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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTRC Transcript - October 6, 2022[00:00:00] [00:00:07] [MUSIC] I think we can go ahead and call the meeting into order, um, since it's now 7:02. [00:00:16] Do roll call here real quick. Commissioner Dillard. [00:00:20] Here. [00:00:21] Commissioner Gathua. [00:00:23] Here. [00:00:23] Commissioner Johnson. [00:00:25] Here. [00:00:25] Commissioner Krebs. [00:00:27] Here. [00:00:28] Commissioner Harris. [00:00:30] Here. [00:00:30] Commissioner Merritt. [00:00:32] Here. [00:00:32] Commissioner Nobiss. [00:00:35] Here. [00:00:36] Commissioner Rivera. [00:00:38] Here. [00:00:53] Okay, um, can everyone hear me? [00:00:57] Yes. [OVERLAPPING] [00:00:59] Okay. So since I [00:01:00] am not, um, present in the room, I was going to go ahead and have Kevo go ahead and go through the agenda for me, please. [00:01:10] Sounds good. Um, agenda item number 3, reading of the Native American land acknowledgment. We meet today in the community of Iowa City, which now occupies the homelands of Native American nations to whom we owe our commitment and dedication. The area of Iowa City was within the homelands of the Iowa, 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 dispossessed indigenous peoples of their homelands was and is an active colonization and genocide that we cannot erase. We employ the Iowa City community to commit to understanding and addressing these injustices as we work toward equity, restoration, and reparations. [00:02:00] Um, we'll go on to agenda item 4, um, welcoming and introduction of new commissioners. Um, I- I don't think I'll open this up to public comment [LAUGHTER] if that's okay, but I do want to extend a welcome to, um, commissioners Krebs and Merritt, uh, for joining us. Um, I wonder if you might, uh, just kind of introduce us- introduce yourselves to us and to the community and- and kind of why you decided to join the Commission. [00:02:33] Yes, sir. All right, I'm Marie Krebs, and, um, I joined the Commission, um, mostly because I want to take action. I wanna do some work in the community, I wanna help out, um, tired of being a keyboard warrior on Facebook and [LAUGHTER] you know, I was just kind of talking [00:03:00] to people, I'd like to take some action. I've done a lot of, um, volunteer work. This would be my first time working in this capacity and I'm really excited to learn and I hope I can contribute to the group. Um, yes, I'm Lauren Merritt. Um, I've been a part of the Iowa City community and Coral area on and off since 1991. I consider this my home and, you know, like Krebs describes, I wanted to actually be an active participant and making some changes that this community really needs. Um, I feel very passionate about it and I'm hoping that some of my experiences in Iowa and in general would help things out and get things going. [00:03:56] Fantastic. Well, for both of you, I hope that [00:04:00] you feel invited to reach out to the fellow commissioners and Stefanie can give you any of our contact information and- and Stefanie is also a really great resource, um, to ask questions of and to kind of know how, um, things work. Um, one of the kind of primary things to note is the open meetings laws which you might have been, um, made aware of, which means that, um, five of us can't be hanging out and talking about Commission work together any given time unless it's an open meeting. Um, but otherwise, feel free to- feel free to reach out. Um, [NOISE] does anyone else have any other, uh, comments to make for this agenda item? [00:04:40] Oh, yes. My name's Commissioner Clif Johnson. I just would like to welcome you both, and I hope that, uh, we can, uh, really get some work done and please, uh, I'm eager to hear your wisdom that you guys might have as well so let's move forward. Thank you. Yes. [00:05:00] Um, my name is Commissioner Eric Harris, and I definitely wanna listen to what you guys got to say and, um, I definitely wanna hear your perspectives and the things that you gotta say and I definitely like what both you guys said, um, you've been- you've been members of diversity community for a long time and I definitely wanna hear what- what it's like to be an Iowan. [00:05:28] My name is Commissioner Wangui Gathua, I- I just want to introduce myself to the both of you. Commissioner Marie and Commissioner Lauren. Welcome to the Commission. and I look forward to working with you both. [00:05:54] Like Chastity- Commissioner Dillard has her hand raised. [00:05:59] I [00:06:00] also just want to echo that I'm very excited to get to know both of you, uh, Lauren and- and Marie, and thank you so much for joining us on this journey, um, and looking forward to just talking to you more in the future. Thank you. [00:06:20] Any