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Equity Board Auto captions

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

6:00 PM · 1h 29m
Topic tracked across meetings:
Issaquah School District Equity Department - Introduction & Overview 1/2
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
3a
Minutes of November 17, 2022
packet pp.3–6
Staff report:
APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 11-17-22 Equity Board Minutes Page [0000] CITY OF ISSAQUAH Equity Board 6:00 PM Steelhead Room, 235 1st Ave. November 17, 2022 MINUTES SE, Issaquah
4. AGENDA ITEMS
4a
Issaquah School District Equity Department - Introductions and Overview (I, D)
30 min · Alisa Stewart, Equity Board Member Monica Negrila, Staff Liaison, Human Services Manager
Topics: EquitySchools
0:06 each calendar
0:10 of the people that live in that
0:13 community so I'm telling them you want
0:15 to do this and you authentically want to
0:17 do it you have to do all the hard work
0:19 that our Equity board did and you really
0:21 have to listen to the community and make
0:24 some hard decisions and choices to make
0:26 this all fit together so because Council
0:29 just adopted it and now it's part of the
0:31 way we communicate and engage and
0:33 celebrate in our community that felt
0:35 like I had to come by and say thank you
0:36 so Monica thank you for supporting the
0:38 sport and board members really
0:41 give yourself a hand it is Leading Edge
0:44 you guys are doing super fantastic
0:49 thank you mayor Paulie we so appreciate
0:51 your support Ray go ahead I think you're
0:53 gonna say something I'm sorry oh no
0:55 thank you yeah too you Monica for it was
0:57 a very robust discussion so thank you
0:59 for helping us through it and mayor
1:01 Paulie for stopping by and acknowledging
1:03 it we I know I speak for the rest of the
1:04 board we appreciate you coming to buy a
1:06 good thing thanks to us thanks for being
1:09 here okay big accomplishment big
1:11 accomplishment thank you for your
1:13 treatment thank you for showing up each
1:15 time and thank you for having difficult
1:16 conversations that not everybody's ready
1:18 to have so great work keep it up
1:22 thank you
1:24 man we appreciate the fact that the city
1:26 is willing to engage in this work
1:28 because I think it's really important to
1:30 have this information posted and it's
1:32 definitely helped unify and it's better
1:35 creates a sense of community that we can
1:37 recognize all the the rich culture and
1:40 celebrations in this community
1:43 yeah
1:45 you guys are just
1:48 spiritually a year ago and now it's just
1:50 I'm I feel like the proud parent as you
1:52 start producing these
1:55 amazing so thank you Lorna thank you
2:00 any other board members any other
2:02 comments
2:06 okay
2:07 thank you Monica and thank you for
2:08 taking some time have a great meeting
2:10 tonight everyone thank you mayor have a
2:13 good evening
2:18 thank you and Welcome to our friends
2:21 from the Baha'is of Issaquah
2:25 um I think that actually leads us to
2:27 public comments in case you uh would
2:31 like to say anything or if you're just
2:34 here listening in and joining
2:41 I guess
2:43 um we just sent you a little bit of a
2:46 description a bunch of photos of the
2:49 December 3rd uh meeting that we had
2:52 meeting conference together you know
2:56 and I know it was difficult day so not
3:00 everybody could attend but uh
3:02 um well quite a few attended uh Ray was
3:06 there and Christina was there and
3:09 um the question was there so yeah thank
3:12 you we had a very good representation
3:16 um from the equity board we really
3:19 appreciate it because I think everybody
3:21 enjoyed it yeah yes can I say something
3:24 um I thank you for hosting such a
3:26 wonderful event
3:27 um it was a really great way to to
3:29 really bring people together to have a
3:31 really honest discussion um I like the
3:33 group that that you brought together
3:35 with different um age ranges I could set
3:37 with the teenagers and really just sat
3:39 there and listened to him and get to
3:41 know him better so
3:42 um I think it really brought a lot of
3:44 meaningful conversation to the way you
3:46 structured the meeting so it was a it
3:48 was a pleasure to be that I'm sorry I
3:49 couldn't stay longer but I really really
3:50 enjoyed myself so thank you for hosting
3:53 thank you we missed the rest of you
3:56 thank you I understand that the report
3:59 that uh thanks I would essentially you
4:01 could perhaps circulate the share it
4:03 share with the board yes
4:05 kind of a nice summary it's a lot of
4:08 good fun and always anxious to hear any
4:10 um ideas for the future so we could
4:13 continue to do these kinds of community
4:15 building things together
4:17 um because that was so much fun
4:20 thank you so much for having this event
4:22 hello Chris yeah we see your hand out
4:24 please
4:25 yes thank you
4:27 um I too would like to thank the Baha'i
4:29 community and the other
4:31 various members of the community who
4:33 showed up to the Gathering I found it to
4:36 be very informational especially with
4:38 regards to the history and the activism
4:41 that has come out from the community
4:44 that was present I think it's important
4:46 for us to recognize that
4:50 um some of the flowering that we're
4:51 seeing with our Equity board and some of
4:54 the other efforts of the city
4:56 um have Decades of work that have been
4:59 done throughout
5:01 various communities in this particular
5:03 Community I was really impressed to hear
5:06 that people have been here since the 70s
5:09 doing a lot of work being active
5:15 but I thought of
5:17 um in in um
5:19 processing with my husband after we left
5:22 the meeting was at it dawned on me that
5:27 the
5:29 Persian Community is probably counted
5:33 under the white Community even though
5:37 they face similar challenges as other
5:40 people of color and I don't know what to
5:43 do with that information I just I just
5:45 feel like it's important to point out
5:48 um and yeah I mean and I think we could
5:51 devote an entire meeting around
5:54 processing
5:56 what we did at that meeting
5:58 um one of the things that I would like
6:00 to point out today though
6:05 I really like the format of that meeting
6:07 um we did work
6:09 um with regards to identifying how we
6:12 Define community and what is important
6:14 to us
6:15 prior to then breaking bread as a
6:19 community and I thought that that was
6:21 really a great way to
6:23 get work done but at the same time also
6:26 get to know one another and thank you
6:28 Sabah and and
6:32 father correct
6:34 yes I'm sorry my mind is kind of still
6:38 afraid I got sick again Believe It or
6:40 Not people I don't know what's going on
6:41 but anyways so thank you
6:47 thank you very much Lucrezia and we hope
6:50 you feel better soon
6:54 I wanted to say that I'm very sorry that
6:56 I missed the meeting and I hope
6:58 I don't know if it's just meeting or if
7:00 it's a party celebration and Community
7:02 Building act you know activity but I
7:05 hope that I am able to join the next
7:07 time
7:08 thank you
7:11 thank you
7:14 hey board members
7:17 oh right I apologize I thought it was a
7:20 high five hand go ahead very quickly uh
7:23 Farah saba and Ted I hope um you're able
7:26 to send the
7:29 pictures the products that were produced
7:31 at the meeting I'd like to get a second
7:32 look at them
7:34 um just to share I think you'd mentioned
7:36 that you might take pictures of them so
7:37 if you have that opportunity we'd love
7:39 to share with the board and what we
7:40 discussed together wonderful that's what
7:43 pharah just sent I mean yeah figures as
7:46 you pointed out we were able to have a
7:48 good conversation and have a lot of fun
7:50 and have art and there are people of all
7:52 ages and they it was Baha'is and people
7:55 were in Upper highs and people who are
7:56 religious and people who are not
7:57 religious because we're all interested
7:59 in the same thing Community Building
8:02 and it's an interesting conversation how
8:04 do we do that that was kind of the
8:06 essence and we can you know continue
8:09 that kind of conversation in a fun
8:12 friendly kind of way in the future with
8:15 in partnership with the equity board
8:17 I just pulled a document up may I share
8:20 it now as of course I will check via
8:23 email but
8:24 um let me play on the screen or yeah for
8:26 members to see
8:30 okay
8:37 foreign
8:50 they think
8:54 some work that
8:57 has been done
9:02 with the conversation about how what are
9:05 your ideas
9:06 and how would you illustrate in art your
9:10 ideas
9:11 we broke into tables and everybody had a
9:14 really great conversation about 45
9:15 minutes an hour we could only get people
9:17 to stop in time to eat
9:21 so great
9:23 I'm so sorry for missing it as well
9:30 that's today's work
9:36 [Music]
9:44 yeah
9:45 it's wonderful way to build community
9:51 thank Equity board members for
9:53 representing the board
9:55 and the community
10:18 her husband your kids
10:22 [Music]
10:24 food was amazing
10:29 thank you again looks like a
10:31 wonderful event it was a lot of fun no
10:35 thank you
10:37 okay uh board members uh tonight it's a
10:41 little bit of a different meeting
10:43 um we do have uh we call the meeting to
10:45 order uh and now that we are about 15
10:48 minutes into the meeting I would love to
10:51 uh just do a brief roll call
10:54 um and
10:55 um note who is missing tonight I just
10:59 want to know that we have an excuse
11:01 absence from Christina who has an event
11:04 she wasn't able to to to be with us
11:10 um welcome across the street sorry to
11:13 bother you no worries a lot of evening
11:16 meetings
11:18 um in this city I think that was the
11:20 cemetery board or something like that um
11:22 we would love to join forces but
11:27 uh Elisa you're here
11:31 um Helen is absent I have not heard from
11:34 Helen
11:35 uh Lorna you're here welcome lucrecia
11:40 you're online welcome
11:43 right right
11:46 here also here
11:49 um Shea is absent
11:52 um I know I shared with you that she had
11:54 a medical emergency last month that
11:57 continues to be on and uh off
12:00 um so I'll provide more updates as I
12:02 know or I know that she will reach out
12:04 as well please just keep praying your
12:07 thoughts
12:09 um Tony is absent
12:12 um for now
12:13 and um Kelly you're right here
12:17 and pretty over here
12:19 okay so that concludes the um just a
12:23 quick follow-up on the roll call I was
12:25 saying that it's a little bit of a
12:26 different uh meeting you might have seen
12:29 my note earlier
12:31 um we have a uh we had a last minute
12:33 change in our agenda item
12:36 um in our agenda items tonight we were
12:39 gonna have our guests from Issaquah
12:41 school district from the equity
12:42 department they had the last minute
12:45 change in their schedule so they are not
12:47 able to attend uh they are hoping to
12:49 attend at our meeting on January 4th
12:53 um and I'm also initially
12:57 um you you don't know this because we
12:58 did not put in the agenda planning but
13:00 initially we also had a tentative
13:03 schedule to have a open meeting act
13:05 refresh your training and our city
13:08 clerks are planning to also come and
13:10 talk about the in-person and virtual
13:13 attendance policy and so both of those
13:16 are scheduled for the January 4th
