[00:00:01]
OUR, UH, CLERK ALYSSA, TO START OFF, TO ENSURE WE HAVE QUORUM OFFICIALLY WITH OUR ROLL CALL.
WE HAVE A QUORUM, RIGHT? IT IS MY PLEASURE TO,
[CHAIR REMARKS]
UM, SHARE WITH YOU TONIGHT'S AGENDA THAT YOU ALL HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU WHEN YOU WERE FORWARDED, UM, EARLIER.UH, BUT WHAT IS REALLY EXCITING TONIGHT IS THAT WE HAVE FRUIT OF LABOR OF SEVERAL AD HOC COMMITTEES COMING, UH, TO FRUITION.
AND A SPECIAL LETTER THAT OUR VICE CHAIR WROTE IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT DOWN THE ROAD WE HAVE, UH, OUR, UH, SEATS FILLED.
'CAUSE THERE ARE A COUPLE OF VACANCIES, WHICH DISCUSSED LAST TIME.
SO I JUST WANTED TO FOREFRONT OF THAT WITH, UH, MY REMARKS.
BUT ALSO, AND VERY IMPORTANT IS TO HIGHLIGHT WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH THIS MONTH, AND INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S, UH, DAY, WHICH IS COMING UP IN TWO DAYS.
UH, WE TOOK, UH, COMMITMENT WITH A ROADMAP, UH, SEVERAL THAT WAS A WHILE AGO.
UH, BUT WE ARE USING INTERSECTIONALITY AS A REMINDER, AND THAT OF COURSE INCLUDES GENDER AND WOMEN'S ISSUES.
AND SO I WANNA CONTINUE TO HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF, UH, UH, WOMEN'S CONTRIBUTIONS, IDENTITIES, AND THE COMMUNITY WORK IN THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN'S LIBERATION IN PARTICULAR.
AND IT SHOULD GO WITHOUT, UH, UH, UH, UH, SHOULD GO UNNOTICED THAT, UH, UNFORTUNATELY IN OUR COUNTRY, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF, UH, BACKLASH, RIGHT, RIGHT NOW WITH, UH, WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVES RIGHTS.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE WILL ALWAYS HIGHLIGHT ON THIS COMMISSION, HAVING THAT PARTICULAR LENS.
UM, AND I DO APPRECIATE EVERYONE THAT IDENTIFIES AS A WOMAN ON THIS COMMISSION, UM, INCLUDING THOSE THAT, UH, F PRESENTING OR PERHAPS TRANSGENDER, UH, UH, IN ON OUR COMMISSION OR BEYOND IN OUR COMMUNITY.
'CAUSE THIS INCLUDES ALL WOMEN.
SO, WITH THAT SAID, I OFFICIALLY WANNA GO DOWN THE LINE WITH OUR AGENDA AND START OFF WITH, UM, UH, AGENDA ITEM ONCE WHEN FOR TO MADAM CLERK TO READ THAT FOR THE PUBLIC.
[1. 24-52427 Recommendation to approve the minutes for the Equity and Human Relations Commission meeting of Wednesday, February 7, 2024. Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
NUMBER ONE IS A RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FOR THE EQUITY AND HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH, 2024.CAN I HAVE A MOTION HERE? I'M LOOKING AT MY SCREEN.
SO MOVED BY COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER GILLETTE.
UM, CAN WE MOVE ON TO PUBLIC COMMENT? IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER ONE, PLEASE LINE UP AT THE PODIUM IF HERE IN PERSON, IF YOU ARE ON THE ZOOM, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FEATURE NOW, OR DIAL STAR NINE.
AND THIS IS FOR ITEM NUMBER ONE, PUBLIC COMMENT.
SEEING NONE, THAT CONCLUDES PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEM NUMBER ONE.
ALRIGHT, ANY DIS ANY WHAT ABOUT ZOOM? SEEING NONE IN THE ZOOM AS WELL.
UH, THIS BRINGS US TO ANY DISCUSSION ITEMS FROM FELLOW COMMISSIONERS.
SO THEN WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO THE VOTE IN ACCEPTING THE MINUTES FROM OUR LAST MEETING.
MADAM CLERK, DOES EVERYONE SEE IT ON THEIR SCREEN? COMMISSIONER GILLETTE.
THANK YOU MADAM CLERK AND THANK YOU FELLOW COMMISSIONERS.
I KNOW SOMETIMES WITH OUR ONLINE SYSTEM, MEMORY GETS A LITTLE BIT RUSTY, ME INCLUDED.
SO I APPRECIATE EVERYONE, UM, GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH, WITH OUR SYSTEM HERE.
SO WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON OVER TO, UH, THE NEXT ITEM, MADAM CLERK.
[2. 24-52428 Recommendation to receive and file a presentation from the City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services Racial Health Equity Team. Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
A RECOMMENDATION TO RECEIVE AND FILE PRESENTATION FROM THE CITY OF LONG BEACH, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY TEAM.SO WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT.
OH, WE NEED A MOTION FOR, TO MAKE THIS OFFICIAL HERE.
SO, VICE CHAIR CUMMINGTON, THANK YOU FOR MOVING THAT ITEM ALONG.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER COLE.
UH, SO WE'RE GONNA MOVE FORWARD WITH THE PRESENTATION AND THEN WE'LL GO OVER PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, THANK YOU AND WELCOME TO, TO OUR COMMISSION.
WE, WE APPRECIATE YOU MAKING TIME TODAY, UM, TO ADDRESS THIS VERY IMPORTANT TOPIC.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME TODAY.
UM, I'M HAPPY TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH YOU ALL TO INTRODUCE AND SHARE SOME OF THE WORK, UM, OF THE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT, UM, RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY TEAM.
[00:05:01]
SCRUGGS.MY PRONOUNS ARE HE, HIM, UM, AND I SERVE AS THE RACIAL AND HEALTH EQUITY PROGRAM MANAGER WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
AS I GO THROUGH TODAY'S PRESENTATION, PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE, UM, FOR ME TO ADDRESS AT THE END OF THE PRESENTATION.
AS MENTIONED BEFORE, UM, THE PRESENTATION IS RELATIVELY BRIEF.
SO, UM, THE PRESENTATION IS RELATIVELY BRIEF AS REFERENCED ON THE SCREEN DURING THIS PRESENTATION, I'LL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE OVERVIEW OF THE RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY, UM, TEAM.
I WOULD THEN SHARE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR PROGRAM AND INITIATIVES, AND THEN CONCLUDE WITH THE OPPORTUNITY FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
SO, WITHIN THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT, THE RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY TEAM PROVIDES SERVICES BY WAY OF THE COLLECTIVE IMPACTS BUREAU.
THE COLLECTIVE IMPACT BUREAU IS LED BY A MANAGER, ERICA VALENCIA ACI, WHO'S HERE WITH US.
UM, AND THE RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY TEAM IS INTENTIONAL IN REGARDS TO PROVIDING SERVICES THAT ARE DIRECTLY ALIGNED TO THE BUREAU'S MISSION STATEMENT, WHICH IS CENTERING COMMUNITY VOICE AND ENGAGE, UPLIFT AND BUILD STRONG PARTNERSHIPS TO CO-CREATE SYSTEMIC CHANGES THAT ADVANCE EQUITY AND ADDRESS CRITICAL NEEDS FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH, INDIVIDUALS, AND FAMILIES.
AS A REGIONAL HEALTH EQUITY TEAM WAS ESTABLISHED JUST A LITTLE UNDER TWO YEARS AGO, WE CAME TOGETHER TO DEVELOP OUR COMMITMENT TO SERVICE AS A COLLECTIVE TEAM TO FULFILL OUR HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S MISSION AND TO ALIGN OUR EFFORTS TO THE COLLECTIVE IMPACT BUREAU'S MISSION.
THE REGIONAL HEALTH EQUITY TEAM COMMITS TO CHAMPION COMMUNITY INTEREST AND NEEDS WHILE SERVING AS PARTNERS WHO PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTH EQUITY AND ADDRESS THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH TO ENSURE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITIES TO LIVE A HEALTHY LIFE.
AS DISPLAYED ON THE SCREEN, OUR EFFORTS AS A COLLECTIVE TEAM ARE LED BY OUR CORE FOUR VALUES.
WE PRIDE OURSELVES IN THE WORK THAT WE DO AND VALUES THAT HOLD US ACCOUNTABLE TO OUR COMMITMENT.
SO THE RACIAL AND HEALTH EQUITY TEAM DOES CONSIST OF ONE PROGRAM MANAGER MYSELF, SIX HEALTH EQUITY COORDINATORS, AND A DATA ANALYST.
EACH HEALTH EQUITY COORDINATOR SERVES A SPECIFIC RACIAL OR CULTURAL, UM, POPULATION THAT IS TRULY REPRESENTATIVE OF OUR DIVERSE LONG BEACH COMMUNITY.
JUST TO PUT A FACE TO NAME, YOU'LL SEE SHERE THOMPSON, THE RACIAL AND HEALTH EQUITY DATA ANALYST, SEATED IN THE CHAIR TO YOUR RIGHT, BUT BEHIND HER IS KEVIN HATCHER, OUR BLACK HEALTH EQUITY COORDINATOR.
NEXT TO HIM IS MARIELLA DE RIVERA, OUR MULTICULTURAL HEALTH EQUITY COORDINATOR.
NEXT TO HER IS DIEGO GABO, OUR FORMER LATINX HEALTH EQUITY COORDINATOR.
THAT VACANCY IS PENDING TO BE FILLED, AND NEXT TO HIM IS NICOLE'S SON, WHO IS OUR CAMBODIAN HEALTH EQUITY COORDINATOR.
FOLLOWING HER IS, UM, FOLLOWING HER IS OUR, UH, HAROLD DE CRUZ, WHO IS OUR FILIPINO, NATIVE HAWAIIAN, AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS HEALTH EQUITY COORDINATOR.
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, WHO IS NOT PICTURED HERE IS RYAN MAGANINI, WHO SERVES AS OUR L-G-B-T-Q-I TWO S HEALTH TWO S PLUS HEALTH EQUITY COORDINATOR.
HE IS THE MOST RECENT ADDITION TO OUR TEAM.
SO, MOVING ON TO HIGHLIGHT IN SOME OF OUR PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FACILITATE WITHIN THE LAST TWO YEARS, I WOULD LIKE TO START WITH THE HEALTH EQUITY COMMUNITY PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE CDC.
THIS PROJECT ALLOWED FOR COORDINATED INVESTMENTS BACK INTO OUR COMMUNITIES TO PROVIDE MORE COVID-19 RELATED HEALTH AND WELLNESS SERVICES.
WE ESTABLISHED CONTRACTS WITH 24 COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, TOTALING A LITTLE OVER $3 MILLION TO PROVIDE HEALTHCARE SERVICES IN CATEGORIES SUCH AS CHRONIC DISEASE, ECONOMIC OCCLUSION AND RESILIENCY, MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT OR TRAUMA-INFORMED RESPONSES, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ENGAGEMENT, SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION, MEETING BASIC NEEDS, AND PARENT AND CHILD HEALTH.
DUE TO THE SUCCESS OF THE FIRST ROUND OF FUNDING, WE RECENTLY AWARDED ADDITIONALLY, 80 $800,000 TO 14 COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS FOR THE HEALTH EQUITY COMMUNITY PROJECTS ROUND TWO, WHICH WAS PARTLY FUNDED BY ARPA AND THE RACIAL RECONCILIATION FUNDING.
SO THE UNPRECEDENTED RESPONSE AND THE FULFILLING, UM, THE FULFILLING RESPONSE FROM OUR COMMUNITY AFFIRMED THAT THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT DEFINITELY WAS TAKING GREAT STRIDES IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TOWARDS BUILDING RAPPORT AND PARTNERSHIP WITH THE COMMUNITY THAT WE SERVE.
WE ALSO FACILITATED THE BLACK MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM, WHICH AIMS TO INCREASE THE ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH CARE BY CONNECTING UNINSURED AND UNDERINSURED LONG BEACH BLACK RESIDENTS EXPERIENCING NEGATIVE MENTAL HEALTH AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH.
OUR EFFORTS TO CONNECT CULTURALLY AFFIRMING, AFFIRMING QUALITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AT NO COST TO BLACK RESIDENTS BY PROVIDING EXTENSIONS TO EXTENSIONS TO EXISTING CONTRACTS AND RECRUITING ADDITIONAL BLACK MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS WERE DEEMED SUCCESSFUL WITH OVER 400 INDIVIDUALS MENTAL.
WITH THE, WITH OVER 400 INDIVIDUAL MENTAL HEALTH SESSIONS FACILITATED AND OVER 150 INDIVIDUALS SERVED, WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES WHILE IDENTIFYING BARRIERS TO WORK TO MITIGATE THEM.
[00:10:04]
NEXT IS OUR PRO COMMUNITY HEALTH CHAMPIONS PROGRAM.THE PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE TRAINING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY TAILORED EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS AND FUNDING TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS TO IMPLEMENT OR EXPAND PROMOTOR COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMS. ADDITIONALLY, THIS PROGRAM AIMS TO EMPOWER COMMUNITY NAVIGATORS, CARE COORDINATORS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CHAMPIONS WHO ARE TRUSTED PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNITY TO PROMOTE, TO PROMOTE EDUCATION AND WELLNESS OPPORTUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE LONG BEACH COMMUNITY.
WE ARE PROUD TO HAVE PARTNERED WITH SIX ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE UNDERGONE TRAINING THROUGH OUR CONTRACTED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PARTNERSHIP, AND NOW READY TO PROVIDE MORE HEALTH EQUITY RESOURCES AND EDUCATION TO OUR COMMUNITY.
SO CURRENTLY WE ARE CONDUCTING SEVERAL COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENTS, UTILIZING A COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
THE COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT SEEKS TO IDENTIFY COMMUNITY STRENGTH AND SERVICE GAPS RELATED TO HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF LONG BEACH, HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS WITH THE PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON THE EFFECTS OF COVID-19 ON THE COMMUNITY, WE ARE APPROACHING THE COMPLETION OF THE FINAL REPORT FOR THE FILIPINO COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT, AND HAVE BEGUN IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CAMBODIAN NATIVE HAWAIIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS LGBTQ I TWOS PLUS, AND THE BLACK COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT TO GAIN SUPPORT, COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE FOR THE RESEARCH PROJECT.
THE RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY TEAM FORMED VARIOUS CULTURALLY TAILORED COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUPS CONSISTING OF VARIOUS COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS WHO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE VIEWS OF THE COMMUNITIES THAT THEY SERVE.
THE COMMUNITIES ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESEARCH PROJECTS, RECRUITMENT FOR THE STUDY, ANALYSIS OF THE REPORT, I'M SORRY, ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS.
AND FINALLY TAKE AN ACTION WITH THE RESULTS OF SHARING BY SHARING THEM WITH COMMUNITY AND DEVELOPING STRATEGIES WITH CITY LEADERS TO PROMOTE HEALTH EQUITY IN THE COMMUNITY.
AS DATA IS COMPLETED, IT WILL BE SHARED VIA OUR HEALTH EQUITY DASHBOARD, WHICH IS SET TO BE AVAILABLE PUBLICLY BY THE END OF THE SECOND QUARTER.
ALL RIGHT, SO WHILE THE RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY TEAM IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING OUTREACH SERVICES AND SUPPORT TO OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, WE ARE ALSO, WE ALSO RECOGNIZE AND VALUED IMPORTANCE OF INTERNAL TRANSFORMATION AND CO-CREATING SYSTEMIC CHANGES THAT ADVANCE EQUITY AND ADDRESS CRITICAL NEEDS WITHIN THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT ULTIMATELY IMPACTING OUR COMMUNITY.
OUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO SYSTEMIC CHANGE ARE IN, IN OUR FACILITATION OF REGULAR RACIAL EQUITY, ONE-ON-ONE TRAININGS FOR THEIR, FOR OUR DEPARTMENT STAFF, ENSURING WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS TOWARDS OUR EQUITY GOALS OUTLINED IN OUR DEPARTMENT STRATEGICS PLAN, ASSISTANCE TO FULFILLED ASSIGNED HEALTH DEPARTMENT DELIVERABLES OUTLINED IN THE FRAMEWORK FOR REC RACIAL RECONCILIATION, AND DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING AN EQUITY ACTION PLAN AS A RESULT OF OUR PARTICIPATION IN AN ANTI-RACIST RESULTS BASED ACCOUNTABILITY TRAINING.
