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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTRC Transcript - October 17, 2024[00:00:00] [00:00:06] It's 7:09. Stefanie, if you could please do roll call. Thank you very much. [00:00:11] Um, Commissioner Dillard. [00:00:12] Here. [00:00:13] Commissioner Gathua. [00:00:15] Here. [00:00:15] Commissioner Kiche. [00:00:16] Here. [00:00:16] Er, Commissioner Tassinary. [00:00:20] Here. [00:00:20] And Commissioner Rossi. [00:00:23] Here. [00:00:24] Thank you. Um, next, we'll have the reading of the Native American Ilan acknowledgment. I'm going to ask Commissioner Tassinary if you'll read it today. [00:00:36] 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 [00:01:00] that dispossessed indigenous peoples of their homelands was and is an act of colonization and genocide that we cannot erase. We implore the Iowa City community to commit to understanding and addressing these injustices as we work towards equity, restoration and reparations. [00:01:17] Thank you, Commissioner Tassinary. Um, next, I'm going to, uh, to move to public comments. As there's no one in the room, I will move past that onto approval of meeting minutes from, um, from October 3rd. Stefanie. [00:01:31] Um, yeah, Louis did note, um, I need to make an- an amendment because I don't have him. [00:01:37] Make an adjustment? I'm sorry. [00:01:38] No, make an amendment to the minutes because I don't have Lou listed, but other than that, we can take a motion to approve. [00:01:44] Is there a mot- for Iowa motion to approve, is there a second? [00:01:48] Second. [00:01:49] Thank you. [00:01:50] Okay. It's been properly moved and seconded to approve the meeting minutes from October 3rd, 2024. All those in favor say aye. [00:01:59] Aye. [00:01:59] Aye. [00:02:00] Aye. [00:02:00] Anyone opposed? Motion carries 5-0. [00:02:04] Stefanie, is there any, um, guests online? [00:02:06] No. [00:02:07] Okay. I will bypass asking for any, um, comments. Um, the next, we'll go into agenda item Number 5, which are our actions for Phases 3 and 4. Um, the first one is um, meet and greets. So I will open up the floor to our commissioners that attended the, the previous one, and, um, if you all want to give us an update, um, a brief update on how it went and, um, what you learned from it. [00:02:39] Go ahead. [00:02:44] Uh, Commissioner Kiche, can I leave it to you because you take better notes to leaders, please? It was just the two of us commissioners who represented the commission. [00:02:59] Ye- [00:03:00] yes. The meet and greet was on, on October 5th. Er, it was at the Iowa City public library and er, the commissioners present were Amos Kiche and Gathua. So there were two of us. Uh, after a while, we were able to meet with, eh, three persons, er, two females and, er, one male. And that is how the, the population was throughout the, the time we were there. Fortunately, the two persons that were there had a lot of issues that took us more than even the time we were alloc- allocated to stay in that room. So we spent [00:04:00] almost two hours probably more than that and, er, these are- these are issues that, uh, they were concerned about. There were non-BIPOC persons. One male, two female. I wasn't very sure of the other lady, Commissioner Wangui. [00:04:23] Yeah, there were two females. [00:04:25] Yeah. [00:04:25] Yes, non-BIPOC. [00:04:26] Okay. Yeah. So- so there's a correction. So there were two females and, er, we didn't have a BIPOC person coming. So the first gentleman is a member, a friend to the commission. He's been attending quite a number of times even during the early times when we were working on strategic planning. He was participating and er, he believed that, er, there are some issues that has bothered him a little bit. He's concerned about policy [00:05:00] issues in the community that is in the area of education. Yeah, that's, er, something he's worried about. He believes there are some disparities in education in terms of, er, performance that he says can be explained and there are also inequities in terms of resources. In terms of teachers, some schools, school areas, some schools tend to have more teachers than others. So there's a lot of stress in certain schools than others, and this is creating problems, especially in schools that are probably attended by minorities, immigrant students and, er, that need a lot of facilities, er, and interpretation and other things, support and other things. So he believes that the commission should at some stage- we explained that we don't have a lot of time remaining, [00:06:00] but he believes the commission if given more time, should look into the question of education. So he recommends doing a survey on parents of teachers- or parents of students attending different schools to see what their feelings are and also a survey on students regarding race relations in the classes. He really stressed on the question of some teachers, uh, treating some students in different ways and, er, that there are a lot of students in some of these schools that have different views on how they're getting treated by teachers. They don't know how to voice this. So he's recommending that a commission like ours, uh, look into these things in a serious manner. All right. There was another lady also. [00:06:56] Before Mr. Kiche moves away from, uh, [00:07:00] uh, that person, they suggested if the commission could invite the office of the superintendent to present on ratio equity in the Iowa City School District, it would be beneficial. And, uh, I wonder whether, Stefanie, you, uh, you might comment on how the commission could go about inviting the office of the superintendent to present on this in our remaining time. [00:07:42] I mean, I think it's really just reaching out and seeing if they have the availability. [00:07:48] Just- just reaching out you said? [00:07:50] Yeah. Yeah. I mean and staff can certainly do that if that's what you're [00:08:00] wanting to do. Um, so I just need that kind of direction. [00:08:09] I mean, uh, if the rest of the commission would like