from Iowa city perspective. And then the last part is - is that
once you, kind of, do all of that or at least my thought was, then you have to provide
recommendations. Here's a model of what we should do. H ere's some recommendations, be able to
address some of the issues or concerns and the answers we believe that need to - to be in existence
for people to understand. And then allow the city council to then take it from there and then make
decisions about what they wanted to do to move forward. As an example, we may say, there's not
work. We can't get all of the work done based [02:43:00] on the year that we have left. We believe
that there needs to be a permanent commission. And this is what the permanent commission should
be, and this is what - this is what their charge should look like. Would just be an example, right of
something that we would say, here's our recommendation to the city council. It could be they take it
and they could love it. They take it, they could hate it. They could take it or they could just ignore it.
We don't control what, you know, the elected officials do, but this is something that we're at least
charged to provide recommendations for. So I'm just trying to just make it clear from the perspective
of at least the work of what - what is leading what. Is it the chicken or the egg. And then once you
have one decided which one goes first, then you can then check the other one and make sure it fits
with the model in which we in essence, decided to put first. That's really the only thing that I'm - I'm
requesting. To do it more in - in the format that you talked about is it said, I'm really trying to figure
out how to make sure that the syllabus [02:44:00] is truly a syllabus.
[02:44:02]
If I can answer your question. I do believe that if anything, the roadmap was informed by the model
that you presented on Chad. I don't know if it's completely there. I need to look at them again side by
side. But I believe when we left that meeting, we collectively agreed that we, um, liked what you had
put together.
[02:44:33]
And thank you, Chad. I greatly appreciate it. I don't see anything around reconciliation in the moto.
[02:44:41]
You mean on the roadmap?
[02:44:43]
On the roadmap. I see.
[02:44:44]
Okay. And that's not - that's not a problem. It's just again, it - it again, better informs the work that, in
essence this needs to be done. I - it - I'm not trying to [02:45:00] say one way or the other. I'm just
saying that this is an opportunity for us to make a decision. And whatever decision we make, then I
think it should stand.
[02:45:13]
I mean, would it be possible for us in the next meeting to have it be completely focused and limited to
a decision with respect to the existing roadmap and a reconciliation for the model in the roadmap so
that we can move forward?
[02:45:31]
And my question to you is that simply that I'm trying to make sure that we have beforehand is, is the
roadmap willing to be altered? Or are we saying that the roadmap is the way it is?
[02:45:43]
I - I think they said earlier that things can be like -
[02:45:47]
So - so I want to make sure I understand. So what - so from - how I'm looking at it is, so - so you've
provided the model that would be used when [02:46:00] we carry out the work, right? But this
roadmap that they've provided is still, like the training and, kind of, getting our feet wet. So we're not
going to do reconciliation yet. Um, but I mean, maybe we can.
[02:46:16]
You should.
[02:46:17]
Are you concerned like there should be some - something built in, and in case we do come across
these situations. Or am I just taking it to a whole - taking it on a whole other path. I love on two road
maps.
[02:46:35]
No - no. I'm not trying to take it to a whole other level. I'm really trying to keep this really basic and
really the simple is - is that I'm just trying to think of what is it we're going to use to make sure that
what we're doing fulfills all of the requirements that we put in place.
[02:46:51]
And so one of the things which you felt is lacking in this road map is about the reconciliation
component.
[02:46:59]
The [02:47:00] road map doesn't have anything around reconciliation at all. And I'm fine with that.
The proposals and things I recommended, a lot of those have things around reconciliation, but the
road map doesn't have anything around reconciliation. And then the other thing is - is that it's the
timing of when certain things happen, because we wanted to see - that we wanted to actually see it
work through. The other thing that we got feedback from - from one of our Mayor Pro Tem was is that
she likes to see if there's a possibility of it can work specifically with, you know, a - a group of
individuals, a community. And specifically she wanted to target around immigrants because of things
around language and things that in essence will be challenging to make sure that we're thinking
through this from everyone's perspective. I thought that was - was - was - as much as I know this is to
me in my opinion, as much as I believe this is about race. I do understand the importance [02:48:00]
of when it comes to ethnicity and when it comes to culture, how that can have an impact on whether
how people receive that. That's some of the things that we've been experiencing, even now when
we're talking about healing partners. It is about, yeah, we want to share, but we're not giving up the
essence of who we are and why we do this. This is more important to us and just, you know, this is
more important to us than just giving you this is our process. We're not doing that. This is bigger than
that for us. So I'm fine. I will shortcut my way to this and say, I am totally fine with me bringing this
up. I'll bring the model, and I - I will bring it at our next meeting, and then we can just say that this is
something that we support or not. Is that deal acceptable? Or we can take a look at this in comparison
to the road map and then disagree that we support whatever [02:49:00] work we want to get done.
[02:49:01]
Because of the road map is not something that we need to - actually we don't have to go to the city
for. This is something that we're setting, you know, the timeline and everything for the rest of this
contract. And I know your model if I remember correctly, ultimately need to was something to be
presented to the to the city as part of a recommendation, is that correct?
[02:49:30]
No. So my model was just a model. It doesn't have to be presented to the city.
[02:49:33]
Okay.
[02:49:34]
My thought was, it just gives the city a - a kind of, a picture of the work that we're going to be doing
within the roadmap. It makes it simple for the city.
[02:49:42]
The structure.
[02:49:43]
[inaudible 02:49:43] Bingo. Okay. It give them the structure so that they can say, okay this is it, and
then they can then from a big picture 50,000 foot level, they could say, okay we see where you're
going. We don't know if we believe it, but we still see where you're going. And we say, well, we don't
know if we believe [02:50:00] it either, but this is, kind of, what we're going to test out.