other comments from the commissioners? Okay. We'll move on to agenda Item 5, approval of meeting minutes from September 1, 2022, and those minutes are in our packet. Um, does anyone have any edits or comments to make? If not, if I can get a motion to approve these minutes. [00:06:49] I wish to second this is Commissioner Wangui Gathua. [00:06:53] Would you be willing to first a motion? [LAUGHTER] [OVERLAPPING] [00:06:58] I am sorry I thought [00:07:00] you had already [LAUGHTER] proposed to approve. [00:07:05] I was asking if someone [LAUGHTER] would. [00:07:08] I do. [00:07:09] Yeah. Thank you. [00:07:10] Is there a second? [00:07:12] Second. [00:07:13] All right. Any further discussion? Okay. [00:07:18] Commissioner Dillard? [00:07:20] Yes. [00:07:21] Commissioner Gathua? [00:07:23] Yes. [00:07:24] Commissioner Johnson? [00:07:25] Yes. [00:07:26] Commissioner Krebs? [00:07:27] Yes. [00:07:28] Commissioner Harris? [00:07:29] Yes. [00:07:30] Commissioner Merritt? [00:07:31] Yes. [00:07:32] Commissioner Nobiss? [00:07:33] Yes. [00:07:34] Commissioner Rivera? [00:07:36] Yes. [00:07:37] And- okay. Motion passes 8,0. [00:07:42] Agenda Item 6, public comment of items not on the agenda. Um, the commissioners, uh, shall not engage in discussion with the public concerning set items. I'll first, uh, turn it over to members of the public on Zoom who'd like to make a public comment. [00:07:59] Sorry. [00:08:00] Um, okay. I'm just gonna have to promote her to panelist, it looks like. [00:08:16] Hello, can you hear me? [00:08:18] Yes, Angie. [OVERLAPPING] [00:08:20] Hi. I'm Angie Jordan, and, um, not on the agenda. I just wanted to give gratitude to the commissioners that were able to participate in the two circles that were offered during a committee meetings, um, during, um, September 20th and the 22nd to utilize the restorative practice to offer clarity, trust, and relationship building along with continuing a path forward to be in right relationship with native partners to co-create Iowa circles for Iowans. Wanna also give a shout out to our circle, uh, leader, Manape Lamere, who traveled from Sioux City to facilitate both of the circles and give gratitude [00:09:00] to Dream City for the space accommodations, safe space, and the south district. And then finally, to give some gratitude to the healing partnership team that coordinated the circles and to Stefanie Bowers with the city who helped to coordinate the committee schedules and, again, to the commissioners that were present, and- and supportive and just wanna give gratitude and thanks. Thank you. [00:09:27] Anyone else from the public on Zoom that would like to make a public comment on something not on the agenda? I don't see any hands, so I'll move to those attending our meeting in person. Would anyone like to make a public comment? Getting head shakes up here. So we will move on to agenda item 7, vote on chair and vice chair for TRC. Again, I'll open it up to, um, uh, public comment first to those [00:10:00] attending on Zoom and public comment from those attending in person. Okay. So I'll open it up to commissioners, um, just to kind of invite, uh, some of our newer commissioners to where we stand in terms of leadership. Our- our commission currently has a vice chair and, um, Commissioner Dillard, uh, has been serving in that capacity for a couple of months now and currently we do not have, um, a chair. Um, I will open it up to the commissioners on Zoom to see if they would like, uh, to share any thoughts on this matter. [00:10:57] Not seeing any hands. [00:11:00] Any commissioners in-person want to comment on kind of thoughts on, um, leadership or- yeah. [00:11:08] Um, yeah. Actually I was- I wanted to move to postpone a voting since we have two new members and we need to be familiar with the other commissioners and because I don't feel confident to do an educated vote right now for Sharon, vice chair. So I was hoping that we could at least postpone or if not to the next one or maybe a month or whatever else, just to give an opportunity to talk to everybody. [00:11:35] Okay. So there's a motion on the table to postpone any votes on Sharon, Vice Chair. Is there a second? [00:11:42] Second. [00:11:43] Two seconds. Um, who wants to take it? Okay. [LAUGHTER] [00:11:49] Can I- can I ask a question? [00:11:50] Yeah. We can now have discussion. [00:11:52] Oh, okay. Why did we want to wait? I didn't quite understand the reasoning. [00:11:57] I- I believe it's so, uh, our new members can get [00:12:00] a little bit more acquainted with us and, uh, we can, uh, kind of just chit-chat a little bit more before making a major decision. [00:12:07] Oh, okay. Thank you. [00:12:09] Yeah. And ride on, I'll our piggyback on that and- and ask how- how do we go about the new members get- doing that from