to see what, um, a presentation could look like, I mean, I don't- I don't see an issue with looking into it. Would you like- would you like to do it, Commissioner Gathua? Would you like Stefanie to help us with this? [00:08:25] Um, uh, if staff would help us with this, it would be greatly appreciated. [00:08:33] Thank you, Stefanie. Great. [00:08:36] Just- just on that note, earlier on, while we was struggling on the- with the topics that were given priorities, I had started talking to the-the school district and, er, I talked with the director. They have two directors of equity and they're doing different things at the school district, Iowa City School District. And, er, I talked with one and, er, [00:09:00] she was really willing to come to the commission or discuss further. I indicated to her that I'm a commissioner looking into the issues of education disparities inequities and she was willing to, but I did not pursue that further once the commission had indicated that we are only considering certain specific topics. But I believe she is still willing, probably still can give us, er, some help regarding these issues. But so we just need to talk to them one more time. [00:09:37] And that's on education, you said. [00:09:39] On education, yes. [00:09:41] I think our commission's, um, aware that all topics should be on the table. We just had that moment where we were trying to be a little bit more specific, um, with what we could do with the end of our time. So I definitely would love to hear what it-what it could look like, you know, even living after our commission's [00:10:00] time is up. Maybe there with our recommendations, we can, um, put that forth. Is there anything else, Commissioner Ki- Kiche? [00:10:11] Yes. Yeah. You know, we also had a- a lady. She's always attending our meetings in public online. Sometimes she's here in person and, um, she indicated that she had written a note to the commission, a one page note to the commission regarding restructuring. That was the time when we were struggling with the models, how best to do that, but, uh, she claims she didn't have a response from the commission. So that was her concern. So she was not able to discuss with me further because I did not know what she had in mind and, er, I just said I will indicate to the commission that there was something like that sent to us here, which we probably did not look into. [00:11:00] Maybe after the meeting, you can let us know who it was and then we can search through emails and see if it was missed and then forward it onto the commission. [00:11:09] Yes, please. [00:11:10] Great. [00:11:10] Is it okay because she gave her permission for her name to be searched. [00:11:14] That's up to you. If you think it's okay and she gave permission, then I wasn't there at the meeting. [00:11:22] Yes. Yeah, the person is Kerry Norton. [00:11:28] Kerry Norton. Okay. [00:11:30] I remember the commissioners will agree that she's always- [00:11:33] She's on every- [00:11:34] Yeah. She said she repeated her name, Kerry A Norton and I- I think it would be good for the commission to just look that up, the structure she suggested and remind ourselves. [00:11:50] When did she say she sent it? [00:11:55] At the beginning. At the beginning. [00:11:57] Like back in December 2020, [00:12:00] of December 2020? [00:12:02] Yeah, the earlier part of the. [00:12:03] So before we were on it. [00:12:05] Yeah, before. [00:12:06] Oh, you know, the archives only go back a couple of years. So if it was in fact sent in 2020, that's probably not going to be retrievable. Um. [00:12:14] Okay. Maybe we can ask. [00:12:15] Hopefully, maybe it's a part of a packet, but I don't- I don't know. It sounds vaguely familiar, but I don't- I don't recall if it was sent to commissioners or if it was sent through that, you know, that ad hoc email, I'd just have to look. I do- I don't remember, but if it was sent to the ad hoc email, if it wasn't archived as part of a pack- packet, then I'm not sure I could retrieve it if it was in fact sent in 2020, but I can- I can look tomorrow. [00:12:44] Thank you. [00:12:45] But it sounds familiar, but I just, I don't. It's been a long time, so I don't know. [00:12:51] Yeah, she- we did take, uh, the contact details of the attendees. So we could also reach out on our end. [00:13:00] You know what, I'll send her an email. [00:13:02] Oh, thank you. [00:13:03] You know, in the morning. [00:13:04] Thank you. [00:13:04] Hopefully she still has it and that's to be the quickest and easiest way to get it then. [00:13:10] Yeah and she said she wasn't going to stay the whole time because she arrived at the time the person from education was talking and she said she is familiar, uh, with the content that was being presented. [00:13:31] All right. The last person is a lady who was a nonprofit organization that works on racial issues. And, er, she was encouraged. She says that she's interacting a lot with people in other states regarding how to reconcile the differences between different races. So it's a question of reconciliation. So she's trying to see how to [00:14:00] bring more White people to be discussing, be willing to discuss and participate on issues of race and gatherings and other things. So she didn't give us a lot of details. I don't have about the organization and things. Er, we- we the two commissioners indicated to her that she's will- we are willing to accept her come and talk and probably give us a little bit more, you know, during the public times that we allocate to other people, but, er, unfortunately, I don't see her here. Probably in the next time, she might show up here and tell us a little bit more. We also indicated to them, both who were there that we were going to have another meet and a great event again, so they might come again or we might just wait. So those were- those were the important things, but, er, much of our discussion centered on education on that day and. [00:14:56] Let me add something on that presenter. [00:15:00] Her not showing up today could be we might not have been clear that she might