Equity Board · Wednesday, March 5, 2025 · City Council Digest

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of February 5, 2025 Meeting

packet pp.3–5

Open packet at p.3 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 02-05-25 Equity Board Minutes Page [0000] CITY OF ISSAQUAH Equity Board 6:00 PM Steelhead Room, 235 1st Ave. February 5, 2025 MINUTES SE, Issaquah

4. CHAIR REPORT

Opening Question

Ray Manahan, Equity Board Vice Chair

5. STAFF REPORT

Updates from February Meeting

Dale Markey-Crimp, Assistant to the City Administrator

6. AGENDA ITEMS

Cultural Events - City Role and Future Process 6:30 PM

Director · 40 min · Jeff Watling, Parks & Community Services · packet pp.7–20

Topics: Arts & Culture

Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

• Share the Administration’s proposed new approach to supporting cultural events • Request feedback on the proposed plan and input on expected challenges

Board Recruitment

20 min · 7:10 PM Dale Markey-Crimp, Assistant to the City Administrator

7. OTHER BUSINESS / ANNOUNCEMENTS

Navigating the National Climate Facilitated by: 7:30 PM Ray Manahan, Equity Board Vice Chair

20 min

Topics: ClimateEquity

▶ Watch from 1:14:20

Closing Thought

5 min · 7:50 PM Ray Manahan, Equity Board Vice Chair

▶ Watch from 1:34:20

2445 segments .txt ↗

0:02 ↗ [Music]

0:03 ↗ Okay, Ray, we're recording. You can call

0:05 ↗ us to order.

0:08 ↗ Okay. On behalf of our regular board

0:12 ↗ chair who's out this week, it's a

0:14 ↗ pleasure to be your host, um, Ray Mann,

0:17 ↗ I call this meeting of our March Equity

0:21 ↗ Board to order at 6:06 p.m. March 5th.

0:27 ↗ Um I don't surprised that the folks from

0:31 ↗ Bahigh aren't here. They're so good

0:33 ↗ about but Dale told me that we have no

0:36 ↗ public comments to go through. So we can

0:38 ↗ jump over that part. Ray will briefly

0:41 ↗ tell you who's in attendance and not in

0:43 ↗ attendance this evening. So we have a

0:45 ↗ few um excused absences this evening.

0:47 ↗ Thus our our slim numbers. Um our chair

0:51 ↗ Py Mod Pan is has an excused absence out

0:54 ↗ of town for work. Uh Leslie Miller Irwin

0:56 ↗ has an excused absence at the high

0:58 ↗ school orientation uh for her eighth

1:00 ↗ grader who will be starting high school

1:01 ↗ next year. Um and then we also have um

1:05 ↗ an excused absence for Tony who has

1:08 ↗ stepped away from the board. Um I did

1:10 ↗ not hear from Shay so she might join us

1:12 ↗ um but is currently unexcused. Um and

1:15 ↗ Kunal it will be late today but he will

1:17 ↗ be joining us here in the next uh 15

1:20 ↗ minutes or so. So it's on route. dad was

1:25 ↗ stuck in traffic. So, you know, one car

1:28 ↗ household situation, but we'll be here

1:30 ↗ shortly. But we do have

1:33 ↗ quum. Okay. Um I think the next item is

1:36 ↗ just to review the minutes from February

1:38 ↗ 5th. If you could just take a minute to

1:41 ↗ look at those and I'm going to ask for

1:44 ↗ approval from two of you.

2:33 ↗ Can I get a motion to approve anyone?

2:36 ↗ Motion to approve. A second.

2:40 ↗ Thank you. Go. Okay. Minutes from March

2:42 ↗ or February are approved. Birch. Gray.

2:44 ↗ Ask if anyone has any discussion from

2:46 ↗ changes. Does anybody have any

2:48 ↗ discussion on?

2:54 ↗ No. Okay. And they are Thank you.

3:02 ↗ All right. Um, we have this wonderful

3:03 ↗ tradition here that Bridget started for

3:05 ↗ all of us is to ground ourselves and for

3:09 ↗ her to ask us a question and I have a

3:11 ↗ really good one if you wanted to ask.

3:14 ↗ Um, I I I think my answer to this might

3:18 ↗ mimic yours, but I wanted to know for

3:20 ↗ all of us in this room, if you do live

3:23 ↗ in this city, I think all of us do, or

3:25 ↗ at least close to it, what is what is

3:27 ↗ your favorite part of living in the

3:30 ↗ Isiqua city or in the Isiqua community?

3:33 ↗ Just think about your daily lives. What

3:35 ↗ is it about this? Try to be as specific

3:37 ↗ as you can. And I'm going to start just

3:39 ↗ to kind of get the vibe.

3:41 ↗ Um, I absolutely love the parks in the

3:44 ↗ city. To be able to take my dog for a

3:46 ↗ walk. There's so many options to do

3:48 ↗ that. It's just a way for me to tune out

3:51 ↗ and to just really think about things

3:52 ↗ that are important in my life. Get away

3:54 ↗ from that laptop for a few minutes in

3:56 ↗ the middle of the day and just block off

3:58 ↗ an hour. And I always have options to

4:00 ↗ choose from, whether it be Samis River

4:02 ↗ Trail or up at Cougar Mountain or Lake M

4:05 ↗ Park up there at the top, which is

4:07 ↗ beautiful and the sun is shining. So,

4:08 ↗ I'm just going to go around the room

4:09 ↗ here and ask my fellow attendees what

4:12 ↗ their favorite part of living in the

4:15 ↗ Isuk is. Can I start with you? Sure. Uh,

4:19 ↗ I know it's hilarish, but I guess my

4:21 ↗ favorite part is it's kind of like

4:23 ↗ secluded. Like, it's like 10 minutes to

4:25 ↗ like your nearest grocery store, but

4:28 ↗ it's super pretty cuz it's surrounded by

4:29 ↗ a lot of trees and like there's hills

4:31 ↗ where when it's snowing like a lot of us

4:34 ↗ like go um sledding. Um, it's like a

4:37 ↗ really like nice community. So, that's I

4:40 ↗ think my favorite part. It's nice,

4:42 ↗ aren't they? I think my favorite part is

4:45 ↗ that we share the city with bears.

4:49 ↗ In the first six weeks of living in

4:52 ↗ Isqua, my wife and I saw six bears. Oh,

4:55 ↗ wow. Wow. Insane. Yeah. Um, two on the

5:00 ↗ isow.

5:07 ↗ And no one is keeping a count there,

5:09 ↗ right?

5:11 ↗ Just eating with caramel.

5:13 ↗ There's a mama bear and three cubs right

5:15 ↗ behind the Isiqua High School trail on

5:18 ↗ the way to Point and then two more on

5:22 ↗ the Poo Point trail uh a few weeks

5:25 ↗ later. So, wow. That's like

5:31 ↗ And Dale, I don't know. I know you don't

5:32 ↗ live in art. I don't, but I spend a lot

5:35 ↗ of time here. Most of my waking hours

5:37 ↗ are here. Um, you know, I one of the one

5:41 ↗ of the greatest I feel like we're just

5:42 ↗ we're just just like loving on the parks

5:44 ↗ right now. I feel like one of the

5:45 ↗ greatest assets in this community is our

5:47 ↗ trail system. And one of the things that

5:49 ↗ I enjoy so much and I had like great

5:52 ↗ experience today is walking along

5:53 ↗ Reineer Trail. And I as I was out there

5:55 ↗ for my walk, I ran into this woman who

5:57 ↗ was out walking her dog and we just had

5:59 ↗ like the most delightful afternoon

6:01 ↗ conversation. Um just walking along the

6:03 ↗ trail together. Didn't get her name. Um

6:05 ↗ but just chatted about the weather and

6:07 ↗ the sunshine and she was uh bemoning her

6:11 ↗ her that she's still finding it quite

6:13 ↗ chilly. Um, so I think just the our the

6:16 ↗ public trail infrastructure that allows

6:19 ↗ people to make connections here is

6:21 ↗ really um really special and really I

6:23 ↗ think unrivaled in our area. Kudos to

6:26 ↗ the people ahead of us who really made

6:27 ↗ that foundation of these trails. Laura,

6:31 ↗ before I start, I'm going to comment on

6:32 ↗ quite comment. I used to teach science

6:36 ↗ at Isaba Middle School and I actually

6:38 ↗ did a unit in the spring on u wildlife

6:43 ↗ or carnivores in the backyard where we

6:45 ↗ gave out some of our kids who parents

6:48 ↗ agreed a camera to put in their backyard

6:50 ↗ so that we could record bears, coyotes,

6:54 ↗ raccoons in the backyard. And then we

6:57 ↗ accumulation of the trip was to go to

6:59 ↗ the zoo because in um in collaboration

7:02 ↗ with the point of zoo but I was always

7:05 ↗ shocked because I had access to see some

7:07 ↗ of the camera footage of bears in my

7:11 ↗ kids backyards and they'd say yeah Miss

7:13 ↗ Gilmore this is normal for us. So I knew

7:16 ↗ I'd seen bears downtown but the number

7:19 ↗ of bears they have in cougar because

7:22 ↗ cougar rich kids coming down was quite

7:24 ↗ impressive. So I feel it. Excellent. Uh

7:28 ↗ my favorite part about living in Isqua

7:30 ↗ is that Isqua to me is a true community.

7:34 ↗ I have been now living in Isqua for 25

7:36 ↗ years and when I go out I always see

7:40 ↗ people I know. I love I love that. It

7:43 ↗ feels like one of those Hallmark movies

7:45 ↗ where you go out and you run into people

7:47 ↗ like chitchat. You know, you can't go to

7:49 ↗ Starbucks or Fred Myers or Safeway

7:51 ↗ without seeing at least two or three

7:53 ↗ people. I ran into Karthik and his wife

7:56 ↗ uh when I went to Indian food and I ran

7:58 ↗ into my bank manager when I went to that

8:01 ↗ restaurant and just I love that because

8:04 ↗ it feels like true community. Yes. And

8:07 ↗ that's something I appreciate and I hope

8:10 ↗ that never goes away and I always tell

8:12 ↗ people that living in Iso is living in

8:15 ↗ actually it's kind of a big city but

8:17 ↗ it's has this very small city feel.

8:25 ↗ Uh same for all as you. The parks are

8:28 ↗ fabulous. I live in downtown in Squad.

8:31 ↗ Lived here for almost six years and

8:33 ↗ moved downsized into a very small house.

8:35 ↗ And somebody said who came and visited

8:38 ↗ me. She said, you know, your living room

8:40 ↗ is actually all of downtown. And she was

8:43 ↗ absolutely right. Right. So we go to the

8:46 ↗ senior center. My husband's there quite

8:47 ↗ a bit. I do the line dancing there

8:49 ↗ sometimes, you know. and this and that's

8:51 ↗ right around the corner from us. We go

8:52 ↗ to the library regularly. We have drinks

8:55 ↗ on Tuesdays with friends at either

8:57 ↗ Vinoella or at the big big picture, you

9:01 ↗ know. So there's like my life re I walk

9:04 ↗ here, right? My life revolves around

9:06 ↗ Isiqua and like you as I've been more

9:10 ↗ integrated into it. I'm more and more

9:11 ↗ recogn I mean I used to live in

9:12 ↗ Samishamish so I know the Samish people

9:14 ↗ who come down but I'm also meeting

9:17 ↗ having more and more people that I

9:19 ↗ recognize here which is just fabulous.

9:23 ↗ Yeah, it's a great community. Yes,

9:25 ↗ Johnny.

9:27 ↗ Um well most of everything has been

9:29 ↗ said. I love that like you know it's a

9:33 ↗ small city but still has all the

9:35 ↗ facilities of a big city. The charm is

9:37 ↗ there. Um and then uh just so beautiful.

9:41 ↗ I mean the views are amazing. We are

9:43 ↗ surrounded by hills and I dropped my kid

9:46 ↗ to Isakqua High School and stunning

9:49 ↗ views absolutely uh from there. Um but

9:53 ↗ uh my most favorite place is um the

9:57 ↗ central park and there's a little

9:58 ↗ viewpoint over there that you kind of

10:02 ↗ look down at you can get a really big

10:05 ↗ nice view of the city and I believe it

10:08 ↗ still falls under aquest notamish. So

10:11 ↗ yeah, Central Park, that viewpoint is

10:14 ↗ something we always take our guests

10:15 ↗ there or we go when we I drop my son for

10:18 ↗ soccer or something. That's where I walk

10:20 ↗ and, you know, see that.

10:24 ↗ Um Jeff and Amy would welcome your

10:26 ↗ house. I don't know if you live here,

10:27 ↗ but I know you work here. I don't. I

10:29 ↗ work here a lot, obviously. Hi everyone.

10:31 ↗ Jeff Wling, parks and community services

10:33 ↗ director. Great to hear all the the

10:35 ↗ public spaces comments. You're

10:37 ↗ absolutely right. It's a special special

10:39 ↗ place that way. Um, I think for me,

10:41 ↗ honestly, I've worked here eight, a

10:44 ↗ little over eight years now. Um, I'd say

10:47 ↗ it's the people. Um, it's it's a

10:50 ↗ community of very intentional,

10:53 ↗ thoughtful people who love the area they

10:56 ↗ live in and you could tell, right? And,

10:59 ↗ um, I think to your comment earlier,

11:01 ↗ spot on. You know, public spaces like

11:03 ↗ this don't just happen. It's generations

11:05 ↗ of investments

11:07 ↗ and there's more investments to do and I

11:11 ↗ love to hear trails and parks. One

11:14 ↗ little fun plug, uh we just uh did a lot

11:16 ↗ of community engagement last year. We

11:18 ↗ updated the park system plan to sort of

11:21 ↗ the vision for the park system. Hey, how

11:22 ↗ do we take this great thing and continue

11:25 ↗ to to build upon it? And uh one of the

11:28 ↗ the real core visions is rebranding the

11:31 ↗ park system as Isiqua's Creeks to Peaks

11:34 ↗ park system with this idea of we really

11:38 ↗ have an opportunity to connect every

11:39 ↗ park. It's very rare that a city can

11:43 ↗ sort of create one system that

11:45 ↗ feels unbelievably connected in town

11:48 ↗ whether you live downtown or as we head

11:52 ↗ out into the public lands that surround

11:53 ↗ us. So, um, reach the peace sign.

11:58 ↗ Hi, I'm Amy Dukes. I'm the artist

12:00 ↗ manager for the city and I actually do

12:02 ↗ live here. I've lived here for, um, 17

12:05 ↗ years, which I cannot believe. Um,

12:07 ↗ because I have lived all over the

12:09 ↗ country in 15 different states. And once

12:12 ↗ my husband and I moved to Isiqua, we're

12:13 ↗ like, we think we we found it. Um, and

12:17 ↗ when I first moved here, I read a list.

12:20 ↗ Um, it's quite old now, but there were

12:22 ↗ treasures of Isiqua that were created by

12:25 ↗ the community. And it was like this list

12:26 ↗ of I think 25 or 30 things that made

12:30 ↗ Isiqua special. And I remember reading

12:32 ↗ it and not fully understanding all of

12:34 ↗ them. But one of them was the mist over

12:37 ↗ the mountains on the Tiger Mountain. And

12:39 ↗ I remember the first time I really

12:42 ↗ experienced that. I'm like, "Oh, that's

12:43 ↗ what they meant." Yeah. You probably

12:46 ↗ noticed at some Yeah. Yeah. It's so

12:49 ↗ beautiful. So, I I love living here for

12:51 ↗ all the reasons, too.