[02:50:03]
So again, I want to make sure I understand. So what you're saying is instead of doing this roadmap
that's just a bunch of - I don't want to say it like that. It's a lot of different things happening, um, not
necessarily with, like, some strategic order where if we went with your model, you would actually like
to go with the model for this roadmap.
[02:50:24]
Well, what I'm saying is - is that we would - look, I do agree with Chairman. Sorry, Chairwoman.
Dillard, I do agree from that perspective that - again, this is just - this is just a big model. This is a way
for us as commissioners to communicate to the city council. The roadmap that they gave us was for
us to communicate with the consultants. But they need to be in harmony with each other [02:51:00]
so that someone can say, well, you gave us this, but you did something totally different. I want them
to be in harmony from that perspective. And one of them has to lead the way. If the roadmap leads
the way, then we should - we should make sure that the model fits what the roadmap says for us to
do in the way that it says for us to do it. So that when we give it to the city council, then there's not a
feeling that we're in conflict.
[02:51:30]
So one thing if we're also asking for the more streamlined roadmap, you know, so it's not - we're
focusing on maybe on one thing as opposed to whatever else. But one thing which we'll be getting
from Laura. But one thing we want to look for because you said I agree, looking at this is that is not
the reconciliation component. It doesn't seem to be reflected into the - this roadmap. Maybe that -
that also somehow can be [02:52:00] included, and so that we had that to compare with your model
the next time and say if it matches, then we can run with it.
[02:52:09]
We can talk about that. Or again, my thought is, I don't want the healing partners work to happen
before fact finding. Are you with me? Because fact finding is supposed to go first, then it's supposed
to be a certain order. And if it all is in this right order, then we can then get a better feeling of the
flow. And I don't want anything to be in conflict with the other thing. That's all I'm just saying. I don't
want - I'm willing to follow whatever we say we're going to follow, and it can be a simplified that we
want to work on one topic. That one topic could be, you know, cheeseburgers, whatever it is. And
we're going to follow through on that one topic with how we have it set up, either through the -
through the roadmap or through the model. They just [02:53:00] have to be in sync with each other.
That's all I'm asking, because I still want to take the city council 50,000 foot level and say, this is what
we're testing. That's my suggestion. And it does tie into some of this other stuff I'm getting ready to
say. So, just something just to think about. I'll bring the model back. On that I now am not asking for a
decision. And then you can - we can just take a look to make sure if there are any adjustments or
changes that we can do that.
[02:53:30]
And I don't know how the word will go - the word testing using it especially on people. The word
testing is very triggering, because some tests have been done and they really cost harm on some of
those people that it's used with. But it's still very confusing the model and seeing [02:54:00] it
together with the resolution. And something I also don't want to lose is the Phase 2 when it was - we
were being taken through. Reconciliation is also happening in that work. For example, the work with
the healing partners, that part of the reconciliation piece. And even as we do the truth telling, as it's
going on, reconciliation is also happening. Ah, even as the video was being presented, there was
support for the person telling their truth. So the, ah, and it's - the phase 2 is we're still on track with
the charge. [02:55:00] So for me, I'm just seeing some redundancy with the model slash roadmap
because we are already following the resolution and the three charges that are there. But, ah, but
maybe I'm seeing it as, ah - as the same as what we're doing. Just because I - I probably don't see the
details. And when I think of the city council, I think of the times we have been there, we've been sent
back again and again to go and be clear to ourselves. What are we presenting and what are we asking
for, especially if it's money.
[02:55:52]
So Commissioner, the thing that I would tell you is, and being a descendant of enslaved folks, it does
not for me, [02:56:00] represent anything close to reconciliation. And maybe - maybe for others it
does, and I can appreciate and I can understand that. But for - for slave, for me for my experience, it
does not. It comes nowhere close.
[02:56:15]
I'm coming from what is out there on what the other - the training and the research that has been
presented and the work that has been done on other truth, and reconciliation commissions, and what
constitutes reconciliation. That's where I was coming from.
[02:56:34]
Just simply saying is that in America based on the experience of America through enslavement, and
based on the lack of, you can call it reparations. There has been never - that has never been in
essence resolved. The fact finding for us has been done. There has been plenty of work that has been
done around how one should manage and try to - to focus on healing and forgiving oneself. [02:57:00]
But there has been no resolution when it comes to - to what doesn't happen once you've identified
where the harm is, how that, in essence gets eliminated. And so - so I do acknowledge that it's
different for different individuals and different for different communities. But their - their resolution
does not exist for me in the process of what in essence has been done in America.
[02:57:29]
Leo, you have your hand up and then Chastity, and then, okay.
[02:57:35]
Great, they can sit.