13:18 meeting
13:19 um and so with that that gives us more
13:21 time tonight to hopefully finalize the
13:24 conversation and have a good robust um
13:26 meeting on the 2023 work plan items and
13:31 so with that
13:33 Alyssa is also appreciate the initiative
13:36 Elisa offered to facilitate this
13:40 conversation tonight uh as we work on
13:43 finalizing the prioritization
13:46 um last month I just want to provide a
13:47 big another big small background last
13:51 night we had a great first conversation
13:53 and
13:55 um we as we discussed the different
13:58 items that that we have planned my
14:01 recommendation of staff was to
14:03 prioritize certain items
14:05 um acknowledging that everything that
14:07 was proposed so far is very very
14:09 important but that we don't really have
14:12 enough capacity and time to tackle all
14:14 those items in 2023 so the request was
14:17 to prioritize them so then we can start
14:21 with a few I'm always a big believer and
14:23 let's let's do a few and let's do them
14:25 right instead of trying to take a too
14:27 big of a bite and then not being able to
14:29 accomplish anything
14:31 um so with that I know Lisa you have
14:32 your hand up I'm gonna hand it to you
14:34 and I'm also gonna share
14:36 um the on the prioritization that you
14:39 all worked on so thank you for all of
14:41 you for getting back with me in in
14:43 expressing yours I'm gonna put that on
14:45 the screen Melissa yeah before you
14:48 before you put that up um I actually
14:50 have a deck to share
14:51 okay sounds great thank you and also do
14:54 we need to do the approval of the
14:56 minutes first
14:57 oh thank you for that good reminder I
15:00 totally skipped over doing this that's
15:01 why please next next time somebody else
15:05 uh facilitate the meeting thank you yes
15:07 we did not do approve the meetings the
15:09 minutes and actually have a correction
15:11 for the meeting so I have a
15:12 self-correction if that's okay
15:14 um thank you is it okay then let's pause
15:16 on the minutes
15:18 um so board members please take a few
15:20 minutes if you didn't you already uh to
15:23 um look over the minutes but I did
15:25 notice that um
15:28 um I did not include on their guests I
15:31 did not include our friends from the
15:32 Baha'is so I just want to make that
15:35 correction to the minutes under public
15:37 comments we did note
15:39 um uh that the Baha'is of Issa power
15:41 here and about their invitation I just
15:43 did not call out their name so uh
15:45 apologies for that I will correct that
15:47 before we post the final minutes
15:51 and then with that my question is does
15:54 anyone have any other corrections to
15:55 them in it
15:58 um and if there are no other Corrections
16:00 proposed we can consider them and it's
16:02 approved with the Amendments proposed
16:06 um it looks like that's unanimous unless
16:08 the crestia array anyone else
16:12 okay
16:13 uh Lucrezia we cannot see you so do you
16:16 mind giving us a virtual something yes
16:18 thank you
16:19 that you approve them as well okay thank
16:22 you with that so the minutes are
16:24 approved and now we can go back to you
16:26 oh Alyssa
16:28 I'm going to share my screen
16:31 and give me um let me know if you don't
16:34 have that capacity it looks like I do
16:38 you do great thank you
16:51 okay so the
16:55 2023 work plan
16:59 as Monica
17:00 alluded to if I can make it work
17:04 um we were asked given the task to
17:06 prioritize a list of the proposed work
17:08 plan items in order to define the work
17:10 of the equity board for 2023.
17:14 and thank you to everyone who
17:16 participated
17:18 our step one of that was what Monica
17:20 also mentioned that the community and
17:22 board members identified 11 possible
17:25 2023 work plan items
17:28 and those are the items that you were
17:30 asked to prioritize and these are those
17:32 items they're on the agenda and I know
17:34 you've all ranked them so I know you've
17:36 all seen them so we walked through them
17:38 right this moment
17:40 the next step in us us doing that was
17:43 that each board member was asked to rank
17:45 the Selections in order of their
17:47 preference for which items should be
17:49 addressed first and second Etc
17:52 and we were asked that while we did that
17:55 prioritization to consider a few things
17:58 which initiatives are bringing us closer
18:01 to not causing harm for people at the
18:04 margins
18:05 which initiatives can bring communities
18:07 historically impacted by inequities to
18:10 have a real partnership with the city
18:12 which initiatives can support and
18:14 cultivate the voices of the diverse
18:16 communities in Issaquah and are there
18:19 initiatives that provide for friendly
18:21 opportunities so these are some of the
18:23 things that we all considered while we
18:25 were doing the ranking
18:26 foreign
18:30 work items have now been put in order
18:33 based on the supplied rankings
18:36 and we'll show those in a moment the top
18:39 five items are proposed for the 2023
18:42 work plan
18:44 these are those top five items
18:48 and I know there are six
18:51 however I think that um I suspect that
18:55 reporting bias was included for some
18:58 folks as a part of Data Tracking and
19:00 identifying bias and that's why you're
19:01 seeing six but we can talk about that a
19:03 little bit more in a moment these are
19:06 the top five items we've identified for
19:08 now as the 2023 work plan items so the
19:11 Data Tracking and identifying bias
19:13 science and business customer service
19:16 for development difficult conversions
19:19 conversations
19:21 supporting bias and collaboration with
19:24 the school district
19:26 okay so we're going to dig into that a
19:28 little bit more just to understand how
19:30 we got to those
19:33 hopefully you can still see my screen
19:35 this is the place where everyone was
19:39 putting in their rankings
19:40 and these are the rankings that were
19:42 finally collected and now they're just
19:45 in order by the items that were
19:47 identified so these top six items are
19:50 the items that were on the list we were
19:52 showing and everything below the black
19:54 part are the items that just didn't we
19:57 just aren't sure we're going to have the
19:58 capacity to meet it doesn't mean that
20:00 they're not important and it doesn't
20:02 mean I don't I don't think that we
20:04 wouldn't address them provided there's
20:06 time
20:08 um but just in terms of prioritization
20:10 these top items are the ones we think
20:12 that we can cover
20:15 what it will say about the the
20:17 methodology that this was definitely an
20:20 exercise in data-driven decision making
20:23 in the sense that everyone's rankings
20:26 have are included here
20:29 um no Monica and I use might have used a
20:31 slightly different process to come up
20:33 with the same answer what I did
20:36 personally was to take all of the items
20:38 and literally some across the row and
20:43 um so you can see that the total for for
20:45 number one was 19 and then to sort the
20:49 list in
20:50 um ascending order and the reason is
20:53 that if everyone had identified for
20:55 example Data Tracking and identifying
20:57 bias as their first choice
20:59 and this total would be 11. since or I
21:03 think it's 11. and it was piece that's
21:05 total of the board members and it would
21:07 be the lowest number so that that's the
21:10 methodology there
21:12 um what I also want to point out is that
21:16 um every one of the board members number
21:19 one choice for item that needs to work
21:21 on with that methodology
21:23 represented in these top items
21:28 almost all of the board members number
21:31 two items are included in this top list
21:35 of items
21:36 and every one of the board members heard
21:40 ranked items were are included here in
21:44 this top list of items so all together
21:48 this list represents for sure
21:51 um top the top three items that we all
21:55 chose so
21:57 um with this method
21:59 um okay
22:02 um the items that are below the list are
22:05 also ranked and it should be have lots
22:09 of speed on the items above it I think
22:12 Monica you'll probably say that you know
22:15 we would be able to continue on the
22:18 items that we also think are very
22:20 important for this just a little lower
22:22 on the priority list
22:25 okay so this is the proposed list and I
22:29 want to open it up and ask if there are
22:31 questions comments concerns at this
22:34 point
22:35 thank you so much Elisa and while born
22:38 members you're thinking of questions may
22:40 I please make just two quick comments
22:43 um on that
22:44 um one thank you so much Elisa this
22:46 looks great I am so so grateful for all
22:48 your work on this
22:50 um I uh you're right I think we had a
22:53 slightly two different Melodies but we
22:55 got the same results I wanted to point
22:58 out two things uh lucrecia and you might
23:00 have seen um had a different comments
23:02 some of you had some comments on your
23:05 prioritization uh Lucrezia had a little
23:07 bit of a different comment on how she
23:09 sees those combined and I just wanted to
23:11 mention that while yes we can certainly
23:14 look at combining items I think the
23:16 reason why we wanted to also like spell
23:18 them out a little bit differently was
23:20 again just not to
23:23 um group too many items under one theme
23:26 and then not be able to uh to address
23:28 those so for example Elisa even said you
23:31 know about reporting bias in some of the
23:34 conversations that I had individually
23:36 with you reporting bias can be a
23:39 totally separate big topic on how we
23:42 even perhaps create a different
23:43 mechanism or do research on What
23:45 mechanisms are for reporting bias but
23:48 yes could be so many other things
23:50 um another quick comment that I want to
23:52 make we have a difficult conversation as
23:55 one of the top
23:57 um five topics and under those difficult
23:59 conversations uh basically uh perhaps
24:03 pretty much everything that's under a
24:06 number you know 789 could be included as
24:11 a difficult conversation topic right
24:13 like how to include more people in
24:15 public comments or public meetings or
24:18 redlining and history of racism so to
24:20 some degree we will tackle all the other
24:23 ones but like you said um just wanted to
24:25 also be laser focused on what we can and
24:28 cannot and then the last I a quick
24:30 comment I wanted to make uh you all said
24:33 they're total we started this
24:35 prioritization with a total of 11 items
24:37 I just also wanted to to remind us that
24:40 these 11 items are in addition to the
24:42 other seven that were already identified
24:46 as coming from different departments
24:48 that need our support for the year
24:51 um so that they are not you know these
24:54 five six that are a priority are
24:58 um being added to the existing seven
25:02 um so I just wanted to provide that as a
25:05 reminder
25:07 you're going to be busy
25:09 god
25:13 basically we're going to be busy and I'm
25:15 wondering
25:19 do we just stick with four or five
25:24 um ideally I think it would be great oh
25:26 yes I think if we can
25:28 have more I would love uh as a staff I
25:31 think looking at the six that are all
25:33 big items
25:34 um it seems a little bit much so I would
25:36 love to reduce them to 405.