my end? [00:12:26] I- I- commissioner Johnson, I just think- I- I think it might be a good idea possibly for us to have a work session or something, like, small, quick Zoom meeting or something like that so we can kinda get to know each other a little bit more and just discuss what we've already gone over and what we wanna do in the future. [00:12:45] And, um, this Commissioner Harris, um, I would like to go status quo of and I would like to postpone it as well and keep chastity as the interim chair right now until we can have more discussions. [00:13:00] [00:13:02] I, um, if- if we're- we're going to be voting on this motion to table this, um, at this point, I feel pretty confident in, um, my trust in, um, commissioner Dillard, who has been leading the commission, um, de facto for the last couple of months. And, you know, I think that she has a lot of good ideas and passion for the role. Um, so if this, um, goes to a vote, or it will go to a vote, I'll say no just because I'd like to have a vote and at least chastity serving as chair and then deferring a vote on vice chair, um, until maybe one or two meetings out. So that's kind of my opinion and position on that. [00:13:41] I agree with that. [00:13:44] I also do agree because she has been doing the work. [00:13:49] But I also say that, um, fellow commissioners, we need to step up to help out also until we get to that point. [00:13:57] Uh, yes. This's Commissioner Johnson. I just wanna say, my [00:14:00] personal opinions with, uh, chair and vice chair and everything like that, I have a suggestion that we can discuss later on possibly of maybe just a floating, maybe every other month or something like that [NOISE] we switch up and somebody else takes vice- vice chair, the chair and so on so we kinda spread the responsibility out a little bit more. Uh, that's just one suggestion, that's all. And that's kinda why I figured maybe a work session might be easier for us to kinda discuss and kinda get on the same page. That's all. [00:14:31] And this's Commissioner Harris, I agree with that, um, because different ideas need to be floated around, like those so- [00:14:40] Um, recently it had been voted that maybe chair positions could be temporary. I think that it should be a little bit longer than a month or two months. Um, we have, um, you know, this Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission, uh, formally ends as of right now on June 30th. Um, and so [00:15:00] that's a lot of change over to happen in- in the last couple of months or several months of the- this commission's timespan. And so I do think that somewhere on the order of 4-6 months could be, um, something that I'm in favor of. Um, uh, yeah, those are kind of my response. [00:15:17] Do I need to alter my motion that's on the table? [00:15:28] Sure. [00:15:31] May I like to at least keep, uh, Commissioner Dillard as the acting chair right now. I still would like to postpone until we all can at least have the opportunity to discuss and, um, maybe even set a date now, like month- like maybe next month's, um, meeting. And to do- I'd rather have a date [00:16:00] right now and we have opportunity to do workshop till then. [00:16:03] Our- our next scheduled meeting would be in two weeks. [00:16:05] Two weeks. [00:16:06] Yeah. So, um, we have- these meetings currently scheduled, um, every first and third Thursday. Um, and so would you like to wait to meetings then until the first Thursday in November? [00:16:21] Um, this is Commissioner Harris. I don't know- I mean, we sit down and meet in the next couple of weeks we can make it happen, but we need that long. I mean, that's an option too, but if we really sit down and like we need to meet each other and get acquainted with each other, it could happen in two weeks. But I mean, that's up to the commi- that's up to the commission. I mean, that's- [00:16:43] I agree with that as well. I have feel like if we do have a meeting, then we'll- we'll- we'll get things rolling. [00:16:50] So, um, a work session in two weeks would essentially be this next TRC meeting. Is that what I'm hearing? Because if we have another sort of special work session that would be [00:17:00] still kind of a public meeting accessible to anyone from the public to join. And so I don't- I don't necessarily see- see any to have- no need to have two meetings in two weeks. [00:17:11] I don't think we should- we'd have to have a formal meeting to- to, uh, get together to get to know each other. Um, I think that in two weeks [OVERLAPPING]- [00:17:20] All right. [00:17:20] -we probably can at least talk to each other and be able [00:17:25] to have educated vote in two weeks. [00:17:31] I'm sorry. Yeah. I'm not sure I interrupt you. I'm saying that we can all meet in small groups and talk with each other. And- and