[02:57:38]
Thank you. Um, so Commissioner Simmons, thank you. Uh, and I want to speak to the roadmap, and
the conversations are good that we've been having in the consultancy team is around why we are
presenting it here today, why we did present it here today, uh, was to make sure that it was done
early enough for us to be able [02:58:00] to make the adjustments according to the needs of the
commission. And so with your model, um, I'm not familiar fully with it yet, um, so I'm in the process of
having a chance to read through it to compare. Um, and your speaking through the need for
reconciliation and reparations, um, definitely hear that, and that is what is grounded in the- or the
foundation is built through the fact finding and through the truth telling. Um, and so the experience of
Iowa City, Black folks in Iowa City, who, um, have the history that you do. And so thank you for
speaking on that here. Um, the experience in Iowa City is different from different places. And so when
you hold these truth telling fora, these truth telling hearings, then it exposes the specific harms to
Iowa City that even though they are systemic [02:59:00] um, they are specific to Iowa City. And so
they may be similar to Greensboro, they may be similar to Ferguson and elsewhere, but they are
specific to Iowa City. And so through the truth telling process of hearing from people what it is like-
what it is like to be in the lineage of enslaved people in this context within these systems and the
specific harms that are caused by these systems in this context, having those exposed through these
truth telling hearings is then what leads to the reparations or the call for reparations and establishing
a process for that. And so the um- the reconciliation portion of the charge of the Commission is
reflected in this road-map 4Q1. Just this Phase 2 is the healing, the fact finding and the truth telling
um, and the healing to lay the foundation because [03:00:00] you won't know what the- is going to be
necessary to facilitate that until it is guided by the people because um I forget who mentioned it here
earlier, um, it might have been Sikowis. Please forgive me if I'm giving the wrong attribution. Um, but
the way of this society and these structures of top down imposing on communities what they need to
do is exactly what cannot happen. And so through- by going through the process, um, you've- you've
talked about implementing a model as a model, right? And so going through, uplifting the facts,
finding them, what is the data that exists, and what is the truth that is shared, right, by the people,
the experience, the lived experience, and the expertise of people who live under oppression. And what
does that look like in this area? Exposing what are the stated [03:01:00] needs of the community in
order for reconciliation to be made possible. And so the truth telling hearings are the avenue through
which reconciliation is made possible. Um, and so that's where the truth telling hearings need to be
held in order to fully honor the stated needs of the community, as opposed to having it be a body
quasi governmental or otherwise uh imposing will- imposing- feeling like it's imposing the state- the
will of the state on the people as opposed to being responsive to the stated needs of the people,
which is the purpose of the truth telling the hearings. And the rest of the road-map for clarity. Um, so
addressing the longer term portion of this is that the detailed road-map is for our deliverables to make
sure that we come through to provide you with the tools that [03:02:00] you need. And part of that is
going to be a more comprehensive streamlined, hopefully manageable and acceptable road-map for
providing um some options, right? So not telling you what you need to do, but providing options on
what is possible in order to do this work well to- to honor the voices and the needs and the harms that
have been inflicted on the people that you care for and the people that you represent and reflect. And
I yield.
[03:02:32]
I have a quick question to follow up what you just said. Sorry. This is uh, vice chair Merritt, but since
part of the charge has to do with, you know, I said, the reconciliation. And we understand that, you
know, what the potentials of coming through two telling events and all where though in the- the road-
map is [03:03:00] the opponent where you're taking the information from the tooth telling, whatever
else, and you start to formulate some sort of reconciliation. That at least some kind of event or
something that I would think should be addressed in the road-map, since that is part of the charge
and part of Phase 2 contractually.
[03:03:19]
Yes. And so that makes perfect sense. Yes. And so that is the composition of the three culminating
events or specifically to show that model, to show a model of what is possible and how to hold these
spaces in order to do the fact finding, walk through the truth telling. And here it is labeled healing
circles, but that that facilitates the- the reconciliation portion, but it is through the culminating events
that we aim to meet that contractual deliverable.
[03:03:59]
Chastity, did you [03:04:00] still have something you wanted to talk or your hand now down? No,
maybe she's not there. Uh, Annie?
[03:04:15]
Thanks. Um, so um, what was really helpful was that you guys asked for a roadmap, right? So it gave
us an opportunity to go, great, let's put it all in a chronology. And we bring it to you with you guys
asking for what you want, what's missing. And when you um- so two things that I've heard you say
Chad that were useful to me that I really wanted to address, not only two things that were useful, but
two things. Let me just- oh, the way you say things makes a difference. So, um, there were two things
that you said that I wanted to respond to. The thing about having the healing partners at the
beginning, [03:05:00] and it could happen differently, but we were thinking that if it happened near
the beginning, like in the first third, then in February, if you look- if you look at the roadmap, there are
two more experiential circles for the community, and that gives the trainees a chance to work with
Monope. Oh, right, sorry. Kinesthetic care. So if you um- the way it's structured right now, and it can
be changed. The calendar can be changed, but right now it's set so there's an experiential circle for
people to kind of confirm, yes, I want to be part of it, and then go into the training. And then in the
next month, there are two more experiential circles for the community members so that the people
who have gotten trained can work with Monope [03:06:00] and Danielle and T in providing community
circles, which are healing circles, and- and be ready then for the culminating event. So it's building
community capacity. An ability to provide the circles. And the thing I want to say about circles which-
circles which are not healing circles, but are used in restorative justice, or some of you may have
experienced a healing circle with Monope. You've got people who have the different experiences,
having a chance to speak and hear each other. And in one of Dave Raglan's writings, he said that part
of reconciliation is being able to speak and be heard. I think- what I think of reconciliation also is be
heard and work together on it. And when those healing circles provides [03:07:00] the chance to be
heard and be moved and shift based on what you've heard. And you can tell that someone shifted by
what they say in the next round. And so I see people in circles where somebody's caused harm,
somebody's been harmed, and how they- what comes up for them in the different rounds in the next
go round, is a shift, and you can hear the shift in understanding. So that's a place where reconciliation
does occur. The other place that I think is really foundational to what you're talking about is the
recommendations that you make to the city. Like, you're going to say to the city, yeah, to make good
on this, to actually make a shift, to reconcile what's happened, to repair what's happened. Here's what
we recommend. Both that. So- so those are places that I see reconciliation [03:08:00] already existing
in the resolution and this expression of it, but definitely, if you have other ideas about- additional
ideas about reconciliation, what it might look like, that's what you guys get to do. You're creating this.