25:41 I already said I'd like to facilitate I
25:44 think Lucrezia has her hand out yes
25:49 thank you
25:51 um Monica will you and or Elisa be
25:56 um clarifying what the difference
25:57 between Data Tracking and identifying
26:01 bias bias in business customer service
26:04 and Reporting bias but those how those
26:08 three are different or
26:11 why they're separate items I guess I'm a
26:13 little bit unclear thank you
26:18 can we go through the definitions that
26:21 were here
26:22 sure if you would like yes and then I'm
26:25 happy to also provide additional
26:26 information Alisa okay so the the two
26:29 items you mentioned look right here
26:30 where Data Tracking and what was the
26:33 second item
26:36 it's a one two and five one two and five
26:40 okay
26:42 so number one
26:45 I I read this this way Monica you you
26:47 wrote These so help me if if I get this
26:50 wrong I read number one is being
26:52 specifically about
26:54 um identifying basis uh bias in and
26:57 traffic tickets
26:59 and so not talking about bias in the
27:03 other ways in which it could be viewed
27:05 specifically
27:07 um what's come out of the conversation
27:09 with the Issaquah chief of police and
27:11 and traffic tickets
27:13 is that a fair assessment Monica
27:17 yes thank you yeah so this this uh item
27:20 came from the conversation we had with
27:23 the chief of police a couple of months
27:24 ago when Chief Swan was here for
27:27 introduction and you all
27:29 um uh pointed out rightfully so that
27:32 perhaps it might be worth looking into
27:33 how do we identify bias in police as a
27:36 general item and in particular the
27:38 conversation on traffic tickets came up
27:40 so we added that as an item and if that
27:43 and that is a priority number one
27:45 actually my recommendation this path
27:47 would be to create a small ad hoc
27:49 committee to three members that will
27:51 work individually with me and perhaps
27:54 the staff from the police department to
27:56 even look at what kind of data is being
27:58 tracked now how to identify bias what
28:01 kind of other data we would want tracks
28:03 there so that's per se it's a it's a a
28:06 topic for like a few months of work in
28:09 itself can we call it instead bias and
28:12 law enforcement it is because I
28:15 personally think when I first thought I
28:17 was like wow there's a lot of bias and
28:18 it feels it can go all together but it's
28:21 three different when I read it I
28:23 realized one was bison it's called law
28:26 enforcement one was in biased in local
28:29 businesses and the fifth one was really
28:31 about community members when they
28:34 experience it to come in and report so
28:37 to me I saw them as the very different
28:39 ones
28:41 and so but if you look at it I was like
28:43 oh Data Tracking identifying and
28:46 recording seems the same and so I think
28:48 there's there was a disconnect and I
28:52 want to say I think I think that there
28:54 can still be overlap but because part of
28:56 it that depends on what the individual
28:59 teams come up with as a tracking
29:01 solution so as an example if second item
29:04 is primarily about about bias
29:08 experienced
29:09 um in retail settings
29:11 and the fifth one is primarily about
29:16 um reviewing the the current systems
29:18 that are in place and providing a
29:19 mechanism for residents to report the
29:22 bias to experiencing you know maybe this
29:25 system that comes up out of question
29:27 item number five is actually going to
29:30 track attracts both of these
29:33 so so it's a potential for overlap for
29:36 crazier keep your hand up
29:39 all right I was trying to hit the thumbs
29:40 up I completely agree with what you're
29:42 saying Elisa thank you
29:46 so so does that help to explain the
29:49 difference between these three items the
29:51 first being around law enforcement the
29:53 second being specific to
29:56 um experiences and Retail
29:59 um and the the fifth being how can
30:01 people report specifically how can they
30:04 report the bias they're experiencing
30:09 any other any other questions or
30:13 comments yes Kelly
30:16 um so I clearly thought of it
30:18 differently
30:20 um I although it had the explanation
30:22 that was police focused for Data
30:24 Tracking and identifying bias I saw it
30:26 as a generic Data Tracking and that's
30:28 why it was number one I mean I probably
30:30 still learned place but um it seems to
30:34 me that before we can say not that I'm
30:37 saying they're not biased but before we
30:39 can publicly say that there's bias in
30:41 the business Community we should
30:42 probably do some Dave track first that's
30:45 how right and so you have we have to do
30:48 the Data Tracking
30:49 in it and so we would need to probably
30:52 rename it for me and at least the way I
30:57 think about it because it's
31:00 because I because it would be could
31:02 create a problem for the community to
31:05 see that the one that they have bias and
31:08 then they're going to say and how do you
31:10 know that and then we're going to tell
31:11 anecdotal stories
31:13 so we need to data track and identify
31:16 bias in the you know just kind of do the
31:20 same thing for both of them does that
31:22 make sense for both the date for
31:25 police and for
31:27 bias in business and customers so one
31:30 question for you
31:31 um part of the statement here in the
31:34 bias in in business and customer service
31:37 this is a proposal or an idea of
31:40 creating a training for business and the
31:42 community to address unconscious bias
31:49 is that something that you feel would
31:52 need to wait
31:54 until you've created the tracking
31:58 measure fact
32:00 you know gotten people to submit data
32:03 over a period of time before we could
32:07 actually do something like that uh if
32:10 the business Community is asking for it
32:12 we should do it but if the business
32:14 Community isn't asking for it yet then
32:17 we need to think that through well these
32:20 ideas came from the community
32:22 yes
32:28 yes because on the flip side let's say
32:33 um and that's what I use our Police
32:35 Department as an example and I actually
32:37 want to go back to to uh even two steps
32:41 back for example we did not identify the
32:43 police department necessarily as just
32:46 the one and only because I think my
32:49 recommendation was done before the team
32:50 who's going to work on the Data Tracking
32:52 you had
32:54 um different departments that you saw
32:55 throughout the year and so the question
32:58 would be for me would you like to focus
33:00 on the depart Police Department solely
33:02 or would you like to identify other
33:03 departments and see what kind of data
33:05 should we would we look at tracking
33:07 within the city as a whole and now going
33:10 back to to your comment if we say that
33:12 if we are going to do a training only if
33:14 the business Community is asking are we
33:16 gonna do
33:18 um any other Data Tracking or
33:19 identifying bias only if a city
33:22 department is asking for it or if it
33:24 comes as a need from the community we
33:27 are still going to do it enough for it
33:28 so difficult conversations and
33:30 challenging conversations for sure and
33:33 that's that's exactly the reason why I
33:36 think if we focus on less items we will
33:38 have more time to really dive deeper
33:40 because all of these items are pretty
33:42 big items
33:43 the difference is that we're talking
33:46 about really still these top items
33:49 yeah so we haven't left the conversation
33:52 of these top items and they are still
33:54 you know the items that we're saying we
33:57 want to do work on for 2023.