be waiting for an invite. [00:15:10] Um, what are we talking about? I'm sorry? [00:15:12] No. The last attendee that Mr. Commissioner Kiche was talking about. [00:15:17] Okay. [00:15:17] Yeah. So she might be waiting for an invitation to the meetings. And then the- she was talking about an organization called Show Up for Racial Justice and their mission or what they're about is for and I'm also using her words. She said their mission is for White people to teach themselves about racial injustice and for herself, she is educating herself and reaching beyond Iowa City and Des Moines [00:16:00] and other White people. Yeah. [00:16:04] Interesting. [00:16:05] So, um, I guess, I have a question. Do you all believe like, did you get anything- did you get, um, how do I want to ask this, do you believe that this meet and grate was worth it, and, uh, tell us yes, if so, why, and if not, what do you think we need a tweak for this coming Sunday? [00:16:28] I believe it is worth it because, in a meet and greet, you can be surprised because it is open. And some of the things that we've been discussing thinking that we are really getting into everything, or the major issues might not be worth somebody else has, and it could only take one person one mind to- to alert the commission on certain issues on how. So it's very very useful, every meeting we have, we always get surprises, like on this day, we were really surprised. This gentleman has a lot of knowledge [00:17:00] on how the school district work, the issues of education disparities, and- and we spent a lot of time with him discussing those ones and- so that- that was very useful. We even said to me, I was saying that, well, it's a good thing that there were just a few of us because we wouldn't have had time to- to guard a lot of the ideas that he had. Yeah, so it was very very useful, and I indicated to him that in the event that we do not have and hold a meeting or get some discussion with the school district, we will recommend that that is a very important issue that requires attention and this concern as an issue that should be used to justify, our commission continued to do its work because we- there are so many areas that we- we have not been able to touch on. [00:17:57] By the way, we released the [00:18:00] mobile crisis, ah, staff who was with us because after half an hour, ah, when I think at that point we there was- at that point, there was one attendee. So, ah, we felt if there was a cry- and she left her number, that if there was in a crisis, we would be able, she, her and her supervisor, were- were the ones to be- to be attending our meeting for mobile crisis. And we had her number in case of something, she wasn't going to be far away. So yeah, and, ah, my main takeaway, ah, is even as it goes [00:19:00] beyond our time, the exciting part of this was the attendance of white people. And then the attendance of- and even of the existence of this organization made of white people to show up for racial justice. For me, coming from a cultural group, or oppressed by white people, it's very encouraging, and i- it is a good thing. And for me, what that told me is that as a commission, we had us- we've created a safe space, that particular meeting for people to be brave and to talk about oppression [00:20:00] and issued continue. And especially that part, me hearing white people educating themselves, because this is where we are today on fighting ratio inequity because the responsibility has always been on the oppressed and talking from experience. Believe you me, it is tiring, so- and also hearing somebody with the face of the oppressor, ah, talk about it, it's validating. And it says, no, it's not paranoia, it is really there and people coming [00:21:00] together. And right now when I'm talking about people, I'm really talking about the communities in Iowa City, coming together to really in a real way, uh, working together towards a real solution and beyond just talk, so that's the main thing that I took away. So to answer your question, Commissioner Dillard, I'm glad we are having the meet and greet on Sunday. And even if it's one person, one member of the community coming in, uh, it will be great. Having that safe space to discuss a very emotional I don't even want to call it a topic because it's life- it's life, and [00:22:00] talking about it in a real way and really looking for solutions to better living, which touches both on in our areas in our charges, fact-finding, truth-telling, and really reconciliation. I'll stop there. [00:22:19] Thank you, I love that you both were able to attend and represent us. Thank you so much for taking time to do that, as I wasn't able to be there. Um, it sounds like you were both able to hear some valuable information. I will say I am a little concerned because while it is great that we have people, especially white people, coming to these meetings, uh, I think we could all agree that our main focus are Bipoc people. And if we're not attracting, uh, people of color to these meetings, we need to sit back and think about why and how do we get, ah, those people to these meetings, to this coming meeting, because we don't have any other scheduled, [00:23:00] and what we can all do in the next three, four days to ensure that we are able to have representation in the way that not just we what, but city council has asked us to do. So, um, whether that's, I mean, beforehand, I could go around and pass out flyers, knock on doors, grab people. I feel like some populations need you to kind of physically say, hey, there's free food, come- come and check it out, um, and- or reaching out to our contacts to say, hey, did you know this was coming up because I think that'll be definitely something that we'll be asked about when we talk about these events. So those are just my thoughts on top of just coming out of my head, but, um, I think it's great that were- we've made these attempts, and we can talk about now or if we want to do more or if we want to stop here, um, [00:24:00] yeah. [00:24:01] Just one thing before I forget. Thank you