We're just bringing you what we have.
[03:08:21]
So I'd like to comment on that. Is that exception?
[03:08:23]
Sure. Yeah.
[03:08:25]
I used to be a member of the chamber.
[03:08:30]
Uh.
[03:08:31]
The chamber um- I was a member very supportive of the chamber.
[03:08:36]
You're saying like of commerce?
[03:08:37]
Chamber of Commerce.
[03:08:38]
Got it.
[03:08:39]
And the chamber had been working and struggling with the issue about whether they're going to form
with the economic development group or be separate. Now, I've been a part of this, probably, let's
say, over the past let's just say 10 years. Okay? My numbers is probably [03:09:00] going to be off,
but let's just say 10 years. I watched Cedar Rapids kind of go through it, right? And so I'm watching
the- I'm watching it happen in Iowa City. I understand as a small business owner, that a lot of this was
being pulled and pushed by very influential people that, um, were working for big companies that
made my voice less relevant. You're with me?
[03:09:27]
Yeah, I am.
[03:09:28]
One of the values of having someone like a big brother, I have a big sister. When people would come
and try to mess with me, they'd have to think twice because they were messing with eventually, my
big sister. She didn't like that. My big sister is around, you know, she's around six feet, one, tall, right?
So she's still shorter than me, but they still didn't, you know, they didn't mess with me because she
grew faster. The value of being connected to Iowa City- [03:10:00] City Council is when Iowa City talks
because it has- it has reached in every part of the organization. If I really want something changed at
some of the arts, and I get my big sister to get involved, then some of the arts will change cause it
just that's what it is, right? It can manage that. So there's a value of being able to do certain things if
you have the ability to be able to make that happen, right? And some of it it's not about me. It's about
who stands with me.
[03:10:36]
Right.
[03:10:37]
The Commission is trying to make recommendations about- for the city. This is who- this is why you
should stand with us, because if you stand with us, you can make system changes that can, in
essence allow us to be able to do the work we do. The issue of- of Mr. Floyd and the police [03:11:00]
officer and- and- and the situation was he had his foot on his neck. He didn't have to pick him up. He
just had to take his foot off of his neck. That's all it is. So I'm just simply saying is, is that there are
systems out there that create problems, that create havoc for us. There are people that do things
because they just have relationships. Some people don't even know they have the relationships they
use them, but some people really know they have them, they use them. I just want us to be in a
situation where we can get our big sister to be able to help us, get others to think differently about
managing different things. That's really the only thing that I'm- I'm- I'm really asking for. And in this
modal, I'm just simply saying, does it work? Now, for some people, there is the belief that
reconciliation is about me feeling better, about you feeling better, and we all feel better, but if you
understand what [03:12:00] it is to be descendants of enslave folks, and you understand what it was
to have a civil war, only to then followed by Jim Crow. If you understand that, then you understand
that it can't just be from an individual to an individual, it has to be from a system to a system. That
has- now, it's not going to be for everyone. I understand. It could just be culturally. It could be my- my
experience and the people that I represent. It could be our experience. I- I just acknowledge that, but
I'm just trying to go after the system to be able to understand to at least allow that the system is not
putting their foot on our necks. That's all I'm trying to say. The way the process works, whether
healing circles are first or second, I'm not trying to disrupt that, I'm just trying to say what comes first,
what's leading this thing. What- what makes this make sense? That's all, I'm just-. And however we
go, [03:13:00] we'll go, and if we say, we're not going to do anything, and we're just going to let it
happen, then a part of that I'm going to be accepting of. The other part I'm not because I'm not willing
to waste my time on foolishness. I'm not willing to invest all of this money in consultants, and the
people actually get nothing. Nothing. I want the people to get something from this overall experience
of something that happened more than three years ago.
[03:13:28]
Right.
[03:13:28]
And people eventually will not care about this. I know that. So that's just my-
[03:13:33]
And there are even people who are against it so. Well, there's that worth bringing in the room.
[03:13:37]
Listen- listen.
[03:13:38]
But- but- but so, I'm sorry, I interrupted. Go ahead. No- no, I am listening.
[03:13:44]
I appreciate that. I'm fine. Go ahead.
[03:13:48]
So it isn't- I wanted to bring the- I guess I think that where your big sister comes in is the
recommendations that you bring to the city council [03:14:00] and the city council implements. Is that
are we on different pages?
[03:14:05]
You absolutely right, but the project that we have currently put in place does not allow that to really
happen. What's really happening is is that it's further a- an expansion of Phase 1. And then there
comes a period of time that we're left by ourselves with no consultants, right? That we still have to
come up with the recommendations. We have to write the document, and then we have to then
present it. So there's still nine months of work that is just us as of right now based on how it's been
set up.
[03:14:41]
Great. So can I say a couple of things?
[03:14:46]
She's a talker. She's trying not to talk. Um, so number 1, the way this thing was- was designed was
that you guys had a staff person. The city did not do that. So l - I'm just saying that that would have
been there.
[03:14:59]
Annie, [03:15:00] I just want to - I'm - I'm going to stop just for a second.
[03:15:02]
Okay, talk.