34:00 yes
34:02 so I was just you know I'm looking at
34:04 the comments so under uh the description
34:06 under number two here and so it says
34:09 community members reported during
34:11 Community conversations so I do I mean
34:14 I'm I think I'm getting into scoping a
34:16 little too much but you know looking at
34:18 our community data the listening session
34:20 data to see which um areas emerge as
34:24 where where the community is already
34:26 reporting bias and that might be where
34:29 we prioritize so like if it's law
34:31 enforcement if it's you know in you know
34:34 businesses or retail
34:36 um if it's in other ways and then maybe
34:39 that's where we start and then we can
34:41 create like a data collection kind of
34:43 pathway for reporting bias but kind of
34:46 letting what we already what community
34:48 has already told us to to start and
34:50 prioritize and that's documented so I
34:53 could read it
34:54 someone could read it their listening
34:56 sessions yes that would be great yeah
35:00 because that helps I don't think they
35:02 have a lot of great it sounds like we we
35:04 are passionate about the top items at
35:07 the top the items at the top of this
35:08 list because you're all already coming
35:10 up with ideas
35:12 which is great
35:15 um okay so despite our methodology
35:19 um I want to make sure that
35:22 none of the other items
35:24 7 through 11 are items that anyone wants
35:28 to make the case for
35:31 uh needing to be at the top of our list
35:34 or or are we are we are we satisfied
35:37 with
35:39 um the overall prioritization of the
35:41 items I'll go back here I want to say
35:44 something
35:46 uh Alyssa I just have one question so I
35:49 noticed that two people did not rank
35:51 Beyond three and those uh that could
35:56 change data quite considerably
35:59 considering you know it's four five six
36:01 they're big numbers and the difference
36:03 between number three and number four is
36:06 only by one point
36:08 and so I really wanna I'm very curious
36:11 to find out if those two people did
36:14 right because right now it is very
36:16 it is I think it's the data is a bit
36:19 skew because we don't have data for from
36:21 all people for averages
36:26 I'm sorry
36:28 I can speak to that if that's okay and I
36:30 think that goes back to the slightly
36:33 different methodology that Elisa and I
36:36 used so we had two board members who
36:39 only used one two
36:41 four or one to five one two three
36:44 two three now we have one of them we had
36:48 four
36:50 we had four to both
36:52 um Lucrezia and Christina and and so
36:57 um that's why on my reading I only used
37:00 the the ratings that the two members
37:03 used and basically for everyone else
37:05 following that I did not assign points
37:08 so what I did I assigned a point system
37:11 uh to basically saying number one gets
37:15 the highest point system and I assign 10
37:17 points number two gets eight points and
37:19 so forth until four
37:21 um and then for everyone else basically
37:23 I I did not prioritize so
37:26 um as Elisa has a seven eight nine ten
37:28 rating I only have the top ratings and
37:31 that's why on my end the top ratings
37:33 were exactly the ones that Elisa came uh
37:36 upward except for reporting bias so for
37:38 me reporting bias did not come up but
37:40 the other ones are are there
37:44 does that make sense so that's the in
37:45 the skewed in the skewed data that's the
37:48 only skilled item that for me reporting
37:50 bias did not come up
37:54 does that make sense Laura now
37:56 and then what I also did if and the
37:59 board probably does not you know in case
38:01 somebody wanted to fact that we had two
38:04 non-voting members I also accounted for
38:07 those and I have numbers to compare and
38:10 then those are not secured either like
38:11 in in general like URL in agreement on
38:14 those okay so even with the four through
38:18 eleven yeah it's not factored in the top
38:21 four for example not including reporting
38:24 buyers would still always be the top
38:26 four yeah and then five and six could be
38:30 different based on
38:33 six was the same was six came up for
38:37 both Monica and I as well
38:39 the only one that did not come up on
38:42 Monica's methodology was reporting bias
38:46 so for me number one was Data Tracking
38:48 and diet
38:51 um number two was biasing customer
38:53 service
38:55 number three was collaboration with
38:58 Issaquah school district and number four
39:01 was difficult conversation
39:04 conversations sorry
39:09 right well I I didn't I didn't think
39:12 that we were at this point trying to
39:15 split amongst the top items but if we
39:18 are then that's fine too we need to
39:21 identify that
39:22 that we were trying to identify the the
39:25 top items
39:27 and
39:30 [Music]
39:35 so I'm fine with that if both your
39:38 methodology LED with at least a top four
39:41 top
39:42 um and especially if anyone questions
39:44 about non-voting versus boarding members
39:46 you're looking at at least four maybe
39:49 five right the other thing is that the
39:52 purpose of tonight's meeting is to
39:54 review the proposal but I I thought
39:57 Monica you might recommend whether or
39:59 not the group should still vote whether
40:02 or not to accept the list
40:04 yes I think as a general rule you and
40:07 you can choose to do a formal Vote or
40:09 you can choose to
40:11 um to have some sort of consensus I
40:14 think being in an agreement that are you
40:16 okay with putting forward these top
40:19 four or five items or as as you asked
40:22 Lisa is there anyone who feels strongly
40:25 about moving to the top any of the items
40:28 that right now are not a prior ID
40:31 for for this coming year
40:35 so those items are the inclusion in
40:38 public meetings the Alternative forms of
40:40 leadership and structures in public
40:42 meetings Civics 101 redlining
40:45 representation in public offices
40:48 hello Chris here
40:54 you scroll up
40:59 possible to
41:02 and I don't know if since we've already
41:04 voted with with the name but maybe the
41:07 definition
41:09 might be more inclusive number two bias
41:12 and business and customer service
41:14 for me it would make more sense to say
41:16 bias in
41:18 community
41:21 engagement I mean I don't even know what
41:23 the word is to be honest I don't want to
41:26 limit it to business only right because
41:28 I feel like a lot of conversation has
41:31 been around the bias that our families
41:33 experience with regards to Issaquah
41:35 school district
41:38 so I I would like to be able to fold in
41:41 there's the school district whether it's
41:44 the medical community whether it is a
41:47 private business public business Etc
41:50 and I'm just trying to find a way to
41:55 to be more inclusive
41:58 Mr Monica
42:00 when the Committees take on these items
42:02 will they have the flexibility to do
42:05 what the crazy is asking
42:08 absolutely the flexibility is going to
42:10 be their board members
42:14 would want to recommend at least hey
42:17 laser focused especially on something
42:19 that comes from the community and I also
42:22 want to call out that already
42:23 collaboration with the Issaquah school
42:25 district is there as a priority for us
42:28 for next year and we have the
42:30 opportunity to to customize that based
42:34 on what we hear from the Issaquah school
42:36 district so I just want to provide that
42:38 as an option
42:40 um also for naming and titling I I
42:42 totally agree I think for all of the
42:44 items we can rename them and and name
42:47 them to something that it's more
42:50 um that that more clearly defines what
42:54 we want to do at this point these were
42:57 just like again as we put them together
42:59 based on input that I heard from from
43:01 all of you
43:03 um but my again just caution would be if
43:07 we received from the community feedback
43:09 that they don't they feel followed in
43:11 retail stores or that they're that they
43:14 have that they reported to us a bias in
43:17 in the customer service and businesses
43:19 that they frequent in Issaquah
43:22 um it and that's why even I think the
43:25 action plan that was identified was not
43:27 to go and point fingers to businesses
43:29 but to invite them to perhaps you know a
43:33 community training that we would put
43:35 together that would be open to the
43:37 community and the businesses so it
43:39 wouldn't be pointing out Fingers
43:42 um but it would be also something very
43:44 tangible and very specific that we would
43:46 address that and it wouldn't be just
43:48 something that could potentially be
43:50 deluded to include some many other
43:57 themes
44:00 again open either way it's just I know
44:02 from when you're trying to put together
44:04 events and activities if you don't know
44:07 exactly clearly what we want it's even
44:09 difficult to identify a trainer or
44:14 scope of work and so forth I have a
44:16 clarification the Issaquah school
44:19 district is said possible there now
44:22 you're saying it's on our work plan
44:23 already am I misunderstanding so
44:25 collaboration with Issaquah school
44:27 district was a as a placeholder and you
44:30 all rated it high yeah it's in our top
44:33 five to see collaboration with this
44:35 across School District I left it as a
44:37 placeholder because I did not want to
44:39 create a specific
44:41 um work item until we have a chance to
44:44 meet with the Issaquah school district
44:45 and hear from them what their needs are
44:48 and work collaboratively like I wouldn't
44:50 want to create a work item without a
44:52 it's a school district being part of it
44:54 does that make sense so it's like a
44:56 placeholder yeah
44:58 but you already at high as being
45:01 interested in tackling I didn't
45:05 you didn't but he was a group you as
45:07 individuals you have you can make a case
45:10 to propose it and I'm just gonna put on
45:12 the floor why it's a system that is also
45:15 has its problems and collaborating with
45:18 that system I mean the committee may be
45:21 awesome I I really don't know but it's a
45:24 system that has its own Equity issues
45:26 and since we're trying to work out the
45:29 city's Equity issues I'm I'm seeing that
45:39 that it would be it could be very hard
45:41 so so devil's advocate here couldn't you