FINALLY, WE ANTICIPATE THE LUNCH OF OUR RACIAL AND HEALTH EQUITY WORK GROUP, WHICH HAS BEEN KINDLY FUNDED BY OUR CALIFORNIA ACCOUNTABLE ACCOUNTABLE COMMUNITIES FOR HEALTH INITIATIVE.
THE WORK GROUP WILL INCLUDE NINE TO 11 TRUSTWORTHY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE LONG BEACH COMMUNITY AND THEIR RESPECTIVE SECTORS.
THEIR EVALUATION OF THE LONG BEACH DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PROCESSES, POLICIES, PROCEDURES, SERVICES, AND SERVICE DELIVERIES WILL INCREASE COMMUNITY TRUST WITHIN THE CITY'S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.
WE DESIRE AN EQUITABLE REPRESENTATION OF THE LONG BEACH POPULATION, INCLUDING PEOPLE FROM MANY ETHNIC GROUPS, NEIGHBORHOODS AND BACKGROUNDS.
IT IS CRITICAL TO THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S WORK THAT THIS WORK GROUP BE MADE UP OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE, WORK, AND DESIRE TO CREATE CHANGE IN THE LONG BEACH COMMUNITY.
MEMBERS OF THE WORK GROUP, REGARDLESS OF THEIR EDUCATION LEVEL, LANGUAGE PREFERENCE OR TITLE, UM, HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE, UM, SHARE THEIR IDEAS OF CHANGE AND INFLUENCE WITHIN OUR CITY.
THE WORK GROUP IS DESIGNED, UM, THE WORK GROUP DESIGN, WHICH, UM, WHICH CENTERS COMMUNITY INPUT AND WORK ACROSS THE MANY SECTORS OF OUR COMMUNITIES WILL AIM TO ALIGN DIVERSE SYSTEMS AROUND HEALTH EQUITY AND EMPHASIZE THE GOALS THAT ARE MOST SIGNIFICANT TO OUR LONG BEACH COMMUNITY.
I'M SORRY, I JUST NOTICED I DIDN'T GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, BUT THERE IT'S ALL RIGHT.
GOING TO THE VERY LAST SLIDE HERE, WHICH IS JUST THE CLOSING REMARKS HERE.
SO THIS CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATION THAT I HAVE FOR YOU ALL, UM, TODAY.
I WELCOME ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
IF THERE'S ANY INFORMATION I CANNOT PROVIDE TO YOU TODAY, I DO, UM, I WILL MAKE SURE THAT I FOLLOW UP WITH YOU WITH THOSE DETAILS.
REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR ROBUST, UM, UM, PRESENTATION.
UH, I MYSELF DO HAVE SOME FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS, BUT I'D RATHER MY, MY ROUTINE IS USUALLY DEFER TO COMMISSIONERS FIRST IN CASE HE REPEATS, AND THEN I USUALLY
[00:15:01]
GO LAST.SO ARE THERE, THERE QUESTIONS FROM FELLOW COMMISSIONERS? I'M SORRY.
BEFORE WE DO QUESTIONS, CAN WE, UH, GO TO PUBLIC COMMENT? OF COURSE.
UM, IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER TWO IN PERSON, PLEASE LINE UP AT THE PODIUM AT THIS TIME.
AND IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS IN THE ZOOM THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER TWO, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FEATURE NOW, OR DIAL STAR NINE.
IF CALLING IN, WE HAVE, UM, ONE IN THE ZOOM BILL.
SO I JUST WANTED TO MENTION THAT, UM, I'M A MEMBER OF THE UNITARIAN CHURCH OF THE LONG BEACH.
I'M A CO-CHAIR FOR THE L-G-B-T-Q CAUCUS, AND WE'VE BEEN DOING A LOT OF EDUCATION FOR THE L-G-B-T-Q MEMBERSHIP AT THE UNITARIAN CHURCH.
UM, BUT I'M ALSO ATTEND MANY OF THE MEN'S GROUPS AT THE, OR LONG BEACH, L-G-B-T-Q CENTER.
SO WE'RE GOING AHEAD AND CLOSING SOME OF THESE INEQUITIES THAT SOME OF THE L-G-B-T-Q OLDER EXPERIENCING.
WE FORMED OUR OWN AD HOC COMMITTEE, WHICH WILL BE ADDRESSING VARIOUS HEALTH DISPARITIES AND EDUCATING THEM.
WE'LL BE OPENING THE FORUMS TO THE PUBLIC AS WELL.
UH, ON ALSO JUST A COMMENT TO JEREMY, UM, AT THE 26TH OF THIS MONTH, WHICH IS THE LAST TUESDAY MONTH, I'LL BE DOING A WORKSHOP FOR THE GERONTOLOGY 200 CLASS OF CAL STATE UNIVERSITY OF LONG BEACH.
I DEFINITELY PLAN ON INVITING RYAN TO ATTEND THAT WORKSHOP.
HE IS INTERESTED IN LEARNING ABOUT HOW I ADDRESS GERONTOLOGY PROGRAM ON THE CHALLENGES OF AGING AS AN L-G-B-T-Q OLDER DOLL IN THE CITY OF LONG BEACH.
THAT CONCLUDES PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEM NUMBER TWO IN THE ZOOM AND ALSO IN PERSON.
UM, SO WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO FELLOW COMMISSIONERS WITH QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS.
UH, LET ME MOVE MY SCREEN AND MAKE SURE I QUEUE UP CORRECTLY HERE.
ANY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS WANT TO QUEUE UP FOR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? I SEE ONE AND ITEM NUMBER TWO, UM, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON.
DO YOU SEE THAT CHAIR? I DON'T, BUT I, I BELIEVE I TRUST YOU.
SO, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON, AND I'LL FIGURE OUT THIS SCREEN IN A SECOND.
UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH JEREMY, FOR PROVIDING THIS, UH, ROBUST, UH, PRESENTATION.
I THINK, UH, THE WORK THAT YOU AND YOUR TEAM DOES IS VITAL TO THE, UM, LIVELIHOOD FOR OUR COMMUNITIES.
AND I AM ACTUALLY REALLY, UM, HAPPY THAT THIS TEAM EVEN EXISTS AND THAT THIS CITY OF LONG BEACH, UM, IS PROVIDING INVESTMENTS, UH, IN PROVIDING SUPPORTS TO THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES THAT YOU SERVE.
UM, SO I DO HAVE, UH, FIVE QUESTIONS.
SO I'LL READ THEM OFF
UH, SO THE FIRST QUESTION, UM, BECAUSE THIS IS A FAIRLY NEW TEAM, UH, HOW CAN THE COMMUNITY LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR WORK? UM, IS THERE A SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE THAT FOLKS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO OR A NEWSLETTER THAT PEOPLE CAN SIGN ON TO TO LEARN ABOUT THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS THAT YOU ALL ARE OFFERING? UH, IN REGARDS TO THE COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT, UH, I'M ALL ABOUT HAVING DATA, UM, LIVE FOREVER AND ACTUALLY BE USED AS THINGS THAT STUDENTS CAN, UM, CITE IN THE FUTURE.
SO MY QUESTION IS FOR THE COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENTS, UM, ARE THEY CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH AN IRB APPROVAL PROCESS, UH, SO THAT THEY CAN BE CITED FOR FUTURE USE? UM, YOU HAD MADE MENTION OF THE COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENTS, UH, AND WORKING WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, UH, FOR THE NEW ONES THAT ARE COMING OUT.
HOW CAN COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS CONTACT YOUR OFFICE MAYBE APPLY TO SUPPORT, UH, THE NEEDS ASSESSMENTS, UH, THAT ARE COMING OUT? UH, AND THEN AT MY TWO FINAL QUESTIONS, UM, IS WHAT COMES AFTER THE ASSESSMENTS? UH, IN MY PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE, UM, IN SUPPORTING THE WORK OF THE, THE OFFICE OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, A SIMILAR ASSESSMENT HAS HAD COME OUT AND IT TURNED INTO A STRATEGIC PLAN, WHICH THEN TURNED INTO THE OFFICE OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT.
UH, AND THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL EXAMPLES IN THE PAST, SO IT WOULD BE REALLY GREAT TO HEAR WHAT COMES AFTER THE ASSESSMENTS.
UH, AND THEN MY FINAL QUESTION, UM, WHICH IS REALLY PERTAINING TO US AS A ROLE, AS A COMMISSION.
UH, WHAT GAPS OR BARRIERS DO YOU AND YOUR TEAM SEE, UH, AS A NEED, UH, FROM SUPPORT FROM CITY COUNCIL? SO WE ARE, AS ARE AN ADVISORY BODY TO COUNCIL, AND
[00:20:01]
WE CAN RECOMMEND SPECIFIC INITIATIVES FOR THE COUNCIL TO TAKE ON.HOW CAN WE SUPPORT THE WORK THAT YOU ALL ARE DOING? THANK YOU.
SO I'LL ANSWER A COUPLE OF THEM THAT I DEFINITELY, UM, HAVE SOME RESPONSES TO.
UM, BUT IN REGARDS TO YOUR FIRST QUESTION, HOW CAN THE TEAM, UM, CAN, HOW CAN PEOPLE LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WORK? SO WE, UM, WE DO TRY TO POST MOST OF OUR INFORMATION, ANYTHING THAT WE'RE DOING FROM OUR TEAM, UM, THROUGH OUR HEALTH DEPARTMENT, UM, INSTAGRAM PAGE.
UM, AND WE ALSO TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT ANYTHING THAT'S SIGNIFICANT IN TERMS OF WHAT OUR TEAM IS DOING, UM, IF IT'S PRESS RELEASE WORTHY, WE MAKE SURE WE TRY TO GET THAT OUT.
BUT WE ALSO ARE ESTABLISHING A, A WEBSITE AT THE CURRENT MOMENT.
UM, WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A, A PLACE, UM, A INTERNET HOME SO PEOPLE CAN BE ABLE TO ACCESS INFORMATION MUCH MORE READILY, UM, UH, IN REGARDS TO THE NEW UPDATES IN RE UH, FOR OUR RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY TEAM.
SO WE'RE LOOKING TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THAT, UM, COMPLETED.
WE'RE ALMOST ABOUT THERE, UM, GETTING THE WEBSITE COMPLETED.
UM, BUT THAT DEFINITELY IS ANOTHER SPACE.
UM, WE ALSO DO HAVE LISTSERVS, UM, NEWS LIST LISTSERVS, AND SO I WOULD BE HAPPY TO MAKE SURE THAT RYAN IS, UM, PUTTING THAT OUT THERE MORE FREQUENTLY SO PEOPLE CAN KNOW ABOUT THE LISTSERV.
SO WHEN NEW INFORMATION COMES ABOUT IN REGARDS TO THE LGBTQI PLUS COORDINATE, UM, COMMUNITY OR ANY OTHER, UM, UH, THE COMMUNITIES, WE CAN DEFINITELY MAKE SURE THAT THAT INFORMATION IS GETTING OUT TO THE APPROPRIATE PEOPLE.
UM, THAT'S LOOKING FOR THAT INFORMATION.
UH, NUMBER TWO IS, UM, ARE WE GOING THROUGH AN IRB PROCESS? AND THE ANSWER IS YES, WE ARE GOING THROUGH A IRB PROCESS TO GET THESE, UM, COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENTS, UM, THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
AND THAT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIMING AND, AND JUST COORDINATION WITH OUR ACADEMIC PARTNER OVER AT CAL STATE LONG BEACH, WHO'S HELPING US.
UM, AND THEN THE RFP PROPOSAL, UM, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? OR WHAT HAPPENS AFTER? I'M, I'M NOT SURE IF I MISSED YOUR, YOUR THIRD QUESTION.
OH, YOU ASKED ABOUT HOW CAN PEOPLE GET INVOLVED, THOSE THAT ARE NEW, UM, IN THE CITY, HOW CAN THEY GET INVOLVED WITH THE, UM, THE EFFORTS FROM OUR TEAM? UM, WE DO, WE ARE LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, AND SO WE DO PUT UP RFPS FOR THOSE COMM COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS TO SIT, UM, ON THOSE COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARDS.
IF WE, UM, IF, IF WE ORGANIZE A COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SPECIFICALLY THROUGH OUR RFP PROCESS, UM, WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO, UH, WE'RE TRYING TO BE MINDFUL OF IS HOW TO BE CULTURALLY, UM, SENSITIVE TO HOW WE ENGAGE OUR COMMUNITIES.
AND SO WE ARE TAKING A LOT OF, UM, FEEDBACK FROM OUR COMMUNITY AS TO HOW THEY WANT TO FORM THESE COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARDS.
AND SO FOR THE LGBTQ I TWOS PLUS, WE ARE DOING A-A-R-F-P PROCESS WHERE THOSE THAT WANT TO BE A PART OF THAT ADVISORY BOARD OR THAT SURVEY OR COLLECTING SURVEYS, UM, HAVE TO APPLY THROUGH THAT RFP PROCESS.
AND THEN YOUR OTHER QUESTION IS, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AFTER THE ASSESSMENT? UM, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT, UM, IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF ALL OF OUR CONVERSATIONS.
UM, AFTER THE ASSESSMENT, WE'RE LOOKING TO, UM, LIKE THE FILIPINO COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT, WE DID HAVE AN EQUITY ROUND TABLE, I'M SORRY, ACTION ROUND TABLE TO DISCUSS WHAT WE FOUND IN THESE ACTUAL SURVEYS.
AND THEN WE STRATEGIZE WITH OUR CITY LEADERS AND FIGURED OUT WHAT, UM, STEPS CAN WE TAKE TO ACTUALLY TAKE THIS DATA AND MAKE IT MAKE IT ACTIONABLE.
UM, SO THAT IS THE SAME THING THAT WE'RE HOPING TO DO FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE COMMUNITY ADVISOR.
I'M SORRY, COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENTS.
BUT AGAIN, WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE STAYING VERY CULTURALLY SENSITIVE TO HOW OUR COMMUNITY IS ADVISING US TO DO THIS.
AND SO WE ARE TAKING LEAD FROM OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS IN REGARDS TO WHAT ACTIONS TO TAKE AFTER THE, UM, ACTUAL ASSESSMENT.
AND THEN YOUR FINAL QUESTION, WHAT GAPS? UM, THAT'S SOMETHING I DEFINITELY WANT TO, UM, CONSULT ALSO WITH BRIAN.
UM, WE HAVE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF OUR CHALLENGES.
I KNOW INITIALLY, UM, THE THINGS THAT COME UP IN WHAT WE'VE LEARNED FOR THE FILIPINO COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT IS THE SUSTAINABILITY, UM, OF THESE, UM, COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENTS.
SO WHAT HAPPENS AFTER WE'VE DONE THIS WHEN WE KNOW IT'S GRANT FUNDED, THAT'S WHY WE'RE ABLE TO DO IT.
BUT THEN WHAT HAPPENS AFTER, UM, THREE TO FIVE YEARS, UM, WE DON'T HAVE A SUSTAINABLE SOURCE TO A FINANCIAL SOURCE TO BE ABLE TO AFFIRM OUR COMMUNITIES THAT THIS IS NOT JUST A ONE-OFF.
RIGHT? AND THAT IS A QUESTION THAT COME UP IN OUR FILIPINO COMMUNITY.
THEY ASK, HOW ARE WE SURE THAT YOU ALL ARE INVESTING IN US, UM, HOW WE SHARE THAT THIS IS GONNA BE AN UPDATED SOURCE OF DATA FOR US, UM, IN THE FUTURE AND NOT JUST A ONE-OFF.
SO I DEFINITELY CAN SAY THAT THAT IS ONE OF THE CONCERNS THAT HAVE COME UP, AND I'M SURE IT WILL COME UP FOR THE REST OF OUR, UM, COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENTS, JUST IN TERMS OF THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THESE FUNDS.
UM, JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTEXT, UM, WE WERE ABLE TO DO THE FILIPINO COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT WITH AROUND ABOUT $45,000.
UM, AND SO OF COURSE, DEPENDING ON THE POPULATION SIZE, THAT CAN VARY, UM, DEPENDING ON HOW, HOW MANY PEOPLE WE'RE TRYING TO OUTREACH TO AND WHAT SOURCES NEEDED TO, TO COMPLETE THAT.
ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FROM FELLOW COMMISSIONERS? OKAY.
I'M GONNA THEN TAKE A PAGE HERE OUT OF, UH, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON.