12:58 ↗ Yeah. Thank you. Thank you everybody for

13:00 ↗ sharing. Um

13:04 ↗ Dale, can we move to number five? We can

13:06 ↗ go to number five. Staff report updates

13:08 ↗ from you. Staff report updates from me.

13:10 ↗ So, as you all know, but I'll never get

13:12 ↗ tired of saying the purpose of this. Um,

13:15 ↗ we started this last year having uh each

13:17 ↗ meeting as a a brief report out from the

13:20 ↗ staff leaison on what's happened since

13:22 ↗ our last meeting and the feedback that

13:24 ↗ you provided to the administration. So,

13:26 ↗ I've got a couple things for today um

13:29 ↗ based on our our February meeting. Um,

13:32 ↗ number one is our the Evans Consulting

13:34 ↗ Group came to present um at our previous

13:37 ↗ meeting. They have begun uh their staff

13:40 ↗ and board and commission member

13:42 ↗ interviews. Um, thank you to Kelly and

13:44 ↗ to Priy who have volunteered to be to

13:46 ↗ represent the equity board in this

13:49 ↗ effort. Um, however, they are also

13:52 ↗ looking for more interviewees. So, Priy

13:54 ↗ and Kelly will be supporting

13:55 ↗ specifically like in the the equity that

13:59 ↗ helping them take the equity lens to the

14:00 ↗ work, but they're interviewing members

14:03 ↗ of all of our boards and commissions

14:04 ↗ about your experience as the Gordon

14:06 ↗ Commission member, the orientation and

14:08 ↗ onboarding you've got. Um, and although

14:11 ↗ it will be a little different for this

14:12 ↗ board, the way discussions of equity

14:14 ↗ show up in that work. So, if you are

14:16 ↗ interested in being interviewed by them,

14:19 ↗ um, to support the work that they're

14:21 ↗ doing, uh, please let me know before we

14:23 ↗ leave today because I know that they

14:25 ↗ would love more input. Um, also

14:29 ↗ discussed at our last meeting, as part

14:33 ↗ of the conversation with Mayor Paulie

14:34 ↗ about the work plan were two different

14:36 ↗ items. the equity um what we were

14:39 ↗ referring to as the DEIB glossery. Um

14:41 ↗ the equity team discussed the

14:43 ↗ implementation of that glossery and as

14:45 ↗ part of that discussion over the course

14:47 ↗ of the last month they also decided they

14:49 ↗ wanted to change the name of it to the

14:50 ↗ equity and inclusion glossery. This is a

14:53 ↗ a name change moving away from an

14:55 ↗ acronym um which can often be

14:57 ↗ misconstrued or

15:00 ↗ villainiz villainized. That was the word

15:02 ↗ I was going to look for but I was going

15:04 ↗ I was going to go with a different word

15:05 ↗ but that's what I wanted to say. Um

15:08 ↗ moving away from an acronym to actually

15:10 ↗ saying the words themselves. Um so for

15:14 ↗ brevity sake went with equity and

15:15 ↗ inclusion glossery just not to have a

15:18 ↗ forward um title for a glossery but

15:20 ↗ wanted to relay that to you all that as

15:22 ↗ part of the implementation plan they um

15:25 ↗ changed the name. Additionally the

15:27 ↗ equity team added the evolution of the

15:29 ↗ framework which we also discussed in

15:31 ↗ January to their work plan for 2025

15:33 ↗ which hadn't been on the work plan

15:35 ↗ previously um based on the feedback that

15:38 ↗ you all have already provided. I don't

15:40 ↗ yet have an update on what's happened

15:41 ↗ with resilience hubs or the progress on

15:43 ↗ that from the feedback that you all

15:45 ↗ gave. Um, unfortunately David Rey not

15:48 ↗ fortunately David Rei is on vacation

15:50 ↗ this week. So when I went to check in

15:51 ↗ with them, I got an out of office

15:52 ↗ message. Um, but I'll make sure to to

15:55 ↗ loop back as I have updates from them

15:57 ↗ based on the feedback that you all gave

15:58 ↗ last month. And that concludes my brief

16:02 ↗ staff report.

16:04 ↗ Okay. Thank you. Any questions from

16:06 ↗ anyone?

16:11 ↗ Okay. Um, I think we're clear to move to

16:13 ↗ number six. Is that okay? We are indeed.

16:16 ↗ Amy, you want to come join us? Yeah.

16:18 ↗ Welcome you all to the table.

16:29 ↗ That's fair

16:31 ↗ enough. Jeff, I'm just bringing up

16:37 ↗ presentation and I always despite having

16:39 ↗ done this a dozen times I always forget

16:41 ↗ how to get to present. There we go.

16:45 ↗ Cool. Ready to kick it off? Go for it.

16:48 ↗ Great. Well, hi everyone again. Uh thank

16:51 ↗ you for having us. Uh excited to have

16:53 ↗ this conversation with you uh this

16:56 ↗ evening around um cultural events. Um

17:00 ↗ let me go to the next slide.

17:04 ↗ This is the purpose is uh to share with

17:06 ↗ all of you um uh it's work we've been

17:09 ↗ doing on the department as well as

17:11 ↗ administration level on a proposed new

17:13 ↗ approach for supporting cultural events.

17:15 ↗ Um as you'll hear in the background and

17:18 ↗ and those of you that were here in the

17:19 ↗ formation of the equity board, Kelly, I

17:21 ↗ know you were uh this was some early

17:23 ↗ conversations and it feels like we're

17:25 ↗ we're heading we're proposing to head to

17:27 ↗ a direction that was the desired

17:29 ↗ destination really from from the get-go.

17:32 ↗ So really requesting um just your

17:34 ↗ thoughts on that approach, feedback on

17:36 ↗ this proposed plan and um helping us

17:40 ↗ starting to think through challenges as

17:42 ↗ we uh really start to do some some

17:45 ↗ forming work with a a grant program.

17:48 ↗ Next slide. This will come towards the

17:50 ↗ end as well. I won't go through all of

17:52 ↗ these questions, but um again, some

17:55 ↗ questions that we'll go through after

17:56 ↗ the the staff uh report and and

17:59 ↗ presentation in terms of um just your

18:02 ↗ reaction um how we can make sure we're

18:05 ↗ communicating um if we're doing a grant

18:07 ↗ program moving forward, how we can get

18:09 ↗ that news out,

18:11 ↗ etc. Next slide. Um I will jump into

18:15 ↗ some background here and then um Amy is

18:18 ↗ here as our grants expert on the on the

18:22 ↗ art side to to talk through some of the

18:23 ↗ elements of the grant and then hand it

18:26 ↗ over to to Dale to wrap it up. So um in

18:30 ↗ terms of background um this is a a when

18:34 ↗ we worked uh with the human services

18:37 ↗ commission and I'll back up you know in

18:38 ↗ the midst of the pandemic in 2020 and we

18:41 ↗ as a city really felt it was important

18:43 ↗ to to begin exploring the formation of

18:46 ↗ an equity board. You may recall myself,

18:49 ↗ Monica, Negrilla, some human services

18:51 ↗ commission members hosted a a bunch of

18:54 ↗ community conversations at the time. And

18:56 ↗ even in those community conversations

18:58 ↗ about equity and about cultures and what

19:01 ↗ that really means and looks like here in

19:02 ↗ Isiqua, this idea of cultural events was

19:05 ↗ was really discussed a number of times

19:07 ↗ there and how can the city help to

19:11 ↗ foster them, to promote them, to um

19:14 ↗ really encourage them to to happen.

19:18 ↗ Um, moving forward in 21 and 22, uh, the

19:22 ↗ city for a couple of years had been

19:24 ↗ doing what was called welcoming week.

19:26 ↗ Uh, that first week in, um, early

19:29 ↗ September as as sort of going back to

19:31 ↗ school, seeing a lot of success with

19:33 ↗ that. Um, at that time, staff and the

19:36 ↗ equity board identified five um, key

19:40 ↗ cultural celebrations that we wanted to

19:42 ↗ do more around. Um, again, Kelly, you

19:44 ↗ may recall these, um, but you know, how

19:47 ↗ do we take Black History Month, the

19:49 ↗ Lunar New Year, Pride Month, Junth, um,

19:52 ↗ and Welcoming Week, and, um, do some

19:56 ↗ educational seminars around them, um,

19:59 ↗ community events or cultural events, um,

20:02 ↗ around those um, um, key um, um,

20:06 ↗ celebrations, key um, um, um, you know,

20:11 ↗ months.

20:13 ↗ Um that work really um helped to foster

20:17 ↗ I think some some great events but it

20:19 ↗ became clear I think as we did them and

20:21 ↗ have been doing them the last couple of

20:23 ↗ years

20:24 ↗ um the city's role

20:29 ↗ um shouldn't necessarily be the producer

20:32 ↗ of these. We we wanted them to to really

20:35 ↗ begin to feel more communitydriven

20:38 ↗ um um um by those in these cultural

20:42 ↗ communities. Um um we also began to ask

20:46 ↗ ourselves um why these five, right? Why

20:49 ↗ should we as a city be the ones deciding

20:52 ↗ which ones are done? uh let's really

20:54 ↗ give opportunity for for the community

20:56 ↗ to um identify that. Um coupled and and

21:02 ↗ again knowing ultimately the the goal

21:05 ↗ all along was how do we as a city um and

21:10 ↗ an equity board and our um how do we

21:13 ↗ position ourselves to really be a a

21:16 ↗ supporter of community-based cultural

21:19 ↗ events? Um you may um be familiar or

21:23 ↗ Dale may have updated you through last

21:25 ↗ year. Uh we had a pretty significant a

21:27 ↗ very hard budget process last fall um as

21:30 ↗ the 2025 and 2026 budget was created. Um

21:34 ↗ parks and community services department

21:36 ↗ lost some key staff and some ste some

21:38 ↗ some key resources uh that have really

21:41 ↗ forced us to to look at 2526 a little

21:44 ↗ bit differently. Um we are um finding

21:48 ↗ ways to continue to uh where we've had

21:52 ↗ some of these events. I think Black

21:53 ↗ History Month I'll use as as an example.

21:56 ↗ Um we hosted a art exhibit at the

21:59 ↗ community center last year uh with Onyx

22:02 ↗ um art group out of Seattle. It was

22:04 ↗ fantastic event. Um we weren't able to

22:07 ↗ do that to that scale this year, but we

22:09 ↗ didn't want it to go away. And so we

22:11 ↗ worked with an and the and uh the the

22:15 ↗ great folks at Onyx um put them in touch

22:17 ↗ with um Isqua Highlands um and Lindsay

22:22 ↗ up there. Um that event is still

22:24 ↗ happening. Um it's being hosted at

22:26 ↗ Blakeley Hall. Uh we we're planning to

22:29 ↗ do that with really all these events um

22:32 ↗ um in in this year to make sure they

22:34 ↗ don't just go away. Um but that's not

22:38 ↗ necessarily sustainable either. And so,

22:40 ↗ uh, what we are, uh, really seeking

22:43 ↗ tonight is some feedback on what we

22:46 ↗ really think is a natural transition

22:48 ↗ that we should go to as a city. If you

22:51 ↗ want to go to next slide, I'll introduce

22:53 ↗ this and then and then hand it over to

22:55 ↗ to Amy. We rather than being the direct

22:58 ↗ operator of these events, we want to

23:00 ↗ position ourselves and think it's really

23:02 ↗ timely that we become a funer, a space

23:05 ↗ provider, um, and a supporter of of

23:08 ↗ community events. So we think we can do

23:10 ↗ that by creating a grant program uh

23:13 ↗ where we would be able to find provide

23:16 ↗ some some seed funding um with that

23:18 ↗ grant also really encourage the

23:21 ↗ activation of our parks or our community

23:24 ↗ spaces um to to have those events happen

23:28 ↗ um and um certainly be as a city um in

23:33 ↗ position to to promote those events. So,

23:35 ↗ um, we don't have a grant program formed

23:38 ↗ right now, but, um, we really think

23:40 ↗ that, um, it's an opportunity for us to

23:43 ↗ to create this. Um, we're in the grant

23:46 ↗ business in arts. We're in the grant

23:48 ↗ business in human services. We've got

23:50 ↗ some great boards and commissions who do

23:52 ↗ great work already reviewing grants. Um,

23:54 ↗ this feels like, um, this could be

23:56 ↗ another, um, opportunity to do something

23:59 ↗ like that. So, Amy, if you want to jump

24:01 ↗ in a little further, and Sure. I'll just

24:04 ↗ build off of what Jeff said. So, um,

24:06 ↗ again, we're hoping to have a

24:08 ↗ conversation tonight with you all about

24:10 ↗ kind of, uh, transitioning to the city,

24:12 ↗ not, um, producing these events or, you

24:15 ↗ know, being the sole reason they happen,

24:17 ↗ um, but to really support the community

24:20 ↗ and the events that the community wants

24:21 ↗ to put on. Um, we already are a funer of

24:25 ↗ some of these events. The arts

24:26 ↗ commission does an annual grant making

24:28 ↗ program. Um and the human services does

24:31 ↗ a by um byian annual every two years um

24:34 ↗ grant making program and um does support

24:37 ↗ some of these events this way especially

24:39 ↗ the arts commission. So, for instance,

24:40 ↗ just this year, we're supporting um Day

24:43 ↗ of the Dead as an event. Um and in the

24:46 ↗ past, we've supported Lunar New Year.

24:48 ↗ We've supported Bully. We've supported

24:50 ↗ many many um celebrations. Um but we

24:53 ↗ want uh this to be it's sort of like the

24:56 ↗ groups that are in the know come to the

24:58 ↗ arts commission and ask for grants. But

25:00 ↗ um we try to get our program out and our

25:03 ↗ grant information as wide as we can, but

25:06 ↗ we know it's not reaching everyone and

25:07 ↗ it's it's um maybe not so equitable that

25:10 ↗ some of them know about it and their

25:11 ↗ event gets funded and others and um so

25:14 ↗ anyhow um the proposal that we are

25:18 ↗ hoping to discuss with you is that the

25:19 ↗ city would would create a real grant

25:21 ↗ making process around cultural

25:23 ↗ celebrations. Um, I know when we open up

25:26 ↗ our grant making process for arts and

25:28 ↗ culture, I do get calls from groups.

25:29 ↗ They're like, "Does this even count? Is

25:31 ↗ this eligible?" And because the arts

25:34 ↗ commission has sort of very open-ended

25:36 ↗ guidelines, we're like, "Sure." But

25:38 ↗ again, we would like to make a much more

25:40 ↗ intentional um, grant making program and

25:42 ↗ process. Um, and that there is precedent

25:46 ↗ for having a subcommittee to make

25:49 ↗ decisions about grants in the city. We

25:51 ↗ um many years ago had a grant-making

25:54 ↗ program called the community fund that

25:56 ↗ supported uh community nonprofits um to

25:59 ↗ do projects and programs to help um make

26:02 ↗ them more sustainable and build their

26:04 ↗ capacity. Um and that was uh kind of

26:07 ↗ administered by a group of board and

26:10 ↗ commission members from many of the

26:12 ↗ boards and commissions together. Um, so

26:15 ↗ we know it can be done. Um, and we're

26:17 ↗ hoping that we could create something

26:19 ↗ similar. Um, and just for the sake of

26:22 ↗ um, example, you know, maybe some

26:24 ↗ members from the equity board, the arts

26:26 ↗ commission, the human services

26:27 ↗ commission could all work together to

26:29 ↗ evaluate grants. Um, as a space

26:32 ↗ provider, um, this is definitely an

26:34 ↗ issue that we hear from our community

26:36 ↗ groups. Um, they have an idea, maybe

26:39 ↗ they don't even need funding, but they

26:41 ↗ don't have anywhere to put the thing on.

