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2021-07-07 Diversity Commission MinutesCITY OF EDMONDS DIVERSITY COMMISSION July 7, 2021 Meeting conducted via Zoom COMMISSIONERS PRESENT Ardeth Weed, Chair Dean Olson, Vice -Chair Nikki Okimoto Glaros Mindy Woods Sarah Mixson Sekou Kon6 Alberto Orejel Malfav6n Caitlin Chung, Student Rep Councilmember Luke Distelhorst, ex officio Councilmember Laura Johnson COMMISSIONERS ABSENT Alison Alfonzo Pence — excused Donnie Griffin - excused GUESTS PRESENT Casey Colley Brook Roberts Jessie Owen Jacque Julien Amy Nichols STAFF PRESENT Patrick Doherty, Director Megan Luttrell, Program Coordinator Economic Development & Community Services Arwen Marohn, Commission Coordinator 6:00 P.M. — Call to Order and Land Acknowledgement: "We acknowledge the original inhabitants of this place, the Sdohobsh (Snohomish) people and their successors the Tulalip Tribes, who since time immemorial have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water." - City Council Land Acknowledgment 1. Roll Call: Ardeth called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Council Member Luke Distelhorst read the land acknowledgement. 2. Approval of Agenda: Agenda approved by consensus. 3. Approval of June 2, 2021, Summary: Approved by consensus. 4. Public Comment: Jessie Owen shared that she was glad to see everyone at the parade and happy to be at the meeting. Brook Roberts commended the Commission on its great work. Casey Colley said she was there to watch and report to the Youth Commission. 5. Update from the City: Patrick Doherty • There is an anti -hate townhall Monday at 6:30 at Edmonds Woodway. Nikki will be representing for the Commission. He encouraged Commissioners to attend and to share with others. Meeting Summary Diversity Commission July 7, 2021 Page 1 • Highway 99 Community is holding the first ever uptown evening market 4-9 pm on 7/8. Two musical acts and multiple vendors, including food vendors will be present. This is a step to help invest in the community that has been underinvested in. • Next Tuesday, Council will be presenting the Edmonds Rescue Plan recommendations from all City staff. He encouraged Commissioners to read the packet and offer comments during the public comment period if they wish. • City Hall is opening next Monday from 10-2. Sending out a press release. The Diversity Commission will meet in person but will still provide some remote access. August is the goal for an in -person meetings. Everyone will be at their own table and staff will be adding two new air filters to the Brackett room. Anyone who is vaccinated can go without a mask but will have to fill out a form first. • Luke shared that the Council decided to come back in person July 20t1i. They will continue to have committee meetings on zoom on the second Tuesday evenings. 6. Youth Commission Update: Casey Colley, Chair of Edmonds Youth Commission, shared that the last meeting was in June and they will start back up in September. In the meantime, they are doing an in -person retreat and will meet in August for recruitment. 7. Old Business: a. Review of 4t' of July parade— Alberto shared that it was very fun and surreal to see some of the Commissioners in person. It was a nice thing to see the people who came out to the parade. Ardeth was touched by the crowd getting excited about the Diversity Commission banner and the Pride group was there behind them. The enthusiasm was powerful and they had a lot of fun. Mindy couldn't go but watched it on King 5 and felt the same emotion and was glad to know the Commission was there. b. Review of annual report to Council (5 minutes) — Dean felt good about giving the report and he would still like to meet with Council members that might have questions. Uptown Market was one of the Commission's ideas and it's great to see what has evolved. Ardeth also thought it went well. c. Juneteenth Proclamation (5 minutes) — Megan shared the Proclamation video from Edmonds that was assembled for Juneteenth. d. Update on returning to in person meetings (5 minutes) — Patrick commented above. 8. Subgroup Reports: a. Policy - Dean shared the two recommendations that will be sent to Council. Hate Crime Recommendation was sent out to Commissioners for review. Commission approves as drafted. Luke asked how we want it communicated out. Patrick, package as a memo to the Council with Ardeth's sign off as Chair and then presented at next Council Meeting Summary Diversity Commission July 7, 2021 Page 2 report. Mayor and Council will have to decide if they want to write a letter to parties in the memo. ADA Recommendations were sent to the Commission for review. Nikki was concerned about getting half time position with the budget. Wonders if it is possible to have the Human Services coordinator help with this or other City staff. Dean said it was discussed, but an ADA coordinator is a credentialed position and would not be enough for staff to fill in. ADA regulations have been in place for 25 years and there is a backlog and does not want to table it because of campaigns. Nikki is wondering if there are other ways to present to them. Federal grants? She wants to see this set up for success. Dean reminded this is just a recommendation and is long overdue and referred to the current ADA challenges at new Waterfront Center - If we had the ADA credentialed coordinator, this wouldn't happen. Mindy wants to know how much that position costs and there are recommendations or are they ADA requirements we are overdue on; is there money set aside? Nikki mentioned how we have a bigger aging population and it affects more people than most realize. Patrick proposed that now is the time because Council is building the budget this summer for next year. Sekou asked how much money was put aside for ADA issues. Patrick said that fixing past issues has had very little focus. Luke said most of the ADA requirements are considered with new projects, but not older issues. Megan mentioned in the transit department? that yearly they select an ADA project to address these issues. Commissioners recommend this be moved to Council. b. Partnerships & Outreach — Arwen shared Alison's notes from the last meeting. Patrick gave details on the Spokane office of human rights — shared that the state office of human rights covers most of what Spokane