[03:15:03]
I do acknowledge that not everything has been perfect. I acknowledge that. And not everything is run
the way it's supposed to. I totally acknowledge that. But I am a person that will not allow excuses to
get in the way of my success. And what I'm simply concerned about is the commission is going to be
judged on something. And what we have been judged on is chaos in the past. I want us to be judged
on a positive outcome that comes from it. I am not interested in hearing why we aren't getting paid.
I'm not interested in hearing where the city should have done better for us. I'm not interested in- in
even trying to address some of those challenges. I'm really trying to say, how do we get to success? If
you can share with me, [03:16:00] ways of getting to success. I'm down with it. But if you're going to
share with me about the faults of others or us and how we got to where we're at, I'm just not that
interested.
[03:16:12]
Great. I'm not interested in complaining or whining. I just wanted you to know that integral to the
vision of it, there was that you had someone to work for you, okay? Someone just devoted to what
you guys needed. So I'm not about whining about any of it.
[03:16:28]
I would just tell you that even if we had that person, we still would be at the same place.
[03:16:32]
Great. And so - so then what I think tonight has been useful just speaking candidly is that you guys are
looking at workability, what the dynamics really look like and feel like, let alone livability of your lives,
and also how to be successful in accomplishing the goals in the resolution. Right? The resolution lays
it out for you. [03:17:00] So if you see things that you need, or if you need more help, you've said
more than once, I- we want to help writing it. So then create a proposal or ask- either ask people
involved here or create a proposal with the City Council. Definitely, I liked that Eduardo said, make a
plan and ask to fund the plan. So I'm not trying to be naive.
[03:17:33]
I will plan.
[03:17:35]
Right. Good. And so I'm just- I just support you guys figuring out what you need and asking for it.
[03:17:46]
Okay. Thank you.
[03:17:48]
Yes, thanks.
[03:17:52]
Okay. So I think as of right now, we're going to revisit your model, the next meeting.
[03:17:59]
Yes.
[03:18:00]
We are going to get a streamlined road map.
[03:18:05]
Yes.
[03:18:06]
And we're going to compare to see how it's incorporated, whatever else.
[03:18:11]
Yes.
[03:18:11]
Okay. Um, and make some kind of decision at the next meeting. What else did you need to discuss?
[03:18:18]
So the two more things I needed to discuss. The first thing is that there is additional work that we do
need to do, and I believe that work should be done around reconciliation. I came up with concepts
that I believe that we should think about exploring and implementing. The concepts were not fully
vetted for everyone. So, again, uh, you know, uh commissioner Sakawa's brought up good points that
she felt that it did not necessarily hit the needs of Indigenous folks, and I would support that. I would
just simply ask that we need help in coming up with some of those additional things that may happen.
but I believe we need money to be able to do that work and to be able to document [03:19:00] all of
the work that we can do so that we can, in essence, effectively communicate to the community about
that work. I'm recommending that we- we request around $250,000 to do projects that are going to
be related to doing that work. A good portion of it being used for things around reconciliation and
testing things out, but then other portions of it are going to be around fact-finding or around truth-
telling. So that is what my recommendation is is that we ask the city council for money.
[03:19:35]
I mean, kind of like the point of this, if we're putting together a template to use, we're going to need
the money to implement.
[03:19:48]
So I can give a percentage of money that would go to these- to these buckets, a maximum that we
would, in essence, use so that that could be included. If you'd like me to include that within my
motion, I have [03:20:00] no problem with doing that.
[03:20:03]
As in my mind, I think the money's already- it's already been dedicated to these activities in a sense.
[03:20:14]
So there is money that is in a bucket that- that is waiting for us to request.
[03:20:18]
Yes.
[03:20:19]
Now, the city council has to make a determination of whether they're going to allow us to use it or
not. And again, that is- that is their right to be able to make that decision, but we should ask for
money to complete the project.
[03:20:32]
Yeah. I already know the answer to this question, as long it's consistent with what is in the resolution,
what that money was for, which I already know it is.
[03:20:43]
It should only be what's consistent with the resolution. Solution that will focus [03:21:00] on fact-
finding, truth-telling, and/or reconciliation.
[03:21:12]
I second it.
[03:21:17]
Any further discussion?
[03:21:19]
I just have a question to our city staff, like, um, when this is approved, what is the process or the next
steps to make that happen?
[03:21:29]
[LAUGHTER] Well, typically, um, the city council reviews the minutes of all of the commissions to the,
uh, IP, um, information packet. Uh, and then they could bring that- that request up as item to be
discussed at the next meeting. That's one approach. Another approach could [03:22:00] be to, uh, ask
the city manager to the mayor to get that request on the agenda. That's another approach. So- or you
could also have a couple of city council members also introduce it to be an item to be discussed or to
be voted on.
[03:22:19]
[inaudible 03:22:19] Ways.
[03:22:22]
[inaudible 03:22:22].
[03:22:23]
Yeah.
[03:22:25]
Before we go further. I- I noted that Councilwoman Burgers had stood up in line. I don't know. Chair.
[03:22:37]
I was just going to know that the reconciliation in the healing circles [inaudible 03:22:45].
[03:22:45]
I didn't want to lose what you're standing up to, to say. Yeah. Thank you. [LAUGHTER]
[03:22:55]
Yeah. I want to repeat what she said, please.
[03:22:59]
Oh, [03:23:00] um, when she originally stood up, she was going to mention how, um, the healing
circles were uh, actually a component of reconciliation. Ready to vote on the motion? Commissioner
Simmons?
[03:23:24]
Aye.
[03:23:25]
Commissioner Tassinary?
[03:23:26]
Aye.
[03:23:28]
Commissioner Merritt?