very much, Stefanie, for letting us have food. Yes, there was a lot of food, we had to take some home, yeah so. [00:24:14] Thank you, Stefanie. [00:24:15] Yeah, thank you, that was very, very important, that's why we're able to stay there until they told us it's almost two o'clock, your time is up, yes. Thank you. [00:24:25] Yeah, thank you, Stefanie, for everything and from one of my favorite food places, the bread garden, that's what we had. Very healthy food, my opinion, yeah. Uh, the Commissioner Dillard back to your question about increasing attendance, uh, I- I wonder whether we lost some people to the farmer's market because that information was there, and one of the attendees said she had looked [00:25:00] for us there, uh, before finding us in the library because both informations were on the invite. And right now, I almost feel like I should go and sit at Shelter 12 for a bit of time, just in case somebody ends up there. [00:25:19] It's- it's not at Shelter. Shelter 12 is not covered, and so the reservation has been switched to Mercer. And we've changed everything on social media on the website. [00:25:34] I'm saying this because the invite for, uh, Saturday is out there, and it had information for seat back. [00:25:45] Did you leave it at places, or did you just give it to the two people or three people who came because we went around and got the flyers that we had posted as in office. [00:25:56] Okay, yeah. That's what I was fixed. [00:25:58] It's fixed on Facebook, it's fixed [00:26:00] on the Silly City's calendar. [00:26:02] Okay. [00:26:02] Um, yeah, they don't have any, um, they have one enclosed, um, shelter, but it gets winterized. It got winterized earlier this week, and after they do that, they don't- you can't use them until the next spring. And so I didn't think you'd want to be outside on, you know, it's kind of brisk now. So it's the Procter & Gamble room at Mercer. And we did another news release, and we, um, stated in the news release that the location had been moved to and where it was moved to, so. [00:26:32] Okay. [00:26:33] Thank you. [00:26:35] Excuse me. [00:26:37] Um, are there any other thoughts about what we've done in the past or, um, questions about this coming Sunday? I wonder, um, if it's- if we would like to continue this series, uh, throughout November. Um, just- just to show that we are- are [00:27:00] still going out into the community, and we did mention at one point that we wanted to go to churches. Um, I- I guess, um, to the point that Commissioner, um, Kiche was talking about last time, um, there are still a lot of people that we could touch. I don't know about a major event, um, to me, that seems like a huge undertaking, but I definitely feel very confident that if we wanted to have these smaller meetings up until the very last minute, um, that could be easily just, you know, transferred into whatever document we're putting together. I don't see why we couldn't make those little efforts unless other people disagree. [00:27:42] Excuse me, I think that's a good idea, I think if it's- there's a- we've been successful, okay. So to be able to repeat that takes far less effort. And so to end- I think over the course of November, I think that would be a great thing to do. I think as you get beyond [00:28:00] November, to be hard, I think it's going to be hard to do it, but I think November would be a great idea. [00:28:07] And Stefanie, if we weren't- if we weren't prepared to decide dates today, like, would I be able to make dec- like, decisions on that before our next meeting, um, if we just set dates if- if things come up and- and just put it out there? [00:28:24] Yeah. [00:28:25] Okay. So, um, thank you, Commissioner Tasiana, just curious what our other commissioners think about this. [00:28:34] I- I think it's a good idea, we can always stretch ourselves to do the best we can. There are people who are still willing to meet us. I- in one of the events- public events, I met a pastor, I won't- I think I've met two, I would say three. And they are willing to come and talk with us. And that is the time I was thinking [00:29:00] of the major event of reconciliation where you bring a lot of people, but I think even in the smaller met and great things, there are also we touch on issues of reconciliation. So- so we can always make whatever works here. So I'm gonna- the problem with the next met and greet is that it is on a Sunday, and that is when some or most of them have their churches going on, and the hours might be conflicting with them, so. [00:29:32] So at 4:00 PM, do you think would be conflicting pass? [00:29:34] Sometimes, one of the churches, I think they go there in the afternoon, is an immigrant church, yeah. [00:29:40] Oh, can you talk into the microphone? [00:29:42] Yeah, it is an immigrant church, so- so since they alternate, you do services at different times, due to lack of facilities and churches. So one group can go in the morning, another group can go in the afternoon, one even at evening in the night. So a church might be having events like four of them on a Sunday. [00:30:00] Yeah, so that falls into one category of one of the pastors I've- I've talked with. The other one, I don't know what time their- their services end, I don't know, it's also a church that told me they are very diverse group of people. So that's an area that we can still want to hear from them because I think they receive a lot of issues from their congregates, yeah. [00:30:26] Would you be able to- I think we have tried to have people come to us. I mean, we did try to go into the neighborhood, we'll see how Sunday works, but if a church like that, it would be easier for us to come after service or before service, and they already have people there, maybe, um, we just go to them if they agree to it, yes. [00:30:46] I- I was just going to say, I think you have to be kind of careful with that because sometimes when you visit places of worship, they do- they do things in furtherance of their beliefs. And so, [00:31:00] you know, you need to be mindful of that. [00:31:02] So who we