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Home My WebLink AboutTRC Agenda 12 7 23 Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission Revised Thursday, December 7, 2023 Regular Meeting 7 PM – Emma J. Harvat Hall AGENDA: 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. READING OF NATIVE AMERICAN LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3. PUBLIC COMMENT OF ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA (COMMISSIONERS SHALL NOT ENGAGE IN DISCUSSION WITH THE PUBLIC CONCERNING SAID ITEMS.) 5 MINUTE MAXIMUM FOR EACH SPEAKER. Only in-person comments will be allowed for Public Comment. Public comment for specific agenda items, which must be directly related to that agenda item, may be made in-person or remotely. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM NOVEMBER 9 AND 16, 2023, MEETING 5. NEXT STEPS FOR PHASE 2 6. UPDATE ON FACT-FINDING AND A REQUEST FOR FEEDBACK BY KEARNS AND WEST 7. DISCUSSION ON TRC MODEL PRESENTED BY COMMISSIONER SIMMONS ON NOVEMBER 16 INCLUDING: A. 2024 MLK BREAKFAST 2024 B. REQUEST FOR THE CONSULTANTS TO JOIN THE TRC AT THE MLK BREAKFAST AS THE STARTING POINT FOR THE MODEL C. REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL $250,000 FROM THE CITY COUNCIL D. REVIEW COMMISSIONER SIMMONS’ SUGGESTED TEST PROJECTS AND ALLOW OTHER COMMISSIONERS TO RECOMMEND PROJECTS FOR 2024 8. DISCUSSION ON WHETHER TO HOLD A MEETING ON DECEMBER 21 9. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF COMMISSIONERS 10. ANNOUNCEMENTS OF STAFF 11. ADJOURNMENT In order to encourage input from the public, the Commission intends to offer the opportunity to participate in the meeting remotely. However, this meeting is in-person, and those wishing to ensure their ability to participate should attend the meeting in-person. If you instead wish to participate remotely, you may attempt to do so by joining the below link. Please note that the meeting link and ID for the first Thursday is different than the meeting link and ID for the third Thursday. First Thursday Meetings ID: 867 2424 8095 Third Thursday Meetings ID: 895 3695 0485 Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all City of Iowa City-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in these events, please contact the Office of Equity and Human Rights at 319-356-5022 or humanrights@iowa-city.org. Agenda Item #2 1 November 9, 2023 Draft Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Minutes Assembly Room, Iowa City Senior Center Commissioners present: Chastity Dillard, Lauren Merritt, Louis Tassinary, Chad Simmons, Clif Johnson. Commissioners not present: Wangui Gathua, Eric Harris, Marie Krebs, Sikowis Nobiss. Staff present: Redmond Jones, Stefanie Bowers. Meeting called to order: 7:08 PM. Reading of Land Acknowledgement: Merritt read the Land Acknowledgement. Discussion and next steps based on motions passed on October 5, 2023, meeting and the facilitation team's response letter: Jones reviewed a memo he had written to the TRC. It started with the TRC’s motion of October 5, which approved moving the phase 1 completion date to March 31, 2024. Based upon that mention, staff engaged the consultants to understand their expectations should there be an extension to phase 1 of the scope. The consultants provided a consensus e-mail response on October 13. Staff understanding of the consultant teams’ position is that they are willing to accommodate an extension or delay. However, if the overall active engagement period extends beyond seven months (three months Phase 1 / four months Phase 2), the consultant teams would expect the City to negotiate contract extensions and associated financial considerations. Jones’ memo requested that the TRC select one of two options. Option 1: If the TRC wishes to proceed according to the original contract, the next step will be to prepare for a presentation to the City Council on Nov 21. After that presentation, the TRC could move to phase 2 work as originally scoped in the consultant agreements. Option 2: If the TRC wants to temporarily pause active engagement with the consultants (i.e., take a break with no expectation of consultant assistance), then all parties must develop a shared written understanding of the pause and when phase 2 work will begin. If the TRC selects option 2, the facilitators would like to hold a retreat in early December so that work does not totally pause. TRC members discussed whether a pause was needed to debrief or to keep moving forward into phase 2. Amos Kiche spoke as a public member and stressed the need for the TRC to have a consensus moving forward. Commissioner Simmons moved for the TRC to adopt option #1, and Tassinary seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0. Agenda Item #4 2 Expectations and presentation plans of phase 1 to City Council on November 21: Commissioners Merritt, Simmons, and Dillard will be at the meeting on November 21 to present to City Council. At this time, Commissioner Simmons will also mention the need for the TRC to request additional funds to support outreach efforts. Commissioner Simmons also proposed that the TRC not hold any meetings in December. The TRC will decide at its meeting