then the next meeting that we have, we'll talk with each other and then we can take a vote. [00:17:44] Stefanie, is there someone on the panel who wants to- [00:17:48] Commissioner Dillard has her hand raised. [00:17:51] Yeah. [00:17:51] Um, so I just wanted to ask, but it- it sounds like it's been resolved. Um, are we wanting a work session? Because [00:18:00] as far as I understand, the- there is no difference between a work session in a regular session besides the fact that the public can't comments, but we would still be- it would still be recorded and everything. I just wanted to make sure that I'm understanding why we- we'd want to have a work session versus just a public meeting. Um, please someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I think, um, that the sentiment in the room is that, um, two weeks at least would allow a number of individual kind of conversations between commissioners to get to know one another, um, and certainly, um, I don't know, someone could help facilitate that. I'm not sure who it would be, but, um, uh, and then we would just kind of discuss this matter again at our next formal TRC meeting. [00:18:49] Okay. That makes perfect sense. [00:18:53] Um, you are in the middle of amending your original motion Commissioner, um, do you want to restate [00:19:00] it? [00:19:02] Um, as I said, I move to both postpone the voting on a chair and vice chair to our next scheduled meeting in two weeks to allow us to get to know each other, member and talk about what our goals are so we can do an educated vote in two weeks. [00:19:29] Is there a second? [00:19:30] Second. [00:19:31] Second. [00:19:32] Okay. [00:19:33] Okay. And if everyone could just remember to move your mic when you're talking so that it's getting picked up clearly, please. Commissioner Dillard? [00:19:45] Yes. [00:19:47] Commissioner Gathua? [00:19:48] Yes. [00:19:49] Commissioner Johnson? [00:19:50] Yes. [00:19:51] Commissioner Krebs? [00:19:53] Yes. [00:19:53] Commissioner Harris? [00:19:55] Yes. [00:19:56] Commissioner Merritt? [00:19:57] Yes. [00:19:58] Commissioner Nobiss? [00:20:00] [00:20:01] Yes. [00:20:03] Commissioner Rivera? [00:20:04] Yes. [00:20:05] And Commissioner Traore? [00:20:07] Yes. [00:20:07] Motion passed as 9-0. Thank you. [00:20:11] Next agenda item, draft proposal for a facilitator services. Um, I wonder if we can go a little bit of- out of order and, um, invite, um, members of the proposed facilitator team to provide any updates or comments on the draft proposal and then we can, um, then open it up to public comment. Um, is there anyone from the- the proposed facilitator team, um, who is attending either on Zoom or in person able to make any comments on the draft proposal? [00:20:44] Sorry, you can't figure out my raised hand thing- [00:20:47] Okay. [00:20:47] -but I'm happy to- to- to go forth and Annie, I believe, is there to chime in as well. [00:20:54] Uh-huh. [00:20:56] So in a nutshell, there's not been any, um, edits [00:21:00] to the proposal from the last time you all were together in quorum. Um, we wanna make sure that we highlight in the first phase, really driving home that there would be a think piece kind of led but all the partners, um, coming around education geared towards- specifically towards the TRC to help to increase awareness about different TRC, creating common language and values, team-building and an overall common culture for the Iowa City TRC. Um, and, you know, there would be opportunity for more education outward towards the public, but that first kind of piece for education would really be focused on, uh, you know, building that team in education for the- the commissioners. Um, something that had come up as well in some of the feedback, I- I believe it was a commissioner Traore had asked about marketing [00:22:00] and communication. And so again, just kind of packaging, marketing and communication with the education piece so that it's- it's in our proposal, um, might not be as- as specific as- as it, you know, Commissioner Traore with- had wanted initially, but really putting those things together so that we can have education be a very broad, uh, thing for us to be doing in the first phase, that all the partners are coming around. But again, that is led by think peace. Um, and Annie, I just wanna throw- throw it over to you to see if you have more to add to that, please. [00:22:38] Annie- Annie would you be able to step up to them mic here? [00:22:41] Great. [00:22:47] Um, Angie, thanks. I think you got to the heart of it. So we just thought that at the beginning what you would all need is time together, hearing about what other TRCs of done, the history, [00:23:00] the choice points, create your own language for what you're own- you're doing, your own culture, and even [NOISE], sorry