26:43 ↗ And we know in Isakqua we actually have

26:45 ↗ a space problem um for large gatherings

26:49 ↗ when it's especially when it's not um

26:52 ↗ summer um it's hard to find indoor

26:54 ↗ spaces. So the city has some nice indoor

26:57 ↗ spaces. Um the community center, the

26:59 ↗ senior center is an excellent space and

27:00 ↗ with all the capital improvements that

27:02 ↗ are happening right in front there, it's

27:04 ↗ going to be even better. Um and then

27:07 ↗ outdoor space. So, we do, I think,

27:09 ↗ currently, get quite a few requests um

27:11 ↗ for groups to use our parks, to use the

27:13 ↗ green out here at the community center.

27:16 ↗ And again, I think this the intention of

27:17 ↗ this is to be much more open and clear

27:20 ↗ about, hey, you can ask us to use these

27:22 ↗ things and we have a process to help,

27:25 ↗ you know, decide um how to provide that

27:28 ↗ support to you. Um and then as a support

27:34 ↗ um no worries, not from a um financial

27:37 ↗ standpoint, but just to help um amplify

27:40 ↗ the message. A lot of groups, especially

27:43 ↗ more grassroots groups, really ask for

27:45 ↗ our help to get the word out about your

27:47 ↗ dense. The city has lots of um

27:50 ↗ well-developed mechanisms for

27:52 ↗ communicating to the community. Um so

27:54 ↗ communication is one way we can be

27:56 ↗ supportive. Um we have event planning

27:59 ↗ professionals um in our staff if if

28:02 ↗ there's help that's needed. Um and then

28:04 ↗ also connecting to other resources and

28:06 ↗ organizations. Um I think most of us

28:08 ↗ that work in this space kind of have a

28:10 ↗ macro view of the community and the

28:12 ↗ nonprofits and the cultural groups and

28:14 ↗ um so we might be able to also connect

28:17 ↗ you know like-minded groups together to

28:19 ↗ to help um enhance events. So I think

28:23 ↗ there's there's something that we can

28:24 ↗ provide but we'd like to do it in a much

28:26 ↗ more um clear intentional way and

28:30 ↗ currently it's kind of like if you

28:34 ↗ ask but people don't know to ask and so

28:36 ↗ that's not quite there. Yeah. Okay. A

28:40 ↗ couple more slides and we'll pause for

28:41 ↗ question. We think there are some and if

28:43 ↗ you and if you read the staff report it

28:46 ↗ outlined what I'm about to say but we

28:47 ↗ think there are some clear benefits to

28:49 ↗ this approach. And so, you know, we've

28:50 ↗ got two folks within our parks and

28:52 ↗ community services here, but I represent

28:53 ↗ the executive that also thinks this is

28:56 ↗ the direction we should we're hopefully

28:57 ↗ headed in. We think the benefits there's

28:59 ↗ some increased authenticity and

29:02 ↗ representation within events that are

29:03 ↗ led by community members

29:06 ↗ versus just staffed by um city staff

29:10 ↗ members who potentially don't have any

29:12 ↗ ties to those cultural events

29:14 ↗ themselves. Um, it also I think a

29:16 ↗ benefit is just getting the city out of

29:18 ↗ the way of what how those events feel,

29:20 ↗ um, how they are designed, the structure

29:24 ↗ of them, and Jeff referenced this

29:27 ↗ earlier, but by getting the city out of

29:30 ↗ determining, you know, what are the five

29:32 ↗ events potentially um, will allow the

29:35 ↗ cultural events that are funded to more

29:38 ↗ quickly adapt to the changing, growing,

29:40 ↗ diversifying community that we live in.

29:42 ↗ Um, we also think there's some potential

29:44 ↗ here to build some enhanced community

29:46 ↗ ownership. Um, some of our events,

29:49 ↗ there's a lot of community ownership

29:51 ↗ around them. Um, but we've struggled

29:53 ↗ with a few events where it it's hard to

29:55 ↗ find anyone from the community that that

29:57 ↗ wants to, especially from a a list that

29:58 ↗ we predetermined five years ago now, um,

30:02 ↗ almost. It also removes the city from

30:05 ↗ being sort of the decider about what an

30:07 ↗ event looks like or feels like. And then

30:10 ↗ this other benefit I mean just a

30:11 ↗ sustainable model right now um one I

30:14 ↗ would say from what I I this predates me

30:16 ↗ this conversation but from what I have

30:18 ↗ heard the intention was already always

30:21 ↗ for it to be community-led

30:23 ↗ um and it drifted to being more city-led

30:27 ↗ um and currently that's not a model that

30:29 ↗ is sustainable for the city um and it

30:32 ↗ would likely mean fewer and fewer events

30:34 ↗ or diminished quality of events in the

30:36 ↗ upcoming years just given staffing.

30:39 ↗ Um, grant making we think is going to

30:41 ↗ allow for cultural events programming to

30:43 ↗ continue and potentially expand. So

30:45 ↗ potentially organizations that might

30:47 ↗ just need a little seed funding to do an

30:49 ↗ event um being able to provide them that

30:52 ↗ whereas they they might not be able to

30:54 ↗ if we're just saying sure come come and

30:57 ↗ be part of this event we've determined

30:59 ↗ but we have no financial ability to

31:01 ↗ support you in that. However, we also

31:03 ↗ know there are some challenges and con

31:05 ↗ some considerations that we're already

31:08 ↗ as an administration thinking about.

31:11 ↗ Um, one that I don't want to leave off,

31:14 ↗ but Amy just referenced is the is the

31:16 ↗ sort of equity around recruitment. Yeah.

31:18 ↗ Um, there are some people and some

31:21 ↗ organizations that are very well aware

31:23 ↗ of our funding streams. They know the

31:25 ↗ date. They are familiar with the

31:27 ↗ website. Um, they've probably applied a

31:29 ↗ dozen times. They know what needs to.

31:31 ↗ They know the members of the the arts

31:33 ↗ commission and the human services

31:35 ↗ commission. Um we know that even by

31:38 ↗ trying to sort of decenter the city

31:39 ↗ recruitment as it doesn't go away as a

31:41 ↗ problem. If we've struggled right now to

31:43 ↗ recruit organizations to come and

31:45 ↗ co-lead um the events we predetermined,

31:48 ↗ it doesn't disappear as a challenge when

31:50 ↗ we say, "Hey, we've got some money for

31:52 ↗ you." It actually just it's this it's

31:53 ↗ the same problem, but it's different.

31:55 ↗ Um, and so we'll need the equity board

31:58 ↗ and other uh members of the community to

32:01 ↗ help publicize and recruit within

32:02 ↗ networks or help us figure out um the

32:05 ↗ most effective way, the most equitable

32:06 ↗ way to recruit um grant making process

32:10 ↗ and cadence. Uh what what makes sense?

32:13 ↗ How do we ensure um Amy referred to, you

32:16 ↗ know, Arts Commission has an annual

32:17 ↗ process, human services does theirs

32:19 ↗ every other year. um how do we ensure a

32:22 ↗ process that is responsive and

32:25 ↗ sustainable? So, you know, wouldn't it

32:27 ↗ be lovely if we could sustain making a

32:29 ↗ grant every month for the next month?

32:31 ↗ That's that's not going to be a

32:33 ↗ sustainable process. But what would be

32:35 ↗ something that's that's reasonable but

32:38 ↗ also responsive um to how how orgs might

32:41 ↗ be thinking about or how community

32:43 ↗ members might be thinking about an

32:44 ↗ upcoming cultural event. eligibility

32:48 ↗ criteria. Um, you know, maybe we do

32:52 ↗ maybe maybe there are some opinions

32:53 ↗ about about cultural events that should

32:55 ↗ be given some sort of preference. Um, is

32:58 ↗ there other eligibility that we want to

33:00 ↗ consider in this grant making process?

33:02 ↗ Um, I know the arts grant process you

33:05 ↗ have like very clear criteria and those

33:07 ↗ have been developed over time.

33:09 ↗ um you know, what can we learn from

33:11 ↗ other grant-making processes that might

33:13 ↗ aid um in some clarity for those

33:16 ↗ applying, but also allow decisions um to

33:19 ↗ be made transparently. Um and then

33:22 ↗ little questions like, can you be

33:24 ↗ eligible and awarded both an arts grant

33:25 ↗ and a cultural event grant? Is that

33:27 ↗ okay? Can you get it for the same event?

33:28 ↗ Do they have to be different events? You

33:30 ↗ could see the list as it goes through my

33:32 ↗ brain. Um, and then I think one of the

33:35 ↗ biggest challenges, you know, I'm

33:37 ↗ spending a good amount of my time this

33:38 ↗ year working on a city priority around

33:42 ↗ uh social connection. And one of the

33:44 ↗ things that we know promotes social

33:46 ↗ connection is um the recurrence of

33:48 ↗ events that like having an expected

33:51 ↗ recurring event is a really powerful way

33:54 ↗ to keep people connected um and keep

33:57 ↗ people tied into the community. And we

33:58 ↗ know that a grant process could

34:01 ↗ eliminate that. That we could some years

34:02 ↗ we could have a group or an individual

34:06 ↗ or an organization that's really

34:07 ↗ passionate and excited about an event um

34:10 ↗ and they they apply and they get the

34:12 ↗ funding. And then some years maybe they

34:13 ↗ don't have the capacity, they don't

34:15 ↗ reach out for the funding and that event

34:17 ↗ doesn't happen that year. And so we

34:18 ↗ already know that that could be um a

34:21 ↗ situation and that's intension

34:22 ↗ potentially with um some of what we know

34:25 ↗ creates some of the connection we talked

34:27 ↗ about during um during our opening

34:30 ↗ question today. So those are some

34:33 ↗ considerations and some concerns that

34:35 ↗ we're already thinking about that we

34:37 ↗ thought were good to air for this group

34:38 ↗ so that you you might have some thoughts

34:40 ↗ on each of these. Um, and I just want to

34:43 ↗ show the timing and next steps before we

34:44 ↗ talk through the the questions that Jeff

34:47 ↗ introduced at the top. This is the first

34:50 ↗ conversation. Um, I don't know, we

34:52 ↗ haven't talked, the three of us have

34:54 ↗ talked about it. Um, we've certainly

34:55 ↗ talked about it internally um, as the

34:58 ↗ administration, but you are the first

35:00 ↗ uh, board or commission to be consulted

35:03 ↗ about this. Um and so we're going to

35:05 ↗ start talking to boards and commissions

35:07 ↗ to our community organizations

35:09 ↗ um and getting some initial feedback,

35:11 ↗ but this is the first one. Uh the plan

35:14 ↗ is to do that here in Q1 and Q2 of this

35:17 ↗ year and then to work on creating a

35:19 ↗ budget plan and proposal for what how

35:23 ↗ much money we'd want to set aside for

35:25 ↗ this um and a proposed program

35:27 ↗ structure. So, being able to answer some

35:28 ↗ of the questions around grant making

35:30 ↗ that I've already floated out here on

35:32 ↗ the table to you today. Uh, and then

35:34 ↗ come back to this board and the and the

35:36 ↗ other folks that we'll talk to later in

35:38 ↗ this year or early in 2026

35:42 ↗ um for further input on a more fleshed

35:44 ↗ out uh a more fleshed out program. So,

35:48 ↗ that's a little bit about where we're

35:50 ↗ at. So, just so you know, it's it's

35:52 ↗ we're we are at the the very n I feel

35:55 ↗ like I'm always saying mason stage to

35:56 ↗ this group, but this is the nent stage

35:57 ↗ of this project. Um, and there are some

36:00 ↗ specific questions we're eager to get

36:01 ↗ this group's thoughts on. Though, if you

36:03 ↗ have other reactions outside of these

36:04 ↗ questions, that would be fine. But

36:06 ↗ what's your reaction to this proposed

36:09 ↗ funer space provider supporter role? How

36:13 ↗ can the administration bolster its

36:15 ↗ applicant recruitment process? Um, so

36:17 ↗ thinking about like what what can we do

36:19 ↗ to make sure um that that people hear

36:22 ↗ about this um that different groups and

36:25 ↗ pockets of our community hear about

36:26 ↗ this. What are the key characteristics

36:29 ↗ of the grant making process or cadence

36:31 ↗ that you might think we should consider

36:33 ↗ to center equity and ensure

36:34 ↗ accessibility while also as I referenced

36:37 ↗ managing for a staff capacity. We can't

36:39 ↗ you know provoke do a grant process

36:41 ↗ every single month for the next month.

36:43 ↗ um and how should the administration

36:45 ↗ communicate if and when events do not

36:47 ↗ occur to the lack of um community

36:50 ↗ interest or community capacity

36:52 ↗ potentially to even lead an event. So

36:55 ↗ those are some of the things that were

36:56 ↗ that are on top for the the three of us

36:59 ↗ as we've been starting to talk about

37:00 ↗ this um but would be open to additional

37:03 ↗ thoughts as well. And so Ry, I'll turn

37:05 ↗ it back over to you to manage

37:07 ↗ conversation here.

37:09 ↗ Yeah, I'd love to kickstart this. Um

37:12 ↗ thank you for this. This is this is

37:13 ↗ really exciting and I want to dissect

37:15 ↗ this a little bit because um Dale if you

37:18 ↗ could go back a few slides to that that

37:20 ↗ the first arrow one with the five

37:22 ↗ events. Can I ask how how were we part

37:26 ↗ of deciding that those were the five

37:28 ↗ areas of focus for cultural events? How

37:30 ↗ did how did we land there? Like I don't

37:33 ↗ remember that. I don't remember either.

37:35 ↗ So, and the reason that I asked that is

37:37 ↗ we were um I can tell you with the the

37:39 ↗ pride month, I was so heavily involved

37:41 ↗ with it that it looked like, ooh, you

37:43 ↗ know, that's a great equity topic and

37:45 ↗ how is it that the equity board get

37:47 ↗ involved and it was I'll tell you

37:49 ↗ exactly what I did is I just started

37:51 ↗ like you said, it's all about

37:52 ↗ connections and who, you know, so

37:54 ↗ immediately I thought um if we're going

37:57 ↗ to have an opportunity to educate our

37:59 ↗ community, who do they want to hear

38:00 ↗ from?

38:01 ↗ Um I reached out to Kaylee H. but she

38:05 ↗ was willing to get on board and say

38:06 ↗ let's do something together and then the

38:08 ↗ school I reached out forgetting your

38:10 ↗ name she leads the saga group Shannon

38:13 ↗ Shannon Anderson yes so and then so I

38:16 ↗ got this panel together to um come to

38:20 ↗ the garage and have this opportunity to

38:22 ↗ have this occur at Pride Month so we can

38:24 ↗ just educate our community just have a

38:26 ↗ lot of question and answers but again

38:28 ↗ the the the to build your connections on

38:30 ↗ who you know so I think running through

38:32 ↗ the different commissions and starting

38:34 ↗ with us is a great way to say, "Do these

38:37 ↗ even resonate with you? Do we need to do

38:38 ↗ some analysis on and reach out to our

38:41 ↗ communities and say, is this what you'd

38:42 ↗ like us to to focus on? Are there other

38:45 ↗ ones that we're missing?" I I thought

38:47 ↗ welcoming week and cultural fest just

38:48 ↗ because of the scope and size of it here

38:50 ↗ happening at the park was wonderful

38:51 ↗ because it brought people together. Um

38:54 ↗ the the Pride Month, year one, I think

38:56 ↗ it was all online and year two we had it

38:58 ↗ at the garage, but there's so much

39:00 ↗ opportunity to grow there. But I guess I

39:02 ↗ would have to go back to my original

39:03 ↗ question. Are h how did we land with

39:06 ↗ these five things and do should we stick

39:08 ↗ with them or should we broaden them and

39:10 ↗ and and look for other opportunities?

