MINUTES
| COMMISSION ON DIVERSITY AWARENESS Wednesday February 15th, 2023 |
VIRTUAL TEAMS MEETING 1:30 P.M. |
1.
Call to Order
Chair toner calls the meeting to order at 1:31 pm.
2.
Roll Call
| PRESENT | ABSENT |
| Jean Toner, Chair | Carolyn Kidd |
| Mandy Martinez-Gebler, Vice Chair | |
| Angelica Sanchez | |
| Bethany Camp | |
| Marcela Pino | |
| Sara Jarvis |
3.
Mission Statement and Land Acknowledgment
MISSION STATEMENT
A commission to foster support, respect, awareness and appreciation of diversity among all citizens of Flagstaff.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Commission on Diversity Awareness humbly acknowledges the ancestral homelands of this area’s Indigenous nations and original stewards. These lands, still inhabited by Native descendants, border mountains sacred to Indigenous peoples. We honor them, their legacies, their traditions, and their continued contributions. We celebrate their past, present, and future generations who will forever know this place as home.
Chair Toner reads the Mission Statement and Commissioner Jarvis reads the Land Acknowledgement to the group.
4.
Upcoming Opportunities and Announcements
Kim Robinson reminds the group of the Community Sunday Dinner at 6pm at the Murdoch Center.
5.
Public Comment
The Commission cannot act upon items presented during the Public Participation portion of the Agenda. Individual Commission members may ask questions of the public but are prohibited by the Open Meeting Law from discussion or considering the item among themselves until the item is officially placed on the Agenda. Each public comment or presentation will be limited to five (5) minutes.
The Commission cannot act upon items presented during the Public Participation portion of the Agenda. Individual Commission members may ask questions of the public but are prohibited by the Open Meeting Law from discussion or considering the item among themselves until the item is officially placed on the Agenda. Each public comment or presentation will be limited to five (5) minutes.
None.
6.
Approval of Minutes; January 18, 2023
Commissioner Pino motions to accept the minutes, Commissioner Camp seconds the motion. The minutes are approved unanimously by the group.
7.
Date of Next Meeting: March 22, 2023
8.
Action Items
A.
| Municipal Equity Index Report: Chris Rhode, Management Analyst, City of Flagstaff to present. |
Chris Rhode gives a presentation on Civil Rights in Flagstaff and the Municipal Equity Index scorecard from 2022 to the group.
B.
Commission agreed to make a formal recommendation to City Council on December 21, 2022, to add two official City Holidays. Renaming "Day after Thanksgiving" as Native American Heritage Day. Designate Juneteenth as a City Holiday as it is currently a Federal Holiday. Commission to draft formal recommendation to City Council for review by all commission members to possibly present by February or March.
Chair Toner updates the group on the City holiday’s agenda item in saying she has reached out to the Indigenous commission. She recommends waiting for the Indigenous commission’s opinion on the day after Thanksgiving holiday recommendation and would like to move forward with recommending Juneteenth as a city holiday to city council. Chair Toner aims to have a draft for city council for the Juneteenth recommendation by next months meeting. Kim Robinson and Commissioner Camp volunteer to help Chair Toner with the draft recommendation.
C.
Discussion of Women’s history month and any initiatives moving forward. Bethany Camp to provide information for discussion with commission members on moving forward with monthly topics and discussions.
Commissioner Camp asks the group for ideas on how to make the presence of Women’s History month known or any recommended themes for the month that may help spread awareness and education. Staff Liaison Lisa Keita recommends making a calendar that lists issues for each month and Councilperson House mentions that she will bring requests for the proclamation to city council. She also mentions she will be requesting a proclamation for Women’s History Month next month at city council. Staff Liaison Lisa Keita, Commissioner Jarvis, and Commissioner Camp will work together to gather educational resources on topics for each month. The commission decides to establish a work group for Women’s history month involving Staff Liaison Lisa Keita, Commissioner Camp, and Commissioner Jarvis, as well as a work group for educational calendar resources involving the same members.
9.
Reports/Discussion Items
Future Priorities:
Downtown Business Alliance Commission Work Group to give update on plan to address current issues and opportunities by Downtown Business Alliance.
Future Priorities:
Downtown Business Alliance Commission Work Group to give update on plan to address current issues and opportunities by Downtown Business Alliance.
No further updates from The Downtown Business Alliance. Commissioner Camp lets the group know they have still been unable to contact them. The group will keep this item on the agenda for next month.
A.
Proclamations
i.
Proclamations Work Group Update:
- Black History Month February: Proclamation presented at City Council Meeting Tuesday 02/07/2023, Jean Toner in attendance and will provide update.
- Jean Toner status and update do we need to run data collection to the institutional review board.
Chair Toner informs the group that the Black History Month Proclamation has been accepted and framed.
Chair Toner informs the group that the History of Pride celebration has been moved to April 24th. She also mentions Felicia Fiedler is awaiting clearance from her supervisor before beginning to collect stories and the group is still awaiting legal clearance. Chair Toner also informs the group that she will be working to collaborate with the Hip Historian in the valley area to investigate the archives in Tucson in order to gather data on lived history within the LGBTQ+ community and develop educational training. She will update the group next month on progress.
Chair Toner informs the group that the History of Pride celebration has been moved to April 24th. She also mentions Felicia Fiedler is awaiting clearance from her supervisor before beginning to collect stories and the group is still awaiting legal clearance. Chair Toner also informs the group that she will be working to collaborate with the Hip Historian in the valley area to investigate the archives in Tucson in order to gather data on lived history within the LGBTQ+ community and develop educational training. She will update the group next month on progress.
ii.
Updates from Staff Liaison
No updates from Staff Liaison.
B.
Recommendations to Council (updates and future items)
Anti-Camping Ordinance: Moved to January 2023.This Recommendation item will be held until Commissioner Pino returns in January of 2023 from a leave of absence
Anti-Camping Ordinance: Moved to January 2023.This Recommendation item will be held until Commissioner Pino returns in January of 2023 from a leave of absence
Chair Toner requests Commissioner Pino to restate her updates from last month due to audio difficulties last month. Chair Toner mentions City Council has declined to do a fair on this item. Commissioner Pino recommends putting together all information gathered on this topic and providing a report for the appropriate recipients who can carry out action on this ordinance. Commissioner Pino will work on putting together the report.
C.
Current Commission Priorities:
Darrell Marks and Youth Group to present update presentation on the Renaming Peaks Project.
Darrell Marks and Youth Group to present update presentation on the Renaming Peaks Project.
Not present for presentation. The group will keep this item on the agenda for when they are present.
10.
Agenda for Future Meeting(s)
Discussion on Commemorative Flag for 2023 Black History Month. To collaborate with CODA and other community groups to develop a flag that would help represent the African American community for Black History Month better than the current representing flag does. Also, to discuss future opportunities for flag representation of community groups.
Discussion on Commemorative Flag for 2023 Black History Month. To collaborate with CODA and other community groups to develop a flag that would help represent the African American community for Black History Month better than the current representing flag does. Also, to discuss future opportunities for flag representation of community groups.
This topic was covered in Action Items.
11.
Adjourment
Chair Toner adjourns the meeting at 3:02 pm.