went after the service, and it was like a different meeting? [00:31:05] I've- I've- as- as part of my job at the city, I have visited a few places of worship, and they- they- there is kind of this opening presentation that, you know, would probably be considered, um. [00:31:21] Religious? [00:31:21] Yeah. [00:31:22] Good conflicts. So maybe, Stefanie, if we do have any confirmations, we can run it by you, and you can let us know how we navigate that. [00:31:34] Just, uh, be safe each time if we are going to a place of worship. [00:31:38] You know, I would defer that to Eric. [00:31:40] Eric? [00:31:41] Yeah. [00:31:41] Okay. [00:31:42] Yeah, but I think you have to be careful because I have gone wearing my official city cap, and they do do things that, um, one would expect to see in a place of worship, even if it's an event or program that they're hosting. [00:31:55] Um, I guess I'm thinking um, trying to just- just if [00:32:00] people are already there, how can we be there too without, like, joining in on their religious meeting? So maybe we can discuss how that could work. I don't want, um, anyone to feel like we're adding too much. It is the last couple of months, just trying to see what we can do with the time we have that will strengthen our, um, our requests to the city and maybe form some other, um, bonds and connections to people that might want to see some things that could happen outside of the commission after our- our due date. Date is. So I don't want anyone to feel burdened. [00:32:42] So Stefanie, this is- I admit a very strange question, but does the city have anything like a large van in which you could have a table inside it so we could actually pull up to the church, and if people wanted to come meet with [00:33:00] us, they could come into the van and talk. [00:33:05] I would have I mean, does the city have a large van? Yes. How that would work in terms of commissions? I would have to check what Jeff and Eric. I'm not sure what that looks like. So I would have to follow up in with you guys. [00:33:20] So in the event that, uh, we stray away from violating any state laws, really difference between the state and the church. [00:33:30] Yes. [00:33:31] We might just try to talk with the church leaders if they wanna invite a few of there people to join them in a meeting with us. We can also still hear from them that way. So that instead of us going to them in place of conflict, they come to us or we meet somewhere that's neutral. So- I- think- but let's hear from Eric. [00:34:00] [00:34:03] So if there's nothing else to talk about, let's, um, definitely keep in touch over the next few days, just to see what that could look like. Um, I will definitely be there on Sunday at the October 20th, meeting, and I'll reach out to people to remind them that this is coming up. Um, I'm not sure who else is going to be joining me this Sunday. [00:34:24] Unfortunately, won't be able to be them out of town. [00:34:26] I remember you're out of town. Um, commissioner Kiche, Gathua, are you all going to be there on Sunday? [00:34:34] Yes. [00:34:34] You'll be there. [00:34:36] Plan to just unless something happens. [00:34:40] Great. Um, so, I'm looking forward to right now, we, um, have us two, and then potentially Commissioner Gathua, which leaves room for one more person possibly. [00:34:51] I'll be attending on Sunday as well. [00:34:53] I'm sorry. [00:34:54] Kayla said she here will be there. [00:34:55] Oh, great. [00:34:57] I'll be there on Sunday. [00:34:59] Thank you. [00:35:00] The food's getting delivered a four, but lots of times they show up early. [00:35:03] Early. I can be there a little bit earlier. Um, so greats. [00:35:09] And before we leave agenda Item A, uh, Commissioner Dillard, you were talking about, uh, for example, the- this fast meat and grit, just having white people and even when we were doing the truth telling, it- was- it was challenging, uh, finding, uh, people to truth tell. And I do remember even, uh, this whole journey since the- the protests that led [00:36:00] to the creation of this commission. Uh, even the listening posts. It was challenging, really. The- it was very loud, the absence of bike pock. And, uh, for me, not a surprise, uh, the- as to why, again, from experience and from what is out there that is documented the information. Uh, for more than 400 years, that ratio oppression has been there for the oppressed, which is BIPO populations. [00:37:00] Uh, it's always been difficult to fight and even showing up, one of the, uh, major results of showing up, uh, one always knows that the worst can happen, which is losing life. And a lot of lives have been lost. Uh, we already celebrate people who lost their lives in fighting ratio inequity. So-, uh, and we also do have people, even, er, some of the groups this time, I'm talking about myself. Uh, people will tell me. No. I'm not going there. One, it's very painful and then there might also be retaliation. And then, really, [00:38:00] uh, for what? So they- are- all- it's not a surprise for me because uh, sometimes- for those reasons. Uh, people don't show up. But uh, the struggle continues, and it will continue beyond this commission and not just here, but in the world where the- operation- the operation continues. But like I keep on saying, I I'm really happy and blessed to be part of this commission doing my little bit. I yield. [00:38:55] Thank you. Um, if it's okay with everyone, I'm going to go to the final report. [00:39:00] Anyone have anything they'd like to speak on for this? [NOISE] [00:39:14] If it's okay, I would want to point to the commissioners to the information offered by the I use the term candidate that we by we are meaning I and Commissioner Kiche suggested of a- research- that- we- know- a researcher and journalist that we know that could lead us in writing the report and- and again, I'll just say my rationale for putting the name forward is, uh, some of us are trained [00:40:00] and experienced, uh, academic report writers. Uh, which he is, and that's his job currently, uh, from the information that was