for my voice, um, have that time together as a team. So- and that would be really a foundation for your planning and decision-making about how you want to proceed. And all the partners would be available to you and present. Um, so that's- that's- Mohamed, you asked what we would be doing at the beginning, and this is the response, okay? And, um, actually, Stephany Spaulding is up there and she is a member of Think Peace, so she may wanna add something. Thanks. [00:23:54] Thank you, Angie. Go ahead. [00:23:56] We're available for questions. [00:23:57] Great. [00:24:00] Um, Stephany, uh, we're promoting you to panelists if you'd like to add anything. [00:24:06] Oh, I think both Angie and Annie were exactly right, um, being part of the Think Peace group, just wanting to create space for the commissioners themselves to have foundational awareness of what truth-telling processes are historically, and then also specifically to Iowa City and what that common language and- can do for the advancement of Iowa City. [00:24:39] Thank you. Um, I'll interject here to catch some of our newer commissioners up just to kind of let you in on where we are in this process. I'm not sure how much, um, you've been privy to this information, but as you might know, this, ah, commission started, ah, back in December 2020. Um, and among, you know, one of our initial mandates, which [00:25:00] is in, um, ah, the resolution before you. Um, one of- so one of our initial tasks was to find and select a facilitator to help us carry out the work of the TRC. Um, we've had a few different phases of proposals up until this point, um, throughout, ah, um, the- the length of the TRC, um, which have ultimately, um, not, um, come to pass, ah, either because of the commission or, ah, city council's kind of concerns. Um, and so we have been, um, largely working with, um, these proposed facilitators, ah, for the last several months as they've come together and kind of represents several different organizations working in collaboration to create a- a facilitation team. Um, draft that's currently in the packet is, um, has been kind of revised over time, um, but I think represents, ah, a really, um, cogent vision of, ah, of what the services [00:26:00] they can offer, um, in the amount of time, ah, we have. Um, although the- the things to note is that, um, some of the timelines might need to adjusted, ah, just based on, um, as time has progressed and, ah, other matters came before the commission. Um, we haven't been able to get this passed. So the next task would be, you know, pending further, ah, comment and considerations from the commission. Um, the next big tasks for the commissioner I think, is to, um, to decide when we can, um, ah, pass this proposal, which would send it before city council. They would, um, take a vote on it to decide if, ah, um, it meets their expectations. And we've had a work session with them and they've, ah, largely given, um, a lot of positive feedback on, ah, the current, um, draft proposal. Um, at which point, um, after a certain amount of time, ah, the work of the facilitation can actually begin. Um, is that a fair summary? [00:27:00] Um, do you have any questions about that? Um, if I can turn it over to our commissioners on, um, Zoom. If you have any questions for the proposed facilitation team, um, or other comments to add to this discussion, I invite you to do so and then I'll turn it over to Commissioners in-person. [00:27:29] Um, this is Commissioner Harris, um, I would like to say that, um, I- I really want us to give, you know, prove. Um, I think that our new commissioners they can, ah, they might need some more time to look over and look over this budget. And- and so that's- that's all I think that we need to be able to get this passed. So I think they need little more time to look over the budget and what I looked [00:28:00] through is like, so, far because I've looked through the standard few times, they look over it is pretty thorough and it's pretty- if you look over it, you can see is a good proposal. So that is just the only thing that I wouldn't wanna vote on tonight without our commissioners being able to look over it. So- [00:28:28] This is Wangui Gathua. The comment I want to make, ah, having engaged with, ah, a member from the indigenous peoples, I- it made me, ah, think the description of the tasks that- of the [00:29:00] facilitator, the three pieces that we have. It made me think that, ah, the demarcation or the division of what each- each entity is doing is not written in stone because, ah, the session that Angie- the sessions you mentioned that the commissioners went through with one of the indigenous people's healers, made me appreciate their active listening power for a good almost five hours. So, ah, where I'm going at is