39:12 ↗ And one thing is just the demographics

39:14 ↗ of our city maybe there's an

39:16 ↗ understanding of who who resides here

39:18 ↗ that that that an event would would

39:20 ↗ resonate with the biggest population.

39:22 ↗ Totally agree. And yeah, and forgive me

39:24 ↗ I I don't recall the the specific origin

39:27 ↗ of those five. I I I know it was

39:31 ↗ predominantly a conversation with

39:32 ↗ administration and I think there was

39:35 ↗ some demographic decision around it. Um

39:38 ↗ again, sorry Dale, I probably didn't

39:40 ↗ prove this. There were some other those

39:42 ↗ the five were because there was

39:44 ↗ Asian-American

39:46 ↗ um Pacific Islander

39:49 ↗ um I'm not going to get the initials

39:51 ↗ right. AAPI um month was identified.

39:55 ↗ Hispanic Heritage Month was another one.

39:58 ↗ Um so they were really just based on

40:01 ↗ city demographics

40:03 ↗ um sort of city decisions um to I think

40:07 ↗ your your bigger question of

40:09 ↗ are are

40:11 ↗ these where we are going to remain no

40:14 ↗ absolutely not I think that's the

40:16 ↗ purpose of this conversation is to say

40:19 ↗ we don't necessarily think the city

40:22 ↗ should be the one

40:24 ↗ identifying what events Right. Um,

40:28 ↗ thankfully there's a a a good history

40:31 ↗ with some of these and we would want

40:33 ↗ those to continue, right? Some great

40:35 ↗ work with the circle and as I mentioned

40:37 ↗ before the Onyx art group. Um, but we

40:41 ↗ would want to see

40:42 ↗ this list expanded or feel much more

40:46 ↗ inclusive or not even really a list per

40:49 ↗ se, right? I have a question. um and

40:53 ↗ comments.

40:55 ↗ So I work in the school district and one

40:57 ↗ of the things I have is something called

40:59 ↗ a family advisory group and I make very

41:04 ↗ um I work hard to ensure that that group

41:07 ↗ is representative of the diversity and

41:11 ↗ our school district. But work hard to

41:13 ↗ make sure that it is like I have family

41:15 ↗ that are Indian, you know, Middle

41:17 ↗ Eastern,

41:19 ↗ Eastern European, Western European,

41:22 ↗ um, all and also include a lot of the

41:26 ↗ religions

41:27 ↗ and looked at one point for different

41:31 ↗ um, languages also within that group and

41:36 ↗ I'm wondering that has worked well for

41:38 ↗ me because then I can make sure that I'm

41:40 ↗ getting many perspectives. Y and so I'm

41:43 ↗ working with David Ready for the

41:44 ↗ sustainability group. I have tapped into

41:47 ↗ that group to help me disseminate

41:50 ↗ information when David was sharing

41:52 ↗ information with me regarding the bomb

41:54 ↗ cycle. So I talked to David about the

41:57 ↗ same idea of really having this diverse

41:59 ↗ group be in his back pockets when things

42:02 ↗ were happening. we could tap into them

42:04 ↗ and I think that would this would be a

42:06 ↗ great way to even start that group

42:08 ↗ rather than just for that because I'm

42:10 ↗ wondering if there's availability or

42:14 ↗ capacity for staff in the city to create

42:17 ↗ a advi community advisory group composed

42:21 ↗ of people that represent different or

42:25 ↗ like groups and then tapping into them

42:28 ↗ for the events because I did go to the

42:31 ↗ holy event at lakes state park and I

42:34 ↗ have been very sad not to have one. I

42:37 ↗ know that Diwali and holy celebrations

42:39 ↗ happen but they're not everyone's not

42:43 ↗ invited or supposedly they are but I

42:45 ↗ didn't know about them. So how do I know

42:48 ↗ about it more broadly? But you're

42:50 ↗ telling me that you have venues and I

42:52 ↗ know for example that the Indian

42:54 ↗ community is very tight and they would

42:56 ↗ be happy to do a lot of these events if

42:59 ↗ they have known but I don't know if they

43:01 ↗ know. Same thing with the Chinese

43:04 ↗ community. I've had the Chinese

43:05 ↗ community come to me and ask to hold

43:07 ↗ events and I'm like I'm sorry but this

43:09 ↗ is not going to work in our world and

43:12 ↗ because I'm sorry but the administration

43:14 ↗ building nobody has access to it on

43:16 ↗ weekends and in the evenings that is not

43:18 ↗ the place to do something and I pushed

43:21 ↗ them to go and talk to the community

43:23 ↗ center but I don't know if it happened

43:25 ↗ but I think um at Blakeley Hall that

43:28 ↗ would have been so I don't know what

43:29 ↗ happened with that but I can help

43:32 ↗ connect

43:33 ↗ those groups who are part of your

43:35 ↗ advisory groups, they could do that, you

43:37 ↗ know. And then we have when we've done

43:39 ↗ culture fairs at the different schools,

43:42 ↗ the different cultures that represent

43:45 ↗ different individuals in that school

43:46 ↗ that represent that culture are amazing

43:48 ↗ in coming together to create something

43:51 ↗ to present for the cultural affair. So

43:53 ↗ I'm wondering if we had and there is a

43:56 ↗ network, right? Like there's like a

43:57 ↗ Korean community conversation, there's a

43:59 ↗ Chinese community conversations. Have we

44:01 ↗ all tapped into those communities?

44:04 ↗ Because if they knew and if they were

44:06 ↗ communicating and and so we had some

44:09 ↗ people like that in our in our advisory

44:13 ↗ group because we had this huge Indian

44:15 ↗ community that really prefers WhatsApp,

44:17 ↗ right? And so how do we pull them in to

44:19 ↗ now come represent talk about because to

44:23 ↗ me the biggest thing about doing any

44:25 ↗ cultural events is authenticity and if

44:27 ↗ it's not authentic people see it and

44:30 ↗ it's like yeah you're not going to vote

44:33 ↗ and so sometimes I know that I've heard

44:36 ↗ complaints about an event that happened

44:39 ↗ where it was not authentic and there was

44:41 ↗ a lot of

44:44 ↗ push back and frustration about that

44:46 ↗ event And so for me, I I love the idea

44:49 ↗ that we're going to do it by one, not

44:51 ↗ having a list that we're not quite sure

44:53 ↗ how it came up, but having a group of

44:56 ↗ people that were deliberately invited to

44:59 ↗ come. And that's an open place where

45:01 ↗ more people can be invited if they see

45:03 ↗ themselves not being represented to have

45:06 ↗ meetings. And even if you do it like

45:08 ↗ every three or four months so that we're

45:09 ↗ not overt taxing ourselves and they can

45:12 ↗ talk about because a lot of things

45:14 ↗ people just don't know like what are

45:16 ↗ some of my options for locations how

45:18 ↗ much is it going to cost so all of that

45:20 ↗ was provided if that was a conversation

45:22 ↗ they had but I I think it starts is my

45:26 ↗ belief I don't know how much we can give

45:28 ↗ you input for that I always have

45:30 ↗ opinions so don't ask me for that but I

45:33 ↗ think I should stop talking and say my

45:36 ↗ biggest suggestion to you is creating a

45:38 ↗ community advisor cultural advisory

45:41 ↗ board for the community that is

45:43 ↗ interested in partnering together and

45:45 ↗ it's not that they the people over there

45:47 ↗ but maybe for different events one of

45:49 ↗ them can take leadership in the

45:51 ↗ communication and like do something

45:55 ↗ because people just don't know that's

45:57 ↗ the one thing I find you you have you

46:00 ↗ have eloquently spoken to the challenge

46:02 ↗ and why we're in this place where we

46:04 ↗ really want to we want

46:07 ↗ to birth a new approach and birth a more

46:11 ↗ a more um equitable and community

46:16 ↗ focused approach to supporting cultural

46:20 ↗ events. Yeah, you're you're you're spot

46:23 ↗ on.

46:25 ↗ I think one of the things I talked to

46:26 ↗ Dale about at one point was or maybe

46:28 ↗ Monica, who knows?

46:30 ↗ um just making some of the events we do

46:33 ↗ in the city a and we've talked about it

46:35 ↗ more diverse like how do we make salmon

46:37 ↗ days more diverse how do we make

46:40 ↗ concerts in the green more diverse I

46:43 ↗ love welcome week and it's a little bit

46:45 ↗ skewed lots of Indian people presenting

46:47 ↗ love

46:49 ↗ them but how do I also make sure that we

46:52 ↗ have some other communities presenting

46:55 ↗ and I recognize it's also Hannah doing

46:58 ↗ all the work and so that we help for

47:00 ↗ because it shouldn't be hard, right? It

47:02 ↗ should be a team of people doing that.

47:04 ↗ And then for Junth, it always feels like

47:06 ↗ it's a last minute Tony and Cheney being

47:09 ↗ pulled in to organize something and it

47:13 ↗ also bothers me sometimes that we only

47:15 ↗ celebrate Black History, Black History

47:17 ↗ Month, Juni. Can we just do something

47:19 ↗ like a black culture rap some musician

47:24 ↗ coming in? not during those two times

47:28 ↗ and maybe but again not something that

47:30 ↗ we as a city want to try and create. No,

47:33 ↗ but someone that let the community Yes.

47:35 ↗ the community advisory group say hey we

47:38 ↗ have an opportunity to include this

47:40 ↗ person and that will really pull people

47:44 ↗ in because it's not just authenticity

47:46 ↗ but it's inclusivity because that holy

47:48 ↗ event that happened at Lake Samish State

47:50 ↗ Park was everybody in Isaqua the mayor

47:53 ↗ came was very exciting I loved it and it

47:56 ↗ went back to my old days of throwing

47:58 ↗ color at people so of course I had fun

48:00 ↗ but I I wanted that I I love looking

48:02 ↗ around and going oh my gosh this is not

48:04 ↗ just Indian people near a lot of Asian,

48:08 ↗ white people, different people there.

48:10 ↗ So, it's and maybe one of the

48:13 ↗ the because you're going to have to have

48:15 ↗ parameters, right? Then one of the

48:16 ↗ parameters will be it's not a venue for

48:19 ↗ you to have your cultural celebration on

48:21 ↗ city pay or grant but one of the

48:24 ↗ parameters would be how is this going to

48:26 ↗ be inclusive of community and some have

48:29 ↗ some kind of this I'm a teacher also so

48:33 ↗ I'm always like how do I do a little bit

48:34 ↗ of teaching or information giving yeah

48:38 ↗ exchange this grant program is about

48:41 ↗ hosting cultural events that are open to

48:44 ↗ the public that could Um, experience,

48:47 ↗ learn, celebrate. Yeah.

48:52 ↗ And

48:55 ↗ and hopefully there is

48:58 ↗ a holy

49:00 ↗ um celebration at Confluence Park. Oh,

49:04 ↗ there is coming up. It there's there's

49:07 ↗ there's been inquiries recently this

49:10 ↗ last Yes. in the next two weeks. So, um

49:13 ↗ we are Oh my gosh.

49:15 ↗ chaos. I have to put that on my

49:16 ↗ calendar. I love it. So stay tuned. Not

49:21 ↗ put on by the city, put on by a

49:22 ↗ community group that we are we are

49:25 ↗ hoping to be a space for.

49:28 ↗ Very nice. just telling you about

49:30 ↗ something

49:32 ↗ has you you have probably mapped what

49:36 ↗ you what cultural groups are in the

49:40 ↗ school system and therefore you're

49:42 ↗ trying to pull probably people who are

49:45 ↗ more active leaderlike people into your

49:48 ↗ parent advisory group because then they

49:50 ↗ can communicate back, right? Has the

49:53 ↗ city mapped that?

49:57 ↗ Yeah.

49:58 ↗ And how could you help them map it? Is

50:02 ↗ that possible? Because that's what's

50:04 ↗ missing

50:06 ↗ is knowing who's

50:07 ↗ here and then who to start talking to

50:12 ↗ and then and then how to not exhaust

50:14 ↗ those Yeah. those brokers. Don't take

50:17 ↗ mine. No. No.

50:19 ↗ And I would say maybe they get

50:23 ↗ but I think I truly think that's

50:25 ↗ possible because you just need

50:26 ↗ demographics and also you need to tap

50:29 ↗ into social media because there are many

50:32 ↗ social media outlets where you can put

50:34 ↗ some information in and honestly huge

50:37 ↗ part of it is authenticity and building

50:39 ↗ that relationship because you send out

50:42 ↗ this in social media everyone's going to

50:43 ↗ be like what the heck is this and

50:45 ↗ instead you have to go out there and

50:47 ↗ talk to and have conversation. Why?

50:50 ↗ Because for me that is literally my job.

50:52 ↗ So I had the

50:54 ↗ literally part of my job is to talk to a

50:56 ↗ lot of different bands. And so then I

50:58 ↗ was able to build a relationship with

50:59 ↗ them and say, "Hey, do you want to

51:01 ↗ join?" Yes. And then that's how it

51:03 ↗ happened. And so I don't it it's a lot

51:06 ↗ of work. So you're saying that you don't

51:09 ↗ have as much capacity and I'm going to

51:11 ↗ say I don't know if all of us can

51:14 ↗ volunteer for that much but and I don't

51:17 ↗ know how to do that but that's how I did

51:19 ↗ it and that's why I wonder if this is

51:21 ↗ possible in all honesty given it's

51:24 ↗ wonderful idea and I don't like to be

51:27 ↗ the naysayer but as is even with best

51:32 ↗ intentions it will be those who know who

51:35 ↗ will do and everyone else will be when

51:38 ↗ you say this Kelly you a grant program.

51:41 ↗ Yeah. Yeah. That the opportunity would

51:45 ↗ be you know for those who who are in the

51:48 ↗ know right as it always is. Shnie you

51:53 ↗ have a question. I see your hand raised.

51:55 ↗ Yeah, I was uh from the past experience

52:00 ↗ um uh in a similar thing. I think um

52:04 ↗ what the city did, this is I'm talking

52:07 ↗ about Al Alabama. So, um what the city

52:11 ↗ did was um uh basically invited uh the

52:16 ↗ local nonprofits

52:18 ↗ um and um any any sort of leaders or

52:22 ↗ individuals send out an open invite for

52:24 ↗ an evening of uh you know snacks and tea

52:28 ↗ and um

52:30 ↗ uh you know from there the alliance

52:33 ↗ started forming and u some people stayed

52:37 ↗ some left but eventually it was an

52:39 ↗ alliance of 67 people that emerged from

52:42 ↗ that kind of first gathering and then

52:44 ↗ the word kind of passing around through

52:47 ↗ like uh the channels that in each

52:50 ↗ community has. Um but um but it it took

52:55 ↗ time it took time and effort to because

52:59 ↗ there's many uh challenges in that as

53:01 ↗ well.