JUST, JUST A COUPLE, COUPLE OF QUESTIONS STARTING WITH, UH, UH, BROAD HERE.
UM, CURIOUS TO KNOW WHAT WORK PERHAPS INTERSECTS WITH
[00:25:01]
OUR OWN OFFICE OF EQUITY HERE, JUST KIND OF OUR, FOR OUR OWN KNOWLEDGE BASE.UM, SINCE, UH, EQUITY IS REALLY THE BREAD AND BUTTER OF WHAT WE DO, NOT ONLY AS A BODY, BUT IN CONCERT WITH THE OFFICE OF EQUITY.
UH, BUT I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY ENRICHING KNOWLEDGE FOR ALL OF US HERE.
THE SECOND QUESTION IS, I'M VERY GLAD THAT YOU MENTIONED ANTI-RACISM, UM, AS A CORNERSTONE OF THE WORK THAT YOU DO.
UM, AND I'M NOT LOOKING FOR A TEXTBOOK DEFINITION, JUST MAYBE MORE OF A CONVERSATION AS MUCH AS WE CAN WITH THIS PARTICULAR INSTITUTION.
JUST WHAT, HOW ARE YOU DEFINING ANTI-RACISM? HOW, UH, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT DISCOURSES ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? JUST SO WE ALSO KNOWLEDGEABLE ON THAT.
AND THEN, UM, THE THIRD ONE, I KNEW I HAD A THIRD OH, DASHBOARD, THE LOVE DATA.
UH, WHAT TYPE OF DATA ARE YOU ANTICIPATING FOR THIS, UH, DASHBOARD? AND YOU SAID IT'S THE END OF SECOND QUARTER, SO I'D IMAGINE JUNE.
SO AROUND THAT AND, AND WE'RE, WE'RE TESTING IT OUT RIGHT NOW.
SO, UM, WE ARE LOOKING TO HAVE THAT, UM, UP AND READY FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION BY THE END OF THE SECOND QUARTER.
UM, BUT TO, TO ADDRESS YOUR QUESTIONS AT THE VERY TOP, WHAT WORK, UM, INTERSECTS WITH THE OFFICE OF EQUITY? WE DO A LOT OF WORK, UM, WITH THE OFFICE OF EQUITY IN REGARDS TO, UM, FIGURING OUT HOW WE CAN BLEND SOME OF OUR EFFORTS TO, UM, NOT ONLY DO INTERNAL TRANSFORMATION, BUT ALSO MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE DOING, UM, THE EXTERNAL WORK AS WELL WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS.
AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO, UM, WE DO HAVE, UM, ALL EQUITY STAFF MEETINGS WHERE ALL OF OUR EQUITY TEAM MEMBERS FROM THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND ALSO THE RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY TEAM, WE COME TOGETHER, WE TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC, UM, CHALLENGES THAT WE MAY BE HAVE FACED, UM, IN OUR TEAM'S PERSPECTIVE, DIFFERENT TEAM'S PERSPECTIVES.
AND THEN WE ALSO, UM, HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF JUST ADDRESS AND BRAINSTORM WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN COLLECTIVELY WORK TO ADDRESS, UM, SOME OF THE EQUITY DISPARITIES WITHIN OUR COMMUNITIES.
AND SO, UM, WE RECENTLY WAS A PART OF THE FIRST COHORT OF THE ANTI-RACIST RBA TRAINING.
UM, AND SO I THINK WE ALSO, THROUGH THE OFFICE OF EQUITY, UM, WE HOST THE RACIAL HEALTH EQUITY, UM, SORRY, THE RACIAL EQUITY ONE-ON-ONE TRAININGS.
AND SO THOSE TRAININGS ARE TRAININGS THAT WE, UM, PROVIDE TO OUR WHOLE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT TO HELP ENSURE THAT WE HAVE A COMMON LANGUAGE AROUND WHAT ACTUAL, UM, COMMON LANGUAGE AROUND EQUITY AND WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, AND COMMON LANGUAGE AROUND CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE AND DISPARITIES AND EQUITY ISSUES WITHIN OUR CITY.
AND SO WE TRY TO GROUND EVERYONE WITH THIS LEVEL OF JUST HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE THAT WE ALL LEAST HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING FOUNDATIONALLY OF SOME OF THE TOPICS AND CONCERNS, UM, THAT IS ROOTED IN WHITE SUPREMACY CULTURE AND ANTI-RACISM.
AND SO THAT RACIAL EQUITY ONE-ON-ONE TRAINING IS, UM, VERY FUNDAMENTAL IN WHAT WE DO, UM, IN THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN TERMS OF, UM, INTERNAL TRANSFORMATION, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY CONNECTED TO, UM, THE OFFICE OF EQUITIES INITIATIVES.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT I CAN SAY, WE DO A LOT OF CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS, UM, ALONGSIDE WITH THE OFFICE OF EQUITY.
AND SO WHEN WE HAVE, UM, DIFFERENT TYPES OF CELEBRATIONS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, UM, WE'RE OFTENTIMES PARTNERING WITH OUR EQUITY, UM, OFFICE OF EQUITY TEAM TO SHOW REPRESENTATION IN THAT.
UM, BUT I THINK THE OTHER PART THAT, UM, I'M PROBABLY NOT TO ABLE TO SPEAK TO IN MUCH DEPTH, BUT, UM, OUR HEALTH DEPARTMENT TEAM, UM, OUR BUREAU MANAGER ACTUALLY WORKS A LOT CLOSELY WITH ALANA AND ALSO THERESA CHAND CHANDLER, UM, ON A LOT OF, UM, HIGHER LEVEL TYPES OF, UM, CONCERNS WITHIN THE CITY.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF INTERSECTION, THERE'S A LOT OF BLENDING THAT HAPPENS.
UM, WE'RE STILL FIGURING OUT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AS OUR TEAM IS LITTLE UNDER TWO YEARS, UM, OLD.
AND SO WE'RE STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT OUR FOOTING IS LIKE.
AND SO, UM, THAT'S JUST ONE, THERE'S A COUPLE OF WAYS IN WHICH WE INTERSECT OUR WORK.
UM, YOU MENTIONED THE ANTI-RACIST DEFINITION AND HOW WE'RE DEFINING THAT.
UM, ANTI-RACISM, THE ANTI-RACIST RBA TRAINING DEFINITELY IS ROOTED IN JUST DISCOVERING AND UNDERSTANDING WHAT ACTUAL ARE RACIAL, UM, WHAT ARE THE RACIAL OPPRESSIVE SYSTEMS THAT ARE EMBEDDED WITHIN OUR, UM, WITHIN OUR CITY, UH, POLICIES, PRACTICES, PROCEDURES, INITIATIVES.
UM, AND SO BEING ABLE TO HIGHLIGHT WHAT THOSE THINGS ARE, BEING ABLE TO CALL THOSE THINGS OUT SPECIFICALLY, UM, AND SOMETHING THAT WE ARE CHARGED TO DO AND THAT WE HAVE TO, UM, TAKE VERY SERIOUSLY IF WE ARE REALLY TRYING TO MAKE SYSTEMIC CHANGE.
AND SO FOR US, DEFINING ANTI-RACISM IS ANYTHING THAT IS, UM, THAT IS STANDING AND, UM, CONFRONTING AND COMBATING OPPRESSIVE SYSTEMS TO HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED AND UNDERREPRESENTED FOLK.
SO THAT'S OUR CURRENT DEFINITION.
THAT'S MY CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF HOW WE'RE, HOW TO DEFINE ANTI-RACISM.
UM, WE ARE STILL CURRENTLY, UM, GOING THROUGH OUR DEVELOPMENT OF OUR EQUITY ACTION PLAN, LIKE FULLY ROBUSTLY, UM, BRINGING THAT INTO A PHYSICIAN.
AND SO WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING HOW THAT IS IMPLEMENTED ACROSS OUR DEPARTMENT.
AND I DIDN'T CATCH YOUR LAST QUESTION.
I'M SURE IF I, OH, YOU ASKED ABOUT THE DASHBOARD, WAS THAT RIGHT? YEAH.
AND YOU KIND OF ANSWERED SOME STUFF, BUT IF THERE'S OTHER EXAMPLES ON, ON, ON THAT DASHBOARD, JUST SO WHEN WE COME AROUND PROBABLY JUNE, JULY YEAH.
WE CAN HAVE A HEADS UP OF WHAT TYPE OF DATA TO EXPECT.
[00:30:01]
SO WITHIN THE HEALTH EQUITY DASHBOARD, ALL THE COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT THAT WE'RE COMPLETING CURRENTLY, UM, THAT INFORMATION WILL BE UPDATED INTO THE EQUITY, UH, THE HEALTH EQUITY DASHBOARD ALONGSIDE A LOT OF THE OTHER DATA THAT WE HAVE THAT'S JUST, UM, THAT'S BEEN HERE, LIKE THE CHIP AND THE CHA.UM, THOSE HEALTHY, UM, HEALTHY PLACE INDEX CAN KIND OF BE IN INCORPORATED INTO THAT HEALTH EQUITY DASHBOARD.
BUT ONE OF THE REASONS WHY IT'S EVEN PROMPTED TO HAVE A HEALTH EQUITY DASHBOARD IS BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH DATA THAT'S SPECIFICALLY, UM, TARGETING SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES.
UM, AND SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CREATING COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENTS THAT ARE GETTING TO THE NUANCES OF THE LONG BEACH RESIDENTS EXPERIENCE.
AND SO THIS HEALTH EQUITY DASHBOARD WILL BE ABLE TO, UM, HIGHLIGHT THE INEQUITIES WITHIN OUR CITY AND ALSO JUST SHOW THE SCRIMS, UM, THAT WE HAVE RIGHT HERE IN OUR CITY.
SO THAT'S WHAT YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD TO WITHIN THE HEALTH EQUITY DASHBOARD.
AND AGAIN, IT'S A NEW, IT'S A NEW THING.
IT MAY BE SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO DO MANY ITERATIONS OF, BUT THAT'S WHAT WE'RE STARTING.
YOU JUST REMINDED ME OF SOMETHING, THEN I WOULD BE REMISS AND ASK, AND I TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY WHEN IT COMES.
AND I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF YOU ALREADY HAD DISCUSSIONS ON THIS WHEN IT COMES TO THE LATINX COMMUNITY.
IT'S AN ETHNICITY THAT GETS RACIALIZED.
UH, ARE, ARE YOU ABLE TO DESEGREGATE IT INTO OWN GROUP AND FURTHER DESEGREGATE IT INTO INDIGENOUS LATINX OR THE, AND, AND THESE OTHER SUBGROUPS INCLUDING AFRO-LATINOS THAT UNFORTUNATELY GET SO RENDERED INVISIBLE WITHIN THE COMMUNITIES, BUT IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO CAPTURE THAT DATA AS LIVED EXPERIENCES, UM, FOR, FOR RACE AND ETHNICITY.
I KNOW IT GETS VERY COMPLICATED.
I'M NOT TRYING TO GET INTO A LECTURE RIGHT NOW, BUT, BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE THESE NUANCED DISCUSSIONS AND UNDERSTANDING SO THAT THE DATA GETS INTERPRETED CORRECTLY, WHAT GETS CAPTURED, INTERPRETED CORRECTLY, AND THEN PRESENTED AS IDENTITIES THAT ACTUALLY GET CARRIED OUT WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.
OUR TEAM TALKS ABOUT THESE TYPES OF THINGS IN TERMS OF LIKE, HOW DO WE GET TO THE CORE OF SOMEONE'S LIVED EXPERIENCES.
IT'S ALL THE INTERSECTIONS THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY, UM, ARE ASSOCIATED WITH WITHIN OUR OWN, UM, BACKGROUND MAKEUP, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THOSE, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.
AND SO WE HAVE HAD DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW DO WE FURTHER DISAGGREGATE THE DATA THAT WE DO HAVE, AND AS WE'RE BUILDING OUT NEW DATA SETS, HOW CAN WE BE MINDFUL OF THAT ON THE FRONT END? SO AS WE'RE DEVELOPING SURVEY QUESTIONS, WE'RE ABLE TO KINDA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CAPTURING HOW PEOPLE ARE ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS AND WHO'S ANSWERING THESE QUESTIONS SO WE CAN HAVE THAT DIS DISAGGREGATED DATA.
SO WE CAN THEN FURTHER GO INTO HOW WE CAN ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE SPECIFIC NUANCES OF CHALLENGES THAT PEOPLE MAY EXPERIENCE.
UH, WE KNOW CERTAIN CHALLENGES EXIST AT PEOPLE'S CENTER, UM, AT THE INTERSECTION OF PEOPLE'S IDENTITIES.
AND OFTENTIMES WHEN WE HAVE THIS GENERAL, UM, UNDERSTANDING OF SOME GENERAL, UM, UH, AGGREGATION OF DATA, WE OFTENTIMES LEAVE OUT A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE AN CERTAIN AND, AND VERY NUANCED EXPERIENCE.
AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ENCAPSULATING AS MANY, UM, PEOPLE'S EXPERIENCES AS POSSIBLE.
I'M SURE WE CAN TALK FOR HOURS, BUT I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT FOR NOW.
UM, THANK ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS JUST ONE LAST TIME? OKAY.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
I AM, UH, VERY WELL AWARE OF THE OUTREACH THAT YOUR OFFICE HAD DONE WITH RESPECT TO THE FILIPINO HEALTH SURVEY AND THE PRESENTATION AND ROUND TABLE.
YOU HAD MENTIONED, UM, JUST A FEW MOMENTS AGO ABOUT THE PARTNERING ABOUT CULTURAL EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY.
HOW COULD WE PARTNER IN OR HOW, FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE PLANNING EVENTS, CULTURAL EVENTS, HOW DO WE CONNECT WITH YOU SO THAT WE CAN COLLABORATE ON GETTING THE WORD OUT TO THE COMMUNITY? YEAH.
I THINK ONE OF THE BEST WAYS, UM, TO REALLY JUST OUTREACH TO US AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE AWARE OF, UM, ANY TYPE OF CULTURAL CELEBRATION, MOST TIMES WE ARE ALREADY AWARE, BUT THE DETAILS OF THE PLANNING IS, UM, OFTENTIMES WHERE WE DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION.
AND SO I THINK, UM, JUST REACHING OUT TO OUR, UM, MY TEAM AND MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THE CORRECT INFORMATION TO BE ABLE TO PUT OUT TO OUR COMMUNITIES.
AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE DO HAVE LISTSERVS.
EACH ONE OF OUR COMMUNITY, UM, OUR HEALTH EQUITY COORDINATORS HAVE A SPECIFIC LISTSERV, AND WE HAVE DONE OUR DUE DILIGENCE OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS OF COLLECTING, UH, WHAT WE CALL A VIRTUAL ROLODEX OF ORGANIZATIONS.
AND SO, AND, AND ALSO THAT LISTSERV IS JUST COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
AND SO, UM, IF WE HAVE SPECIFIC INFORMATION THAT WE WANT TO GET OUT TO THOSE COMMUNITIES, MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THAT INFORMATION IN A TIMELY MANNER TO BE ABLE TO NOT ONLY PROMOTE IT ONCE, BUT MANY TIMES SO WE CAN ENSURE THAT PEOPLE HAVE THAT INFORMATION, IS HOW I THINK, UM, IS THE BEST WAY TO GET IN CONTACT WITH US AND, AND UTILIZE OUR, OUR RESOURCES LIKE THE LISTSERV TO GET THAT IN THAT WORD OUT.
AGAIN, THE COMMON THEME FOR ALL OF OUR COMMENTS WAS APPRECIATION.
SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR MAKING TIME TO, UM, SHARE WHAT YOU DO IN YOUR OFFICE AND, UH, SHARING ON BEHALF OF YOUR COLLEAGUES.
[00:35:01]
WE'RE GOING TO NOW MOVE OVER TO A VOTE, UM, ON, UM, FILING AND RECEIVING THIS, UH, PRESENTATION.SO IF I CAN DEFER TO MADAM CLERK FOR THAT PROCESS.
IF YOU DON'T SEE IT ON YOUR SCREEN, LET ME KNOW.
UM, CAN I, I'LL TAKE A VOICE, VOTE FOR YOURS.
AND COMMISSIONER FLORES, I'LL TAKE A VOICE VOTE.
WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CLOSE THE VOTE.
THANK YOU, MADAM CLERK, WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO ITEM THREE.
SO IF YOU CAN READ THAT FOR THE PUBLIC, I'D APPRECIATE IT.