that, ah, and this is the way when I look at the proposal, but- it's because it's on paper and it can't be written cyclically [00:30:00] or the borders- the job descritio- descriptions crossing, but it's- the way it is looking now, it is as if the native partners work is at the end, but I- I'm thinking that is not the case, that they can be part of the listening to the experiences of our communities as they listen. Because for me that stood out very, ah, very clearly, their power of listening and we need that. And because the experiences we are listening to are very painful. And the particular healer was able to sit in that pain. So that's my thought. But I'm not thinking that that is something to delay, it's [00:31:00] just as we move forward, we- we- we consider my suggestion. Thank you. [00:31:14] One thing that I'm- I'm sensitive to is time, um, and I agree with Commissioner Harris that given, um, ah, the addition of new commissioners, I- I do, um, hope that you'll get on a good opportunity to review, um, the- the proposal, um, and provide direct co- feedback to, um, members of the facilitation team and we can get to those contact information as well. Um, I- I, you know, I think that right now, I do- I don't know exactly how all the time sort of works itself out. Um, but say earliest we, um, ah, submit this proposal, um, at our next meeting. Staph, how soon do you think it would get to city council's desk? [00:31:58] Um- [00:32:00] [00:32:05] I- I would say tentatively, maybe- maybe that first meeting in December. [00:32:11] First meeting in December, and then we would need maybe at least in a month to do a hiring process for the sort of local liaison. So earliest we're seeing the actual filter- facilitation beginning sometime in January or after the new year. And so one thing that I'd like for us to consider is making another recommendation, maybe alongside, uh, the proposal to city council to ex- for another extension for the life of this Ad Hoc Commission. Um, and I think that what make sense would be to at least extend it to the end of December of 2023. Um, and with that in mind, if we like if that's something that seems like a good idea, and I wonder if we can also, um, ask the proposal team or the, um, proposed facilitator team to, um, uh, maybe make, uh, some adjustments to their expected timeline. [00:33:00] Um, uh, that, uh, can adapt to that, uh, recommended change. I welcome other thoughts on that. [00:33:08] I kinda totally agree with that because that would, you know, you say January would be the time that will give us a fresh year, a whole fresh year. You know, if it's all the way to December. So that's- that works out, fine with me. I- that's a great echo. [00:33:26] Okay. I want to open up to any other, ah, comments or thoughts from commissioners in terms of things that they really would like to see, um, edited, or amended to the proposal, um, so that we can have as much of a final document to- to vote on next week as possible. Are there any other thoughts? [00:33:51] Um, I don't really have any other thoughts, that's why I wanted to give them time and look over the things so when we had the next meeting, they can say, you know, [00:34:00] that they- the thoughts that they have after looking over it. [00:34:05] This is Commissioner Merritt. I do have a question. Um, okay. So with this puzzle that has- that has a budget that the city is gonna have to try to incorporate into the next fiscal year. And City's fiscal year starts July 1, um, when does the city- when is the city working on the- when did they finalize their budget for- [00:34:31] Sorry- sorry. [00:34:33] It's Commissioner Traore. This money was already set aside in the summer of 2020. I do- don't know that it needs to come out of the new budget. [00:34:41] It would have to be budget line item with the city, that's what- and it's what I confirmed that that is still the case for that fiscal year. [00:34:49] Yeah. We might need, um, clarification from, um, City Manager to kind of understand how, where, and when all this- [00:34:57] I- I mean, the- I [00:35:00] would say Commissioner Traore is correct. I mean, the- the- the funding is not going to change even if you enter a new, um, year with the city. So it's been- it's been set aside, so if that's not a- I wouldn't want any commission members to be concerned about that. [00:35:19] City council has, um, looked at similar numbers, not exactly the numbers that are currently, um, in our- included in our agenda. There has been some edits since we last had a work session with them to discuss this, but, um, the amount, ah, proposed in this, ah, budget, um, is kind of within the pall- ballpark, um, as- as when we last had our discussions. So there's a fair amount of confidence that that's not gonna be too much of an