53:03 ↗ Yeah. Yeah. And I I think uh Kelly that

53:07 ↗ it is work. It'll take time, but I think

53:09 ↗ it's possible because you already have

53:11 ↗ the circle that you're already giving

53:12 ↗ money to and the circle is not just

53:15 ↗ about Hispanics. Alisia has a lot of

53:17 ↗ Russian groups, Chinese groups, Indian

53:19 ↗ groups. So, she already has connections

53:22 ↗ and already getting funding. So I think

53:24 ↗ if you tap in some of the groups that

53:26 ↗ already exist. So I I not saying that I

53:29 ↗ don't want the families that I can't

53:31 ↗ keep them for myself but I'm going to

53:33 ↗ say that I can ask and they can I can

53:36 ↗ ask them to share the word to recruit

53:39 ↗ other parents and just hear because some

53:42 ↗ of them might be I have a lot of

53:43 ↗ families who don't participate because

53:45 ↗ their kids no longer go to our school

53:47 ↗ but they interested in doing community

53:49 ↗ work but they can't. a lot of parents

53:52 ↗ with young kids who kind of want to or

53:55 ↗ just all over the spectrum and I'm only

53:57 ↗ capturing K12, but I know that they know

53:59 ↗ that other people. So, I think they

54:01 ↗ exist. It's just going to take some

54:03 ↗ effort to begin with to start that and

54:06 ↗ we might not capture everything. And I'm

54:08 ↗ going to tell you my group from when I

54:10 ↗ started it 7 years ago, 8 years ago, not

54:13 ↗ I started actually the district started

54:15 ↗ now, 10 years, there's going to be 90%

54:18 ↗ different people and so it's always

54:21 ↗ going to change. But I think it's they

54:24 ↗ share the word and then when they come

54:26 ↗ they're like wow. And so to me, that's

54:29 ↗ literally the job of this equity group

54:31 ↗ because it helps the voice of the

54:33 ↗ community come in and bringing it in and

54:36 ↗ then they tell other people because we

54:38 ↗ actually had both. We had a family

54:40 ↗ advisory group and an equity group and

54:43 ↗ so we're still an equity group and then

54:46 ↗ there would be a family advisory group

54:47 ↗ that some of us might be attending part

54:50 ↗ of and supporting. I mean, if that's the

54:53 ↗ direction, I want to um throw a question

54:56 ↗ at you and then I I would love to hear

54:57 ↗ from our other members here. Um are you

55:02 ↗ and pardon me for not knowing this, but

55:04 ↗ do you have a line of sight only to

55:05 ↗ what's happening at Isiqua High School?

55:06 ↗ What about the other ones who have a

55:08 ↗ similar calendar that they work through

55:09 ↗ to to have cultural events incorporated

55:12 ↗ and part of the strategies? I work at

55:14 ↗ the district office. So, I create the

55:16 ↗ cultural calendar for the whole district

55:18 ↗ and then we give it to the 27th. Okay,

55:21 ↗ that's great to hear. Um because I I see

55:24 ↗ an opportunity to piggyback off of that

55:26 ↗ a little bit because I mean that's the

55:28 ↗ population is these students that go to

55:30 ↗ these schools and they create these

55:32 ↗ these um cultural groups that that are

55:35 ↗ that are an image of the rest of the

55:37 ↗ community because they exist there at

55:39 ↗ the school already, right? Because

55:40 ↗ they're sensitive to that. So I think

55:41 ↗ there's an opportunity to piggyback

55:43 ↗ already work that's happening. Um what

55:44 ↗ do you two think about this and what's

55:46 ↗ going on at your school that that we can

55:47 ↗ incorporate into this?

55:50 ↗ Yeah. So there's like a lot of diversity

55:52 ↗ in like religion clubs and just like

55:54 ↗ ethnic based clubs at like not just

55:56 ↗ Skyline just like high schools in

55:57 ↗ general. So at Skyline there's the big

56:00 ↗ ones are Indian culture club um I

56:03 ↗ believe Korean club and then black

56:05 ↗ history not just just uh

56:07 ↗ African-American club I believe is that

56:09 ↗ there's also a new Chinese club and then

56:11 ↗ a newcomer cult. There is a newcomers

56:14 ↗ club um and in a in a in a what's

56:19 ↗ there's there's another word in between

56:21 ↗ club I just can't remember off the top

56:23 ↗ of my head they all have these big

56:25 ↗ events and fundraisers all the time like

56:27 ↗ there's a Bollywood night um that I I

56:30 ↗ went to last year it's a lot of fun and

56:32 ↗ I remember going to a couple fundraisers

56:34 ↗ that all these other clubs are present

56:36 ↗ so I think with some of these events if

56:38 ↗ like the city had some way of supporting

56:40 ↗ them getting Bollywood mind maybe

56:42 ↗ getting it more on a larger scale

56:44 ↗ because it's a it was a lot of fun. Um

56:46 ↗ and it's a way of kind of like combining

56:48 ↗ like the students that are mainly who

56:51 ↗ are going to be there and more members

56:53 ↗ from the community kind of combine that.

56:55 ↗ It's another way.

56:57 ↗ It's a great example that there might be

57:00 ↗ cultural events that are already

57:01 ↗ happening that this grant program just

57:03 ↗ helps to to seed it to something bigger

57:07 ↗ and invites the community in. Okay. So,

57:10 ↗ for example, the IST, PTSA, so many of

57:13 ↗ the schools do huge culture nights and

57:16 ↗ it would be interesting to see if any of

57:18 ↗ them want to combine their culture night

57:20 ↗ with each other and do a more localized

57:22 ↗ one because funding is the hardest thing

57:24 ↗ because as a district, we do not give

57:26 ↗ money for food and we don't have any for

57:30 ↗ those kind of if someone else was coming

57:33 ↗ in with funding to help promote

57:35 ↗ community in the entire community that

57:38 ↗ would idea schools. Yeah. Yeah. All

57:41 ↗ great ideas. Yeah, I agree with um with

57:43 ↗ Canal. I think this whole process in

57:46 ↗ general definitely makes it like more

57:48 ↗ community based, which is I think a good

57:50 ↗ step forward. Um at UDub, there are also

57:53 ↗ a lot of different like cultural clubs.

57:55 ↗ But um like within the Isco school

57:57 ↗ district itself, I think it'd be a great

57:58 ↗ idea to collaborate with schools and

58:01 ↗ like nonprofits and specific communities

58:03 ↗ like us reaching out to whoever hasn't

58:05 ↗ already been like accessing grants. And

58:08 ↗ this was just an idea I had, but I don't

58:10 ↗ know like you've thought about it or if

58:12 ↗ it's like just like one grant for all,

58:14 ↗ but like different grant sizes for like

58:16 ↗ different projects and like project

58:17 ↗ scopes. Um I think that would really

58:19 ↗ help like small um events and big events

58:22 ↗ in general. Um, and

58:24 ↗ also, yeah, I think that was it. And

58:26 ↗ also like, um, once this is like put

58:30 ↗ into place, like getting feedback from

58:32 ↗ the community and like reaching out to

58:34 ↗ them on what they think should be

58:36 ↗ involved in like the grant process.

58:39 ↗ Yeah, absolutely. As we again first

58:41 ↗ conversation, but as as we build a

58:43 ↗ framework, absolutely. You know, getting

58:46 ↗ feedback on it. Uh I think the general

58:48 ↗ premise just so you all know because

58:50 ↗ it's a great question. This isn't a

58:53 ↗ single grant that only one person gets.

58:56 ↗ The thought of this model is having

58:58 ↗ enough of a bucket of money that there

59:02 ↗ are a dozen grants that are going out um

59:05 ↗ you know throughout throughout the year.

59:07 ↗ Is it is it a once a year? Right.

59:10 ↗ There's a I mean back to Dale's

59:11 ↗ question, what's the cadence of this?

59:14 ↗ Um, obviously with any kind of event,

59:16 ↗ there's a lot of pre-planning that needs

59:18 ↗ to be done, right? So, this isn't a,

59:20 ↗ "Hey, we want a whole event next week,

59:23 ↗ you know, we need some money." So, you

59:25 ↗ know, um, but yeah, it's it it's not a

59:29 ↗ it's not a Hunger Games situation where

59:32 ↗ everyone's just going for one. It's a

59:35 ↗ reference. Sorry, terrible reference. I

59:38 ↗ I had a quick question. I'm not sure if

59:40 ↗ I missed this before I was here, but is

59:42 ↗ there any like way that like you guys

59:44 ↗ have thought about like how you're going

59:44 ↗ to allocate the money or like to the

59:46 ↗ grants, sorry. And like how you're going

59:48 ↗ to prioritize who gets it? Like for

59:50 ↗ example, it's like going to be a big

59:51 ↗ event where there's a lot of people

59:52 ↗ there versus a new event that has kind

59:55 ↗ of a new theme and applies to like a

59:57 ↗ different group of people. How are you

59:58 ↗ going to prioritize as I mentioned?

59:59 ↗ Awesome. The criter the criteria

1:00:01 ↗ evaluation criteria has not been figured

1:00:03 ↗ out, but that would be a really key

1:00:05 ↗ part. And Amy, I think as she brought it

1:00:06 ↗ up, you know, the arts commission has

1:00:08 ↗ done a great job. So is the human

1:00:10 ↗ services commission where there are some

1:00:12 ↗ very um key criteria and lenses that

1:00:16 ↗ help that evaluation process. We would

1:00:18 ↗ need to do ex, you know, absolutely the

1:00:21 ↗ same thing with this. And I really like

1:00:23 ↗ some of the questions that already or

1:00:24 ↗ the the potential parameters around like

1:00:26 ↗ how will this be educational? How will

1:00:29 ↗ this be inclusive? Like that's that's

1:00:31 ↗ not quite to your question punell but I

1:00:33 ↗ think there's probably of course I would

1:00:36 ↗ imagine there are some questions around

1:00:37 ↗ like size and impact but I think also

1:00:40 ↗ you know I think there's the opportunity

1:00:42 ↗ to to define the parameters like we

1:00:45 ↗ don't have strong opinions yet and most

1:00:47 ↗ likely year to year it's going to change

1:00:49 ↗ a little bit as we've had years to

1:00:51 ↗ create yours. Exactly. This is the first

1:00:54 ↗ year. It's not it's not perfect. Yeah.

1:00:57 ↗ first year we may not have as many

1:00:59 ↗ people applying for the grants for the

1:01:00 ↗ next year. there's going to be more and

1:01:02 ↗ more as they figure it out and then it's

1:01:05 ↗ going to be hard because some people are

1:01:06 ↗ used to money and not going to get as

1:01:08 ↗ much but it's also poor equitable access

1:01:10 ↗ right because you don't encourage it and

1:01:12 ↗ ideas

1:01:15 ↗ yeah yeah exactly you don't want to you

1:01:17 ↗ know fund like just the same thing just

1:01:19 ↗ just the same thing over and over again

1:01:20 ↗ or just the same groups over and over

1:01:22 ↗ again right there's a community cap

1:01:25 ↗ community capacity element to this grant

1:01:28 ↗ program that I think is an opportunity

1:01:30 ↗ too that right again It's not just the

1:01:33 ↗ groups that are in the no as as you all

1:01:35 ↗ certainly talked about, but it's how do

1:01:37 ↗ we come

1:01:38 ↗ alongside assist with an

1:01:41 ↗ applicants to do something, but we we

1:01:44 ↗ don't know what to do. Well, great. Let

1:01:46 ↗ us let us help you through the

1:01:47 ↗ application process. Let's So, it's not

1:01:50 ↗ just the large events. It's not right.

1:01:52 ↗ It's criteria that wouldn't just be

1:01:55 ↗ volume based. Um doesn't feel like the

1:01:57 ↗ right approach.

1:02:01 ↗ Yeah, sure. I had a couple quick

1:02:03 ↗ comments. I think it was brought up

1:02:05 ↗ somewhere about the idea of something

1:02:08 ↗ that's recurring is a good way to bring

1:02:10 ↗ people back and that way it's not sort

1:02:12 ↗ of a one-off event that may or may not

1:02:15 ↗ resonate. Um, so one thing that maybe

1:02:18 ↗ comes to mind here is what if we have

1:02:20 ↗ seasonal events that are, you know, once

1:02:23 ↗ per season that is an umbrella for

1:02:26 ↗ multiple things that could happen. maybe

1:02:29 ↗ smaller cultural events that don't quite

1:02:31 ↗ have the scale to be their own event,

1:02:34 ↗ but could be under say the spring events

1:02:36 ↗ or the summer event. And then of course

1:02:38 ↗ you could still have Bollywood night or

1:02:40 ↗ whatever other larger events that would

1:02:42 ↗ bring masses. Okay. Um that's one. And

1:02:46 ↗ another is given that we have so many

1:02:48 ↗ amazing trails up here, what if we have

1:02:51 ↗ something like a once a month fun walk

1:02:56 ↗ that happens every first Saturday or

1:02:58 ↗ something that brings I could I can see

1:03:01 ↗ you doing like

1:03:03 ↗ marathons on those but we'll limit it to

1:03:07 ↗ like one to 5k so it's inclusive. we can

1:03:10 ↗ meet people like way out but um yeah as

1:03:13 ↗ a way to bring community it's relatively

1:03:16 ↗ lightweight doesn't require a whole lot

1:03:18 ↗ of organization and then we hit

1:03:20 ↗ different trails and as for each model

1:03:23 ↗ that's a great idea and again we would

1:03:25 ↗ want to be open to those community ideas

1:03:28 ↗ and fostering sort of applications that

1:03:31 ↗ how do you we would want to be too

1:03:34 ↗ prescriptive I mean hey here's our

1:03:36 ↗ public here's our indoor public spaces

1:03:38 ↗ that are available here's our parks and

1:03:40 ↗ trails that are available.

1:03:43 ↗ Um, we wanted to be open to creativity.

1:03:48 ↗ I think in that way we really look at

1:03:50 ↗ what culture is right because culture is

1:03:51 ↗ not just the but part of culture for

1:03:54 ↗ example one of the things I do for our

1:03:56 ↗ culture for my kids culture night is

1:03:59 ↗ games of the world because my husband

1:04:01 ↗ and our family are

1:04:03 ↗ huge geek and geeks and so we have like

1:04:06 ↗ a mang table and a lot and

1:04:09 ↗ KF loves D&D which is very American you

1:04:12 ↗ know the sculpture and we have chess and

1:04:15 ↗ so one of the things I love walking by

1:04:18 ↗ the by right aid and seeing the store

1:04:20 ↗ that has the dragon the something they

1:04:23 ↗ play dungeons and dragon but having like

1:04:26 ↗ an event maybe at the community center

1:04:27 ↗ has many tables and you come and play

1:04:29 ↗ games or meet up with people playing

1:04:32 ↗ games but it's also culturally diverse

1:04:34 ↗ learning about culture form of games

1:04:37 ↗ board games board

1:04:39 ↗ But at that place, did you know that

1:04:42 ↗ this is from this culture? Cuz some

1:04:44 ↗ people don't know that it's from their

1:04:46 ↗ culture. Or maybe some people have

1:04:47 ↗ cultural games that other people don't

1:04:50 ↗ know really of games. So people play

1:04:52 ↗ with people and invite them to it. So,

1:04:56 ↗ and I think that's the the reason I

1:04:57 ↗ bring that up is we want to make sure

1:04:59 ↗ that we're not and that's something that

1:05:00 ↗ I try to do with my work is it's not

1:05:03 ↗ just we're having a celebration about

1:05:05 ↗ Chinese culture, Indian culture, but

1:05:07 ↗ we're trying to also bring all the

1:05:09 ↗ people together and saying it's within

1:05:13 ↗ our community. Look how many diversity

1:05:16 ↗ we have, but we're still all one, right?

1:05:18 ↗ So it's not just always doing cultural

1:05:21 ↗ events from India about doing a

1:05:24 ↗ community event that is

1:05:29 ↗ intrinsically culturally diverse. Yeah.

