2016-04-20 Diversity Commission MinutesCITY OF EDMONDS
DIVERSITY COMMISSION
April 20, 2016
The Diversity Commission meeting was called to order at 6:09 p.m. by Michele Rastovich at 220
Railroad Avenue, Edmonds.
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT
Ed Dorame — Vice Chair
George Basioli
Adam Khan
Mario Brown — Chair
Diana White
Councilmember Adrienne Fraley-Monillas,
ex officio
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT
Maria Montalvo
Gayle Ketzel
Patricia Valle
Tung Bui
1. Roll Call: Call to order at 6:09 p.m.
ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT
STAFF PRESENT
Patrick Doherty, ED/CS Director
Cindi Cruz, ED/CS Program Coordinator
Michele Rastovich, Diversity Commission
Coordinator
2. Approval of Agenda: The agenda was approved as submitted.
3. Approval of Summary Minutes of April 6, 2016: By consensus, summary was approved.
4. Public Comment: None
5. Action Item: Incident Response Language: Michele discussed the process of creating this
template, for use by the Chair and/or Vice Chair, as a way to respond to incidents that require
a timely response from the Commission, but when the Commission does not have time to
meet between regularly scheduled meetings. The template might be used in response to event
similar to the Edmonds Woodway High School incident in late 2015. Patrick reviewed
changes to the template as recommended by Commissioners. Staff may distribute the
response to the press, and Commissioners were reminded that they cannot represent the
Commission when speaking to the press, unless the entire Commission has agreed upon the
response. It is suggested that the Commission meeting location and time be added to the
document, and with the addition, the document was approved by consensus.
Meeting Summary
Diversity Commission
April 20, 2016
Page 1
6. Action Item: Parade Plan: Tung is taking the lead on planning for the Commission to have
a presence in 4rb of July parade. Word needs to get out to as many stakeholders, partners, and
community organizations as possible that they are invited to join the Commission. Patrick
asked if Commissioners are willing to use some of the Commission budget on supplies, like a
banner. There was consensus for spending some funds although an amount was not identified.
Patrick and Tung will continue the planning and will present more information regarding
expenses and logistics and the May meeting.
7. Key Informant Interviews: Speaking Engagements, Speaking with the Press: Ed
presented the talking points he and Patrick prepared for Commissioners. These are intended
to be guidelines when speaking to local groups and leaders in our information gathering
efforts. Changes were suggested, and the talking points will be edited for approval at the May
meeting. It was also noted that, like in the incident response protocol discussed earlier,
individual Commissioners cannot speak for the entire Commission on social media or in
online news.
8. Policy for Electing Officers: Ed and George will work with Michele to draft policy by July.
9. Attendance Policy: The ordinance mandates that missing three consecutive regular meetings
will trigger the removal of a Commissioner. Discussion centered around the option of calling
in to a meeting, and if calling in would constitute attendance. Pros and cons were discussed
and Commissioners were mixed on the idea. Concern about technology requirements and
guidelines were discussed. Although Commissioners do not all "love it", there was agreement
that there is a need. By consensus, it was agreed that if there is technology to support it, one
call in per year will constitute attendance and missing "special meetings" such as the one
tonight would not count towards the three consecutive absences since they cannot be planned
in advance.
10. Debrief April 6 Diversity Forum: Commissioner reflections included that it was unique
meeting with good turnout; struck with the openness of the participants and the ease of
getting the participants to attend; the variety of representation and information; and the
willingness to partner. It was also noted that WorkSource asked for assistance in identifying
community volunteers to serve on their `barrier removal committees'; the Chamber said `how
can we help'; and several invited the Commission to be added to their mailing lists. There
was acknowledgement of disturbing e-mail forwarded by Stephen Bernheim to Patrick
Doherty who distributed to Commission. Commissioner concerns included: how do we get
involved as a Commission; how do we meaningfully connect with so many opportunities;
why were there no faith communities represented. Opportunities presented included: so
many of the representatives are Snohomish County or Everett focused, but few focused just in
Edmonds; need to be conscious of diverse communities and to think about going to them;
need to identify gaps. The general consensus was that the forum was a good event, creates a
message of how serious Edmonds is, and provides us with information about how to plan
another similar opportunity.
11. Work Plan Update and Review: Goals and action to date were reviewed. Much of the
discussion centered around the upcoming City survey, including its accessibility and how to
increase participation. The survey, approved by Council on April 19, includes one question
regarding barriers experienced. Patrick noted that the discussion was very helpful in
informing staff how to proceed. Commissioners broke into pairs, each focused on discussing
one of the three work plan goals. Priority proposed actions included: hearing from Refugee
and Immigrant Forum at a public event, like the April 20 forum; committing time on each
Meeting Summary
Diversity Commission
April 20, 2016
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agenda to discuss best practices of inclusive communities; hearing from young people; and
providing information to private organizations, like the Elks and Eagles. Michele will take
notes to draft a calendar of next steps.
12. Adjourn: 8:06PM — Next regular meeting: May 4, 2016, 6 PM
Meeting Summary
Diversity Commission
April 20, 2016
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