45:44 make that case for every organization
45:46 within the city
45:48 every business every whether it's a
45:50 retail business or whether it's
45:53 don't know the police
45:55 yeah it's
45:59 a a
46:01 it has to do with the
46:04 it has to do with what we want to do are
46:07 we going to become a conduit for
46:09 bringing parents with concerns to the
46:12 schools that's one role we could have is
46:14 it that we're building policies together
46:17 that we could both influence in our own
46:20 in respective organizations you know
46:23 it's a lot of ways you can do this and
46:25 I'm trying to sort out because
46:28 um I'm concerned about
46:33 pointing fingers at what they're doing
46:34 wrong when we're not doing stuff when
46:36 we're not doing it right either yeah
46:38 right that's my concern then very good
46:41 point and that's why the idea is
46:42 collaboration and that's why it's a
46:44 placeholder we would never want to do
46:46 anything to point finger at someone
46:48 because of that like I Envision if there
46:52 is a classical District comes and says
46:54 you know we really have and we know this
46:56 this challenge in our school district
46:58 and we feel that we need more partners
47:01 that we cannot do this alone can we do
47:03 this community training or can we do
47:05 this conversational can we have this as
47:07 a community I think that's where we can
47:09 influence you're absolutely right
47:11 they're totally different system we as a
47:13 city Advisory Board we cannot create
47:15 policies for the school district or
47:17 influence those in any ways and that's
47:19 why that's a good reminder thank you so
47:21 much Kelly it's a good reminder for all
47:23 of us board members we are an Advisory
47:25 Board to the City of Issaquah Council
47:29 and mayor right so everything that we do
47:31 and we focus on community Equity
47:33 initiatives and anything that we propose
47:36 and make recommendations should have a
47:38 community impact so we can have events
47:43 training events educational events that
47:46 are geared towards the community and we
47:49 can also make recommendations to the
47:51 city and Council and mayor on possible
47:54 policies that the city can consider
47:57 internally right so
47:59 um so those those are but yes
48:02 such good clarification and that's why
48:04 at this point the collaboration and
48:06 highlight the word collaboration with
48:08 the school district it really is a
48:10 placeholder because we have not heard
48:11 from them yet and we don't know they
48:13 might come and say this is what we do
48:15 and Equity board members great good luck
48:17 with your work we don't need any
48:18 collaboration with you and then that's a
48:20 good job right and that's that's totally
48:22 fine right Lorna you're going to say
48:26 something yes thank you
48:28 yeah so um
48:32 I know from my work the vehicle school
48:36 district has its own Equity Advisory
48:37 Group
48:38 the equity Advisory Group hasn't been
48:41 since covid and they're talking about
48:43 what that means and the city was part of
48:46 that group along with many different
48:48 Community organizations
48:50 so I think I'm struggling with the
48:53 collaboration with the Issaquah school
48:55 district based on my personal knowledge
48:58 and that's why I didn't rate it as such
49:01 because I'm also curious to see what
49:03 Elena and Sharon would say as part of
49:06 our work and so I was trying to focus on
49:08 on what we as a community grew in an
49:12 advisory capacity could actually do an
49:15 influence I think I was looking at the I
49:18 like the conversation of when we're
49:20 talking about reporting bias how to
49:22 enable how to teach how to help uh
49:25 people Advocate and know how to report
49:27 bias in general and Reporting bias and
49:31 that could be within Medical in you know
49:35 different non-profits that visispa has
49:38 many of those in retail in all of that
49:42 so that would impact everything
49:45 rather than just on
49:50 so that would be inclusive for the
49:52 school district also so
49:55 that's where I was coming from and I see
49:58 the city work we're doing in the
50:00 influence we have in the city as being
50:02 part of our work because the City of
50:05 Issaquah
50:07 runs the city of physical police
50:09 department so I think we have much more
50:12 influence on that part than we would
50:14 have on the iska school district to also
50:17 is comprised of Renton Newcastle
50:20 Bellevue Sammamish unincorporated King
50:23 County and Preston so that's where I'm
50:27 struggling with that part but
50:28 collaboration is great but I'm just
50:31 wondering how big a priority it is in
50:34 this work
50:37 so great comments and I wonder if we
50:39 could hear from other board members who
50:42 perhaps prioritize this item would love
50:44 to hear their thinking pretty yeah so I
50:47 I had it listed as number two because I
50:50 I totally understand that the school
50:52 district is a separate kind of
50:55 governmental jurisdiction from the city
50:59 um but I also think that our kids live
51:01 in the city for many of them do I know
51:05 some live outside of the city limits but
51:08 I I think what I would like to explore
51:11 is what is that area of overlap that
51:13 makes sense and so that's why I agree
51:15 with kind of like the placeholder I
51:17 think it's open for conversations and if
51:19 there isn't anything that comes from it
51:21 so be it but I think um it's something
51:24 that I feel is worthwhile to explore
51:26 because our youth are our future and the
51:29 school district is educating them so
51:33 thank you so much really
51:36 Elise
51:40 of course it was
51:43 was near the top of my list as well but
51:45 pretty much for the same reasons that
51:47 preaching just said
51:51 anyone else have any any feedback on the
51:54 collaboration
51:58 as I think I would like to just
52:01 reiterate that I feel like the one we
52:05 have had conversations with community
52:08 that the district comes up a lot and so
52:11 I feel like
52:12 if they do not feel heard through the
52:16 Avenues that are currently being
52:17 provided and they're seeking for
52:20 other levels of guidance and or places
52:22 where they can come to
52:25 that we should at least you know
52:27 consider that making our decision with
52:31 regards to how to collaborate with with
52:33 the district
52:35 Ray you have your thank you Lucretia Ray
52:38 you have your hand up as well yeah this
52:42 exercise was really enlightening um
52:44 these six items could be dissected in so
52:47 many different ways
52:48 um for me that's Data Tracking I'm All
52:51 About Numbers to really support the
52:52 thinking that we have I think as we dive
52:55 into these it's going to require a lot
52:56 more conversation everything that
52:58 everybody said was I was just really
53:00 enjoying listening especially the
53:02 um uh Lorna with the comments about the
53:04 school district and um and your
53:07 relationship with them I'm fascinated by
53:08 that because I really feel like youth
53:10 needs to be at our table we lost two
53:13 um and I'm hoping that we can we can
53:15 have others that might be interested in
53:17 taking those roles but for me I I think
53:20 it's I don't know taking it to the next
53:22 level as how how we assign these I don't
53:24 know if um if that was going to be a
53:27 topic of discussion today Elisa and and
53:29 uh Monica probably not but how this gets
53:33 broken up are we going to take them one
53:34 by one our two board members can be
53:36 assigned one and report to the rest of
53:38 the group because there's a lot of work
53:39 under these
53:40 um but really for me I get the data
53:42 really is is going to drive the
53:44 conversation as to which direction we
53:45 take
53:46 that was
53:48 awesome thank you okay
53:51 Monica so with that thank you Alicia so
53:54 with that board members are we okay with
53:56 putting the collaboration with uh the
53:59 Issaquah school district back of just
54:01 being a placeholder at least until next
54:03 month or when we have a chance to really
54:06 talk and hear from the Issaquah school
54:09 district and just leave it as a
54:11 placeholder for now
54:13 and focus on the on on the other making
54:16 sure that we have perhaps the other I
54:19 would recommend leaving this as a
54:21 placeholder and identifying four top
54:23 items for tonight
54:26 in addition other than the the school
54:28 district what are your thoughts about
54:30 that board members
54:36 my other question is board development I
54:39 don't know if that's something that we
54:41 need
54:42 like how much it is a job that we as a
54:46 boarded doing and how much that is
54:48 something that we say hey we need more
54:49 training on bias or we need to do more
54:53 to figure out you know board
54:56 something bored I haven't been on the
54:58 board so I don't know what I need but
55:00 and I think that's one of the things
55:02 because I feel like we need to do A
55:05 needs assessment before we can really
55:07 tackle projects and to me all of the
55:11 work around bias is definitely needs
55:14 assessment like what is the need in our
55:16 community and so a lot of the work
55:19 around bias the police department in the
55:22 community and businesses and so forth
55:24 and if do families even know how to
55:26 report bias because it might be much
55:29 less or much more than we are aware of
55:31 and in places that we're not even
55:33 considering so to me reporting bias is
55:36 kind of like our needs assessment in
55:38 figuring out what exactly is the issue
55:40 before we can do more work in inclusion
55:43 and try to you know do those uh some
55:47 kind of changes history inclusion is
55:49 then the work behind it and having
55:52 difficult conversation is Again part of
55:54 reporting by so I see all of that as a
55:57 nice little
55:58 top four type things and the board
56:01 development as something that
56:04 is separate
56:06 still there so I don't see think it
56:09 needs to come away but I think it is not
56:11 something that
56:13 is really part of how it's something
56:15 that we do together to learn but not
56:18 something we do to produce something
56:21 for the community yes that makes sense
56:24 yes absolutely and there's for many of
56:27 them it's an internal component and the