1:05:31 ↗ Right. And I think that's something that

1:05:33 ↗ would be really helpful to bring unity

1:05:36 ↗ and community rather than split apart.

1:05:39 ↗ Yes. Shnie, do you still have your hand

1:05:42 ↗ up for a comment?

1:05:44 ↗ Yes. Uh so my question is uh do we have

1:05:47 ↗ any idea how the neighboring cities are

1:05:49 ↗ doing this um this um you know similar

1:05:54 ↗ events do they have a grand process and

1:05:57 ↗ are there any learnings or anything that

1:05:59 ↗ we have from them

1:06:02 ↗ great question I think that will be part

1:06:03 ↗ of our research this is not something

1:06:06 ↗ that's universal amongst all cities um

1:06:09 ↗ cities take different stances I know

1:06:11 ↗ this jurisdiction I came from I was 10

1:06:14 ↗ years a director in Kent, we were

1:06:16 ↗ striving to do something very similar.

1:06:18 ↗ Um, so there are models out there.

1:06:21 ↗ There's examples. City of View has

1:06:23 ↗ talked of an extensive process in the

1:06:25 ↗ last couple of years and they actually

1:06:26 ↗ have a new grant program where it's

1:06:29 ↗ actually a lot like your idea where um

1:06:32 ↗ it isn't to one single cultural event,

1:06:34 ↗ but they ask for um events where they're

1:06:38 ↗ combining culture together and sharing.

1:06:40 ↗ So the whole point of the branch program

1:06:42 ↗ is that there's some commonality or or

1:06:45 ↗ even you know difference that they're

1:06:47 ↗ sharing in their events but they they

1:06:50 ↗ went through over a year process to

1:06:52 ↗ create a program with lots of community

1:06:54 ↗ engagement. So I think that's a really

1:06:55 ↗ good model

1:06:57 ↗ we can learn from. Yeah. So Shnie, yeah,

1:07:00 ↗ there are some there's some examples out

1:07:01 ↗ there that'll be part of our work.

1:07:05 ↗ And yeah, we're we're right at time. I'm

1:07:07 ↗ sorry, Shnie, go ahead. I'm gonna close

1:07:09 ↗ this out. No, it's okay. I can circle

1:07:11 ↗ back.

1:07:13 ↗ Well, Jeff and Amy, did you get enough

1:07:14 ↗ Arsenal from our team here to continue

1:07:17 ↗ the discussion? Oh, okay. Really good.

1:07:19 ↗ And as I understand it, you're going to

1:07:21 ↗ loop back to us once you meet with the

1:07:23 ↗ other commissions and boards and and

1:07:24 ↗ we'd I'd love to hear what you find out

1:07:26 ↗ from them, too. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

1:07:28 ↗ So, thank you. Great first conversation.

1:07:30 ↗ We appreciate it. More to come. Thank

1:07:33 ↗ you. Thank you, Donald.

1:07:35 ↗ Yeah.

1:07:37 ↗ Okay. Okay. I'm going to move us along

1:07:39 ↗ here. Um, I know this is an important

1:07:42 ↗ topic for us. Um, Amy, Jeff, thank you

1:07:44 ↗ for being here. Um,

1:07:47 ↗ Dale, board recruitment. Can we move on

1:07:49 ↗ to that? Yeah, we can. Um, so we, uh, as

1:07:54 ↗ happens every year, we are in the midst

1:07:55 ↗ of a recruitment for our board.

1:07:59 ↗ Um, excuse me. Because of the age of our

1:08:03 ↗ board, we're at a a like quite a

1:08:05 ↗ significant moment where all of a sudden

1:08:08 ↗ people that have been here for a while

1:08:10 ↗ are if they have not already uh needed

1:08:12 ↗ to indicate a desire to continue. Um, we

1:08:15 ↗ have a lot of uh terms that are coming

1:08:17 ↗ up and so we have a lot of open um a lot

1:08:21 ↗ of open positions. Um, thank you to the

1:08:23 ↗ folks that have already reapplied for

1:08:24 ↗ their positions. Um, we I think we have

1:08:28 ↗ we currently have 13 applicants for the

1:08:31 ↗ equity board. Um, and so we're going to

1:08:34 ↗ start interviewing those folks here

1:08:36 ↗ hopefully in the next week uh so that we

1:08:39 ↗ can have a recommendation to the mayor

1:08:40 ↗ uh by the end of the month. Um, and so

1:08:43 ↗ my my hope for this time was to like

1:08:45 ↗ take any questions that people might

1:08:47 ↗ have, but I also need to find someone to

1:08:49 ↗ interview. We we need two board members

1:08:52 ↗ to interview um to support with the

1:08:55 ↗ interview process. And there are some

1:08:56 ↗ people at this table who are not not

1:08:58 ↗ able to interview because they are

1:09:00 ↗ applying for roles. Um so you're out.

1:09:03 ↗ You're out. Um you can interview. I can

1:09:07 ↗ even not in our city. I know. Even

1:09:10 ↗ though we

1:09:12 ↗ is applying also for her position, so

1:09:14 ↗ she can't interview. Um so that leaves

1:09:18 ↗ only a few of us. plus the folks that

1:09:20 ↗ are not here this evening. Um Oh, that's

1:09:24 ↗ fine. Yes. But I don't want to

1:09:25 ↗ automatically default them. Um so you

1:09:29 ↗ don't have to commit on the record

1:09:31 ↗ tonight in front of me, but but I will

1:09:32 ↗ need to find two folks um who can

1:09:35 ↗ commit. So as I understand it, Lorna and

1:09:37 ↗ Caric and I are the ones that Andy Priti

1:09:40 ↗ and Leslie. Okay. And you don't need the

1:09:43 ↗ same person in in at the table with you.

1:09:46 ↗ So I do not. Okay. I do not. If we

1:09:48 ↗ wanted to split them in half, we could

1:09:50 ↗ do that. Um, that would be fine. So, and

1:09:53 ↗ they're 15 minutes interviews online. 15

1:09:55 ↗ to 20 minutes. Yeah. So, you review the

1:09:58 ↗ application and then interview the

1:10:00 ↗ person for 15 to 20 minutes with me. I

1:10:02 ↗ will be in all the interviews. Don't

1:10:04 ↗ worry. Uh, you won't be running solo.

1:10:06 ↗ Um, and then we will confer and um offer

1:10:11 ↗ positions. So, well, here's me just

1:10:14 ↗ throwing out the idea. if you have um

1:10:16 ↗ because you have to get on their

1:10:17 ↗ calendars too and I have I have no doubt

1:10:20 ↗ that once you get them on a calendar we

1:10:21 ↗ can split that with the people that are

1:10:22 ↗ available just 15 minutes right we can't

1:10:25 ↗ do all of them but we can be there to

1:10:26 ↗ support you if you just need one person

1:10:28 ↗ maybe is it was it just one person each

1:10:30 ↗ time with you it was it was two two

1:10:31 ↗ that's right but if it's only one it's

1:10:33 ↗ okay okay sort of like we want to have

1:10:35 ↗ at least we need to have at least one

1:10:37 ↗ board member there

1:10:40 ↗ okay does that sound good if she gets

1:10:42 ↗ the um availability of the candidates

1:10:44 ↗ dates and then you tell us what that

1:10:46 ↗ looks like as far as the calendar and

1:10:48 ↗ we'll we'll work to get those spots fil.

1:10:50 ↗ What's the range during which you're

1:10:52 ↗ going to be doing these interviews?

1:10:53 ↗ Frame, the month of March.

1:10:57 ↗ I know that means that there wait

1:10:59 ↗ actually no spring break doesn't start

1:11:00 ↗ till April, but it will be this month

1:11:02 ↗ over the course of this month. If you

1:11:04 ↗ can push it, the team, I'd appreciate

1:11:07 ↗ it. But I I if we need a little bit of

1:11:09 ↗ extra time, if we need like into the

1:11:11 ↗ first week of April, I think I can

1:11:12 ↗ advocate for us to do that. This is

1:11:14 ↗ literally like my tax season.

1:11:18 ↗ That's painful. Yeah. Let me see if I

1:11:20 ↗ can advocate for us to get an extra

1:11:21 ↗ week. I know that the the hope is to

1:11:23 ↗ have it go to council for approval on

1:11:25 ↗ April 1st. If we need to send our

1:11:27 ↗ recommendations on the midappril

1:11:29 ↗ meeting, that's totally fine.

1:11:31 ↗ Um, it is very unlikely that the council

1:11:34 ↗ is going

1:11:35 ↗ to contest any of the mayor's

1:11:38 ↗ recommendations. So, just a clarifying

1:11:40 ↗ question. Did you say we had to reapply

1:11:42 ↗ to be on the board? Only if you're at

1:11:44 ↗ the end of your term. Okay. You are not

1:11:48 ↗ you're you're set. I would have reached

1:11:50 ↗ out to you. You would have gotten an

1:11:51 ↗ email from me saying hello. Start to get

1:11:55 ↗ Yeah. If you did not get an email from

1:11:57 ↗ me, you're you currently signed up again

1:11:59 ↗ for another year. Okay, you go to the

1:12:01 ↗ website, all our names on the website

1:12:04 ↗ says when we expire.

1:12:10 ↗ Expired. So the first time

1:12:14 ↗ like I can pay attention. So you can go

1:12:17 ↗ and look and see when because it's it's

1:12:20 ↗ on the website. That's the best easiest

1:12:22 ↗ way and it's a little funky. So, for

1:12:24 ↗ instance, Shaunie filled a seat that was

1:12:28 ↗ going to expire this year, but filled it

1:12:30 ↗ last year. So, unfortunately, she had to

1:12:32 ↗ reapply for the seat even though her

1:12:34 ↗ term her she didn't serve a full term,

1:12:37 ↗ right? Um, our two youth members have

1:12:39 ↗ two-year terms, so that's a whole

1:12:41 ↗ different, you know, everyone else has a

1:12:42 ↗ four-year term, but you're on that on

1:12:44 ↗ that youthful quick cycle. Um, but so I

1:12:48 ↗ think the the one we'll have one funky

1:12:50 ↗ seat um this year where we're going to

1:12:52 ↗ be recruiting for someone to fill

1:12:54 ↗ Christina's vacant seat. Um, and her

1:12:57 ↗ term technically expires next year. Um,

1:12:59 ↗ so we'll talk to all of our applicants

1:13:01 ↗ about that. Just I think some learning

1:13:03 ↗ for me is to be clearer with folks

1:13:04 ↗ during the application process about if

1:13:06 ↗ you're filling a seat midterm, just

1:13:08 ↗ knowing that you'll reapply.

1:13:12 ↗ But Ray, if that if I saw a lot of nods,

1:13:15 ↗ if that feels like a good approach to to

1:13:17 ↗ folks, I can move forward with starting

1:13:19 ↗ to I'll read applications. Yeah. Make

1:13:22 ↗ sure that they're filled out and then um

1:13:24 ↗ reach out to folks, start scheduling.

1:13:26 ↗ Yes. What I will likely do is send

1:13:28 ↗ everyone an everyone who's available to

1:13:31 ↗ interview or not who's eligible to

1:13:33 ↗ interview. I'll send you first some

1:13:35 ↗ availability before I actually send it

1:13:37 ↗ to them. I think it'll be easier that

1:13:38 ↗ Oh, that way. Okay. Is the date to apply

1:13:43 ↗ very fixed that it's closed? It is

1:13:45 ↗ closed. If there's someone that

1:13:46 ↗ desperately wants to apply or, you know,

1:13:48 ↗ and they can get me an application done

1:13:50 ↗ by the end of the week this week, I can

1:13:52 ↗ definitely make an exception and send

1:13:54 ↗ them like we had to with with the person

1:13:56 ↗ you referred. Oh, she had that technical

1:13:58 ↗ issue. Okay. Yes, we'll we'll send a

1:14:00 ↗ paper a word document, but just let me

1:14:03 ↗ know as we walk out tonight. Get that

1:14:05 ↗ done.

1:14:07 ↗ Okay. Other questions? Questions on

1:14:10 ↗ that? Sean, you good? All right. Yes. An

1:14:13 ↗ outsider and an insider at the same

1:14:15 ↗ time. I approve.

1:14:18 ↗ Good. Perfect. All right. I will move us

1:14:20 ↗ on to other business because I really

1:14:22 ↗ want to touch on this before we close

1:14:23 ↗ this evening. Um, and I want to

1:14:25 ↗ incorporate Oh, you have to head out.

1:14:26 ↗ Just curious. Do you know how long this

1:14:29 ↗ section's going to be? It's probably

1:14:30 ↗ going to take the next 10 minutes. 10 10

1:14:32 ↗ minutes. So, if you need to go, that's

1:14:34 ↗ fine. I'll try to get us move them on.

1:14:36 ↗ Um, I asked to put 7A on there,

1:14:39 ↗ navigating the national climate, and I

1:14:41 ↗ think we have an example of one that

1:14:43 ↗ Kelly

1:14:45 ↗ um took some time to catch Pretty and I

1:14:47 ↗ up as a follow-up to the meeting that

1:14:49 ↗ with the mayor participated in last uh

1:14:51 ↗ month, and it was

1:14:53 ↗ around conversations and diversity,

1:14:57 ↗ equity, and inclusion, and vocabulary,

1:14:59 ↗ and how that's starting to change, and

1:15:00 ↗ it's trying to trickle down from a

1:15:03 ↗ national conversation to a local

1:15:06 ↗ conversation and we just wanted to bring

1:15:08 ↗ this up and and write it by you and I

1:15:10 ↗ think this is going to be a great

1:15:11 ↗ connection to what I had as a closing

1:15:13 ↗ thought, but can I pass it off to you to

1:15:15 ↗ kind of elaborate? Yeah, I I had

1:15:17 ↗ contacted them about uh when um the

1:15:20 ↗ mayor spoke last meeting at the very end

1:15:23 ↗ very briefly said that it was very

1:15:25 ↗ possible we were going to remove the

1:15:27 ↗ words DEI and that still we would keep

1:15:30 ↗ the work but the word the vocabulary

1:15:32 ↗ would change. At the time I was like,

1:15:34 ↗ "Oh, that's, you know, that's relief for

1:15:36 ↗ me. That's good." And then maybe two

1:15:38 ↗ days later, pondering it, I'm like,

1:15:40 ↗ "No, no, this is this is bothersome to

1:15:44 ↗ me that we are going to change our

1:15:47 ↗ vocabulary that I just saw the most

1:15:49 ↗ current list is 68 words you're not

1:15:52 ↗ supposed to use in a grant." And, you

1:15:54 ↗ know, and they're like, "I've got them.

1:15:55 ↗ I've got them with me if you want."

1:15:56 ↗ Females, yes. Gender, you name it.

1:15:59 ↗ Anything that we say on a regular basis

1:16:01 ↗ is now not allowed in a grant. It's a

1:16:04 ↗ federal grant. A federal grant. Yes.

1:16:06 ↗ However, and so we all know this and

1:16:09 ↗ it's all scary

1:16:10 ↗ stuff. I realize that um this is money

1:16:16 ↗ and that different organizations are

1:16:18 ↗ going to handle it differently. You

1:16:20 ↗ know, the state um the state

1:16:23 ↗ superintendent has said we're going to

1:16:25 ↗ stay the course. you dub is rewriting,

1:16:30 ↗ right? So, it's different strategies out

1:16:32 ↗ there. I'm just going to voice my

1:16:35 ↗ thought and then everybody else can give

1:16:36 ↗ their thought, but my thought is this

1:16:38 ↗ isn't going to end. This is just step

1:16:41 ↗ one and we're going to have to be asked

1:16:43 ↗ to do something again that's going to

1:16:44 ↗ feel uncomfortable and we'll give that

1:16:46 ↗ up and then we'll give something else up

1:16:48 ↗ and then we'll give something else up

1:16:49 ↗ and we're in a a hole. And so, I know

1:16:53 ↗ it's very easy for me to be pragmatic. I

1:16:55 ↗ mean, not principled since I don't have

1:16:58 ↗ I don't even have a job, right? Although

1:16:59 ↗ I have social security that could be

1:17:01 ↗ lost but

1:17:03 ↗ um so it's easier for me to just blurt

1:17:06 ↗ on about how I think we need we we we

1:17:09 ↗ reuse the vocabulary.