shared to- with the commissioners and he's in front of us, uh, at the back uh, on yeah. Uh, but like I already shared right now, I- I don't have the time that I feel our report deserves. But if he did say he has time and he can do it, I- the time I've spending been spending on the commission, I'm still able to spend on being one of the commissioners working closely with- the- if we agree to [00:41:00] let him lead us. The information is on page 1 and 2 at the back, and he has also given a link to his, uh, Google Scholar account if somebody is interested in getting more information than he- offered- the summary he offered. [00:41:27] Thank you both for, um, putting forth this- this name. Um, it's definitely needed. Um, what do we need to do to move forward with this Stefanie? [00:41:39] With hiring someone? [00:41:40] Mm-hmm. [00:41:43] Um, I guess you would need to work out the- what is their expectation in terms of compensation or what is the commission, you know, feeling that the compensation should be? There needs to be an agreement on as to the terms and the pay and the timeline [00:42:00] expectations. [00:42:02] So would we be able to make a vote to if we wanted to go with this person that we are comfortable moving forward with X amount of dollars from our budget? To move it forward faster than having to come back with a vote next time or- or if we've already discussed it as part of our- [00:42:32] I mean, I think it's already kind of part of the budget. [00:42:36] So we don't have to make a vote of anything. [00:42:37] Well, I think you need to take a vote as to whether or not you but I think I guess, to me, like, you're voting to hire some or to contract with somebody, but to me, I- I would think that you would need to see the agreement, and then- [00:42:50] And then make the vote. [00:42:52] Yeah. [OVERLAPPING] Because you could vote, and then something falls, you know, through because [00:43:00] the expectations or, you know, the terms are different than what maybe you thought or what they thought, etc. [00:43:06] So I guess a subcommittee of us would need to get together, write down our terms, what our expectations are, um, get an idea of what, um, if we want to go with this person, how much they would like to be compensated for that and write our end goals, uh, preferably before our next meeting. So that we can vote on it, so that this person can work through, what do you call it? November. Early December. [00:43:36] And- the- you talked about payment he - because we did ask. And then he- he said he's never done it for pay. So he really uh, didn't have any figure to put forward because it's always been [00:44:00] part of his work. [00:44:01] So even if he does it as part of the work, there still needs to be, you know, specifications, because are you wanting it by December 31st, the deliverable of the report? [00:44:14] Probably before though. [00:44:16] Yeah. So you need to kind of get those details etched out and talk with them. And then let me know, and we can go from there. [00:44:26] And it seems to me, in this case, it's got to be something like a fixed price contract that just says, this is what we need delivered by this date, a draft by this date, the final one by this state. And there's two payments, whatever those payments are in the amount, that's what we do. I will say, I want to be a little careful about using terms like him leading us. I mean, it should be more that he's taking from us. We're leading him in the direction we want the report to go, and he's gonna [00:45:00] facilitate that and draft it and pull it together for us. So it's going to take some time on his part potentially talking with the entire commission, talking maybe with individuals. So it's- I don't think it's not a trivial job we're asking him to do and it's a relatively short amount of time. So we need to be really clear on what our expectations are, and he really needs to understand that there are these strict deadlines. And if he's good with that, and then I'm good with that. [00:45:27] What word do you wanna replace that with? When I was giving the information, I used the word facilitator, but it's not written in stone. [00:45:44] No, I think I think I was saying lead. It didn't want [OVERLAPPING]. [00:45:48] No, he wouldn't even be- he was even hesitant in that, usually, reports are written really by the people who [00:46:00] do the work. So- I- uh, so we're really getting him on those technicalities of writing the report because we are the ones with the information. [00:46:13] Exactly. [00:46:16] I misused the word of the leading is on the technicalities of the writing. Not on the content. No. It's on the technicalities. And- really- and- you- Commissioner Kiche, and I really are trained in these technicalities. But right now for now, and I'm just repeating the reasons why we are needing this out. We are the ones with the information. For him, it's really what we give him, and him engaging with the TRC work from the beginning. [00:46:59] We [00:47:00] also need to remember um, that we were told that we don't need to really put forth a huge academic report. That is not what city council is expecting. Um, while we do want to be all- encompassing, um, this doesn't have to be something that is I don't know what the right word is. [00:47:17] We don't need to reinvent the wheel because the- the consultants have put together a report that covers a lot of material. And we need to take it from what they've done forward, I think, and then also pull from what they did and reinforce what we think needs to be reinforced. [OVERLAPPING]. And that's a much shorter almost executive-type document that the consultant report sits behind. [00:47:48] We talked about that during our last meeting. It's not a 500-page, uh, report. And even for him, he doesn't have the time to do all that. [00:47:58] Well, I mean, it's- it's not [00:48:00] 100-page report. I don't think it's a 50-page report. It's like a 20- page report. [00:48:06] And mine is not even so much the quantity. I- I just do not want to have my name on- on, I don't know, I'm