56:29 community facing component I think the
56:31 reason why I decided to actually add it
56:35 to the list was also the time commitment
56:37 because often like even just looking
56:40 back at this last year you had a few
56:42 training opportunities there are always
56:44 ongoing opportunities to participate on
56:46 interview panels to participate in other
56:49 board than commissions so it's so in
56:52 itself it could take up more time and so
56:56 if that's for example your interest like
56:58 in my mind the way I see board
57:01 development and equity and you have
57:02 heard me say this before in an Ideal
57:05 World the way I envision our city is
57:08 that maybe I don't know when but at some
57:11 point we are not going to need an equity
57:13 board anymore right and the reasoning
57:15 behind is that each boredom commission
57:18 each City department has Equity embedded
57:21 so much in what they're doing on a daily
57:22 basis that we are no longer needed right
57:25 part of the board development to me it's
57:28 also being able to participate and
57:30 actively take part in what other boards
57:33 and commissions are doing and what other
57:35 City departments are doing and kind of
57:37 like start infiltrating those Equity
57:39 lands uh and that Equity lens and those
57:43 Equity perspectives right so I totally
57:46 agree that it's a little bit different
57:47 it's a little bit internal and building
57:49 the muscle for the organization but it
57:52 also takes a lot of time
57:54 so it's up to you for sure if you want
57:58 to and you know your time and capacity
58:03 for those things I have to agree it's
58:07 what I thought as well was that that was
58:09 part of the reason it was there so while
58:11 the work is different on board
58:12 development we're not you know doing an
58:15 Outreach to the community it's still
58:17 work that takes time and I miss a
58:20 limited resource
58:22 that's
58:26 um okay so we have we have four items
58:30 and so I'm I'm gonna ignore those for a
58:34 minute and I'm gonna say we we know we
58:36 we know that we could right now say that
58:38 these are the top four items and uh
58:40 we're gonna work on these whether we
58:42 think that vocal conversations is more
58:45 or less important than board development
58:47 that necessarily matter
58:49 what would matter is if you thought
58:52 reporting bias was more important and
58:55 should be in the top four or any other
58:57 of the other items on the list
59:00 and so starting with reporting bias
59:04 um does anyone think that reporting bias
59:08 should be and I'm going to go down the
59:09 list so I'm just starting randomly
59:11 anyone think that reporting bias should
59:13 be in our top four
59:16 all right
59:18 Gracia is that a vote for yes you think
59:21 it should be in the top four or or a
59:22 comment
59:24 um that's a vote okay and so I'm gonna
59:28 ask you to substantiate that some
59:31 and what makes you say that it should be
59:33 in the top four for me
59:35 um for development is just an ongoing
59:41 you know as things come up as we need to
59:43 learn
59:44 um there are
59:45 a lot of opportunities where Monica will
59:48 say you need this kind of training
59:51 basically what she said earlier
59:54 and so I feel like the board development
59:56 will happen whether or not is in the top
59:59 four
1:00:02 that that's just my understanding from
1:00:04 my previous service it could be that
1:00:06 that's not the case now
1:00:08 that's what my
1:00:10 um reasoning for reporting bias making
1:00:13 it to the top four as opposed to board
1:00:16 development
1:00:20 any any other comments
1:00:24 Elisa you might not have seen in the
1:00:26 room but we had all board members in the
1:00:29 room raised their hand earlier as well
1:00:31 so we had the question Kelly and pretty
1:00:33 right I can't I can only see who's
1:00:36 speaking at the moment so it would be
1:00:38 helpful if you can help monitor that
1:00:40 Monica
1:00:41 yes absolutely so
1:00:43 um not sure Lorna would you like to
1:00:45 start with
1:00:47 I think all of you yeah yeah I would
1:00:49 definitely prefer having reporting bias
1:00:51 in the top four because board
1:00:54 development to me is something that is
1:00:57 going to happen and I know it takes time
1:01:00 but I so just so believe that that
1:01:05 information has to be there needs to be
1:01:08 a mechanism to collect and Report
1:01:09 because without that information we
1:01:12 really we don't have enough data to to
1:01:17 thank you Lorna thank you this is this
1:01:20 is Kelly I'm I just second Lorna we need
1:01:23 the data for me to convince white people
1:01:25 they need to see something
1:01:28 I I heard that and I I'm also thinking
1:01:31 about the the phrase reporting bias
1:01:33 because
1:01:34 um bias seems to be such a low threshold
1:01:37 so I would think like
1:01:39 I don't know what the word is but you
1:01:42 like not negative experience but I also
1:01:45 feel like reporting bias puts a burden
1:01:47 on the person who experienced it to try
1:01:50 to Define it as bias and I think that I
1:01:54 don't know like if I experience bias or
1:01:56 what I think I don't actually know
1:01:57 what's going on and that person's head
1:01:58 to be able to say it's bias so
1:02:02 but I think it's important for us to
1:02:04 unpack if we want to become a welcoming
1:02:06 community
1:02:10 any any other comments from the room
1:02:14 I think that's it for the room oh Elisa
1:02:16 I think you and Ray were the only ones
1:02:18 who did not speak yet to reporting bias
1:02:20 being part of the top four
1:02:26 I'm fine with it being in the top floor
1:02:29 I'm fine with that as well I think that
1:02:32 might be where I had put it for myself
1:02:33 as well so
1:02:37 okay so board members it sounds like
1:02:41 we're having the top four now reporting
1:02:43 bias but we are taking off board
1:02:46 development from the top four correct
1:02:51 and so with that are you all comfortable
1:02:55 with the top four Alyssa please take it
1:02:58 from here
1:03:01 no that's the question
1:03:05 so this is our our new top four
1:03:17 where does it go
1:03:19 under difficult conversations
1:03:23 so we are just swapping board
1:03:25 development with reporting bias
1:03:33 what are your thoughts board members
1:03:35 about these top four
1:03:37 I see Hands Up from Lorna in the room
1:03:40 and pretty so we have
1:03:44 why not
1:03:48 Kelly Ray lucrecia we have thumbs up
1:03:50 from everyone in the room oh okay thumbs
1:03:53 up I thought they were hands up okay I'm
1:03:56 sorry
1:03:57 right I think we made a decision
1:04:02 here's our top four
1:04:06 great and I want a second repeat this
1:04:09 side because that's part of what my
1:04:11 uncomfortableness was was it was about
1:04:13 bias in business is that we call it
1:04:16 something else that includes it brings
1:04:18 people to us and then we teach them how
1:04:21 we can be more inclusive together
1:04:24 and that's why and I'm a big fan of less
1:04:27 is more I would love to invite you next
1:04:29 to the next step if that's okay first
1:04:31 congratulations and thank you all of
1:04:33 these looking at them they could be like
1:04:35 even just taking one out and it could be
1:04:37 a whole one year big item right because
1:04:39 there's so much from looking at needs
1:04:42 conducting A needs assessment even
1:04:44 defining there's just so much training
1:04:47 opportunity education opportunity and
1:04:50 also just like a you know more Data
1:04:52 Tracking
1:04:54 um so I would love to see a small ad hoc
1:04:57 Committee of two three four board
1:04:59 members who have the time and capacity
1:05:01 and working with me between now and the
1:05:05 um maybe even the main in February
1:05:08 to really dive deeper in creating
1:05:10 scoping out exactly a plan for all of
1:05:14 these and perhaps even like
1:05:16 intersections or just creating a really
1:05:19 um specific timeline
1:05:21 um perhaps even meeting with some of our
1:05:24 Data Tracking and analysts at the city
1:05:26 uh to to look at what are we tracking at
1:05:29 the city what's available what's not
1:05:31 what's needed and all of that
1:05:35 and even just with that like renaming
1:05:37 and and coming back to the board at the
1:05:40 meeting in February with with a proposed
1:05:42 release
1:05:43 detail scope for
1:05:45 um for the year and at the same time
1:05:47 start working on it because it's gonna
1:05:49 be already February
1:05:52 I had a question Monica sorry I can't
1:05:56 raise apparently can't raise my hand
1:05:58 while I'm sharing
1:06:00 um would that be one one committee that
1:06:04 would look at all of the bias items to
1:06:07 start with
1:06:09 to begin with initially yes I would
1:06:15 love timelines for each of the items and
1:06:17 just reorganize them a little bit and
1:06:20 then once we have that then I think we
1:06:22 can create other committees for for
1:06:24 tackling each of the topics but I would
1:06:27 like to integrate this with the other
1:06:29 work plan items that come from other
1:06:30 departments and just just create a very
1:06:33 specific
1:06:36 basically projects
1:06:39 tracking
1:06:41 scope of work for the year
1:06:44 what do you think of that
1:06:53 so with that you don't need to decide
1:06:54 tonight but if you know tonight that you
1:06:57 would like to volunteer
1:06:59 um please let me know if not
1:07:02 follow up via email the only thing is
1:07:04 that we cannot have more than four
1:07:06 maximum four people right
1:07:09 um that includes you correct oh no yes
1:07:15 we can have two we can't have three or
1:07:17 four but not more than that so we don't
1:07:18 have a quorum and we're just gonna come
1:07:20 back to report to the larger board can
1:07:22 we decide on January 4th who's gonna be
1:07:25 on there because I feel it's awkward
1:07:27 with four people absent
1:07:29 um we can certainly do that
1:07:32 um we would just need to work really
1:07:34 fast at that time but we can certainly
1:07:37 do that you're right we do have quite a
1:07:40 few members missing including the chair
1:07:42 approaches yeah I do feel like that
1:07:44 really puts a crunch in January yes
1:07:48 make decisions for February I mean could
1:07:51 that be part of the email communication
1:07:53 Monica for people to
1:07:55 volunteer who are interested