on December 7, whether to hold a meeting on December 21. Announcement of Commissioners: Simmons encouraged other TRC members to attend and participate in the Truthsgivings event at The Englert on November 10. The meeting adjourned at 9:50 PM. To view the recording or listen to the audio of this meeting, visit this link. AD HOC TRUTH & RECONCILIATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2023 (Meeting Date) NAME TERM EXP. 3/2 4/6 5/4 6/1 6/15 7/20 8/17 9/7 9/21 10/5 10/25 10/26 11/9 Dillard 12/31/24 P P P P P P P P P P P P P Gathua 12/31/24 P P P P P P P A P P P P A Harris 12/31/24 P A P A A A A A A A A A A Johnson 12/31/24 A P P P P P P P A P A P P Krebs 12/31/24 P P P P P P P P P P P P A Merritt 12/31/24 P P P P P P P P P P P P P Nobiss 12/31/24 P A P A P P P P A P A A A Simmons 12/31/24 - - - - - - P P P P P P P Tassinary 12/31/24 - - _ - - - A P P P P P P KEY: P = Present A = Absent 1 November 16, 2023 Draft Ad Hoc Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Minutes Emma J. Harvat Hall, City Hall Commissioners present: Chastity Dillard, Sikowis Nobiss, Lauren Merritt, Marie Krebs, Louis Tassinary, Chad Simmons, Clif Johnson. Commissioners not present: Wangui Gathua, Eric Harris. Staff present: Redmond Jones, Stefanie Bowers. Meeting called to order: 7:07 PM. Reading of Land Acknowledgement: Merritt read the Land Acknowledgement. Approval of minutes from the October 5, 25, and 26 meetings: Merritt moved, and Krebs seconded. The motion passed 7-0. TRC planning presentation: Commissioner Simmons introduced himself and his professional experience. Simmons reported that he thinks the facilitators have not provided all of the pieces to the TRC. The pieces the TRC has been given by the facilitators to tell its story are below. Simmons feels that the TRC needs to continue to build the pieces. His vision for the TRC is on the following page. Agenda Item #4 2 According to Simmons, the second part is the team (people) development. High performance teams go through a process. Sometimes it can be a painful process. If the TRC can move towards performing they will be successful. There is additional work the TRC must do that cannot be performed by the facilitators. People test projects could include the following: •Truthsgiving •MLK Breakfast •Black Educator’s Work Group •Civil Leadership Program •Housing Initiative •Black Business Wealth These projects would require additional funding from the City to the TRC. These projects would allow the TRC to test the waters. The list would also need to be expanded to be more representative of all persons and not just African Americans. Discussion and next steps: Staff will prepare a document that provides the contact information for all the facilitators and TRC members so that communications can be improved. Staff will also send out the TRC logo to commissioners for their use in the presentation slide deck. Per the request of Chair Dillard, staff will also send out a news release alerting the community of the upcoming presentation that TRC will make to the City Council. In preparation of the presentation to City Council, Commissioners will send a brief introduction of themselves to staff to be placed in the slide deck. Commissioners Tassinary and Nobiss will not be able to attend the City Council meeting. It is not known if Gathua will be present. Facilitator Larry Schooler provided an overview of how the fact-finding process will work. Identifying the best sources to find the information so that the TRC can identity the facts and also any gaps in the data that the TRC needs to know to make its recommendations to the City Council. 3 The TRC will have to identify the vision as it sees it as it relates to systemic racism, stereotypes, and prejudices. Kearns and West will hand off to the TRC all the information and sources to them so they know how often that data is updated. Amos Kiche a member of the public, believes the TRC should create a strong statement on its intended deliverables to the community. Announcement of Commissioners: Krebs spoke on the recent recommendations by the Board of Regents on the elimination of any DEI functions that are not necessary for compliance or accreditation at state universities. Nobiss mentioned the effects of the book bans in that state of Iowa and its effect on education and learning. Nobiss also alerted to a new book that tells stories on challenges to bigotry and ignorance within the state of Iowa. Dillard reminded commissioners of “Giving Tuesday”. The meeting adjourned at 9:03 PM. To view the recording or listen to the audio of this meeting, visit this link. AD HOC TRUTH & RECONCILIATION COMMISSION ATTENDANCE RECORD YEAR 2023 (Meeting Date) NAME TERM EXP. 4/6 5/4 6/1 6/15 7/20 8/17 9/7 9/21 10/5 10/25 10/26 11/9 11/16 Dillard 12/31/24 P P P P P P P P P P P P P Gathua 12/31/24 P P P P P P A P P P P A A Harris 12/31/24 A P A A A A A A A A A A A Johnson 12/31/24 P P P P P P P A P A P P P Krebs 12/31/24 P P P P P P P P P P P A P Merritt 12/31/24 P P P P P P P P P P P P P Nobiss 12/31/24 A P A P P P P A P A A A P Simmons 12/31/24 - - - - - P P P P P P P P Tassinary 12/31/24 - _ - - - A P P P P P P P KEY: P = Present A = Absent