trying to I- just- I want the technicality of report writing on our work out there because whether I would well, I wouldn't want to be in a place where, I mean, my name would have to be there either way, whether it had those technicalities or not because I'm part of the work. So that's really my- where I'm coming from with all this. It's not the pages. It's not but that part of it because there is the acceptable way [00:49:00] of really and it's for the city government, so yeah. [00:49:07] Also, I'm hoping whatever is written, while it is for the city government, that any person in this community can pick- pick it up and read it and fully understand it and not feel like this is an academic piece that is purposely written to be misunderstood. [00:49:23] Oh, yeah, and people are trained on that. We are trained on that that ads, please use English or whatever language that the people that they report writing is made for. It's not for your academic peers. [00:49:37] Right. [00:49:37] Yeah. Um, so I guess I'm not sure if this is the next step, but should we at least make a motion if- to go with this person, or do you think we- [00:49:48] Just save it for one. [00:49:49] Just save it for one. [00:49:50] Yeah. [00:49:51] Okay, so we are going to look into this individual and Commissioner Gathua? [00:49:57] The emails in the packet that Wangui sent out to everyone. [00:50:00] Yes. [00:50:01] But, yeah, I mean, plus there's only five of you here. So, you know, I think, just presented it in one full- as full item, and hopefully, you'll have more commissioners too. [00:50:13] Great. So, Commissioner Gathua, sorry. Kiche, would either of you be willing to set a meeting for a few of us to sit down with Franklin? [00:50:25] Well, yeah. [00:50:26] Yes. [00:50:26] Yeah. [00:50:27] Okay. And probably in the next week. [00:50:31] Yeah. [00:50:31] That's fine [00:50:33] And then once you have those details or, you know, then if somebody can let me know, and I'll figure out what we need to do next to get it in a written format and what that looks like. [00:50:43] And do you have a template or anything that would be helpful for us? Well, to make sure we're asking the right questions? Documentary. [00:50:51] Documentary. [00:50:51] I'm not aware of it template for that. No. [00:51:00] But, I mean, I guess I would point to the resolution. I think the resolution defines what the recommendations are supposed to look like. And so I guess I would use those as the- the template. [00:51:17] Great. So we can work on that in the next week. [00:51:20] Do we have some preferred times on our end? Because for him, during the week, um, around 7:00 p.m. works because it gives him time to transition from work at 5:00 to a meeting or what times would work for us? [00:51:42] I mean, does Sunday work for him? [00:51:45] Uh, the Sunday that we're having the meet and greet? [00:51:49] Yeah, before or after. [OVERLAPPING]. [00:51:53] Available starting at 2:00. Let me check. [00:51:56] Say it again? [00:51:57] Well, I think the room is available if say, if [00:52:00] you wanted to come at 3:00 or something. [00:52:02] Oh, yeah. [00:52:03] The space should be available for you to get in there and talk with them if they're able to come. [00:52:08] I'm just saying because I've already blocked out that time me personally, like, that might be easy to sit and talk with someone and then relay information to other people that aren't able to be there. [00:52:17] Yeah, so that's fine. I'm willing to, if you- if that's a good time for the three of you to meet with them, I'm good with that. [00:52:23] Oh, yeah, because already we are in the room, the three of us and so we let you know. I'll let you know. [00:52:32] Yeah. [00:52:32] Yeah. Let me reach out to him. I was going to- and- to add that I was also going to look into Sunday and see whether he's available. Yeah, okay. [00:52:41] If that doesn't work, then you can let us know. We'll figure out another time. [00:52:44] Okay. [00:52:46] Great. Thank you all for putting, oh, sorry. [00:52:49] And Stefanie I have a question. When we were contracting with the person who was doing the- the documentary, is that information available somewhere we can look at how [00:53:00] Redman went through that? And uh, just a template to help us. [00:53:07] Yeah, well, I- I think just to make it easier. I think if you have the information, then I think, you know, I can figure out here at City Hall, who can, you know, put that into a template for you. But I just need to have the terms. [00:53:22] Okay, the terms, okay. [00:53:22] You know, the terms, the pay, the length, the duration, and all of that. And then I can work with other folks here at City Hall to get it into a presentable document. [00:53:36] Great. [00:53:37] So- so before we complete that. We had a suggestion from a commissioner. Unfortunately, Commissioner Chad is- [00:53:47] Can you talk into the microphone? [00:53:48] Unfortunately, Commissioner Chad is not here because we do not want to have something going on, yet there's a plan also going on somewhere with this I think Commissioner Chad [00:54:00] suggested some folks at the university, also. [00:54:04] I think he suggested, but he had no one to suggest it. He told us to look into some people. I don't think anyone has reached out to those people. So I think we should go with who is readily available and willing to jump on it as soon as possible, rather than wait. Because I haven't heard anything from Commissioner Simmons, and I do appreciate his suggestion, but I'm not sure if that worked out. [00:54:28] Okay. So we're just saying in the- in the event that we are not derailing what he had started if there's anything else out there that he has in the plan should be communicated to you as soon as possible. [00:54:45] I'm sure, but if more help, I don't see how it would hurt us at all. I don't think so. [00:54:52] Was it ever started? [00:54:54] I have not reached out to anyone at the university. I know that there were suggestions from Mr. Simmons. I'm not sure [00:55:00] if he reached out to anyone. [00:55:01] That