wanted to do and contacted them saying why are you doing this when we do. The City lacks an open transparent open portal or direct connection for people to share incidents of bias and situations. Patrick says they only have tracking on what is crime level of hate related incidents. They don't track other items. Arwen shared that there could be equity issues with only having an online portal. She also shared her meeting recently with other DEI coordinators and that some people of color are tired of trying to convince others there is an issue and that many do not want to share their stories as it makes them relive the trauma. Sekou shared that not all incidents are against the law. Some people act without knowing and you can't always call police. He shared he mostly sees this behavior in the older generation. It's confusing and it hurts. It's going to take a lot of work from everybody. Ardeth commented on the equity toolkit and shared her disappointment in hearing that it is not being used and said that learning and listening is how we are going to make change. How can we expand it? c. Events — Alberto shared that at the last meeting we discussed the film series and ideas. Arwen sent out a list to Commissioners and agreed to get a soft approval of the list, so we can review them and then present final film list. Ardeth liked the variety and surprised some were so short but can lump together. Mindy agreed they were good choices. Patrick added that we have appropriate themes that are all covered. Patrick: would like to screen them all but may exceed committee's capacity. Luke, Ardeth, Sekou and Nikki volunteered to help review. Meeting Summary Diversity Commission July 7, 2021 Page 3 For Indigenous Peoples Day the City is trying to put together a modest approach to first observance. Connecting with tribes historically most connected with Edmonds - Arwen is still working on outreach. Patrick reminded everyone that It's not something that the Commission has to do, the Commission is laying the groundwork for the Mayor and other departments. Arwen gave an update on outreach and shared she's waiting on confirmation from Snoqualmie Tribe, but hasn't had any responses from other tribes yet. She said things take time and we can't force it. Frances Chapin has a connection with Tulalip Tribes and can work on that outreach. Patrick shared one of the pieces will involve the unveiling of the land acknowledgement piece that Ty from Tulalip Tribes is creating at the museum. Patrick said we made a commitment to have an acknowledgment/event for Indigenous People's Day and that the Mayor wants to recognize this somehow and to build up relationships in the future. The proposal to have the land acknowledgement art piece on waterfront and gather that morning and unveil the concept. Perhaps we can provide publications to community to learn more about our Indigenous Communities and publicize these on our webpage. Sekou voiced that we cannot have a day without them or it will be a day for other people and this needs to be discussed before it's done. We should share with representatives of those Nations and get feedback. Find representatives is difficult. Sekou said one person to be the liaison. Ardeth mentioned that Arwen was doing a great job at representing the Commission. Sekou wants to know why do they not want to participate? How can we help them? What do they need? If we are helping it can open the door. Mindy curious about the grant application from the Blue Heron Canoe Family. Can we have a conversation with them on Indigenous Peoples Day and combine Canoe event? Arwen shared that dinner invitations will be sent to the Commissioner for the August V Blue Heron Canoe Family Event. 9. New Business a. Grant award recommendation went to the Blue Heron Canoe Family. Patrick shared that the grants only support Edmonds' residents. Arwen brought up that the $500 grant only covers parts of the required funding for this cultural event. Also, that some of the youth may not live in Edmonds, but are Snohomish and that we need to keep this in mind with the City's desire to build relationships. Patrick said an invoice will need to be provide showing exactly where funds are going. Commissioners voted to support the grant to the Blue Heron Canoe Family. 10. Commissioner's Corner: Ardeth is giving guest Amy Nichols her comment time: Amy said she is the Program Coordinator at C3 and member of the Samish Indian Nation. She really appreciates being here and wanted to say a few words. She shared that she was hurt by something in the Proclamation video. The video mentioned that July 4t1i is the same/equivalent to Juneteenth to Black People. Her aunt shared with her what that meant to experience Juneteenth growing up and share about Indigenous Peoples Day. She hopes no one says it's the same as 4t' of July. Her great grandma escaped going to the Indian boarding school. It's important to acknowledge this historical trauma and ask if the Mayor can visit one of their celebrations as an observer instead of making it about the city of Edmonds. Snohomish kids did not have a choice on where to live due to Meeting Summary Diversity Commission July 7, 2021 Page 4 being forced off Samish island and had the choice of leaving or getting shot. She said it is not fair to kids who don't live on this city, but who did live on this land. She's glad to hear that there is an effort from the Diversity Commission on supporting sharing hate incidences but that it should not fall on people of color, Black or Indigenous people to report these incidents. The focus should be the community to do the learning and to treat people with liberty and respect. Ardeth shared she supports her and her ideas and thanked her for attending. Dean- Excited about the Uptown event Nikki — Shared her involvement this coming Monday Town Hall and will speak about the Diversity Commission and the work done over the last year. Sekou — Thanked members who are working hard to making the City of Edmonds better and much needs to be done for the people with needs. All the money doesn't have to go to the businesses in the bowl. People need help. Caitlin — Is also a panelist for the Anti -Hate Town Hall. Adjourn — 7:51 PM Next meeting: Wednesday August 4, 2021 at 6:00 PM, Zoom Meeting Summary Diversity Commission July 7, 2021 Page 5