1:07:58 and secondly a follow-up from tonight
1:08:00 um and at least individually I would
1:08:02 still like to commit to doing some work
1:08:04 before the meeting in January because
1:08:05 it's the time time flies so much faster
1:08:08 than we think we say it's two months and
1:08:10 before you know it it's there but yes
1:08:12 that's a great idea board members so I
1:08:14 can follow up with an email to ask for
1:08:16 volunteers and then if I have more than
1:08:18 four volunteers and just like well we'll
1:08:20 figure that one peace out
1:08:25 that's peace
1:08:33 I think that's it for tonight
1:08:35 congratulations well well done not easy
1:08:39 we're going to talk about Community
1:08:41 engagement
1:08:42 yeah so I think with community so for
1:08:45 Community engagement I think once we
1:08:47 have the final very clear
1:08:50 work plan I think that's when as a board
1:08:54 we can delegate to the community
1:08:57 engagement committee's specific tasks
1:08:59 for the year so if the community
1:09:00 engagement committee is still okay with
1:09:02 holding off until we identify really the
1:09:06 scope for each of these items
1:09:08 uh that probably might make it more
1:09:11 structured are you I'm looking at you
1:09:13 and Rey being part of the
1:09:16 committee
1:09:19 right is that does that yeah I I thought
1:09:22 there was going to be some philosophical
1:09:24 conversation around
1:09:26 you know the community engagement is a
1:09:28 lot of different things right and what
1:09:30 is it that we want I mean I I'm pretty
1:09:33 clear that we want to go out and talk to
1:09:35 people and get their impressions of
1:09:37 things and bring those Impressions back
1:09:39 so that I'm really clear on but what
1:09:41 happens with those Impressions on let's
1:09:43 put it on and
1:09:47 as Priestly pointed out and it's super
1:09:49 important who's building the
1:09:50 relationships
1:09:52 right and that question needs to really
1:09:54 you know because I'm an alternate yeah
1:09:58 so those are all great conversations and
1:10:01 that's why I think
1:10:03 my reasoning and and there's so many
1:10:05 ways to tackle everything right but my
1:10:07 reasoning let's wait to finalize the the
1:10:10 work plan because I think the board can
1:10:14 delegate specific
1:10:16 items to the committee based on the
1:10:19 board because ideally it would be good
1:10:21 for you as a committee engagement
1:10:23 committee not to go and just do
1:10:26 engagement just for the sake of
1:10:28 Engagement but doing it related to the
1:10:30 work plan right of course and then could
1:10:32 be part of the needs assessment that we
1:10:34 need to yeah
1:10:36 yeah too
1:10:39 but we can certainly start if you would
1:10:40 like to start conversation with the
1:10:42 board tonight we can certainly do that
1:10:44 we have time
1:10:47 I don't think I would eventually
1:10:49 prepared to run a conversation can I see
1:10:52 it right you have your hand up
1:10:54 yeah that all makes sense as far as the
1:10:56 community engagement
1:10:57 um because we're looking to this
1:10:59 analysis and then you just mentioned the
1:11:01 community needs assessment where where
1:11:03 is that on the radar um
1:11:05 is that still happening
1:11:07 so I think that's we well we share that
1:11:11 as a board we are interested in helping
1:11:14 and supporting that I'm not sure that
1:11:16 that's something that we can take on
1:11:18 alone as a board so I think as the city
1:11:21 and City departments uh continue to work
1:11:24 on it
1:11:25 um I was invited recently to a senior
1:11:28 leadership uh Retreat uh when the senior
1:11:31 leadership team is going to discuss this
1:11:34 and see how and what we can integrate it
1:11:37 in in within the city so at this point I
1:11:40 don't have more information on that but
1:11:43 as soon as I hear more I think honestly
1:11:45 board members I think for everyone is
1:11:47 Staff capacity and how do we and that's
1:11:52 I think as a board would be great to
1:11:53 have your input and goes back to what I
1:11:56 was saying earlier like how do we get
1:11:59 everyone at the city
1:12:02 to breathe and see and ink
1:12:07 incorporate equity in what they do and
1:12:09 it it doesn't feel like another work
1:12:13 item added to their extra load so I
1:12:17 think that's one of the challenges
1:12:20 always is
1:12:24 although isn't that work part of the
1:12:28 I forget what we called it um that
1:12:31 postcard tool yes so it should be
1:12:34 systematically built into their planning
1:12:37 yes as they make decisions on like where
1:12:40 to Resource things and you know whatever
1:12:44 yeah and I'm so glad you brought it up
1:12:46 right because that item still needs to
1:12:48 be implemented and operationalized and
1:12:50 so that's another item that we have an
1:12:53 opportunity to help inform and even
1:12:56 support the different departments it's
1:12:58 it's on on the other still part of our
1:13:01 work item right it's on
1:13:04 the equity framework right so we have it
1:13:06 on our work aisle to look at
1:13:09 um how do we support implementing it and
1:13:12 how do we evaluate that so
1:13:14 um in the third quarter of this year we
1:13:17 need to go back to city council or even
1:13:19 earlier I'm not sure we need to go back
1:13:21 to city council and say how is this
1:13:22 working and report on that but um we
1:13:26 have an opportunity to help
1:13:28 Implement that and you're right that
1:13:30 should be part of that we are just not
1:13:32 there yet right like and here I want to
1:13:35 I'm sorry if I'm talking too much I hope
1:13:37 it makes sense
1:13:40 so we start with an idea we make a
1:13:42 recommendation here at the board level
1:13:43 it eventually goes and it's created into
1:13:46 a policy which it happened with the
1:13:48 framework right so that was created at
1:13:51 the council level now the next step is
1:13:54 to operationalize it to the entire city
1:13:56 we have about 200 employees everybody
1:13:59 needs to be trained on how to use the
1:14:02 tool before being able to use the tool
1:14:04 then they need to use it for a while
1:14:06 before we see how it works so all of
1:14:09 that easier to say than done we are just
1:14:12 not there yet
1:14:16 is that what the Issaquah Equity the
1:14:18 city's Equity committee does
1:14:21 um yes and no
1:14:23 um yes I think in terms of their working
1:14:27 and they are working on a training tool
1:14:29 to train everyone on it that's where we
1:14:36 so I think it implied in that framework
1:14:39 well it's to understand which
1:14:41 communities are most impacted and so
1:14:44 that I so I think Community engagement
1:14:46 of some sort might be implied and if
1:14:48 it's not maybe we need to like also
1:14:51 reflect to see whether that needs to be
1:14:53 made more explicit yes and to that point
1:14:57 you're gonna see again on on your work
1:14:59 plan we have this is an overdue from
1:15:02 this year communication the
1:15:04 communications team has worked on their
1:15:06 own framework that includes a community
1:15:09 engagement toolkit so they are coming to
1:15:12 you I think the meeting in February with
1:15:15 that piece for input so it starts
1:15:18 trickling down I think the community the
1:15:21 communications team it's a little bit of
1:15:23 ahead because they started working on
1:15:25 the toolkit earlier but I think that's
1:15:27 going to be a first opportunity for us
1:15:29 to see how
1:15:30 did they include that in their toolkit
1:15:45 great conversation and not easy
1:15:47 I feel like the the deeper we died the
1:15:50 more challenging it gets
1:15:56 um but still very important
1:16:01 very very important
1:16:03 Elisa is also appreciating you tonight
1:16:05 for walking us through this exercise and
1:16:08 prioritizing thank you thank you so much
1:16:14 my pleasure glad we were able to
1:16:16 finalize the list
1:16:18 me too and I'm excited to see going
1:16:21 diving deeper for the next steps
1:16:25 so any any other
1:16:26 [Music]
1:16:28 any other comments for the good of the
1:16:31 order any other updates I think
1:16:34 um on my end as far as staff updates
1:16:37 um just wanted to report it I recently I
1:16:40 was fortunate to attend
1:16:43 um a training on institutional racism
1:16:46 redlining with Puget Sound Regional
1:16:49 Council
1:16:50 um I have the recording of that and I
1:16:53 would be happy to share it with you
1:16:55 um I found that very very helpful
1:16:57 especially as it was
1:16:58 um specific for our region that issaqua
1:17:01 in general but
1:17:03 um originally
1:17:06 so I found that very helpful
1:17:09 um as we are part of the human services
1:17:11 team if if you would like to hear a few
1:17:13 updates from the Human Services Division
1:17:18 recently we had an emergency
1:17:21 um weather situation where in human
1:17:25 services we try to respond and support
1:17:27 uh the most vulnerable community members
1:17:30 in particular those who are on house so
1:17:32 as last year we had uh dangerously low
1:17:35 temperatures
1:17:36 we worked with our partners at Motel 6
1:17:39 and we sheltered about 35 community
1:17:42 members for um several days that went
1:17:46 well it went smooth
1:17:48 um but there are many many complex
1:17:51 challenges for each person on a good
1:17:54 note though I'm very happy to report
1:17:56 that our team was able to work with
1:18:00 um other Regional partners and uh
1:18:03 to date for this year we were able to
1:18:06 place 27 community members in permanent
1:18:09 housing or on our unhoused in Issaquah
1:18:12 so are you saying that 27 people are
1:18:15 living in the what was formerly the
1:18:18 built-in
1:18:20 no okay now all of those oh each each of
1:18:25 the 27
1:18:27 community members who are on house and
1:18:29 now are permanently uh housed they live
1:18:31 in uh Apartments so they are permanent
1:18:35 Apartments most of those come from the
1:18:39 um housing vouchers that we are able to
1:18:41 to secure through the King County
1:18:43 Regional homelessness Authority in King
1:18:45 County Housing Authority uh but some
1:18:48 other came through other sources as well
1:18:50 and um yeah so those are just permanent
1:18:54 yeah people permanently transition into
1:18:56 housing
1:18:57 which is which is huge it's fantastic
1:19:02 many more people yeah I didn't I don't