was my understanding. He was just giving people. [OVERLAPPING]. [00:55:04] He was just giving names to assist. [00:55:07] Yeah, and I don't know of any follow-up that was done, at least. Not by maybe he did but I don't know. [00:55:16] Yeah, and even during our last meeting, he was present, but we- the commission we didn't have anything on it, but thank you if any of us can add to it. [00:55:41] So, um, I mean, it's not too late. We already talked about, um, adding what we're working on for Franklin if anything comes up, we can always add another person in there. I don't see that wouldn't deter anything. We can split the duties or figure out how they could work together um, and decide how that works with our budget. [00:55:59] And really, [00:56:00] that's up his alley. [00:56:02] Who? Franklin. [00:56:04] Franklin. Because his area is journalism. So it's up his alley. [00:56:12] Great. Any other things on the final report? The next one is a presentation to City Council. We talked about this last time, how, if need be, we can schedule it in January, which I think is the plan. [00:56:35] It can be held after the end of the TRC. I- I don't think, um, Council sets their own schedule, their own calendar. So it's fine to delay it. I don't know- whether it will be in January or not, that I don't know but yeah. [00:56:49] And really, reports are always done after the work. [00:56:56] Um, the next, I'm going to skip documentary. [00:57:00] There's no updates or anything moving forward on that. Um, and the last would be other. Um, I guess the only other thing I wanted to discuss was if we wanted to cancel a meeting or two to dedicate those times towards really getting together in small groups to discuss our recommendations or using that time for other things we want to make happen, revolving the report. It seems like we're going to have to do the next meeting to have a vote. [00:57:42] I was going to say, I think if we can all agree on what form the final report is going to take, so we can then break it up into smaller sections, then I think it would be helpful to meet in smaller groups assigned to each of those sections to work with whoever is the person helping us with the report to [00:58:00] get that going. Rather than having to meet and wait two weeks, and then everybody or everybody not be here and all the rest of that. There has to be more offline work to push us over the finish line. [00:58:13] Yeah. I think we could use, I don't know what the date is for the last meeting in October. So if our first meeting in November. [00:58:24] It would be the 19th if you're talking about December. [00:58:28] Actually November. [00:58:29] November, it's the 21st would be the third meeting or the meeting on the third Thursday. [00:58:36] So I think if we weren't to meet on the 21st and to utilize that time or find a different time for people to meet with recommendations, especially since we will be, if we do any other meeting greets, it can give people some free time. Um, and, you know, reflection time as we come to a close. We can always [00:59:00] revisit that on November 7th, and make a full decision that date, but just to put it out there. [00:59:08] Let's- let's see, in our meeting after coming out of the framework on the areas that will help us see on which groups to form and whether we need to form groups or not. And whether if we cancel a general public meeting, what formal meeting is this going to be looking like? Is- it- cause currently you see some of the membership is on Zoom? And so will it be like a workshop where we are interacting? Of course, we can interact on Zoom too. [00:59:40] So it wouldn't be a public meeting at all. If we canceled it, I would be encouraging us to meet in small groups non-quorum, virtually in person, however, you'd like to discuss either the final report or recommendations or whatever. So it wouldn't be like anything like this. [01:00:00] [01:00:01] And does the person that you're going to talk with, does somebody still have the hard copy of the final report that they could give to them? I can send it electronically, but- a- lot- of- but something like that somebody may prefer a hard copy. I can replace it, but I- just- I can't get one printed in. [01:00:20] I'm pretty sure I have a hard. [01:00:21] I can get it replaced to you then. I'll get one sent to the printer tomorrow, but I just know I'm not going to have it by Sunday to get to you guys. So thank you. [01:00:31] Any other thoughts? Did we miss anything that can fall under other for Phases 3 and 4? [01:00:41] Just a question for Stefanie. After December 31st, and working on the report. How do those meetings go? After the commission's work is done? It's working on the report. [01:00:56] I- think- I thought the plan was to have the report done by the 31st. [01:01:00] [OVERLAPPING]. [01:01:03] You might be working on the presentation. [01:01:10] How do those meetings go on working on the presentation? [01:01:11] Well, it- wouldn't- you would just meet there- wouldn't- because there wouldn't be a commission anymore, so you wouldn't have. [01:01:21] Thank you. [01:01:24] Any other thoughts on anything for agenda item Number 5 before we move on? [01:01:33] No. [01:01:35] There's no one else online, right? [01:01:37] No. [01:01:39] So I'm going to go to announcements of Commissioners. Announcements of staff? [01:01:48] No. [01:01:51] Are we closed out? [01:01:53] I just moved on because no one spoke. [01:01:55] I just wanted to share that on Monday, [01:02:00] uh, I- did- join- I did attend the Indigenous People's Day rally at the Pinter crest. And for me, the whole day and the rally. It was both it was bittersweet. Sweet because it's the struggle continues for by-bok people and that particular d, thinking of indigenous people's struggle with the ratio oppression. But at the same time, sad that in 2024, the struggle is still there. [01:02:58] Thank you. Are there any [01:03:00] other Commissioner announcements? Is there a motion to adjourn? [01:03:05] So moved. [01:03:06] Seconded. [01:03:07] Thank you. [01:03:08] Thank you.