issue. [00:35:45] Okay. [00:35:46] That was a good question. [00:35:49] So the- the suggestion I'll make to commissioners is, um, take a pass over, um, this proposal, um, one more time early, [00:36:00] preferably in the next couple of days such that, um, you can get some direct, um, specific feedback to, ah, the proposed facilitators, um, maybe by mid next week so that they can get something, ah, finalized, ah, and drafted so that it could be fitted in our agenda for two Mondays from now, [LAUGHTER] if that makes sense, though, if we can provide direct feedback to them, um, in the next, um, week, I think that would, ah, help to make sure that we're moving this process along. [00:36:33] Are we? [00:36:35] Um, and, ah, Vice Chair or Chair or Commissioner Dillard, um, would you, um, be willing to sort of take it, um, upon yourself to make sure that, ah, our newer commissioners have the contact information for the proposed facilitators? [00:36:54] Yes. Already on it. Thank you. Thank you. [00:37:00] So, um, I don t think that tonight I'm hearing that anyone's gonna make a motion on this agenda item. Is that correct? [00:37:07] That's correct. [00:37:09] Okay. Then we will go ahead and move on to, um, the next agenda Item, ah, 9 correspondence. [00:37:17] And that was just- this is the email from, um, June of this year. And it was- I wanted to have the commissioners read this just because I know at a few meetings ago, Commissioner Traore had some questions about our social media and the website. And, um, basically, this email says that any, you know, websites or social media, um, would need to be managed by- by staff. So the TRC can- can give direction, um, have discussion and agreement, and then city staff would work with, um, the TRC and getting things posted either on the website or on social media. [00:38:00] [00:38:01] Thank you, Stephany. I'll open it up to public comment for anyone on Zoom, um, on this matter. This correspondence is in the agenda packet. Being no hands, anyone in-person? And I'll open it up to the commissioners on Zoom. Being no hands, commissioners in-person? [00:38:28] Um, I have one thing. This is Commissioner Traore. Just my main question on the- has to be managed by city staff or directed by them. Um, so when I read that, um, when you had sent that out in September, it kind of gave me that idea that wouldn't be able to assist them with setting anything up. I have to be completely hands-off and just give them direction or instructions, but in terms of actually coding something myself or putting something up, I- that cannot be done. [00:38:59] Correct. [00:38:59] Yeah. [00:39:00] [00:39:13] Any other thoughts? And- and I should point out that this relates to social media and the websites. So, you know, if the consultants have- have some type of plan that involves marketing and outreach, um, the- there might be um, opportunities maybe to expand the reach of the TRC and how you're connecting with people. But, um, generally speaking, um, it would need to be posted by staff. So not necessarily directed by staff they just would need to be posted. So it would still be the TRC making the content, it just would be staff that would need to post it. [00:40:00] [00:40:04] Um, just a quick clarifying question on the making the content. So say you were to make- like, uh, one of us were to make a report or a graphic design piece and then provide that to the city and the city then posted that. So that does apply and that works. [00:40:20] I think that's doable. I mean, everything that gets posted, it has to be cleared through communications, but- but that's yeah- that's an opportunity that, um, definitely could probably occur. [00:40:30] Okay. Yeah. [00:40:35] Thank you. [00:40:36] Thank you. [00:40:38] Any other comments on this agenda item? Moving on to, um, agenda Item 10 commissioner announcements, um, again, commissioners can't engage with one another on discussion, um, with any of these announcements. I'll turn it over to our Zoom commissioners for any announcements. [00:41:00] Hi, everyone sorry I can't be in person a little under the weather, but I just want to say thank you to everyone that, um, came out and supported me, um, in my musical performance and debut after 10 years, um, in Little Shop of Horrors. I really appreciate that, um, and I look forward to sharing with you all other opportunities,um, especially since the arts in this community does not, um, have an abundance of people of color participating. Again, thank you. [00:41:36] Anyone else on Zoom? [00:41:40] I just wanted to let everybody know again, um, that on November 11th at the Englert Theatre,um, we will be hosting a truths giving event. And the band Audio Pharmacy, which is a very popular, uh, indigenous led band. We'll be coming in from California [00:42:00] and