[03:23:30]
Yes.
[03:23:32]
Commissioner Gathua?
[03:23:34]
Abstain too much. Uh, I need to, um, get clarity on the motion.
[03:23:46]
Commissioner Krebs?
[03:23:47]
Yes.
[03:23:49]
Commissioner Dillard.
[03:23:53]
I abstained for the same reason.
[03:23:56]
And, uh, Commissioner Nobis?
[03:23:59]
Yes.
[03:24:00] [03:24:02]
Motion carries five with two abstaining.
[03:24:09]
And then my last topic is related to, um, the, um responsibility of the commission that I just want to
make sure is clarified. I'm not quite sure how to, in essence, put this or whether this should be in a
motion or not. So I'm going to lean on the staff to better understand what I think my options are. I
believe that there is some belief that the commission has the ability to manage and control things like
the contracts that we are responsible for that, and we're responsible for the administration of it. Um,
but I've in the past gotten this feeling that there's like this thing of working [03:25:00] with the city
staff, working with the city council, and then working with the commission to figure out what, in
essence, can or can't be done by the commission when it comes to the support of the commission.
And so I wanted to get more clarity around that specifically from either the mayor and/or the city
council, um as far as what do we have the ability to control as it relates to the work that we have been
required to do when it comes to contracts and the ability to move forward with contracts, to cancel or
to administer contracts. So I can either put that in a motion or I can just put that in a request that is
clarified to [03:26:00] us, and then a letter has been sent to us saying what we have the ability to do
or not to do. What, in essence, falls within our responsibility?
[03:26:13]
I actually have- well I have a little note that I wanted to put down as an agenda item probably for the
next meeting where we discuss when expectations of our roles as well- individually as well as the
commission and exactly what- what power do we have, what else, and what we don't have, and so
that it's very clear cut going forward as to what we can and what we can't do. Would that suffice?
[03:26:46]
No, it wouldn't suffice for us to be in the next meeting, but it would suffice that we get the information
by our next meeting about what we have the ability to do. So I don't think that it is something that we
can just.
[03:26:58]
But at least have some discussion. [03:27:00] Where to start and have some information hopefully by
then.
[03:27:03]
Well, my hope is that they- that we're given instruction about what we have- what we have control
over. I just want to know what it is that we can do or what we can do. This feeling to me of kind of
these three separate entities, and you got to go to your parents to ask for stuff, or you can't- you
can't, you know, look, if I want to renegotiate with the consultants, then is it even a possibility that we
can do the renegotiation? Or is it no possibility at all? A lot of the problem is- is that you know, we
want to, you know- you know, the person you love loves someone else, right? So, you know, the
communication is challenging with that. And I don't know if other commissions have that, but I would
like to have more control over the ability of at least understanding how it is that we're to operate and
play.
[03:27:57]
Yeah.
[03:28:00] [03:28:01]
I think for every commission, every commission should want to know that.
[03:28:05]
But I have wondered that since day one. Thank you.
[03:28:10]
Yeah.
[03:28:12]
I believe that-
[03:28:13]
Chass then Cacus, I'm sorry.
[03:28:16]
Oh, I don't have the answer for you, but I believe we don't need to vote on that. We can just ask our
city staff if they can provide that to us in an e-mail or something, is that possible?
[03:28:28]
I like it more in writing versus in e-mail. I like a letter from- from someone that's telling us this is
what- based on our charge, this is what we have the ability to do or not. And I'm asking that's not what
I would call political talk, that is not, in essence, beating around the bush to be able to say yes or no.
But it's just simply saying, here's what the mandate of what you can do, and you cannot do this. And
I'm-
[03:28:56]
From, the city attorney or something. Is that what you're asking for?
[03:28:59]
No, [03:29:00] I don't want to hear from the city attorney. I appreciate the role of the city attorney.
The city attorney, again, is trying to keep the city out of jail, in essence, with the community. I need to
hear from our leaders as far as what does our commission have the ability to manage or do, or, you
know, on our own. Or you know, in essence, have they delegated to us to be able to do or not?
[03:29:29]
Can I talk?
[03:29:31]
Get your return.
[03:29:33]
Um, yeah, thank you. I have been asking this since Day 1. Like, I've always been really irritated by it.
And I've never gotten a straight answer. um, and we do have a city leader in the office or the
chamber or the room right now. Like, can we just see what they might have to say? Like, can we get
this information? Can we ask, - I'd love to ask if Laura Burges is in the room, like is this- [03:30:00] is
this information-
[03:30:02]
I thought she might have been talking about me, [LAUGHTER] put me in my place.
[03:30:13]
I'd be glad to answer the best that I can, which is that our staff has authority up to certain dollar
amounts. My understanding is that the city manager can spend $60,000, I believe, without city
council approval. However, if it is a decision that his office deems to be one of public interest or
particularly political, which has been the case with TRC decisions up until this point, at least, um, then
he would bring that to the full council. But anything above that dollar amount would go to council
anyway. And I'm sure there are other um, statutorily required things that would have the council
involved, so it would depend on the type of expenditure. So no, I don't think any commission has
budgetary authority in that way. That makes sense. But now.
[03:31:00]
One of the questions he asked about was like, okay, we have a contract.
[03:31:03]
Right.
[03:31:04]
If there's something that, uh, especially when we first started, we were like, we're going to wing this a
little bit 'cause this is brand new. We didn't know what was going on. Now that we have more under
our belt. If there's something that we wanted to incorporate into contracts now, that kind of stuff. It
kind of changes what as a commission, do we have?