1:17:11 ↗ Now, maybe it can be improved, right?

1:17:13 ↗ some of the words don't, you know, I

1:17:16 ↗ would always say that some of the words

1:17:18 ↗ make create confusion.

1:17:21 ↗ But so that's my two cents about it

1:17:23 ↗ because it made me really uncomfortable

1:17:26 ↗ after I thought about it. Well, the

1:17:27 ↗ timing of this is great because here we

1:17:29 ↗ are talking about grants and um and and

1:17:31 ↗ and the way we articulate the the

1:17:35 ↗ narrative behind that grant is going to

1:17:37 ↗ be we're going to be restricted on what

1:17:39 ↗ we can put on there that No, it's not a

1:17:40 ↗ federal grant. It's not a federal grant.

1:17:42 ↗ Okay. So, and and I shared with Prit and

1:17:45 ↗ Ray and I'll share with this group the

1:17:47 ↗ current plan is to stay a course. Um,

1:17:50 ↗ we're continuing to implement the

1:17:52 ↗ glossery that this board approved. Um,

1:17:55 ↗ in fact, literally calling it an equity

1:17:58 ↗ and inclusion glossery. Um, the we're

1:18:01 ↗ continuing with our equity impact

1:18:03 ↗ assessment. Uh, there's not currently

1:18:06 ↗ any plan to change. I think the the

1:18:08 ↗ invitation for this other business topic

1:18:10 ↗ is for and and you're not currently

1:18:12 ↗ being asked to advise on what the city

1:18:14 ↗ you should do. So I'll say that too, but

1:18:15 ↗ a chance to talk about um you know if if

1:18:19 ↗ and when there is a tough moment um you

1:18:23 ↗ know what what would you like to advise

1:18:26 ↗ um the administration on it? Sort of

1:18:27 ↗ starting that conversation. Not that the

1:18:30 ↗ administration isn't looking for

1:18:31 ↗ guidance right now. We don't know where

1:18:33 ↗ the 27 point something million dollars

1:18:36 ↗ of our federal grant money may or may

1:18:39 ↗ not end up. Um you know that we're very

1:18:42 ↗ well aware of that. Um but it's not

1:18:45 ↗ causing the city to change anything

1:18:47 ↗ about what it's doing right

1:18:48 ↗ now. So

1:18:52 ↗ thoughts from anybody concerns you want

1:18:54 ↗ to share?

1:18:57 ↗ It's just good to have this on our radar

1:19:01 ↗ and and some not let it slide. Um, I do

1:19:05 ↗ have a thought. Sorry. Yeah, I'm

1:19:07 ↗ curious. Thank you for bringing that up

1:19:09 ↗ and it is a it is scary and requires a

1:19:13 ↗ good dose of vulnerability to work with.

1:19:16 ↗ Mhm. I'm wondering if we

1:19:19 ↗ could write down a few of these things

1:19:21 ↗ that we think would be brought under

1:19:24 ↗ question just anticipating, right? Not

1:19:27 ↗ necessarily it's going to happen, but

1:19:30 ↗ things that we might want to be prepared

1:19:31 ↗ for that we might expect in the next

1:19:34 ↗ year or so. Um, so we can start to think

1:19:37 ↗ about it beforehand so we're not forced

1:19:39 ↗ to make a decision without enough

1:19:41 ↗ intentionality. Mhm. Is would that be

1:19:44 ↗ helpful as a group of people as as the

1:19:47 ↗ board to to do that? Yeah. And then

1:19:49 ↗ where where do we take that because do

1:19:50 ↗ we have to filter everything through

1:19:52 ↗ Mayor Paulie before it gets to the the

1:19:54 ↗ um uh city council because I think

1:19:56 ↗ they're talking about this too, right?

1:19:57 ↗ So I think what Caric is saying is we

1:19:59 ↗ all agree that something should be

1:20:01 ↗ shared. We should agree upon it and and

1:20:03 ↗ make the mayor aware and if she needs us

1:20:05 ↗ to present it to the council members,

1:20:07 ↗ we' we'd be happy to because it's

1:20:09 ↗ important to us. That's why I think we

1:20:10 ↗ were created to be honest with you is to

1:20:12 ↗ have a pulse on these things and now

1:20:14 ↗ here it is at our front door.

1:20:17 ↗ I'm wondering if some of us would be

1:20:19 ↗ more um powerful

1:20:22 ↗ in going to city council meetings and

1:20:26 ↗ attending there or getting some friends,

1:20:30 ↗ family, whatever to go to those meetings

1:20:32 ↗ to be a presence. So the city council is

1:20:35 ↗ forced to have a discussion where people

1:20:38 ↗ who are not in support of because I very

1:20:42 ↗ much trust our city council and our

1:20:44 ↗ mayor to keep up this work and I think

1:20:48 ↗ sometimes they need people's support to

1:20:51 ↗ show the reason why who they're

1:20:54 ↗ representing and I think we would be

1:20:56 ↗ more powerful in that sense

1:21:00 ↗ because I I don't want to make their

1:21:03 ↗ work harder because I do trust that they

1:21:05 ↗ are trying very hard. I know that in my

1:21:09 ↗ work, every day is a battle or feels

1:21:12 ↗ like it because every day something

1:21:13 ↗ comes out that might be a problem for

1:21:17 ↗ families in our community

1:21:20 ↗ and that's my job to make sure that they

1:21:24 ↗ have access to education. And so I don't

1:21:27 ↗ want to and it's hard sometimes when you

1:21:30 ↗ feel like you have to battle people in

1:21:33 ↗ your community and you're already trying

1:21:35 ↗ to do the work to support families in

1:21:39 ↗ your community. You're like, I am doing

1:21:41 ↗ so much. Please help me. But so I just

1:21:45 ↗ want to make sure how we show up is of

1:21:48 ↗ support to our mayor who I know is

1:21:52 ↗ trying to help our community. And how we

1:21:55 ↗ show up is not a that's me personally is

1:22:00 ↗ always going to be saying I know I see

1:22:03 ↗ your work and that how hard you're

1:22:04 ↗ trying and I want to make sure that when

1:22:07 ↗ you need me I'm there to help elevate

1:22:10 ↗ your work. So I I love that idea. So if

1:22:14 ↗ we were to walk in we can't walk into a

1:22:17 ↗ city council member meeting and say on

1:22:20 ↗ behalf of the equity board. We would be

1:22:21 ↗ walking in as citizens of Isiqua. So,

1:22:24 ↗ we'd have to delineate that because

1:22:26 ↗ something we state needs to be reviewed

1:22:28 ↗ by the mayor for Ray knows knows this uh

1:22:31 ↗ this line. He's learned it well for the

1:22:33 ↗ course of the last six months. Yeah.

1:22:35 ↗ Yeah. You would you would be attending

1:22:37 ↗ as a as a community member. Okay. Yeah.

1:22:40 ↗ So, is that I mean is that you you

1:22:41 ↗ understood that too, right? Yes. And

1:22:43 ↗ that's what I was my suggestion was we

1:22:45 ↗ show up as community members. We invite,

1:22:48 ↗ we encourage other community members in

1:22:50 ↗ the community to show up who are

1:22:52 ↗ like-minded, you know, because every day

1:22:54 ↗ I find out I have different allies and

1:22:57 ↗ that's great because that makes me happy

1:22:58 ↗ to know that other people see me are

1:23:01 ↗ like me. And so what we're looking for

1:23:04 ↗ is allies within the community and we

1:23:06 ↗ want to help the mayor and the city

1:23:10 ↗ council know, hey, there are allies.

1:23:13 ↗ Look, they're coming. they there for you

1:23:16 ↗ to make the best decisions for us.

1:23:20 ↗ Yep. Your any regular meeting, you can

1:23:23 ↗ make public comment. Yeah. Um it's it's

1:23:26 ↗ similar to what you experienced with the

1:23:27 ↗ school board. You can let our clerk know

1:23:30 ↗ ahead of time. Um you can sign up on the

1:23:32 ↗ website ahead of time or you can show up

1:23:33 ↗ that day um and sign in to make public

1:23:36 ↗ comment. Um, is it is it you get a

1:23:39 ↗ minute and they buzz you out like they

1:23:41 ↗ did at the I think it's I think it's

1:23:42 ↗ three I think it's three minutes. I

1:23:44 ↗ promise you'll be recorded. Um, but I

1:23:48 ↗ it's it's it's usually three three

1:23:50 ↗ minutes I think is usually the length of

1:23:51 ↗ time. So, it's a little bit longer. Um,

1:23:53 ↗ but every single person that signs up

1:23:55 ↗ gets that three minutes. So, um I joke

1:23:58 ↗ with her because I was at a schoolboard

1:23:59 ↗ meeting and I you only get 60 seconds

1:24:01 ↗ and be

1:24:03 ↗ like you're done. Um, so good. That's

1:24:06 ↗ good to know. Okay. So that's an

1:24:07 ↗ opportunity for us to get more engaged

1:24:09 ↗ just come in as a as a a regular

1:24:11 ↗ community member and not say oh on

1:24:12 ↗ behalf of the equity board. Yes. But the

1:24:15 ↗ question that I have if anybody has been

1:24:16 ↗ at those meetings have there been um

1:24:19 ↗ citizens who have been combative about

1:24:21 ↗ this stuff and said I'm only familiar

1:24:24 ↗ with not not not up to this point. Okay.

1:24:27 ↗ Um I would say if you look back not

1:24:30 ↗ recommending anyone go and watch the

1:24:31 ↗ public comment and all the city council

1:24:33 ↗ meetings. I actually think

1:24:36 ↗ um we experienced and I mean you we've

1:24:39 ↗ talked about this as an equity board I

1:24:40 ↗ think last month or the month before we

1:24:42 ↗ we have had people we've had like

1:24:44 ↗ neo-Nazi b like um what is it called

1:24:48 ↗ when you zoom bomb is that a thing zoom

1:24:50 ↗ bombers attend our council meeting um

1:24:54 ↗ but that was last spring or like not

1:24:59 ↗ recently

1:25:00 ↗ um since November we haven't had any

1:25:05 ↗ trying to think of the public comment

1:25:06 ↗ most recently. Supposedly been on public

1:25:08 ↗ safety related to Reineer Trail stuff.

1:25:12 ↗ Um but nothing nothing post uh nothing

1:25:16 ↗ in the current the current federal

1:25:17 ↗ administration. No one's been showing up

1:25:19 ↗ to say one thing or the

1:25:21 ↗ other. So definitely the opportunity

1:25:23 ↗ there.

1:25:26 ↗ Great. Any other comments? I'm

1:25:29 ↗ gonna thank you for hanging out with us.

1:25:33 ↗ Any other comments on that? I know

1:25:35 ↗ there's just a lot of moving parts with

1:25:36 ↗ this topic. And then I Ray, I know you I

1:25:42 ↗ had I had emailed with these two about

1:25:44 ↗ potentially another other business item.

1:25:45 ↗ Yes. You want to invite any other

1:25:47 ↗ business items before? Business items.

1:25:49 ↗ Right. Um, so I believe in the December

1:25:52 ↗ meeting, we were talking about the s

1:25:55 ↗ the seal uh curriculum at high school,

1:26:00 ↗ middle schools, and elementary schools

1:26:02 ↗ in the Isco school district. And me and

1:26:04 ↗ Varnica kind of touched on how they are

1:26:06 ↗ kind of ineffective. They don't really

1:26:08 ↗ grasp attention and and you want to talk

1:26:10 ↗ more about them right now. Yeah. and we

1:26:12 ↗ kind of want to like just discuss like

1:26:14 ↗ kind of like what we want to do because

1:26:16 ↗ we don't know much about navigating this

1:26:18 ↗ and we just kind of want some advice on

1:26:20 ↗ how to go about and how to make some

1:26:23 ↗ changes to this. Is anyone opposed to

1:26:26 ↗ adding a quick other business item to

1:26:28 ↗ give these two some advice?

1:26:31 ↗ No. Okay, go for So at least my current

1:26:34 ↗ idea was that at the next ISO youth

1:26:37 ↗ advisory board, me and Barnica could um

1:26:40 ↗ talk at the start to all the 40 around

1:26:43 ↗ 40 uh board me youth advisory board

1:26:46 ↗ members and maybe create like some kind

1:26:48 ↗ of task force of at least around five to

1:26:50 ↗ 10 people and then maybe we'd get on a

1:26:53 ↗ call and kind of talk about the

1:26:55 ↗ different problems that everyone from a

1:26:58 ↗ bunch of a variety of different schools

1:26:59 ↗ what they experienced and what they

1:27:01 ↗ could think could solve And then from

1:27:03 ↗ there once we kind have a list of the

1:27:04 ↗ problems u we could create some ideas

1:27:07 ↗ from for a solution and then either

1:27:09 ↗ create a letter or go in person to this

1:27:12 ↗ to the

1:27:14 ↗ school district board. Um so that's just

1:27:18 ↗ kind of what I had off the top of my

1:27:19 ↗ head. Yeah. Um lessons are like social

1:27:22 ↗ and emotional learning lessons and I

1:27:24 ↗ think throughout middle school and high

1:27:26 ↗ school they aren't really effective

1:27:27 ↗ students are just trying to get them

1:27:28 ↗ over with. So we wanted to, you know,

1:27:30 ↗ implement like how we could take things

1:27:32 ↗ like the now equity and inclusion

1:27:34 ↗ glossery and like include equitable

1:27:36 ↗ things within these lessons and push it

1:27:38 ↗ forward to the district on how we can

1:27:40 ↗ make them, you know, more equity based

1:27:42 ↗ and also more engaging towards students

1:27:44 ↗ and like truly teach them more about

1:27:46 ↗ what they can do and things still

1:27:48 ↗ related to. But that was the idea. We

1:27:51 ↗ want to bring it to YAP since there's so

1:27:52 ↗ many youth members there that are all

1:27:54 ↗ part of the um AC school district and we

1:27:57 ↗ we just had like a base idea but we

1:27:59 ↗ wanted to see like what more we could do

1:28:00 ↗ with it and how we would kind of

1:28:02 ↗ approach this in the first place.

1:28:06 ↗ you can. Yeah, I think your idea is a

1:28:09 ↗ great

1:28:10 ↗ one. Many people in the school district

1:28:13 ↗ administration are very aware of the

1:28:15 ↗ limitation of SEAL and part of it is how

1:28:17 ↗ it's done and part of it is some parts

1:28:20 ↗ of the contract and how it can be done.

1:28:24 ↗ So working on that is a hardship. I

1:28:27 ↗ think the youth board coming up and

1:28:30 ↗ saying that this is a problem and coming

1:28:33 ↗ up with a solution and offering to help

1:28:35 ↗ is always the best idea because you

1:28:37 ↗ never for me I always believe that you

1:28:40 ↗ always want to come in a space solution

1:28:42 ↗ oriented with ideas and proposals.