we will be having speakers, um, uh, be there from the area like myself, um, and Demita Brown, uh, Jessica Engleking. Um, and that this is an event that Great Plains Action Society has been putting on now for about eight year and this is the first year where a larger entity has taken interests and helped us, um, amplify this, um, event, uh, to this degree. So it's exciting. Um, and, uh, it's free or, um, donation what you can afford. Um, and I can put the link to both this and a link to truthsgiving.org so folks can learn more about what Truths Giving means. Thank you. [00:42:56] Any commissioners in-person with announcements? [00:43:00] [00:43:02] This is Commissioner Wangui. Just a reminder to our communities that October is domestic violence awareness month. Therefore, a lot of outreach activities are happening in the community for creation of awareness. Nisaa African Family Services which I coordinate in Eastern Iowa and based in Iowa City. One of our main events, outreach events into the community and our university is an event we are holding this month and I'll email to my fellow commissioners the actual date. And we are also making the rest of the community aware. We are hosting this outreach event, with [00:44:00] the African Student Association at the University of Iowa. Thank you. [00:44:14] It's Commissioner Johnson. Ah, this month of October, ah, we are having our first, ah, first state tournament and boxing that we've had in years. It's- it's been quite some time. It'll be right here in Iowa City. Ah- so, uh, on October 22, ah- we're going to have our first state tournament, ah, in a long time. It'll be a big, ah, big event. Everybody in the city, I hope you guys show up, it'll be a great, ah, great time and leading towards bringing the Golden Gloves franchise right here to Iowa City, ah, this coming April. If you have any questions or anything like that, just let me know. [00:44:57] Where it's the event on the 22nd? [00:44:58] Ah, the event on the 22nd [00:45:00] will be at ICOR Boxing Club at 03:19 ah, ah, Highland Avenue. [00:45:15] October is Filipino American History Month, which is very exciting. You all know a Filipino. [LAUGHTER] I'm just one, I'm not sure, but I'll say that I'm good at being a commissioner but Filipinos are very good at being, ah, a number of other things and that I'm very proud of. We're very good karaoke singers. We're really good at international beauty pageants, we just landed our first Filipino American that's represent us at the Miss Universe. So um- that's exciting. Um, Filipinos are inherent to a number of other ways in which this country operates. We have a lot of people in the health care industry and in nursing specifically. And there's also a lot of other people who, um, spend time [00:46:00] in service of just making, um, this a really great place for others to be. I'm proud to be a Philippine X individual. And just so everyone knows, Filipinos are not new to the United States or to this land. Filipinos first landed in what is now Morro Bay, California in October of 1587, um, and so our history, um, goes back quite a ways, um. And so- yeah I hope that, uh, we all spend some time this month appreciating the Filipin-X individuals around us. [00:46:41] Um, this is Commissioner Harris. So my announcement, um, it took a lot of time and a lot of time for me to think about what I wanted to announce. And when I thought about it, I- I came to the conclusion that [00:47:00] it feel real good in here right now to have a fresh start. To go back- backtrack things that happened that might have been negative. I decided against that. Any commissioner who wants to talk to me about my experience that I had, feel free to come and talk to me and I tell you what happened. But it feels real good in here so my announcement is based off what we've talked about this evening and the scheduling that we got going on and how we going to have and if we a fresh year to do our work, um, I feel good about things. Anybody wants to talk about any experiences that I might have faced in the last week or two, come to me personally. Um, and I do want to say one last thing before I'm done with my announcement and I will announce that regardless of what went on with anything, [00:48:00] I still do appreciate Amel. And with that I yield. [00:48:13] I'll point out that the website to truthsgiving.org is up in the chat. If anyone wants to take note of that as Commissioner Negus was mentioning earlier. But if there are no other announcements. Staff, do you have any announcements? [00:48:27] I don't. Thank you though. [00:48:28] Okay. Can I get a motion to adjourn? [00:48:31] Second. [00:48:32] Motion? Someone else's. [00:48:34] Motion. [00:48:34] I'll second. [00:48:36] Second. [00:48:36] Thank you. This meeting is adjourned.