[3. 24-52101-01 Recommendation to discuss and approve recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council intended to reduce recidivism of previously incarcerated community members, such as, advancing employment, workforce development, re-entry programming and similar opportunities. Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
A RECOMMENDATION TO DISCUSS AND APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL INTENDED TO REDUCE RECIDIVISM OF PREVIOUSLY INCARCERATED COMMUNITY MEMBERS, SUCH AS ADVANCING EMPLOYMENT, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, REENTRY PROGRAMMING, AND SIMILAR OPPORTUNITIES.CAN I HAVE A MOTION ON THE FLOOR TO ADVANCE THIS AGENDA ITEM? LOOKING AT MY SCREEN.
UH, COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ.
UH, I REALLY APPRECIATE, UH, THE AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR COMING BACK TO THIS BODY AND, UH, GIVING US CONCRETE RECOMMENDATIONS.
I'LL LET COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ, WHO LET THAT AD HOC WORK, DO THE REST OF THE FRAMING.
UM, COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ, THANK YOU CHAIR, AND I'LL DO MY BEST.
MY VOICE IS JUST COMING BACK, SO I'M REALLY EXCITED TO FINALLY BRING THESE FIRST SET OF RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, AROUND EMPLOYMENT AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, UM, TO REDUCE, UH, RECIDIVISM BACK TO YOU.
THIS HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING.
IF YOU ALL REMEMBER BACK IN MAY OF LAST YEAR, WE HEARD FROM, UH, RONNIE'S HOUSE AND A NUMBER OF, UM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO WERE PREVIOUSLY INCARCERATED, WHO SHARED, UH, SO MUCH OF THEIR HEART AND THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH US AROUND THIS AREA.
AND AT THAT TIME, WE COMMITTED TO FOCUSING ON REENTRY, THOUGH WE DID HAVE TO TAKE A, A SHORT PAUSE AS WE WERE FINISHING UP OUR ROADMAP AND KIND OF FIGURING OUT OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AS A COMMISSION.
SO THE AD HOC WAS FINALLY OFFICIALLY ESTABLISHED IN SEPTEMBER OF LAST YEAR.
AND IN THAT TIME, WE PARTNERED WITH RONNIE'S HOUSE AND WITH MANY, MANY, UH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS AGAIN, WHO WERE, UM, PREVIOUSLY, UM, INCARCERATED, JUST AS IMPACTED AND, AND WORKED WITH THEM.
AND, UM, TO INFORM, UM, WHAT'S BEFORE YOU TODAY.
UM, RONNIE'S HOUSE IN PARTICULAR, UM, YOU KNOW, THE WORK THAT THEY DO IS REALLY, UM, CARRYING ON A, A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE AND LEGACY OF THE LATE RONNIE SENEGAL, WHO WAS PREVIOUSLY INCARCERATED AND DEDICATED HIS TIME TO HELPING FELLOW JUSTICE IMPACTED, UM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS REINTEGRATE INTO THE COMMUNITY.
AND, UM, RONNIE'S LIFE WAS TRAGICALLY STOLEN, UM, DUE TO GUN VIOLENCE.
SO A LOT OF THIS WORK, UM, AT RONNIE'S HOUSE IN PARTICULAR, UH, IS REALLY JUST A, A, A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE TO, UM, RONNIE AND THE WORK THAT HE DID WHEN HE WAS HERE.
AND SO IN JANUARY, WE CAME BACK WITH A, UM, AN UPDATE TO SHARE, UM, SOME PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS WITH YOU.
AND, UM, ACTUALLY BASED ON THAT MEETING, UM, WE HAD LEARNED NEW INFORMATION THAT THE CITY WAS, UM, JUST UNVEILING AROUND A CIVIL SERVICE, UH, REFORM INITIATIVE.
AND THAT INFORMATION LED TO A FEW MORE MEETINGS, UM, WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE AND, AND OTHER FOLKS.
UH, AND, AND SO WE WERE, WE DID TWEAK AND REVISE THE RECOMMENDATIONS JUST A BIT.
UM, SO I DO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE IS AWARE OF THOSE CHANGES.
UM, AND THEN, UH, YOU KNOW, I ACTUALLY DO HAVE A, A SLIGHT CHANGE TO SOME OF THE WORDING, UM, IN THE LETTER THAT I WANNA, UM, PUT ON THE FLOOR AS WELL AS KIND OF A PART OF THIS OVERALL FRAMING.
UM, ACTUALLY I'LL SHARE THAT FIRST.
UM, I'M GONNA KIND OF JUST WALK THROUGH REALLY BRIEFLY WHAT THE LETTER, UM, ENTAILS, UM, JUST SO YOU ALL KIND OF ARE, WE'RE ALL ORIENTING TO IT TOGETHER.
SO JUST A, A VERY SHORT BACKGROUND RIGHT ON THE, THE, UM, ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE, WHAT THE PURPOSE WAS.
AND OF COURSE, WE KNOW IT'S, UM, IN OUR WHEELHOUSE, UH, OF THE RACIAL EQUITY AND RECONCILIATION INITIATIVE.
GOAL TWO, STRATEGY THREE, TO INCREASE COORDINATED REENTRY NETWORKS TO SUPPORT FORMERLY JUSTICE INVOLVED INDIVIDUALS AND REDUCE RECIDIVISM.
[00:40:01]
AND STRATEGY THAT WE ARE REALLY, UM, ROOTING THE, THIS AD HOCS, UH, WORK IN.AND THEN THE LETTER GOES ON TO SHARE JUST SOME STATISTICS AROUND THE MASS INCARCERATION PROBLEM THAT WE HAVE TODAY.
AND, UM, SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT FOLKS EXPERIENCE WHEN COMING BACK AND REINTEGRATING INTO SOCIETY.
AND THE, UM, THE DATA THAT YOU SEE IN THIS PROBLEM SECTION WAS DEFINITELY ECHOED AND REALLY GROUND TRUTH BY THE, UM, INDIVIDUALS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT WE SAT WITH, UM, OVER A NUMBER OF MEETINGS TO HEAR ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES.
AND THEN FINALLY, THIS CURRENT EFFORTS, UM, SECTION, THESE ARE CURRENT EFFORTS OF THE CITY OF LONG BEACH, NOT NECESSARILY ALL OF THE EFFORTS THAT ARE HAPPENING AROUND REENTRY IN ALL OF THE DIFFERENT, UM, ORGANIZATIONS, UM, THAT MAY BE WORKING IN THE CITY.
SO I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT PIECE.
UM, THAT THESE ARE CURRENT EFFORTS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THIS INSTITUTION, RIGHT? THAT WE HAVE, UM, PURVIEW OVER SHARING RECOMMENDATIONS TO.
AND ONE THING THAT I, I WANNA NOTE THAT I, UM, LEFT OUT, IT WAS NOT INTENTIONAL, BUT IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION.
I ABSOLUTELY WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IT IS REFLECTED IN HERE IS JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THE BACKGROUND AROUND, UM, THE RACIAL EQUITY, UH, AND RECONCILIATION ITSELF, AND THAT GOAL AND STRATEGY THAT CALLS OUT, UM, RECIDIVISM.
THERE WAS SOME REALLY GREAT WORK THAT WAS DONE BY MANY, MANY IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, A LOT OF THAT WAS LED BY RONNIE'S HOUSE AS WELL, UM, TO, UM, TO HOST, UH, DIFFERENT LIKE REENTRY ROUND TABLES AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT DURING THAT WHOLE INITIATIVE.
AND SO I JUST, UM, I WANNA BE ABLE TO ALSO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S REFLECTED IN THIS, UM, SHORT LITTLE HISTORY THAT I CALL OUT HERE IN THE CURRENT EFFORTS.
SO IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I CAN, UM, EASILY INSERT, IT WOULD FOLLOW THE FORMAT OF, OF, JUST AS YOU SEE HERE, CURRENT EFFORTS, A FEW SENTENCES THAT REFLECT, UM, WHAT HAPPENED DURING THOSE ROUND TABLES.
UM, SO I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT AND, UH, AND, AND INCLUDE THAT ALONG WITH THE LETTER.
AND THEN FINALLY, THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE LANDED ON.
UM, AND ACTUALLY, I'M SORRY, BEFORE I GET TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS, SOMETHING THAT I WANNA SHARE THAT WAS NOT CALLED OUT IN THE UPDATE IN JANUARY THAT I HAD ACTUALLY LEARNED A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WAS, UM, THIS LONG BEACH REENTRY ADVISORY COUNCIL.
AND, UM, AS THE AD HOC, AS THE AD HOC CONTINUES, I DO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE AD HOC IS, UM, YOU KNOW, CONTINUING TO COLLABORATE, UM, WITH THE REENTRY COUNCIL.
I THINK THEY HAVE A, A PARTICULAR AIM, AND THEY'RE DOING SOME WORK AROUND THAT.
AND I THINK THE WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING IS REALLY GONNA SUPPORT, UM, THE FIRST RECOMMENDATION IN PARTICULAR.
SO I THINK CONTINUING TO WORK WITH, UM, THE LONG BEACH REENTRY ADVISORY COUNCIL WHO IS, UH, LIKE UNDER THE LONG BEACH HEALTH DEPARTMENT, I THINK WILL BE IMPORTANT AS, UM, THAT FIRST RECOMMENDATION, UM, CONTINUES TO, UM, YOU KNOW, IS, IS HOPEFULLY IMPLEMENTED.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT I WANTED TO BRING TO EVERYONE'S ATTENTION, UM, THAT WAS BROUGHT, UM, UP AT THE JANUARY MEETING THAT WE HAD, WE HAD HEARD, I THINK JUST THE DAY BEFORE, UM, THE MAYOR ANNOUNCED A PROPOSAL TO EXPLORE THIS CIVIL SERVICE REFORM, UM, CHARTER AMENDMENT.
AND THAT AMENDMENT, UM, IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING, UM, RESEARCHED AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S GONNA, UH, POTENTIALLY GO TO THE VOTERS IN NOVEMBER, 2024.
UM, I PROVIDED SOME HYPERLINKS IN THIS LETTER THAT, UM, YOU ALL CAN READ IF YOU WANT MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON THAT PROCESS.
IN PARTICULAR, THAT PROCESS I INCLUDED IN HERE, IT, IT IS NOT, IT DOESN'T EXPLICITLY, UM, TALK ABOUT FAIR CHANCE HIRING.
UM, HOWEVER, IT PROVIDES A REALLY, UM, GREAT OPPORTUNITY, A GREAT PATHWAY, UM, TO INTEGRATE SOME OF THE FAIR CHANCE, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, PATHWAYS AND AND PRINCIPLES INTO SOME OF THE GOALS OF THAT PROPOSED AMENDMENT.
SO THAT'S WHY I DID INCLUDE THAT INFORMATION HERE.
I THINK CHAIR, UM, LAURA BROUGHT THAT UP AT THE JANUARY MEETING AND KIND OF WAIT, UH, FLAG THAT FOR US.
I THINK IT WAS, YOU FLAG THAT FOR US.
AND SO WITH THAT, UM, GROUNDING, I JUST WANNA SHARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE LANDED ON.
UM, SOME OF THESE ARE GONNA SOUND FAMILIAR FROM THE JANUARY UPDATE, BUT SOME DID CHANGE.
SO NUMBER ONE IS TO ESTABLISH A COMMUNITY-BASED REENTRY COLLABORATIVE AND RESOURCE CENTER.
AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS TO SUPPORT A MORE COORDINATED AND CONNECTED REENTRY ECOSYSTEM WITHIN THE CITY OF LONG BEACH.
THIS IS THE IDEA IS TO CREATE A SAFE PLACE THAT IS, UM, NOT NECESSARILY, UM, UNDER OUR LIKE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT, BUT
[00:45:01]
RATHER EMBEDDED IN THE COMMUNITY.UM, AND IT'S LIKE A ONE STOP LOCATION, AND THERE COULD BE SEVERAL OF THEM THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY, BUT AT THE IDEA IS OF ONE STOP SHOP FOR, UM, REENTRY SERVICES RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH, HOUSING, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, LEGAL SERVICES, COUNSELING, UM, AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
AND THIS WAS AN IDEA THAT CAME FROM THOSE, UM, JUSTICE BROWN TABLES BACK IN THE FRAMEWORK FOR RACIAL EQUITY AND RECONCILIATION.
AND IT'S A GOAL THAT THE REENTRY COUNCIL, UM, IS AWARE OF AND IS LOOKING TO SUPPORT.
SO I WANTED TO INCLUDE THIS HERE BECAUSE IT, YOU KNOW, THE MORE OF US, UH, SHARING THE NEED FOR THIS TYPE OF, UM, COLLABORATIVE AND CENTER, THE BETTER.
AND I THINK FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, AND, AND THE LENS THAT I WANNA MAKE SURE THIS COMMISSION PUTS ON THIS, IS THAT IT'S A ROOTED IN COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY BASED REENTRY COLLABORATIVE.
NUMBER TWO IS TO ADOPT A FAIR CHANCE ORDINANCE THAT AFFIRMS THE FAIR CHANCE HIRING PATHWAYS AND PRINCIPLES WITHIN THE LOCALIZED PREFERENCE, EDUCATIONAL PREFERENCE AND APPRENTICESHIP PREFERENCE GOALS OF THE CIVIL SERVICE CHARTER AMENDMENT.
AND SO, OF COURSE, IN ORDER TO ACTUALLY ENACT THIS, THE CIVIL SERVICE CHARTER AMENDMENT HAS TO PASS IN NOVEMBER.
SO I WANT, THIS IS US KIND OF GETTING AHEAD OF THE, THE GAME HERE AND, UM, YOU KNOW, PUTTING ON THE RADAR FOR THE COUNCIL FOR CITY COUNCIL THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S IMPORTANT.
UM, AND IF IT CAN'T BE INCLUDED IN THE ACTUAL AMENDMENT THAT GOES BEFORE THE VOTERS, THAT IT'S AT LEAST AN ORDINANCE THAT, UM, THE, THE COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE DISCRETION OVER, WHEREAS A CHARTER AMENDMENT IS, UM, HAS TO BE ENACTED BY THE VOTERS, IT CAN ONLY BE CHANGED BY THE VOTERS.
WHEREAS AN ORDINANCE, WE KNOW THAT CITY COUNCIL CAN, UM, YOU KNOW, VOTE AND CREATE, UH, AN ORDINANCE, UM, THAT SPECIFICALLY CALLS OUT AND PRIORITIZES THIS FAIR CHANCE, UM, KIND OF PRINCIPLES WITHIN THOSE DIFFERENT PREFERENCES THAT ARE LAID OUT IN THOSE CIVIL SERVICE CHARTER AMENDMENT GOALS.
NUMBER THREE IS TO REQUEST A STATUS UPDATE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES ON THE PROGRESS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FAIR CHANCE HIRING ACT.
AND, AND IF YOU, UM, SEE IN THE, UM, IN THE CURRENT EFFORTS SECTION, THE FAIR CHANCE, UM, ACT WAS ENACTED IN, IN JANUARY, 2018.
THIS IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE BAN THE BOX LAW.
IT WAS ENACTED TO TRY TO, UM, ADDRESS ISSUES OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST INDIVIDUALS WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS.
AND THIS LAW PROHIBITS EMPLOYERS WITH FIVE OR MORE EMPLOYEES FROM ASKING JOB APPLICANTS ABOUT THEIR CRIMINAL HISTORY UNTIL THAT CONDITIONAL OFFER IS MADE.
AND WHILE THAT'S A REALLY GREAT STEP, AND I KNOW COMMUNITY, UM, ACTIVISTS AND, AND REENTRY ACTIVISTS ADVOCATE FOR A VERY LONG TIME FOR BRAND, THE BOX, I THINK IS A GREAT FIRST STEP.
UM, HOWEVER, THERE IS STILL A LOT OF DISCRETION THAT IS ALLOWED AT THE CITY LEVEL, UM, BASED ON THE PARTICULAR DEPARTMENT, THE PARTICULAR HIRING MANAGERS.
AND SO, YES, UM, INDIVIDUALS DON'T HAVE TO DISCLOSE IT WHEN THEY APPLY, BUT THEY STILL HAVE TO GET A BACKGROUND CHECK, AND THAT BACKGROUND CHECK'S STILL GONNA COME BACK WITH THAT INFORMATION.