1:28:45 ↗ At the same time it is a school district

1:28:47 ↗ so you cannot create too many ideas of

1:28:50 ↗ your own without collaborating with

1:28:52 ↗ them. So I think ideas is great. I

1:28:56 ↗ personally believe part of the problem

1:28:58 ↗ is we're trying to do something very

1:29:00 ↗ hard as adults because I literally just

1:29:03 ↗ spoke to someone about how I'm

1:29:05 ↗ struggling a little bit in social media

1:29:08 ↗ or communicating because I am no longer

1:29:11 ↗ relevant of lost my y

1:29:16 ↗ the way I would communicate speak work

1:29:18 ↗ with some children or even adults in my

1:29:22 ↗ community has changed and I never

1:29:25 ↗ thought that I would be in

1:29:27 ↗ that area, but I am. And so I need to up

1:29:32 ↗ my game in how I communicate and how I

1:29:35 ↗ work with people that I'm trying to

1:29:38 ↗ connect. And I think part of the SEAL is

1:29:42 ↗ we know what needs to be thought but in

1:29:45 ↗ the presentation there are struggles

1:29:47 ↗ because great ideas have come off it

1:29:51 ↗ asked by students and yet when it's

1:29:53 ↗ presented the kids are not listening. So

1:29:56 ↗ if you're coming up with an idea of hey

1:29:59 ↗ we even have a group of people who will

1:30:01 ↗ work with you great idea. I don't know

1:30:04 ↗ if I don't speak for the school district

1:30:06 ↗ in this, but I think that is a great way

1:30:09 ↗ to start in getting student voice to

1:30:12 ↗ create

1:30:13 ↗ solutions for social emotional learning

1:30:16 ↗ that's most impact students. I would

1:30:19 ↗ also recommend that you do both.

1:30:22 ↗ And when you do both, you have multiple

1:30:24 ↗ people in the stu the youth advisory

1:30:26 ↗ board send emails separate so it's not

1:30:30 ↗ one and with their own individual voice

1:30:32 ↗ because sometimes

1:30:34 ↗ emails are sent with one generic voice

1:30:36 ↗ and it's very again authenticity is key

1:30:39 ↗ right so you're going to say this is

1:30:41 ↗ what I noticed in my school name the

1:30:43 ↗ school what's the problem and here's

1:30:45 ↗ what I think is an idea so gathering

1:30:48 ↗ that and then all of those people

1:30:50 ↗ sending an email can go and ask for time

1:30:55 ↗ and I don't know how much time but maybe

1:30:57 ↗ you split it up exactly but I'm just

1:31:00 ↗ saying if like you break it up and say

1:31:02 ↗ 10 people go one board meeting technical

1:31:05 ↗ because part of it is also persistence

1:31:07 ↗ right to recognize that this is an

1:31:09 ↗ ongoing problem rather than a one-time

1:31:11 ↗ deal right so to show that we are being

1:31:15 ↗ um what's the word I'm looking for we

1:31:17 ↗ are

1:31:19 ↗ hearten the game yeah ongoing effort

1:31:22 ↗ yeah there's an ongoing effort and plan

1:31:25 ↗ and so go to at least two or three

1:31:27 ↗ meetings or maybe you go to the first

1:31:29 ↗ one and they're like yep love you come

1:31:30 ↗ on you know or Maybe it'll take a few

1:31:33 ↗ more because it's also a board that's

1:31:35 ↗ working on many things and it takes

1:31:37 ↗ time. It's literally like think of a

1:31:41 ↗ cruise ship. Turning around the cruise

1:31:43 ↗ ship I heard is very hard. Same thing.

1:31:45 ↗ So, how do we help them? How do you give

1:31:48 ↗ enough information to support them?

1:31:51 ↗ Because I don't think your voice they

1:31:53 ↗ very much care about student voice. So,

1:31:54 ↗ how do we help them help the system?

1:31:59 ↗ And I was exaggerating. It's three

1:32:01 ↗ minutes. Sorry, just felt like

1:32:06 ↗ um but did we answer your question?

1:32:08 ↗ You're looking for feedback reps, but I

1:32:10 ↗ didn't know if there was specific

1:32:11 ↗ actions that you wanted the board to be

1:32:13 ↗ present at a meeting like you were

1:32:14 ↗ talking about the youth meeting that you

1:32:15 ↗ were talking about. Is that

1:32:17 ↗ something can handle like can we can the

1:32:20 ↗ youth

1:32:24 ↗ um we just wanted like not being what to

1:32:26 ↗ do.

1:32:29 ↗ Your plan sounds really good. I agree. I

1:32:31 ↗ think one thing I I also agree with

1:32:34 ↗ Laura's idea of there's going to need to

1:32:36 ↗ be some level of authenticity from each

1:32:37 ↗ of the advocates that you have. You

1:32:40 ↗ could potentially provide a little bit

1:32:42 ↗ of a template to make it a little bit

1:32:44 ↗ easier like but they're going to need to

1:32:46 ↗ fill in those blanks, you know, in terms

1:32:49 ↗ of of what they've observed, why they

1:32:51 ↗ find it to be a problem, and what they

1:32:52 ↗ would recommend as an idea or solution.

1:32:55 ↗ Um, and then let us know, you know, off

1:32:58 ↗ off the record. I think, you know, all

1:33:00 ↗ of us are here to support as you're

1:33:02 ↗ navigating this, you know. So, Rey has

1:33:05 ↗ spoken at the school board. Um, you

1:33:07 ↗ know, I'm a former teacher. Lorna works

1:33:09 ↗ for the district. Kelly has an education

1:33:11 ↗ background. Like, we we I've tried many

1:33:13 ↗ times. Yes. We all we all we all have

1:33:15 ↗ insights into how schools and districts

1:33:18 ↗ function. And so, as you're getting

1:33:20 ↗ further along and you've built up, you

1:33:22 ↗ know, a group of youth that's ready to

1:33:24 ↗ sort of advocate, let us know. And then

1:33:27 ↗ I don't know enough about theCCL

1:33:28 ↗ program. I don't know if it's like

1:33:29 ↗ here's the canned curriculum or if it's

1:33:31 ↗ these are the objectives and you get to

1:33:33 ↗ plan within it. Right that we do have

1:33:36 ↗ objectives and we do have to follow

1:33:39 ↗ parameters and just so you know right

1:33:41 ↗ now it's under attack as everything as

1:33:45 ↗ like how is social emotional learning a

1:33:47 ↗ bad thing but you know also under attack

1:33:50 ↗ right now and

1:33:53 ↗ but we have support from our for

1:33:55 ↗ different reasons yes and so we have

1:33:58 ↗ support from our state and so we will

1:34:00 ↗ continue but implementing it it's not a

1:34:03 ↗ core curriculum So it's different,

1:34:05 ↗ right? And so how do we implement it

1:34:08 ↗ with fidelity because we're implementing

1:34:10 ↗ it even

1:34:12 ↗ but sometimes even as a teacher things

1:34:15 ↗ don't hit their mark and you have to

1:34:16 ↗ work on don't how do I know it? Yeah.

1:34:19 ↗ And so my question is more around like

1:34:21 ↗ as you're look because because if the if

1:34:22 ↗ it's a if it's a it's not a can

1:34:24 ↗ curriculum and there's standards that

1:34:26 ↗ have to be met and so so I'd look I'd

1:34:29 ↗ look at those um and I'm happy to also

1:34:32 ↗ look at those with you and for some of

1:34:34 ↗ the things that you some of the ideas

1:34:36 ↗ that you might be recommending. I think

1:34:38 ↗ it's going to be important to look at

1:34:39 ↗ those standards and objectives and see

1:34:41 ↗ the way that your recommendations fit

1:34:43 ↗ within the framework that exists. I

1:34:45 ↗ would think that whoever whatever

1:34:47 ↗ administrator is in charge of that would

1:34:50 ↗ be thrilled to have two students come

1:34:51 ↗ and talk to them. Yeah. You know, I have

1:34:55 ↗ no idea who it is, but somebody's in

1:34:57 ↗ charge. It's part one part of their job

1:34:59 ↗ is SEAL curriculum.

1:35:03 ↗ I think there's a lot of good

1:35:04 ↗ information incl. We're just trying to

1:35:06 ↗ see how we can potentially like improve

1:35:08 ↗ it in a way to make it like more

1:35:10 ↗ feasible for students and like more

1:35:12 ↗ informative as well. But I think like

1:35:14 ↗ that's definitely a great idea. Um if we

1:35:16 ↗ go to the youth board and kind of tell

1:35:17 ↗ everyone to share their personal

1:35:19 ↗ experiences. Yeah. Um I've definitely

1:35:22 ↗ done stuff like that with the board

1:35:23 ↗ before for um what's it called? Land

1:35:26 ↗ acknowledgements how to do stuff like

1:35:28 ↗ that. Also make sure you're talking

1:35:30 ↗ about the lessons that work and the

1:35:32 ↗ lessons that don't work. So give them

1:35:35 ↗ examples of this was good, this didn't

1:35:38 ↗ work and why. Because the whole thing is

1:35:42 ↗ to reflect and learn from what happened.

1:35:45 ↗ Yeah. And to keep the good stuff. Yeah.

1:35:47 ↗ Yeah.

1:35:49 ↗ One thing last thing is be aware of the

1:35:52 ↗ different grade level strands. Right. So

1:35:54 ↗ things been happening in middle school

1:35:56 ↗ versus high school. So in your

1:35:58 ↗ communication if they say I'm from

1:36:00 ↗ Pacific Cascade or Middle, they'll

1:36:02 ↗ figure that out. But also that's

1:36:04 ↗ slightly different because SEAL given in

1:36:07 ↗ middle school will look differently than

1:36:09 ↗ SEAL in high school and high school it's

1:36:12 ↗ given during nest well depending on the

1:36:14 ↗ school and those times sometimes it's

1:36:17 ↗ not just the teacher or the lesson the

1:36:20 ↗ time of day no

1:36:23 ↗ I kids sometimes don't want to do that

1:36:26 ↗ they have other plans because their life

1:36:28 ↗ is complex right and they want to do

1:36:30 ↗ other things and so how do we get it to

1:36:33 ↗ be engaging with the kids on the Yeah.

1:36:37 ↗ Um, so what I was thinking was that so

1:36:41 ↗ members of the youth board and Bernick

1:36:44 ↗ and I, we've only experienced from like

1:36:47 ↗ a student's perspective. We don't really

1:36:48 ↗ know as much as what's going on behind

1:36:50 ↗ the scenes, which is a good idea to look

1:36:52 ↗ at the objectives, but maybe like um

1:36:55 ↗ like how rigid the objectives are, how

1:36:57 ↗ like how flexible are they with changing

1:37:00 ↗ those? And I think maybe is a good idea

1:37:02 ↗ to talk to the administrator first

1:37:04 ↗ before we send any emails or go to any

1:37:07 ↗ board meetings to kind of find you can

1:37:09 ↗ talk to the board easily and then you

1:37:13 ↗ can see the administrator is in like you

1:37:16 ↗ would think that that would be step two.

1:37:19 ↗ But I think if you start with talking to

1:37:22 ↗ the board, you can answer that. Yep.

1:37:25 ↗ Yep.

1:37:27 ↗ You should do what you guys believe is

1:37:29 ↗ right first. However, get it is very

1:37:32 ↗ powerful to go get information also,

1:37:34 ↗ right? Yep.

1:37:38 ↗ Good. Thank you all for your help. Yeah.

1:37:40 ↗ Thank you

1:37:41 ↗ for that wonderful. Awesome. Right. Um I

1:37:46 ↗ think we need to close us out here. Um,

1:37:49 ↗ I just wanted to share something with

1:37:51 ↗ you and I think this I'm I'm so proud of

1:37:54 ↗ this conversations that we're having

1:37:56 ↗ here. You know, it keeps it at the

1:37:57 ↗ forefront. All these topics that were

1:37:59 ↗ touched on today just warms my heart

1:38:01 ↗ because what happened to me this week, I

1:38:02 ↗ was supposed to fly to Washington DC for

1:38:05 ↗ um a conference that CMS was hosting and

1:38:08 ↗ just um two days ago they canceled it.

1:38:10 ↗ CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid.

1:38:13 ↗ Oh, you're kidding. No, it was it was

1:38:14 ↗ around um a payer uh provider um

1:38:18 ↗ collaborative and they said, "I'm sorry,

1:38:20 ↗ we're going to have to cancel this." So,

1:38:22 ↗ because the funding is going to be lost

1:38:23 ↗ or

1:38:25 ↗ Yes, part of it too, but leadership

1:38:28 ↗ changes, too. Um, you know, they report

1:38:30 ↗ up

1:38:31 ↗ to Kennedy now. So, that's the big H

1:38:35 ↗ they're part of the HHS umbrella. CMS,

1:38:37 ↗ the Center for Medicare and Medicaid

1:38:39 ↗ reports up to HHS. And this was about a

1:38:41 ↗ collaborative between an insurance

1:38:43 ↗ company, insurance companies and health

1:38:45 ↗ care systems. And it was a huge event,

1:38:47 ↗ but it got cancelled. So all these

1:38:49 ↗ people are upset. They're just in

1:38:50 ↗ uproar. So what the thought that I

1:38:53 ↗ wanted to close us out with is now is

1:38:55 ↗ not the time to be um taking your pedal

1:38:57 ↗ off this situation. And what we're doing

1:39:00 ↗ here is exactly that. we're keeping

1:39:01 ↗ keeping the accelerator on in these

1:39:03 ↗ topics and sharing it with our leaders

1:39:06 ↗ um and sharing it with the people around

1:39:07 ↗ us because I think there's there's um an

1:39:11 ↗ opportunity to take this and and keep it

1:39:13 ↗ at the forefront, not let it slide,

1:39:15 ↗ right? And however we do that, like

1:39:17 ↗ exactly how you're doing it here with

1:39:19 ↗ the with the conversations that you're

1:39:21 ↗ having and keeping um a grant funding

1:39:25 ↗ for events that are socially sensitive

1:39:27 ↗ are things that we can keep um the eye

1:39:30 ↗ around equity within our forefront. So

1:39:34 ↗ to close us out with that. So thank you

1:39:36 ↗ for all the work that you do and thank

1:39:37 ↗ you for your guidance to help all this.

1:39:40 ↗ Absolutely. All right. Great. Okay. Um,

1:39:44 ↗ any other Am I allowed to ask that?

1:39:46 ↗ Yeah, you are. Any followup to that

1:39:48 ↗ comment or anything else you want to

1:39:50 ↗ share? We have about five minutes before

1:39:52 ↗ close us out. Shnie, go ahead. I see

1:39:53 ↗ your hand up.

1:39:56 ↗ Oh, muted. You're muted. Yeah. Well, I

1:39:58 ↗ just wanted to say thank you in case I

1:40:00 ↗ don't get elected tech elected again,

1:40:03 ↗ but I

1:40:05 ↗ wanted this has been an incredible sort

1:40:08 ↗ of learning experience getting to

1:40:10 ↗ understand the um you know how DEI works

1:40:14 ↗ at the local uh community level and city

1:40:17 ↗ level. So, and just working with this

1:40:19 ↗ group has been very empowering. Thank

1:40:21 ↗ you so much. Thank you. That's nice to

1:40:25 ↗ hear the comments. Okay. Um, the next

1:40:30 ↗ equity board meeting is scheduled for

1:40:32 ↗ Wednesday, April 2, and it is 7:46 p.m.

1:40:37 ↗ I am going to close out.

1:40:42 ↗ Thank you

1:40:43 ↗ everybody

1:40:46 ↗ today. Um, before you all run away,

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