[03:31:24]
Yeah, I think the reason there hasn't been clear answers is that it does depend on the situation. It
depends on the kind of change you'd be looking for. It depends on whether the other party in the
agreement is willing to do that with or without a written amendment. The Commission can't bind the
city to a contract, but certainly, you can make recommendations as to what you would want the
changes to be. But if you all are working with the facilitation team and come up with an agreement for
what the path forward is on what you want to do, and they say, great.
[03:31:52]
That's fine.
[03:31:54]
To basically- and just to kind of add to that, I think we kind of went through this with the pause, right?
The [03:32:00] reason for the pause was because there was a motion by the Commission to, um, to
look at phase one being extended. And remember, we went through a process that what- what did
that actually mean and got legal, ah, advice stating that that was a- a large enough change, that
would require counsel- counsel intervention, right? We remember having to come back and talk to the
consultants, and they weren't necessarily on board with- with the change of- of the length of time and
what that meant and- and then came back to the Commission and the Commission then decided to- to
basically drop that issue. And so then the contract restarted soon after that. So- so the process is,
yeah, the commission is involved in the contract, and I would also say, reading the contract and
understanding the commissions grow within [03:33:00] the contracts, as- as it stated, is already in
writing, already there, but there are some nuances that I think Commissioner Simmons is getting to
that potentially could- could have some more staff interpretation or even clarification from the
Council. We can certainly go through that. I'm just listening to what you presented, but obviously if
provided in writing that might give us a little bit more clarity on some of where those nuanced points
might be. But certainly, just from the contract standpoint, there are areas for the- the commission to
participate and be involved in some negotiations, but it goes back and forth if the comm- if the
consultants agree with those things, and they're not substantially changing dollar amounts or some
other major impact in the contract, then yeah, the city manager [03:34:00] has the right to make
those adjustments without having to go to council. But if there's substantial changes, which we
thought and got the advice that the last extension or pause between phases was substantial enough,
then we needed to get clarif- clarification before we moved on with Phase 2, which the Commission
did vote on that too. So if I remember, that vote was to continue on with Phase 2.
[03:34:29]
So here's a couple of things. I'm not getting the exact same answer for every, um, city council person.
I get different answers. Okay, it is what it is. I have a situation where again, we raised an issue, based
on raising the issue, we were not able to pause, but what we ended up doing was pausing anyway,
right? And I'm not quite sure how that really happened, right? Because there was still work that in
essence needed to be done. We're in a situation [03:35:00] now that we've heard a- a time frame,
right? We have a roadmap. And the question is, is that we're not going to make the decision about the
roadmap possibly until, um, the next meeting, which is in, um-
[03:35:16]
Two weeks.
[03:35:16]
Around the 22nd, right? Anyway, we're not going to be able to make a decision until then. But based
on what you're saying is we have no ability to move the date back. They've set the date that is
sometime in April, then the contract is up, right? So we have no ability to determine when the
contract started for phase two, nor do we have the ability to know when the contract ends. So we're in
this situation.
[03:35:41]
Well, let me- let me just clarify just a bit. I think the previous discussion was, we weren't really sure or
I think the date that was used before might have been somewhere around March before the Phase 2
would start up again. And that was I think a difference of maybe [03:36:00] three months or
something like that. And- and that time frame from- from my recall with conversations with City
Attorney, was substantial enough that he felt that that needed to have counsel- council interaction or
council approval. Let's just say that we're moving along, and we think it's going to be another month.
So maybe it's April, instead of March or something like that. I'm not sure that that would be
considered to be a substantial change if all the parties would agree to that timeline without changing
the dollar amounts or whatever if there's some reasons why things are being held up or stalled or
waiting for events to happen or whatever, those logistical things that might require that timeline to
go, I'm not sure that that would be considered to be substantial enough that would require city
council [03:37:00] or would- would likely be in the city manager's purview to be able to make that a
change without having to go to city council. So I- I hear you, but I- I think if- if the deadline being at
the end of March is the concern if that deadline was going to be a month I- I don't think it's a
challenge. Two months may be a problem. Two months might be a problem.
[03:37:27]
But Mr. Charles we still have approximately eight- nine, eight months that we have no consultants.
We still have the charter. We still have the thing in the work [OVERLAPPING].
[03:37:36]
We are going to do all those. I- I understand what you are saying.
[03:37:39]
We have no, right- we have no master plan to put the ma- the presentation together of what we're
going to need that's going to include some of our recommendations. The work that's being done does
not focus on the recommendations. The work is done is focusing on whether the system works, right?
So we're just trying to figure out how do we use healing partners. [03:38:00] How do we use strategic
doing? How do we use it we're testing to see if we do that. So- so based on the way- and I'm just
going to lay my cards out, based on how the meeting goes, based on the support we get or we don't.
We will primarily be put in the box that we have no- if there's substantial change, we have to change,
we have to go to city council to make change to the current contract. And that will be the only option
that we have if they don't approve the additional funding, which doesn't allow us to do all of the
things related to reconciliation. This is the moment of truth. In my opinion, I could be wrong, but this
is going to be the moment of truth about whether what is it going to be for the rest of the nine months
maximum- that we have maximum that we have and how we're going to be able to do the work.
[03:39:00] And the work that you currently are getting, if you take a look at the road map.
[LAUGHTER] I mean, I- I'm curious and what ultimately the outcome is of that. I'm- I'm very- very
curious about that. So it is a lot of work, a very short period of time. It is changing the tire on the
moving car. I'm curious and how we- how that works, but I don't see it helping us when it comes to
the proposal that we're going to have to write. But that's all I would say that we'll see what happens.