AND SO, NUMBER THREE, WHAT THIS IS REALLY ASKING FOR, UM, IS TO FIND OUT FROM, UM, THE CITY WHAT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS FAIR CHANCE HIRING ACT IS REALLY LOOKING LIKE.
AND LIKE, WHAT IS THE DATA? HOW MANY, UM, APPLICATIONS ARE WE RECEIVING FROM PREVIOUSLY INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS? ARE, HOW MANY CONDITIONAL OFFERS HAVE BEEN MADE ARE HAVE, HOW MANY REVOKED OFFERS HAVE BEEN MADE? WHAT WERE THEY MADE FOR? AND JUST GETTING A BETTER IDEA OF OF, UH, IS THERE MORE THAT WE CAN DO TO CREATE THOSE, UM, STRONG PATHWAYS INTO EMPLOYMENT INTO THE CITY OF LONG BEACH, UM, DESPITE FOLKS, UM, CRIMINAL RECORD.
NUMBER FOUR IS TO IMPLEMENT A FAIR CHANCE HIRING CHALLENGE.
THIS IS, UM, SOMETHING TO INCENTIVIZE, UH, LOCAL BUSINESSES TO HIRE JUSTICE IMPACTED COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND TO EDUCATE EMPLOYERS ON THE BENEFITS OF HIRING JUSTICE IMPACTED INDIVIDUALS.
AND WE WENT INTO THAT AT THE LAST UPDATE, SO I WON'T SPEAK TOO MUCH ON THAT.
NUMBER FIVE, WE ALSO, UH, TOUCHED ON LAST TIME, THIS IS TO PROMOTE INCLUSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP BY REMOVING BARRIERS TO CONTRACTING FOUND IN THE CITY CONTRACTS CLAUSES ONE AND TWO.
AND WE, UM, SHARED WHAT THOSE ARE, UM, AT THE LAST MEETING AS WELL.
AND YOU KNOW WHAT, MAYBE I'M THINKING NOW, WE SHOULD PROBABLY ADD THAT AS LIKE A, UH, AN ADDENDUM JUST SO, UM, OR AN APPENDIX, RIGHT? SO PEOPLE CAN SEE WHAT IS CONTRACTS ONE AND TWO.
UM, SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD ALSO ACTUALLY STAPLE TO THIS, UM, PACKET.
AND THEN FINALLY, UM, YOU HEARD THIS ONE AS WELL LAST TIME, PARTNER WITH PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS TO EXPAND THE CITY'S BASIC, UM, GUARANTEED BASIC INCOME PROGRAM, SPECIFICALLY TO TARGET AND SUPPORT JUSTICE IMPACT INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE PARTICIPATING IN VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMS. ONE OF THE NUMBER ONE THINGS THAT WE HEARD FROM ALL THE DIFFERENT PEOPLE WE TALKED TO WAS THAT IT, IT, YOU KNOW, WHEN FOLKS ARE COMING BACK, UM, AND REINTEGRATING
[00:50:01]
INTO THE COMMUNITY AND ARE WANTING TO, UM, YOU KNOW, JOIN DIFFERENT, UH, UM, EDUCATION PROGRAMS, VOCATIONAL PROGRAMS, SKILLS, YOU KNOW, UM, TRADE PROGRAMS, THINGS LIKE THAT, THEY, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T HAVE THE FINANCIAL MEANS TO BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY PARTICIPATE IN THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.UM, BECAUSE THEY NEED, YOU KNOW, INCOME.
NOW I THINK WE CAN ALL RELATE TO THAT, RIGHT? AND SO IT'S REALLY HARD FOR SOMEBODY TO BE ABLE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, GET AHEAD WHEN THEY'RE ALREADY SO FAR BACK.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, THIS IDEA IS WE ALREADY HAVE A GUARANTEED INCOME PROGRAM, GUARANTEED BASIC INCOME PROGRAM THAT WAS FUNDED BY, UM, PRIVATE DOLLARS BY PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS.
AND CURRENTLY THAT PROGRAM IS BEING IMPLEMENTED BY PACIFIC GATEWAY.
THE TARGET IS PREDOMINANTLY, UM, SINGLE MOTHERS, SINGLE PARENTS, UM, IN 9 0 8 1 3, YOU KNOW, CENTRAL LONG BEACH AREA.
I THINK THEY RECENTLY EXPANDED TO ANOTHER ZIP CODE AS WELL.
AND SO THE IDEA IS THAT INFRASTRUCTURE'S ALREADY THERE.
UM, CAN WE IDENTIFY PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS, OTHER PRIVATE DOLLARS WHO ARE, UM, WILLING TO, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, FUND THIS TYPE OF INITIATIVE SPECIFICALLY TO TARGET, UM, REENTRY, UH, POPULATION FOLKS.
SO WITH THAT, THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORT.
AND, UM, I THINK WE'LL GO TO PUBLIC COMMENT BEFORE WE GO TO DISCUSSION.
UM, BUT WE WILL BE GOING TO PUBLIC.
SO, UH, UH, CLERK MADAM CLERK, IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER THREE IN PERSON, PLEASE, UH, LINE UP AT THE PODIUM AT THIS TIME.
AND IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS IN THE ZOOM THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER THREE, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FEATURE NOW, OR DIAL STAR NINE IF CALLING IN SEEING NONE IN PERSON, WE HAVE TWO IN THE ZOOM, RIN, CAN YOU HEAR US? YES.
CAN YOU HEAR ME AT ALL? VERY FAINTLY.
UM, CAN YOU GET CLOSER TO THE MIC? HELLO? YEAH.
BETTER THERE NOW? YES, THERE'S STILL A LITTLE STATIC, BUT WE CAN HEAR YOU NOW.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HEARING THIS TAPE.
UM, CAN, ARE YOU ON, UH, HEADPHONES? I'M NOT.
I GOT OFF HE PHONE, BUT I CAN CALL ON THE PHONE CALL IF THAT'S BETTER THAT I CALL ON THE PHONE.
YEAH, GO AHEAD AND TRY THE PHONE.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT, UM, PUBLIC COMMENT.
BECAUSE I DID WANNA MAKE A COMMENT ON THE ITEM.
JAMES, CAN YOU HEAR US? JAMES? JAMES MARKS? YES.
UH, LEMME SEE, BECAUSE I HAD TO GET YOU ALL IN THE ZOOM.
SO LET ME GET BACK TO MY QUESTION.
UH, YES, I HAVE A, A, A QUESTION.
IT SEEMS THAT WE, UH, AS WE, AS WE TALK ABOUT THE, THE, THE, UH, RACIAL RECONCILIATION ACT FRAMEWORK FOR RECONCILIATION, I'VE NOTICED THAT THERE'S NOT A LOT OF CONCENTRATION ON GOAL ONE.
UH, WHAT IS, WHAT IS THE, UH, THE AUDITING THE VET, I MEAN THE, UH, OVERSIGHT PROCESS OF THAT GOAL RIGHT THERE? BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE WE CONCENTRATE ON ALL OF THE OTHER, WE PUT MORE TIME AND ENERGY INTO THE OTHER GOALS, BUT I'M RARELY LIKE SEEING, UH, THE PROGRESS FROM GOAL ONE.
SO WHAT'S ACTUALLY ACTUALIZING AND HAPPENING CONCERNING GOAL ONE? SO THIS IS PUBLIC COMMENT.
YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND CONTINUE YOUR, YOUR COMMENT FOR THE THREE MINUTES, AND IF THE COMMISSION WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE A STATEMENT AFTER YOU CAN, UM, HOWEVER, THERE IS NO DISCUSSION.
I JUST WANTED TO GET THAT ON RECORD.
UH, HOW COULD, HOW WILL THERE BE A FOLLOW UP CONCERN? THAT QUESTION? SO YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND FOLLOW UP WITH THE EQUITY STAFF, UM, ALANA GRANT, AND THEY'LL REACH OUT TO YOU.
AND WE, UM, DON'T HAVE SHARON YET.
SO WOULD YOU CHAIR, WOULD YOU LIKE TO WAIT OR COME BACK TO
[00:55:01]
PUBLIC COMMENT SINCE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IT'S HAPPENED UNDER MY CHAIRSHIP? WHAT IS THE PROCESS? YOU, YOU CAN HAVE A PUBLIC COMMENT AGAIN, LIKE AFTER YOUR DISCUSSION, BEFORE VOTING OKAY.AND THEN WE WILL CHECK, I'LL CHECK IN WITH YOU YEAH.
FELLOW COMMISSIONERS, IF, UH, I CAN HAVE ANYONE QUEUE UP FOR COMMENTS, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND WAIT ON THAT.
SO RIGHT NOW I SEEK, UH, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON.
UH, I WANNA THANK THE AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR PUTTING IN, UH, THE MANY HOURS, UM, THAT WENT INTO THIS LETTER.
I KNOW THAT THERE WERE SEVERAL COMMUNITY MEETINGS, UH, AND LONG NIGHTS OF, OF LISTENING AND, AND REALLY TAKING IN THE INFORMATION THAT LANDED ON THIS, THIS LETTER.
UM, I HAVE TWO FRIENDLIES, UH, THAT I WOULD LIKE TO OFFER.
IN REGARDS TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
I'M PRETTY SOLID ON ALL THE ONES THAT HAVE BEEN PREPARED, UM, FOR THE, FOR I GUESS THE PERSON WHO MADE THE MOTION, RIGHT? BUT ALSO YOU
UM, SO THE FIRST ONE, UH, IN RECOGNIZING THAT A LOT OF THE, UM, INITIATIVES AND THE SERVICES THAT ARE PROVIDED IN THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, THEY COULD POTENTIALLY FALL INTO LIKE EITHER PROGRAMS OR POLICY PROCEDURES, UH, UNDER THE LIKE PROJECT TITLE OF REENTRY.
UM, SO IN ORDER TO STRENGTHEN THE REENTRY WORK, UM, OFTENTIMES IT GETS, UH, LUMPED UNDER THE COMMUNITY IMPACT DIVISION.
UH, SO TO STRENGTHEN THEIR WORK, I WOULD LIKE TO REC OR MAKE A, A FRIENDLY TO THE MOTION, UH, TO INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF, UH, THE, THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN OFFICE FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION, UH, TO EXPAND VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND REENTRY SERVICES, UH, TO INCLUDE POLICY, PROTOCOL, UH, AND SERVICES TO REDUCE VIOLENCE IN THE CITY AND PUT COMMUNITIES ON A PATH TO SUCCESS.
UM, THAT'S ONE OF THE FRIENDLIES THAT I WOULD LIKE TO OFFER.
UH, AND THEN THE SECOND FRIENDLY, UH, IS ALSO REGARDING FUNDING AND SUSTAINABILITY.
UH, SO UNDER SIX, IT STATES PARTNER WITH PHILANTHR, UH, PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS TO EXPAND THE CITY'S GUARANTEED IN, UM, BASIC INCOME PROGRAM.
UM, I THINK IT CAN GO FURTHER, UH, BY, UH, WITH EITHER AMENDING THIS ONE OR MAKING A NEW SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATION, UH, THAT INCLUDES PARTNERING WITH FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL PARTNERS TO EXPAND SUSTAINABLE FUNDING, UM, FOR REENTRY AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION, UH, OR IDENTIFY SUSTAINABLE FUNDING FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND REENTRY SERVICES IN THE CITY OF LONG BEACH.
I THINK THOSE ARE, UM, GREAT RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, I ACCEPT, AND I JUST WANNA CLARIFY THOUGH THAT, UM, THAT FIRST ONE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF OFFICE EVENTS PREVENTION, THAT'S MORE OF A OVERARCHING, IS THAT RIGHT? UM, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE IT'S NOT, UH, IN LIEU OF, UM, THE FIRST RECOMMENDATIONS AROUND LIKE THE COLLABORATIVE AND RESOURCE CENTER.
IT WOULD BE AN OVERARCHING, WHICH THE CENTER, UM, WOULD LIVE IN.
SO THE, THE COLLABORATIVE AND RESOURCE CENTER, UM, COMMUNITY IS REALLY HOPING TO SEE THESE, UM, ROOTED WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
SO I AM JUST TO, TO MAKE SURE WE'RE BOTH ON THE SAME PAGE.
THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION, THEN WOULD, UM, MAYBE WORK, CONTINUE TO WORK ON, LIKE GETTING THOSE ESTABLISHED? IS THAT CORRECT? BUT THEY WOULDN'T NECESSARILY BE LIKE UNDER THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION? CORRECT.
THEY WOULD HELP, UH, ESTABLISH THESE CENTERS WITHOUT, UH, THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.
UH, AND THE OFFICE, UH, OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION WOULD SERVE AS AN INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE, UH, TO MANAGE THE FUNDING AND, UH, PROVIDE STAFFING AND RESOURCES, UH, TO ALL OF THE INITIATIVES UNDER REENTRY.
AND NOW I CAN SEE HOW SUSTAINABILITY AND, UM, IDENTIFYING THESE FUNDS WOULD ACTUALLY REALLY STRENGTHEN THAT, THAT FIRST RECOMMENDATION IN PARTICULAR.
I JUST, UH, BEFORE I GO ON TO THE NEXT COMMISSIONER, DID THE OFFICE OF EQUITY HAVE AN, UH, CAPTURE THOSE FRIENDLIES AS WELL? WE'RE GOOD TO GO?
[01:00:02]
UH, YES.UM, BEFORE WE MOVE ON, I'M SORRY, DOES THE SECOND APPROVE THE FRIENDLY OH, UH, COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ? I DON'T HAVE THE SECOND, UM, ON MY SCREEN RIGHT NOW.
WHO WAS THE SECOND? IT'S ON THE DISPLAY.
UH, COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ? YES.
ALL RIGHT, THEN WE'RE GOOD TO GO.
AND SPEAKING OF COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ, YOU ARE NEXT ON MY SPEAKER LIST SO WE CAN HAVE YOUR COMMENTS.
UM, ARE WE ABLE TO PAUSE DISCUSSION AND GO BACK TO PUBLIC COMMENT, OR DO, ARE WE GONNA FINISH PUBLIC COMMENT? I THINK THE PROCESS IS, I MEAN, THE, WAS AT THE VERY END OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
WE'RE GONNA CALL A PUBLIC COMMENT AT THE END, SO THAT WAY THAT GIVES OPPORTUNITY FOR ANYONE WHO WOULD WANT TO DO ANOTHER, A PUBLIC COMMENT AT THAT TIME.
AND I AGREE WITH ALMOST EVERY SINGLE THING WITHOUT CHANGE OR, OR, OR PAUSE.
UM, HOWEVER, UH, IN MY OPINION, UM, THE LAST PARAGRAPH UNDER CURRENT EFFORTS, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS A LATE EDITION, BUT IT, UH, UH, AGAIN, MY OPINION, IT PORTRAYS THE CITY'S PROPOSAL THAT THEY'RE WORKING ALONG WITH ANOTHER COMMISSION IN A SUBJECTIVELY POSITIVE LIGHT.
AND I DON'T WANT IT TO ALL APPEAR THAT WE ARE SUPPORTIVE OF THAT CHARTER AMENDMENT.
UM, THIS ALMOST, ALMOST RE RESPECTFULLY, IT ALMOST READS LIKE A CITY PRESS RELEASE ON THAT CHARTER AMENDMENT, UM, THAT THEY'RE DEALING WITH THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION ABOUT.
I'M ALL FOR THE, UH, THE FAIR CHANCE HIRING AND, AND, UM, HAVING THAT BE PART OF THE CHARTER AMENDMENT.
BUT I BELIEVE THE CHARTER AMENDMENT WORDING IS THERE'S A VERY TIGHT DEADLINE.
UH, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE COMPLAINTS OF THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION.
AND I WOULD HIGHLY DOUBT THAT WE COULD EVER GET ANY KIND OF WORDING INTO THAT CHARTER AMENDMENT, GIVEN THAT THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION IS A COMPLAINING THAT THEY'RE NOT HAVING ENOUGH TIME TO RESPOND TO THAT.
AND I JUST HAVE TROUBLE WITH MOST OF THAT PARAGRAPH SAYING THAT, UM, UH, THEY'RE STREAMLINING OUTDATED PROCESSES THAT, UH, UH, THEY'RE CREATING A MORE EFFICIENT, ET CETERA.
UM, AND THIS IS BEING DESCRIBED FROM AN UPDATED ME MEMORANDUM THAT I WOULD IMAGINE IS ONE OF THE CITY'S MEMORANDUMS. IT JUST KIND OF READS, LIKE WE'RE SUPPORTING.