1:19:05 need interrupt but can I ask a question
1:19:07 I think I saw over email that there was
1:19:09 a vote on Transit oriented development
1:19:12 by the Issaquah Transit Center with
1:19:15 what's the status in that yes just this
1:19:18 past Monday night and that was a
1:19:19 training I missed that that meeting but
1:19:22 um yes the the city is moving in
1:19:25 partnership with King County Housing
1:19:26 Authority is going to take over that
1:19:28 project so
1:19:30 um here at the transit center there are
1:19:32 plans to create a
1:19:34 Housing Development we call it Tod
1:19:40 Transit oriented development that's
1:19:42 going to include affordable housing and
1:19:45 it's also going to include
1:19:46 service opportunities for for people
1:19:50 living in those housing so so we're
1:19:53 moving forward uh the transit center at
1:19:55 the ASAP transit center next to it
1:19:57 Tibbetts Valley Heritage Creek Park it
1:20:00 has a skate park yeah it's across the
1:20:04 street from us so does the
1:20:07 park and ride the transit center and the
1:20:09 skate park is on this side with the new
1:20:11 portway in between
1:20:12 it's on what direction is that it's it's
1:20:18 adjacent to the transit center right
1:20:20 next to it not on the skateboards so
1:20:23 those are vacant space there that
1:20:25 they'll develop and it's going to tear
1:20:28 it's not vacant it's purchased from
1:20:31 private
1:20:33 um yeah
1:20:34 yeah so that's going to be the big
1:20:35 property that they're gonna maybe put
1:20:38 things like the food bank and different
1:20:40 offices or is it just going to be for
1:20:42 living space so living spaces there will
1:20:45 be service spaces at this point the food
1:20:47 bank is not a plan to move the food bank
1:20:49 there but initially service spaces were
1:20:52 for medical
1:20:53 um and child care services and dental
1:20:56 services so that scoping
1:20:59 um still needs to be determined and
1:21:01 finalized but there is space shared for
1:21:07 for services
1:21:09 to my knowledge the food bank does not
1:21:11 plan to be the part of that
1:21:16 great questions Ray
1:21:20 oh okay I can't hear you
1:21:25 I'm fascinated by the strategy that the
1:21:27 city had to address the homelessness
1:21:28 with this weather that we had um I think
1:21:31 that's that would be a great topic for
1:21:33 us how exactly were they supported and
1:21:35 how would they
1:21:37 um help to find temporary or may you
1:21:40 even mentioned permanent I mean all of
1:21:42 us who regularly drive into Seattle I
1:21:44 think that's one of the things that we
1:21:46 see visibly and we don't want that
1:21:48 happening to our community so I know
1:21:50 that's a challenge there so if there's
1:21:52 some sort of um
1:21:54 long-term plan that was considered so we
1:21:57 continue to address an appropriately
1:21:58 like the city did with this situation in
1:22:00 this weather I I would love to be
1:22:02 educated on it um and learn how they did
1:22:05 how exactly they did that maybe we could
1:22:07 invite a speaker to come in for 15-20
1:22:09 minutes to go over the details
1:22:11 yes we would love to and thank you for
1:22:13 bringing that up actually
1:22:15 um one of the items here that um when I
1:22:19 drafted your work plan item for 2023
1:22:23 um was uh an update on the Human
1:22:25 Services strategic plan and what I
1:22:27 envisioned was a joint meeting with the
1:22:30 Human Services Commission because this
1:22:32 is what the Human Services Commission
1:22:34 does every time when we need uh they
1:22:37 they are uh really
1:22:40 um the to go commission to to address
1:22:42 Any Human Services related things so
1:22:45 right now I had a tentatively for
1:22:47 February as we are already getting busy
1:22:49 in January February we might postponent
1:22:51 for March or April but I do want to find
1:22:53 a meeting when I think if you are open
1:22:55 to that to have a joint meeting with the
1:22:57 healing Services Commission we can just
1:22:58 dedicate the entire meaning for updates
1:23:01 questions educating you all more on on
1:23:04 everything Human Services related what
1:23:07 do you all think of that
1:23:10 does that sound good sounds good yeah
1:23:14 because there's a lot of overlap and so
1:23:16 that would be appropriate yes
1:23:18 there's a lot of overlapping at some
1:23:20 point we even love to have you know
1:23:22 before we create an equity board there
1:23:24 were conversations and people proposed
1:23:25 can we just assigned to the Human
1:23:28 Services Commission and have it uh
1:23:30 equity and Human Services uh commission
1:23:33 and then at that point we decided for
1:23:35 now there are just way too many things
1:23:36 let's keep them separate but that is
1:23:38 something that at some point
1:23:40 um we may reconsider and see where's the
1:23:42 overlap and and what are the options but
1:23:45 I think it's way too early and we are
1:23:47 way too busy with everything else but
1:23:51 okay now create comments great input
1:23:54 thank you so much I think that's it for
1:23:56 updates from staff perspective and so
1:23:58 with that I think the the last agenda
1:24:01 item it's really other business other
1:24:03 announcements for any of you anything
1:24:05 else that you would like to comment on
1:24:08 before we adjourn
1:24:18 other announcements on your own Lucrezia
1:24:24 for helping us through this process it
1:24:28 was very painful it was because of all
1:24:30 preliminary work that went into
1:24:32 preparing the presentation so that it
1:24:34 was easy to understand follow and be
1:24:38 able to make decisions based on that
1:24:40 thank you
1:24:42 [Music]
1:24:47 thank you so much lucasia for saying
1:24:49 that and board members if I may just say
1:24:52 one more thing that's related to this
1:24:53 it's also appreciating Elisa and really
1:24:56 appreciating the initiative it just
1:24:59 means so much as as staff
1:25:02 um but you know if you remember and
1:25:05 Lucrezia you brought this up last year
1:25:07 you all wanted to look for alternative
1:25:09 ways and for opportunities for other
1:25:11 members to be involved I would love to
1:25:14 invite all of you please if you would
1:25:16 like to take an agenda item to uh or
1:25:18 even just to facilitate when we don't
1:25:20 have a chair and vice chair and other
1:25:22 ways like these are ways for us to Pilot
1:25:25 and try things out please please feel
1:25:28 free to say pay the meetings facilitate
1:25:30 topics and all of those things
1:25:33 just I have so much respect for all of
1:25:36 you and
1:25:38 why not
1:25:45 Elisa and then
1:25:48 all right I just wanted to say it was a
1:25:50 pleasure to help and to do to actually
1:25:52 do something besides just
1:25:55 um listening in in the meetings and I
1:25:58 would just encourage us I think the
1:26:00 things that we did that made this
1:26:02 process go a little faster like Lucrezia
1:26:05 alluded to the the pre-work the everyone
1:26:09 going in and putting their priorities in
1:26:13 on the items Monica for giving us some
1:26:16 definitions to work with while we were
1:26:19 doing that helped us to do some of the
1:26:22 you know what work outside of the
1:26:25 meeting and and it's so that we had a
1:26:28 really great and meaningful conversation
1:26:30 tonight because everyone was aware of
1:26:32 what it was we were talking about coming
1:26:35 into the meeting rather than seeing it
1:26:38 when we got here and so I would just
1:26:40 encourage us that if there are other
1:26:42 opportunities like that where some of
1:26:45 the groundwork and they start added
1:26:50 outside of the meeting and let's look
1:26:53 for those opportunities so that we can
1:26:55 be a little more efficient with our time
1:26:57 [Music]
1:27:01 absolutely
1:27:02 no great thank you
1:27:04 [Music]
1:27:07 Lucrezia I think you also had your hand
1:27:09 up earlier
1:27:11 yes just really quickly I know that
1:27:14 probably there isn't one person here who
1:27:16 would raise her hand and say that at
1:27:19 some point they would like to run for
1:27:20 office
1:27:21 but I feel that even if there isn't
1:27:25 anyone who would like to run for office
1:27:27 that it is important for us to model for
1:27:31 the the youth who participate and for
1:27:34 community members who
1:27:36 um join us virtually
1:27:39 um that we model the different people
1:27:41 who have these leadership roles and if
1:27:44 we do get enough gumption and enough
1:27:46 training through these um participatory
1:27:50 roles that maybe at some point we might
1:27:53 see at least one of us
1:27:54 rise in the ranks to you know take a
1:27:57 position whether it be with the council
1:27:59 or at the county level or whatever what
1:28:02 whatever level we feel is important that
1:28:04 is missing our voice I think that that's
1:28:06 why I have pushed as much as I have to
1:28:10 to question why we conduct the meetings
1:28:13 the way we do
1:28:14 um it's because I I do think that it
1:28:17 could produce some people for other
1:28:19 roles as well thank you
1:28:22 absolutely well said thank you
1:28:27 okay board members thank you thank you I
1:28:30 also appreciate each and every one of
1:28:32 you and I so appreciate you being
1:28:33 responsive and
1:28:35 um completing the pre-work and putting
1:28:39 up with all my emails and text messages
1:28:40 and calls when I bug you
1:28:45 well thank you so much hope you don't
1:28:46 feel like you're bugging us we
1:28:48 appreciate the reminders
1:28:53 no thank you lots of respect all of you
1:28:56 and foreign
1:29:04 thank you
1:29:07 okay more effort to be done
1:29:09 um for those of you who celebrate any
1:29:12 holidays at the end of the year happy
1:29:14 Holidays happy New Year we'll see you
1:29:17 bright and early at the beginning of the
1:29:18 year January 4th if you have any
1:29:22 conflicts please let me know in advance
1:29:23 so we can plan for Forum I I don't want
1:29:27 to bring uh some board members in person
1:29:29 and we don't have a quorum I don't want
1:29:31 to do that to any of you so please and I
1:29:33 appreciate your staying in touch and all
1:29:36 of you feel better
1:29:37 uh hopefully speedy recovery to all of
1:29:40 you so we adjourned the meeting at 7 38.
1:29:44 thank you
1:29:46 thank you good night everyone have a
1:29:49 good night
1:29:51 Monica if many people end up