[03:39:44]
Thank you, Laura, for refreshing us on the role of the TRC [LAUGHTER] Commissioners. Yeah. Thank
you.
[03:39:52]
I can maybe just offer one more historical comment if that's allowable.
[03:39:57]
Sure.
[03:39:58]
We've had so many moments of truth, Commissioner. [03:40:00] I think every meeting has felt like
the commission is in a precarious place. And I think you have a tremendous amount of momentum
right now and a tremendous amount of support from council and community compared to what
you've had up until this point. And so I think you can leverage that. That's my personal opinion,
speaking just as one member of the city council. And I hope that as daunting as the task is and how
difficult it is to change all four tires on the moving car at the same time, I think is the analogy. I hope
that you all find a path to stay with it to the extent that you can because what you've been doing so
far is phenomenal and unprecedented for our community, and it's terrifying. But hopefully, I believe
from sitting here for this entire duration, that where you're headed now will be something really
amazing. [03:41:00] And what's laid out in the roadmap isn't that final recommendation. We don't
know what that presentation to the City Council at the very end is going to look like. That's true. And
you have the opportunity to get through this and say, here's what more we need.
[03:41:17]
Thank you.
[03:41:17]
Thank you.
[03:41:18]
Yeah, I do agree. Support from counsel that we are at this moment has been tremendous beginning
from getting over the harm of the city contracting the facilitator for us. Yeah. Yeah. Speaking
historically, and from when I came in. I'm done.
[03:41:52]
Anything else needs. Okay. [03:42:00] We'll get it more in writing of what you want for the next
meeting, and I will make sure we coordinate with getting the information so that we have that to
review at the next meeting. Sound good? [LAUGHTER] We'll move on to the next one. Announcements
Commissioners?
[03:42:37]
I've got one.
[03:42:39]
Okay. I just wanted to announce there's actually a press release out there. Anyways, but [03:43:00]
the Iowa City Council passed a resolution yesterday for a permanent cease-fire in Palestine in Israel.
This is quite significant as there are not many cities around the nation that have done this. I think it's
just a handful. So I want to make sure that folks know this. And the resolution- I'll just read the
resolution. The City of Iowa City passed a resolution supporting a permanent ceasefire in Palestine
and Israel, the return of all hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid, and affirming opposition to
anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Arab bigotry, with the aim of achieving a just and lasting- just
and lasting political solutions. So it passed four to three, you know, it just passed, and that's
unfortunate because you think that there would be absolute support to end genocide. But yeah, I just
wanted to say that [03:44:00] this is great, and we should be proud of our city council, and as the
TRC, this is definitely something that falls in our realm of, you know, what we do. And maybe this is
something to consider, um, talking about in the next meeting. Thank you.
[03:44:20]
I actually have something too. Sorry. And Takas might have to have you help me with location. But
we've put together a petition fighting against the whitewashing of our institutions of higher learning. I
don't know if you guys are aware that the border regents is trying to gut DEI and across all three
universities here in Iowa. We've got a petition together. Can you tell like, um, is it on, like-
[03:44:49]
The petition can be found on Great Plains Action Society's Facebook page and Instagram page. And I
will actually put the link as we speak. I will do it [03:45:00] on- on the very front page of our website
right now.
[03:45:08]
Awesome. Thank you.
[03:45:10]
So we really love people to sign that petition.
[03:45:14]
Pass it around, share it with your friends. Chastity?
[03:45:21]
First, I just wanted to remind everyone. If you do have anything you would like on the agenda, please
get it to us this Sunday night before and- and I know that that's a holiday, so it'd actually probably be
better on that Friday, which I believe is the 12th. Stefanie, you can let me know if that's correct or
incorrect. The last thing I want to say is Happy New Year. Thank you, everyone, for being engaged.
And as much as you can, capacity-wise, I appreciate you, and I know our community appreciates you,
and I'm looking forward to what we can do together as a city staff, a team of consultants, and the
commission [03:46:00] as a whole leading this- for this community. So thank you all.
[03:46:11]
I just want to say in relation to the shooting in Perry, Iowa, Nissa African Family Services, we are
working on finding out how the children of the domestic violence survivors who in the school have
been impacted, because we are we are the only African immigrant organization in the state. So we
are working with that. And then also, ah, being a school counselor educator, and licensed school
counselor in [03:47:00] Iowa. We also using the- even in our own district and our own schools, we are
also using what is coming out of that to continue improving how we teach school counselors to deal
with crisises and school- and violence in our schools. So I wanted to put that out there that we are
dealing with that. And also even as we do that, continuing to be culturally sensitive, as- as we do that
work in relation to the school shooting that has come to our state right now.
[03:48:00]
Real quick, I forgot to mention that we- there is an opening for our commission. I believe it's out now.
I encourage everyone you know to apply to be a part of this and speak to city council members,
letting them know who you would like to see on there. I personally would love to see Amos Kiche, who
is always at our meetings. So I just encourage all of us to just start talking to everyone. So thank you.
Announcements of staff.
[03:48:38]
[LAUGHTER] I'm going to pass, but, you know, some of the comments that were mentioned dawned
on me that I probably should give a quick presentation on the City Council's legislative priorities as
we move forward into our, [03:49:00] ah, legislative session. So I'll have that for our next meeting.
[03:49:08]
Okay.
[03:49:08]
Thanks.
[03:49:12]
Is there a motion to adjourn? [OVERLAPPING] Thank you.