UM, I DON'T WANT IT TO READ LIKE IT'S SUPPORTING, UH, THAT CHARTER AMENDMENT.
I, I WOULDN'T LIKE ANOTHER COMMISSION, UM, MESSING WITH THIS LETTER AND, AND MAKING COMMENTS.
UH, IT'S A VERY CONTENTIOUS ISSUE AND WE SHOULD NOT BE SEEN, UH, SUPPORTING, UM, EITHER SIDE ISSUE UNTIL THEY, THEY WORK OUT THEIR ISSUES.
UH, IS MY, UM, SO I, I GUESS I'D LOVE TO SEE THAT PARAGRAPH REMOVED FROM THE LETTER.
UH, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WOULD BE PUT AS A FRIENDLY, UM, OR AT LEAST, UH, UH, UH, SHORTENED TO JUST TALK ABOUT, UM, THE, UH, THE FAIR CHANCE HIRING, BECAUSE IT, IT JUST, IT, IT DOES, DOES THAT, DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? YEAH.
CHAIR, CAN I RESPOND? YEAH, I, YES.
LET ME MAKE A QUICK LITTLE COMMENT.
SINCE A LOT OF WORK HAS GONE INTO THE CULMINATION OF MONTHS AND MONTHS, IF WE COULD, UH, IDEALLY, I MEAN, AM I, I GET THIS OUT TODAY.
UM, MAYBE WE CAN TAKE THAT PARAGRAPH AND, UM, AND ESSENTIALLY, 'CAUSE I, I, I REREAD IT.
I MEAN, PERSONALLY FOR ME, IT SOUNDS, I MEAN, I WANNA STUDY IT EVEN FURTHER, BUT IT LOOKS FINE.
BUT I THINK, UM, IF THAT'S GONNA BE SOMETHING THAT IS OF ISSUE, DUNNO IF IT IS FOR OTHER COMMISSIONERS.
WE CAN JUST GO STRAIGHT FACTUAL AND JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT, UM, IN AN EFFORT TO GET THIS OUT TODAY.
BUT I'M GONNA, UH, SEE WHAT COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ'S THOUGHTS ARE ON THIS.
UM, COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ, I, UM, ACTUALLY WASN'T TOO AWARE OF, OF THE CONTEXT SURROUNDING THE CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
SO, LIKE PEER INTENTIONS HERE, UM, IT WAS MERELY TO,
[01:05:01]
TO JUST SHARE WHAT'S HAPPENING AND AN OPPORTUNITY.SO I, I DIDN'T WRITE THAT, UM, THAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING THE FAIR CHANCE HIRING PATHWAYS BE, UM, INCLUDED IN THE CIVIL SERVICE, UM, UH, WHAT'S IT CALLED? CHARTER AMENDMENT ITSELF BECAUSE OF, UH, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE OF THAT TIGHT TIMELINE.
UM, AND THAT'S WHY, UH, RECOMMENDATION NUMBER TWO IS TO ADOPT A FAIR CHANCE ORDINANCE THAT, UM, COMPLIMENTS, UM, THOSE PREFERENCES IF THEY SHOULD BE, UM, VOTED ON BY THE APPROVED BY THE VOTERS.
SO, AND THEN TO ADDRESS THAT, SO JUST CLARIFYING THAT PIECE.
SO THE, THE FAIR CHANCE ORDINANCE, UM, RELATES TO THIS PARAGRAPH, BUT IT'S, IT, IT, UM, YEAH, SO IT RELATES TO THIS PARAGRAPH.
THE FIRST PART ABOUT LANGUAGE, YOU'RE RIGHT, I, THAT LANGUAGE COMES DIRECTLY FROM THE MEMO FROM THE CITY MANAGER.
SO I THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO, UM, INCLUDE IT HERE BECAUSE IT IS A, UM, YOU KNOW, A DOCUMENT THAT THAT WAS, CAME FROM THE CITY AND IT'S, UM, LINKED HERE LIKE THAT.
UM, I THINK IT'S WORD FOR WORD ACTUALLY FROM THIS, UM, UPDATED MEMO, UM, THAT I HYPERLINKED HERE.
SO, UM, I HEAR YOU ON THE LANGUAGE AND, AND KIND OF BEING MINDFUL OF, UM, THE CONTEXT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING, THE POLITICAL CONTEXT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND THIS THAT I WAS NOT AWARE OF.
UM, SO I'M OKAY WITH REWORDING THIS IF NEEDED.
UM, I GUESS IN MY, I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THIS TO SAY ONE WAY OR ANOTHER THAT THIS LANGUAGE IS BIASED OR NOT.
UM, SO I'LL SAY THAT, UM, SO I'M NOT NECESSARILY AGREEING WITH YOUR INTERPRETATION OF THE LANGUAGE, BUT I AM NOT NECESSARILY DISAGREEING BECAUSE I, I DON'T HAVE THAT CONTEXT.
I DON'T KNOW A WHOLE LOT ABOUT THIS, UM, PARTICULAR REFORM, UM, THAT'S BEING PROPOSED.
I JUST KNOW WHAT I READ IN THE MEMO.
UM, AND, BUT I DO THINK THAT THIS CONTEXT IS NEEDED BECAUSE I SOME TYPE OF CONTEXT THAT TALKS ABOUT THIS CHARTER AMENDMENT, BECAUSE I INCLUDED, UM, IN THE SECOND RECOMMENDATION, ADOPTING THAT FAIR CHANCE ORDINANCE IS RELATED TO THE AMENDMENT, AND IT'S RELATED SPECIFICALLY TO THREE OF THE GOALS IN THE AMENDMENT AROUND LOCALIZED PREFERENCE, EDUCATIONAL PREFERENCE, AND APPRENTICESHIP PREFERENCE.
SO I DON'T THINK THAT WE CAN JUST STRIKE THE PARAGRAPH ENTIRELY, OTHERWISE THE SECOND RECOMMENDATION WOULDN'T HAVE CONTEXT.
SO IF THERE'S A SIMPLE, EASY WAY TO REWORD THIS, I'M OPEN TO THAT.
UM, BUT JUST WANTED TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTEXT WITH YOU ABOUT HOW THIS PARAGRAPH, UM, LANDED HERE.
IF I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA JUMP IN HERE BEFORE GOING ON VICE CHAIR.
UH, THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THE CONTEXT.
COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ, IF THIS IS WORD FOR WORD, UH, FROM THE MEMO, UH, PERHAPS JUST ACKNOWLEDGING, UM, MAYBE IN THE TRANSITION INTO THAT PARAGRAPH, UM, AS JUST FY THIS WAS, THIS WAS WHERE IT COMES FROM, AND THAT'S THAT WE'RE NOT TAKING A POSITION EITHER WAY AS A COMMISSION.
THAT'S NOT THE PURPOSE HERE TONIGHT.
BUT THEN JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS IS WHERE IT COMES FROM AND THERE'S, THAT'S A FACTUAL PIECE, AND THAT COULD BE THE FIX.
AND, UM, SO WE WOULD INCLUDE JUST ONE SENTENCE, UM, THAT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE HRC IS NOT ENDORSING ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
THIS, UH, REFORM IS SO, UM, IS THAT A FRIENDLY THEN, OR
SO LET'S, LET'S THINK ABOUT IT.
SO I'LL THINK ABOUT THAT WHILE COMMISSIONER CUMMINGTON GIVES HIS COMMENTS, AND THEN I'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO GIVE THAT FRIENDLY OVER TO COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ SINCE HE BROUGHT IT UP.
UM, THANK YOU COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ, UM, FOR OFFERING THE, THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THIS PARTICULAR, UH, PARAGRAPH.
UH, I DO AGREE WITH COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ THAT SOME OF THE LANGUAGE IN THE PARTICULAR PARAGRAPH IS LEADING, UH, AND CAN BE PERSUASIVE, UH, TOWARDS THE AUDIENCE.
UH, HE USES LANGUAGE SPECIFICALLY LIKE OUTDATED, UH, WHICH CAN ACTUALLY PER PERSUADE PEOPLE BE LIKE, OH, THIS IS OLIS, UH, UH, UPDATED.
AND THEN ALSO, UM, THE SECOND LINE TOWARDS THE BOTTOM, CREATE A MORE EFFICIENT, UM, SHOWING THAT SOMETHING'S WRONG OR NOT EFFICIENT.
UH, SO THOSE ARE TWO SPECIFIC, UH, WORDINGS THAT I, THAT I WOULD RECOMMEND TAKING OUT, UH, TO MAKE THE, THE PARAGRAPH LESS PERSUASIVE, UM, OR LEADING.
BUT, UH, I SUPPORT EITHER CUTTING IT DOWN OR IN, AND ALSO THE ADDITION OF THIS COMMISSION IS
[01:10:01]
NOT ENDORSING ANY WHICH WAY ON THIS PARTICULAR MATTER.SO THIS IS A SUGGESTION TO, UH, COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ WHO'S MAKING THE FRIENDLY AND ALSO ADDING ONTO WHAT THE CHAIR SAID.
TECHNICALLY, I HAVE COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ QUEUED UP, BUT I DO, UM, BEEN NOT SURE IF THIS IS THE CASE, BUT I HAVE OTHER COMMISSIONERS GOING, SO, AND I THINK IF THEY'RE MAKING COMMENTS THAT MIGHT INFORM YOUR FRIENDLY, I DON'T KNOW.
DO YOU WANT ME TO GO FIRST FIRST OR, I THINK I COULD NARROW MY FRIENDLY WITH SEVEN WORDS.
SO DO YOU WANT MY FRIENDLY WOULD BE TO STRIKE THE SECOND SENTENCE ONLY.
SO IT WOULD, IT WOULD BE NOVEMBER 20, 24 PERIOD WHILE THE PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT, AND WE JUST STRIKE OUT THAT LONG SECOND, UH, SENTENCE.
I, I, UM, ACCEPT THAT FRIENDLY, UM, QUESTION THOUGH, IF WE DO, DO YOU THINK THAT WE NEED TO INCLUDE ANY KIND OF CONTEXT? UH, THIS IS WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT NOW, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH, WITH THAT SENTENCE YOU'RE STRIKING.
ANY KIND OF CONTEXT ABOUT THE, THE THREE GOALS SPECIFICALLY THAT RELATE TO THE ORDINANCE, LIKE, THE REASON WHY I EVEN MENTIONED THE ORDINANCE, THE LOCALIZED PREFERENCE, EDUCATIONAL PROPERTY, LIKE IS, DO YOU THINK ANY OF THAT IS NEEDED? WHILE WE'RE TINKERING WITH THIS PARAGRAPH, I, I WILL RELINQUISH MY TIME TO OTHER, UM, COMMISSIONERS TO HEAR WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY.
SO I HAVE COMMISSIONER GILLETTE AND I ALSO HAVE, UH, COMMISSIONER, UH, DR.
MY COMMENT ACTUALLY, UM, ECHOES WHAT COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ JUST SAID IN TERMS OF THE STRIKING OF THE SECOND SENTENCE.
UM, THAT'S WHAT I HAVE NOTED AS WELL.
AND TO ANSWER COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ, I DON'T THINK YOU DO NEED THAT.
I THINK JUST BY STRIKING THAT IS IT'S SUFFICIENT.
UM, JUST FOR MY OWN CLARIFICATION, SINCE I'M FOLLOWING THE CONVERSATION HERE, DID YOU ACCEPT THE FRIENDLY FROM COMMISSIONER? YES.
SO I ACCEPT THE FRIENDLY TO JUST STRIKE THAT SECOND SENTENCE, SO IT WILL, UM, AFTER VOTERS IN NOVEMBER, 2024.
WE'LL JUST SAY, WHILE THE PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT DOES NOT EXPLICITLY INCLUDE FAIR CHANCE HIRING.
I'LL ACCEPT THE, I'LL SECOND, THE SECOND OF THE SECOND
AND TRULY, UH, THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS, UM, TO MY AWARENESS.
'CAUSE I, I DIDN'T REALIZE THIS WAS SUCH A CONTENTIOUS TOPIC, SO THANK YOU.
WE HAVE, UM, PUBLIC COMMENT, UH, TO TOUCH BASE ON, AGAIN, DUE TO TECHNICAL ISSUES.
UH, RIGHT BEFORE I GO ON THERE, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'VE EXHAUSTED THE CONVERSATION HERE FROM FELLOW COMMISSIONERS.
I, I'D JUST LIKE TO BRIEFLY ADD TO THE DISCUSSION REGARDING, UM, COMMISSIONER GUTTI ALYSSA.
I, I THINK WE ALL NEED TO BE E EXTREMELY CAREFUL IN ANY DOCUMENTS THAT WE, UM, SUPPORT OR THAT WE SUBMIT PERTAINING TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC, BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY'S UNDERSTANDING IS GONNA BE THE SAME ON ANY STATEMENT THAT IS MADE.
AND SO WE JUST WANNA REALLY, REALLY DO OUR DUE DILIGENCE SO THAT THERE'S NO MISUNDERSTANDING ON THE PART OF ANYONE, OR WE DO THAT TO THE BEST EXTENT THAT WE CAN BECAUSE SOMETHING'S GOING TO BE PERFECT.
BUT WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE TAKING ALL OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC INTO CONSIDERATION THAT WILL BE IMPACTED OR AFFECTED IN ANY WAY BY ANY DOCUMENT THAT COMES FROM THIS COMMISSION.
UM, PUBLIC COMMENT, MADAM CLERK, IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER THREE IN PERSON, PLEASE LINE UP AT THE PODIUM AT THIS TIME.
AND IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC IN THE ZOOM THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER THREE, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FEATURE NOW, OR DIAL STAR NINE IF CALLING IN.
SHARON, CAN YOU HEAR US? GOOD EVENING.
I APOLOGIZE FOR THE TECHNICAL ISSUE.
I HEARD SOMEONE SAY THAT I WANNA TALK.
IT'S BEEN SEVEN YEARS, NOT ONE YEAR.
UH, FOR ME, AFTER MY HUSBAND PASSED, I BEGAN THIS REENTRY WORK IN 2017 AND SAT DOWN WITH THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
AT THAT TIME, THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO FUNDING.
[01:15:01]
CHANDLER, AND THE ENTIRE HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN 2020.IT WAS ACTUALLY RONNIE'S HOUSE THAT LED THE WAY ON THE REENTRY RACIAL RECONCILIATION ROUNDTABLE.
I SAY THAT TO SAY THAT IT'S NOT ONLY WOMAN'S HISTORY, IT'S INTERNATIONAL WOMAN'S, UH, DAY.
AND I AM A PALESTINIAN WOMAN THAT IS VERY PROUD OF THE WORK I'VE DONE.
AND I JUST WANNA BE ABLE TO STAND GROUND SO THAT OTHER YOUNG WOMEN LIKE ME THAT ARE PALESTINIAN AND ARABIC, UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY GET TO DO HERE IN THE CITY OF LONG BEACH.
AND I THINK IN THE UNITED STATES, BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT OPEN THE DOOR.
SO IT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR ME TO MAKE THAT CLEAR.
EACH ROUND TABLE, I ORGANIZE SIGNATURES.
OUR COMMUNITY WORKED WITH US, BUT WE LED THIS WORK.
AND IT'S IMPORTANT FOR ME TO, TO NOTE THAT BECAUSE IT DOES LOOK LIKE A LONG BEACH CITY PRESS RELEASE.
AND I DEFINITELY DID NOT HAVE ANY UNDERSTANDING OF, OF THE ADDITIONS.
A COUPLE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND ADDITIONS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THAT HAVE BEEN SHARED WITH THE COMMISSIONER IS THAT WE ENSURE THAT WE CHECK THE CANNABIS, UH, JOBS AND MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS A SYSTEM SET UP IN PLACE TO OPEN UP DOORS FOR THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN JUSTICE IMPACTED.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO INTEGRATE TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR THE RESUME AND ALSO TO TAKE OUT THE TWO ITEMS OUT OF THE CONTRACTING THAT LIMIT ENTREPRENEURIALSHIP WHEN IT COMES TO THOSE THAT ARE JUSTICE IMPACTED.
WE CANNOT MAKE PROPOSALS FOR POLICY CHANGES WHEN THERE ARE ITEMS THAT WE'VE CHANGED AS A CITY TO TAKE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND COMRADES BACKWARDS.
AND IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT THAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS RECOMMENDATION.
THE OTHER ITEM THAT IS IMPORTANT, AND I THINK COMMISSIONER BUTLER WOULD BE AN AMAZING PERSON TO LEAVE THIS, IS TO CREATE MORE PATHWAYS FOR WOMEN AND SUPPORT.
RIGHT NOW, WOMEN ARE THE FASTEST GROWING INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS, AND THEY ARE NOT GETTING THE SERVICES THAT THEY NEED TO GET.
SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE FOCUSED WHEN IT COMES TO GENDER, UM, AND OTHER ISSUES, UH, OR OTHER GROUPS.
SO I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TIME AND TIME AGAIN, I AM DEDICATED TO THIS WORK.
A LOT OF US ARE DOING THE WORK ON THE GROUND, AND WE ALWAYS ENSURE, MS. BUTLER, JUST SO YOU KNOW, UM, THAT THE INVOICES, I'M SORRY, I, I BELIEVE THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANT IS IN THERE, BUT MS. S BUTLER, I DO WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT FROM THE BEGINNING, WE WERE ALWAYS COMMITTED TO ENSURING THAT EVERY SINGLE VOICE, REGARDLESS OF AGE, RACE, WAS AT THE TABLE.
AND THEY ARE THE ONES THAT LED, UM, THE WORK.
I WAS ABLE TO BRING THEM TOGETHER AND FACILITATE THE PROCESS.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH, COMMISSIONERS FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE, UH, SUPPORT AND FOR YOUR PATIENCE WITH US.
UM, SEEING NONE IN ZOOM AND IN PERSON, THAT CONCLUDES PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEM NUMBER THREE.
THANK YOU, MADAM CLERK, BECAUSE WE HAD THE TECH ISSUE.
UH, DO WE, UH, AND WE DID PULL A COMMENT AGAIN FOR THAT ISSUE.
UM, DO WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR RESPONSE HERE, OR WHAT IS THE PROCESS? YEAH, HE CAN, UM, GO BACK TO DISCUSSION IF YOU'D LIKE BEFORE GOING TO A VOTE.
I DO WANNA GIVE THIS BODY AN OPPORTUNITY.
I'M NOT SEEING ANYONE CAN GET UPSET, BUT IF YOU MOTION TO ME, I CAN CALL YOUR NAME, DON'T SEE IT YET, BUT LET'S, YOU MIGHT BE IN A DIFFERENT ITEM.
SO IF YOU CLICK ACTIVE ITEM ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, IT'LL TAKE YOU TO THE CURRENT ITEM.
IF NOT, YOU CAN JUST GO AHEAD AND VERBALLY CALL ON PEOPLE.
COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ, AM I CORRECT? YES.
UM, I JUST WANNA, UM, CLARIFY A COUPLE THINGS, UM, THAT, UM, SHERINE, UH, WAS, WAS SHARING.
SO WE ABSOLUTELY HAVE THE, THE CLAUSES IN HERE.
THAT'S, UH, RECOMMENDATION NUMBER FIVE.
UM, SO THAT WAS DEFINITELY NOT REMOVED.
AND, UM, WE ARE GONNA ADD AN APPENDIX, UM, TO THE LETTER TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT THAT CLAUSE ONE AND TWO ACTUALLY SAYS.
UM, SO ABSOLUTELY WANNA UNDERSCORE THAT.
UM, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER, UM, JOB RELATED, UM, TRAININGS THAT GOT LUMPED IN WITH OUR REC FIRST RECOMMENDATION, UM, UNDER THE, UM, COMMUNITY-BASED REENTRY COLLABORATIVE AND RESOURCE CENTER.
SO, JUST WANNA, UH, MAKE SURE EVERYONE ON THIS COMMISSION KNOWS THAT HAS NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN EITHER.
UM, IT HAS JUST BEEN, UM, CONSOLIDATED INTO THIS FIRST RECOMMENDATION.
SO ALL OF THOSE, THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS YOU SAW IN JANUARY, UM, AROUND THAT, THAT PARTICULAR ITEM IS REFLECTED HERE IN OUR, OUR FIRST RECOMMENDATION.
[01:20:01]
UM, AND THEN JUST A QUICK NOTE ON OUR, OUR, UM, CANNABIS, UM, INFORMATION.WHAT, WHAT WE CAN DO IF, IF, UM, WE NEED TO ADD THIS INTO THE CURRENT EFFORTS, UM, YOU KNOW, TO GIVE SOME OF THAT CONTEXT, WE CAN, BUT WE ACTUALLY ALREADY HAVE A, A CANNABIS EQUITY PROGRAM THAT IS, UM, UP AND RUNNING IF WE NEED TO, UM, FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW, IF WE NEED A, A REPORT BACK LIKE THE, FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES LIKE WE'RE DOING THERE, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN REQUEST.
UM, BUT THERE WAS NOT ACTUALLY A, A RECOMMENDATION TO, UM, SHARE AT THIS TIME AS IT RELATES TO CANNABIS EQUITY, BECAUSE THE CITY AS ALREADY DOES HAVE A CANNABIS EQUITY, UM, PROGRAM THAT IS, UM, PRETTY ROBUST.
SO, UM, JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THOSE THREE POINTS FOR THE COMMISSION.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ.
UM, SO WITH THAT SAID, JUST TO SYNTHESIZE EVERYTHING THAT I'VE HEARD REGARDING THIS ITEM, UM, WE ARE VOTING ON THE LETTER, BUT WE DO HAVE, UH, UH, SOME FRIENDLIES WHERE WE'RE STRIKING.
UM, THE SECOND SENTENCE FROM THAT LAST PARAGRAPH, UNDER CURRENT EFFORTS, UM, WE ARE ALSO INCLUDING, UM, LANGUAGE ON CONTINUING, I WROTE IT HERE.
THIS WAS VICE CHAIR'S RECOMMENDATION ON, UH, FUNDING AND SUSTAINABILITY PARTNERING WITH FED STATE, UM, PARTNERS FOR SUSTAINABLE FUNDING AND TO INCLUDE DEVELOPMENT OF AN OFFICE FOR VIOLENCE PROFE PREVENTION.
AND THERE WAS OTHER LANGUAGE EMBEDDED THERE.
AND THOSE IS JUST ME REMINDING EVERYONE SO WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE VOTING ON.
DID I MISS ANYTHING? OH, AND AN APPENDIX.
UH, COMMISSIONER BATSON APPENDIX FOR ITEM FIVE.
UH, COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ, DID I MISS ANY, ANYTHING? I'M NOT SURE THAT I HEARD YOUR WHOLE LIST.
I'M, BUT I, DO YOU WANNA SAY IT AGAIN? OR? I CAN RUN THROUGH THE, YOU CAN RUN IF YOU A TWO SENTENCE IS YOUR A APOLOGIES.
SO THERE WERE, UM, THREE FRIENDLIES IN TOTAL.
UM, ONE WAS TO ADD THE DEVELOPMENT OF A OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION.
AND, UM, I DON'T HAVE THE FULL DESCRIPTION, BUT, UM, YES.
SO THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION, AND WE'LL MAKE SURE WE CAPTURE THAT FULL DESCRIPTION.
NUMBER TWO WAS THE SUSTAINABILITY PRIOR IDENTIFYING THE STATE, UM, COUNTY FEDERAL FUNDING.
NUMBER THREE WAS TO STRIKE OUT THE SECOND SENTENCE, UM, OF THE PARAGRAPH THAT DESCRIBES THE CIVIL SERVICE CHARTER AMENDMENT.
SO THOSE WERE THE THREE, UM, FRIENDLIES.
AND THEN THERE WERE JUST, UM, SLIGHT EDITS THAT WERE GONNA BE MADE TO THE LETTER, UM, WITH ONE OF 'EM, ADDING CONTEXT, UM, AROUND THE RACIAL EQUITY RECONCILIATION, UM, FRAMEWORK, INCLUDING THE JUSTICE ROUNDTABLES THAT TOOK PLACE, UM, THAT WERE LED BY RONNIE'S HOUSE.
AND THEN, UM, ADDING THE APPENDIX, UM, THAT, THAT SAY THE CLAUSES, UH, ONE AND TWO.
APOLOGIES IF YOU SAID ALL OF THAT.
I THINK YOU, WE JUST WROTE THEM IN DIFFERENT ORDER, BUT THANK YOU.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOT ONLY REMIND OURSELVES, BUT FOR THE PUBLIC TO KNOW WHAT WE'RE VOTING ON.
SO, WITH THAT SAID, I'LL DEFER TO MADAM CLERK FOR THE VOTE ON THIS ITEM.
YOU WANT ME TO VOTE ON THE SCREEN? YOU CAN.
OR DO YOU SEE IT ON YOUR SCREEN? I DO.
I'M OVER HERE PLAYING AROUND WITH IT, MAKING SURE MY LEFT HAND KNOWS WHAT MY RIGHT HAND IS DOING AND TRYING TO SEEK THEM.
GREAT JOB COMMISSION ON, ON THIS ITEM.
WE'RE GOING TO MOVE OVER TO OUR NEXT ITEM, ITEM FOUR.
[4. 24-52430 Recommendation to discuss a draft letter to the Mayor and the City Council requesting additional efforts be made to fill the Equity and Human Relations Commission vacant seats; and if appropriate, approve said letter to be sent to the Mayor and City Council. Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
IS A RECOMMENDATION TO DISCUSS, DISCUSS A DROP LETTER TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL REQUESTING ADDITIONAL EFFORTS TO BE MADE TO FILL THE EQUITY AND HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION VACANCIES, AND IF APPROPRIATE, APPROVED SAID LETTER TO BE SENT TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL.ALL RIGHT, SIMILAR TO THE PRIOR ITEM, I'M GONNA, UH, DEFER TO, UH, THE WRITER OF THIS RECOMMENDATION, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON, TO DO FOR FRAMING.
BUT, UH, I DO WANT TO GIVE A, AN UPDATE, WHICH WAS PART OF MY JOB TO DO, TO REACH OUT TO THE MAYOR'S OFFICE REGARDING, UM, THE NEXT ROUND OF, UH, UH, COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS, WHICH WILL BE IN JUNE.
UM, SO THAT'S A COMMUNICATION I HAVE, AND I THINK WE AS A GOOD PARTNER HERE, CAN ALSO BRING THIS LETTER FORWARD, WHICH AGAIN, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON WILL BRING US UP TO SPEED ON HIS THOUGHT PROCESS FOR THE LETTER, AND THEN OPEN UP FOR COMMON AS USUAL, AND THEN DISCUSSION AND SEE WHERE WE LAND IN TERMS OF GETTING THIS OUT
[01:25:01]
OF THE COMMISSION TODAY.THANK YOU, CHAIR AND MADAM CLERK.
UM, SO EVERYONE WAS PROVIDED, UH, THE LETTER, UH, FOR REVIEW.
UM, I SYNTHESIZED THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PROVIDED TO, UH, THAT THE CHAIR AND I PROVIDED AT OUR LAST COMMISSION MEETING.
UH, IT INCLUDES OUR BYLAWS IN REGARDS TO MEMBERSHIP, UM, OUR COMMITMENTS, UH, TERMS, UH, AS WELL AS WHEN THE MEETINGS TAKE PLACE.
UH, I ALSO INCLUDED, UH, ON THE SECOND PAGE, UH, THE TABLES, UH, THAT INCLUDES COMMISSIONER TERMS, UH, OUR VACANCIES, AS WELL AS, UM, HOW, UH, OUR, OUR ATTENDANCE, UH, AND ISSUES WITH QUORUM.
UH, SO ON THE BACK PART IS WHERE I SYNTHESIZE OUR SPECIFIC, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, IN REGARDS TO WORKING WITH THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL TO IDENTIFY MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO FILL OUR VACANCIES SO THAT WE CAN BE ABLE, UM, TO REDUCE OUR CHALLENGES WHEN IT COMES TO CORE.
UH, AND ALSO LEADING BACK TO OUR PREVIOUS LETTER THAT WAS SENT TO, TO THE MAYOR OF IDENTIFYING A PERSON FROM THE NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY OR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY TO FILL ONE OF THE, THE OPEN VACANCIES.
UM, SO THIS CONCLUDES THE REVIEW OF THE LETTER, UM, OPEN TO ANY ADDITIONS, UH, SUGGESTED EDITS, UH, BEFORE WE MOVE IT, UH, TO COUNCIL.
I'M GONNA, UM, CALL ON COMMISSIONER GILLETTE AS THE FIRST COMMENT, OR I'M SORRY, WE NEED TO DO PUBLIC COMMENT FIRST.
SO, UH, LET'S GO TO, UH, OUR CLERK.
IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC HERE IN PERSON THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER FOUR, PLEASE LINE UP AT THE PODIUM AT THIS TIME.
AND IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS IN THE ZOOM THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM FOUR, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FEATURE NOW, OR DIAL STAR NINE IF CALLING IN, SEEING NONE, BOTH IN PERSON AND IN THE ZOOM.
THAT CONCLUDES PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEM NUMBER FOUR.
NOW WE CAN MOVE OVER TO, UH, COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ.
I JUST SAW THE G COMMISSIONER GILLETTE'S, UH, COMMENT.
MY HAND WAS ACTUALLY UP IN AIR.
I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO TAKE IT DOWN, BUT SINCE I HAVE THE MICROPHONE, UM, I PERSONALLY HAVE BEEN REACHING OUT TO RESIDENTS IN THE COMMUNITY TO ASK THEM IF THEY HAVE ANY INTEREST IN BEING ON THE COMMISSION.
ON THIS PARTICULAR COMMISSION.
MANY RESIDENTS WEREN'T EVEN AWARE THAT WE HAVE VACANCIES.
SO AGAIN, WE WANT TO ENCOURAGE NOTIFICATION TO INDIVIDUALS, ESPECIALLY IN THOSE, WELL, ALL, ALL OF THE SEATS, ALL THE SEATS NEEDS TO BE FILLED.
SO I'VE REACHED OUT PERSONALLY TO COUNCIL MEMBERS AS WELL AS MALES AND FEMALES OF, UH, VARYING ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE BALANCE OF THE COMMISSION OR THE INTENDED BALANCE, BECAUSE WE WANT TO HEAR FROM ALL VOICES OUT IN THE COMMUNITY, NOT JUST ONE OR TWO, BUT BUT AS MANY, UM, DIFFERENT VOICES AS WE POSSIBLY CAN.
SO I'M GOING TO CONTINUE THE PUSH ON MY END.
UH, AS A MATTER OF FACT, I SPOKE WITH ONE COUNCILWOMAN WHO DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE THAT THERE WAS A VACANCY IN HER DISTRICT, AND THAT'S NOT OKAY.
THEY NEED TO BE AWARE OF WHAT'S GOING ON.
NOW, HOW WE MAKE THAT HAPPEN, ASIDE FROM THE LETTER TO THE MAYOR, I DON'T KNOW, BUT I LIKE TO SEE ALL OF US REALLY DRIVE AND PUSH THE FACT THAT WE HAVE THREE VACANCIES RIGHT NOW AND WE WANT TO FILL THEM, PREFERABLY BE FOR JULY, RIGHT? CORRECT.
SO THAT WE HAVE EVERYBODY, EVERY SEAT OCCUPIED WHEN WE GO INTO THE, UM, INTO JULY.
AND THAT WAY THEY CAN HIT THE GROUND RUNNING AND THEY'LL KNOW WHAT THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE JOB ANYWAY.
AND WE WILL HELP THEM ONBOARD.
THIS SEMI, I'M GONNA GO TURN IT OFF AND I WON'T TURN IT ON AGAIN UNTIL I REALLY MEAN IT.
I APPRECIATE YOU PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.
UM, COUPLE THINGS IS, UH, ON PAGE, WELL, THERE'S NO PAGE, BUT WHERE THE DATES ARE, FLIP IT OVER FOR JANUARY 10TH, 2024.
[01:30:01]
UM, TOOK A BREAK.B-R-E-A-K, UM, AND INSTEAD OF B-R-A-K-E AND THEN HERE, UH, OKAY.
AND THEN, UM, COMMISSIONER FLORES WITH THE REDISTRICTING IS TECHNICALLY CD FIVE AND CD EIGHT, BUT I'M NOT SURE HOW THAT WORKS, BUT SHE'S TECHNICALLY DISTRICT FIVE, NOT EIGHT.
SO COUNCIL DISTRICT EIGHT WOULD NEED A REPRESENTATIVE, IF THAT MAKES SENSE, BECAUSE WE JUST HAD REDISTRICTING.
COMMISSIONER BATS? UH, WE HAVE COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ.
UM, BEFORE I SHARE WHAT I WAS GONNA SHARE, JUST A, A QUICK QUESTION ABOUT WHAT DR.
BAT SHARED, DO THE, THE, EVEN THOUGH REDISTRICTING HAPPENED, IF YOU WERE SEATED BEFORE REDISTRICTING, THEN YOU CONTINUE TO REPRESENT THAT SEAT FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, JUST LIKE THE COUNCIL MEMBERS WHEN THERE'S REDISTRICTING.
DOES, AM I MAKING SENSE? WELL, AND I GUESS IT'S A QUESTION.
I'M, I'M WONDERING IF, UM, IF THAT'S ALSO APPLIES TO COMMISSIONERS.
'CAUSE THEN THAT MIGHT, UM, YEAH, SOME THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN SOME OF THE DISCREPANCY HERE.
UM, BUT THAT'S JUST A SIDE NOTE.
UM, I AM AWARE CURRENTLY OF AT LEAST FOUR APPLICATIONS THAT ARE IN THE QUEUE IN THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF, UM, PEOPLE WHO HAVE APPLIED TO OUR COMMISSION.
UM, I TALKED TO, UM, JEFF WILLIAMS, THE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, ABOUT THESE VACANCIES.
AND, UM, THEY PLAN TO FILL, UH, DO THE NEXT ROUND OF APPOINTMENTS IN JUNE.
AND SO, SOMETHING THAT I WOULD ACTUALLY ADD TO THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE, IS IF WE CAN MAYBE HAVE, UM, MORE ONGOING APPOINTMENTS.
'CAUSE IT SEEMS THAT WHAT THE MAYOR LIKES TO DO, AND THIS IS NOT JUST THIS MAYOR, THIS HAS BEEN A PRACTICE, I THINK, FOR A LONG TIME, THAT THE MAYOR WAITS UNTIL THERE'S LIKE A BIG BATCH OF APPOINTMENTS TO BE MADE.
AND THEN THEY, THEY MAKE THOSE APPOINTMENTS AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SCHEDULE IS OR IF THEY JUST, YOU KNOW, SEE, OKAY, THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE NOW AND THEN THEY DO IT.
UM, BUT I THINK THAT THAT'S WHERE WE CAN MAKE, UM, A BETTER RECOMMENDATION ABOUT, UM, ONGOING, UM, COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS.
UM, I CAN TELL YOU THERE ARE AT LEAST TWO APPLICATIONS RIGHT NOW FOR CD ONE AND, UM, ONE POTENTIALLY FOR CD NINE AND ONE FOR AT LARGE, THOUGH IT LOOKS LIKE WE DON'T HAVE AN AT LARGE POSITION AVAILABLE.
UM, BUT WE DO, WE HAVE ONE NONETHELESS.
THERE'S AT LEAST, OH, WE DO HAVE, OKAY.
NONETHELESS, THERE'S FOUR, UM, APPLICATIONS THAT I KNOW OF.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S MORE, UM, THAT ARE ALREADY IN THE MAYOR'S HANDS.
UM, YEAH, SO I GUESS MY, UM, REC, SO, SO JUST WANTED SHARE THAT INFORMATION WITH YOU ALL SO THAT WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE.
AND, UM, I GUESS THE, IF WE COULD ADD A FOURTH RECOMMENDATION, BECAUSE I THINK ALL OF THESE STILL APPLY, BUT IF WE COULD ADD JUST THAT FOURTH RECOMMENDATION THAT, UM, LIKE ONGOING, UM, OR, OR, YOU KNOW, MOVING FORWARD THAT THERE'S THESE ONGOING APPOINTMENTS.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S LIKE EVERY OTHER MONTH.
LIKE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE WANT, WHAT KIND OF TIMEFRAME WE WANNA PUT ON THAT.
UM, BUT JUST I THINK THAT'S MORE OF THE ISSUE.
UM, YEAH, SO I THINK THAT THAT'S A BIG PART OF THE ISSUE.
AND THEN ONE THING I DID WANNA HIGHLIGHT, UM, JUST GIVING A, A SHOUT OUT TO COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, UH, JONI RICK OTI, WHO, UM, I SAW IN HER NEWSLETTER, UM, THIS PAST WEEK THAT THERE WAS A ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE VACANCY FOR, UM, CD NINE.
SO I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S THE COUNCIL MEMBER YOU WERE REFERRING TO, UM, COMMISSIONER BUTLER.
BUT, UM, NONETHELESS, UM, SHE HEARD US AND SHE'S ADVERTISING IN HER NEWSLETTER.
UH, THANK YOU, UH, COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ, UH, FOR CLARIFICATION, WHAT IS YOUR RECOMMENDATION OF FRIENDLY FOR, UH, COM VICE CHAIR COVINGTON, TO CONSIDER? YEAH.
A FRIENDLY, UM, TO JUST INCLUDE ANOTHER RECOMMENDATION, UM, THAT ASKS THE MAYOR TO MAKE MORE REGULAR APPOINTMENTS TO COMMISSIONS WHEN THERE'S VACANCIES.
UM, AND IN TERMS OF THE, THE LANGUAGE, UH, IT WOULD BE SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF PRIORITIZE ONGOING APPOINTMENTS EACH SEMESTER TO FILL ALL VACANCIES.
AND I'M USING THE WORD SEMESTER BECAUSE TYPICALLY THE APPOINTMENTS HAPPEN IN THE SPRING AND IN THE SUMMER.
I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY IN THE FALL OR WINTER,
[01:35:01]
SO I'M NOT SURE HOW ACCURATE THAT WAS.I PERSONALLY WAS APPOINTED, UM, IN OCTOBER, 2019, SO I'M NOT SURE WHAT, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, BUT THAT WAS UNDER A DIFFERENT MAYOR.
UM, SO I, I STILL AM NOT SURE IF THAT'S, THAT'S QUICK ENOUGH.
'CAUSE IF THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE DOING CURRENTLY, UM, IT DOESN'T SEEM THAT THAT'S, YOU KNOW, GONNA SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, RIGHT NOW, THERE'S SEVERAL MEMBERS THAT CAN BE ON THE COMMISSION MM-HMM.
UM, AND THERE'S NO PLANS FOR THAT UNTIL JUNE.
SO I, I THINK THE WORDING IS LIKE, JUST, YEAH, I, I DON'T, I DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC TIMEFRAME, BUT JUST THAT IT'S MORE FREQUENT.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT, THAT MAYBE IS, IS BETTER, BUT I THINK IF IT'S BY SEMESTER, I THINK THAT MIGHT BE ALREADY WHAT'S HAPPENING.
UH, SO I'LL STRIKE SEMESTER AND USE QUARTERLY, SEE.
AND ONE THING THAT I, I HOPE DOESN'T GET LOST, UH, WHICH WAS BROUGHT UP BY BOTH COMMISSIONER BATS AND COMMISSIONER GUTTIER, IS IT MIGHT BE SOMETHING WE CAN, WE CAN ANSWER TONIGHT IF, IF NOT, IS JUST SOME HOMEWORK FOR ALL OF US.
UM, DO THE, THE POTENTIAL DISCREPANCY ON CD EIGHT VACANCY VERSUS CD FIVE MM-HMM.
DOES, DOES THIS WORK SIMILARLY TO THE WAY, UM, CITY COUNCIL WORKS? UM, DO, DOES ANYONE HAVE CLARITY ON THAT FROM THE STAFF? AND IF NOT, THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN, WE CAN LOOK INTO.
I'M LOOKING INTO IT RIGHT NOW.
UH, MME. CLARK, I THINK, UM, I'M WAITING, WE MAY NOT GET AN ANSWER TONIGHT, BUT WE WILL GET AN ANSWER IN BETWEEN SESSIONS AND WE CAN JUST EASILY MODIFY THAT, THAT, THAT TECHNICALITY.
RIGHT? THANK YOU FOR, TO BOTH OF YOU RAISING THAT QUESTION.
UM, I HAVE COMMISSIONER S SCHUL, UH, COLE, UH, MY COMMENTS WERE COVERED.
COMMISSIONER COLE? UH, WE DO, WE DID HAVE A FRIENDLY, IT WAS ACCEPTED BY VICE CHAIR COVINGTON, BUT I ALSO NEED TO CHECK IN WITH COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ ACCEPTED.
NOW, COMMISSIONER COLE, MY COMMENTS WERE COVERED.
UM, WITH RESPECT TO THE APPOINTMENT, I TOO WAS, UM, APPOINTED IN NOVEMBER, UH, AS OPPOSED TO THE SUMMER MONTHS.
BUT, UM, IN ADDITION TO A MORE FREQUENT APPOINTMENT, ALSO, IF THERE'S A WAY THAT WE COULD EXPEDITE THE PROCESSING, I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE DELAY TO THAT IS, BECAUSE WHILE I WAS APPOINTED IN NOVEMBER, I THINK MY FIRST MEETING WAS IN APRIL.
AND IF THERE'S A WAY THAT THAT PROCESS COULD BE EXPEDITED SO THAT IT HAPPENS SOONER AFTER THE APPOINTMENT.
UH, COMMISSIONER GILLETTE, THANK YOU FOR HIGHLIGHTING THAT.
WOULD THAT BE A FRIENDLY AS WELL TO ADD TO THIS LETTER? YES.
UM, COMMISSIONER, UH, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON, UH, ACCEPTED.
SO THE CURRENT READING IS, UM, PRIORITIZE AND EXPEDITE ONGOING APPOINTMENTS EACH QUARTER TO FILL ALL VACANCIES.
DOES THAT CAPTURE COMMISSIONER, UM, UH, COMMISSIONER, UM, GILLETTE? PERHAPS IF WE COULD PUT, UM, SOMETHING RELATING SPECIFICALLY TO ONBOARDING.
IS THAT OKAY? I BELIEVE THAT'S THE PROCESS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO EXPEDITE SOON AFTER THE APPOINTMENT.
PRIORITIZE AND EXPEDITE ONBOARDING OF NEW COMMISSIONERS? OH, NO.
PRIORITIZE AND EXPEDITE THE ONBOARDING FOR ONGOING APPOINTMENTS EACH QUARTER TO FILL ALL VACANCIES.
COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ, DO YOU ACCEPT THE FRIENDLY? YES.
UM, WE DO NOT HAVE ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS QUEUED UP.
UM, UH, I JUST WANT TO COMMEND, UH, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON ON, UM, THE VERY, VERY ROBUST LETTER, ESPECIALLY THE CONTEXT.
I THINK I AM A BIG BELIEVER IN PROVIDING CONTEXT BEFORE RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, IT JUST ALLOWS NOT JUST THE RECIPIENT, BUT MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO SEE THE RATIONALE BEHIND THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND, AND REALLY DELVE INTO EVEN THE HISTORY OF, OF, OF WHAT LED US HERE.
AND, AND TO ME, THE LETTER ALSO READS AS VERY THOUGHTFUL PARTNER WITH, UH, THE MAYOR, UH, UM, AND CITY COUNCIL IN THESE RECOMMENDATIONS.
[01:40:01]
I APPRECIATE THE APPROACH TOWARDS THE LETTER AS WELL.SO WE'RE GONNA, UM, MOVE FORWARD WITH THE VOTE.
SO, IF A MEMBER WAS DRAWN INTO A DIFFERENT DISTRICT THROUGH REDISTRICTING EFFORTS, SAID MEMBER MAY SERVE AT LARGE AND CONTINUE TO REPRESENT THE DISTRICT THEY WERE APPOINTED TO UNTIL THE CONCLUSION OF THEIR TERM AFTER THE EXPIRATION OF SAID TERM.
AND IF A VACANCY ON THE SAME BODY EXISTS, THE MEMBER MAY BE REAPPOINTED TO REPRESENT THEIR NEW DISTRICT OR IN AT LARGE SEAT ON THE BODY.
SUBJECT TO THE TERMS OF THIS CHAPTER AND CODE, AND I'M REFERENCING ORDINANCE THAT WAS JUST ADOPTED THIS YEAR, UPDATING BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, AND THAT'S ORDINANCE NUMBER 24 DASH 0 0 4.
SO IT'S, IF MY UNDERSTANDING NOW, THEN WE LEAVE THAT PART OF THE LETTER AS IS CORRECT.
SO IF YOU DON'T MIND, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON, IF YOU COULD JUST SYNTHESIZE THE FRIENDLIES FOR, FOR THE BODY AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, AND THEN WE'LL PROCEED TO VOTE.
UM, SO THERE WAS, UH, EDIT REQUEST TO, UH, CHANGE THE SPELLING OF BREAK, UH, TO THE ACTUAL BREAK THAT WE TOOK.
UH, IN ADDITION TO THAT, UH, THERE'S A FRIENDLY, UH, FOR AN ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATION, UH, WHICH READS AS PRIORITIZED AND EXPEDITE THE ONBOARDING FOR ALL ONGOING COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS, UH, EACH QUARTER TO FILL ALL VACANCIES.
THOSE ARE THE ONLY REQUESTED EDITS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON.
UM, WE WILL NOW GO TO MADAM CLERK, UH, AND CALL FOR A VOTE HERE.
BACK TO BACK WORK, UH, TWO SOLID RECOMMENDATIONS MAKING ADDED THIS BODY TODAY.
THAT MOVES US TO AGENDA ITEM, UH, FIVE UPDATES FROM THE AD HOC.
SO LET MADAM CLERK, UH, READ US AND, UH, GUIDE US WITH, UH, THE READING OF THE ITEM.
[5. 24-52431 Recommendation to receive and file a report from current Ad Hoc Committees; discuss anticipated Ad Hoc Committees for upcoming projects; and, if appropriate, take action to dissolve or create Ad Hoc Committees. Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
IS A RECOMMENDATION TO RECEIVE AND FILE A REPORT FROM CURRENT AD HOC COMMITTEES, DISCUSS ANTICIPATED AD HOC COMMITTEES FOR UPCOMING PROJECTS, AND IF APPROPRIATE, TAKE ACTION TO DISSOLVE OR CREATE AD HOC COMMITTEES.UM, I'M WAITING FOR MOVEMENT ON THIS.
UM, SO I HAVE A MOTION, UH, BY COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ.
WE'RE NOW GONNA MOVE ON TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER FIVE IN PERSON, PLEASE LINE AT THE PODIUM.
AND IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS IN THE ZOOM THAT WOULD LIKE TO, LIKE TO SPEAK ON ITEM NUMBER FIVE, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FEATURE NOW, OR STAR DIAL, STAR NINE.
IF CALLING IN, SEEING NONE IN PERSON AND IN THE ZOOM THAT CONCLUDES PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEM NUMBER FIVE.
WE HAVE THREE, UH, CURRENT AD HOC COMMITTEES, AND I'LL JUST TOUCH BASE WITH, UM, EACH ONE.
I HAVE A ASKED COMMISSIONER COLE, UH, TO PROVIDE US WITH AN UPDATE ON THE EQUITY IMPACT STATEMENT AD HOC COMMITTEE.
UM, WE HAVE, AS PART OF OUR ROADMAP, UH, ONE OF THE TASKS WE HAVE BEEN, UM, SET TO DO IS TO CREATE AN EQUITY STATEMENT FOR THE CITY, WHICH CAN ALSO BE KNOWN, KNOWN AS AN EQUITY ASSESSMENT AS WE LEARNED.
AND WHY DON'T I JUST READ WHAT THAT IS? WHAT, WHAT IS, WHAT IS AN EQUITY STATEMENT FOR A CITY? UM, IT'S A PROCESS USED IN DECISION MAKING THAT FORMALIZES STEPS TO INTENTIONALLY IDENTIFY AND REDUCE POTENTIAL HARM TO SPECIFIC POPULATIONS AND INCREASE EQUITABLE OUTCOMES AND AVOID UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.
SO I HAD TO LOOK THAT UP AND DO A LITTLE RESEARCH ON THE SIDE.
SO WHAT WE'VE DONE IN THE BACKGROUND IS PUT TOGETHER SOME INITIAL RESEARCH AND SOURCES.
WE'VE LOOKED AT, UM, WHAT DIFFERENT CITIES ARE DOING, DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS, EVEN UNIVERSITIES.
THERE HAVE BEEN SOME JUST UNIQUE ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE DONE A LOT OF WORK IN DEVELOPING EQUITY STATEMENTS AND EQUITY PRINCIPLES.
UM, WE LOOKED AT THE FRAMEWORKS THEY WERE USING AND, UM, WHAT THE GOALS ARE.
AND NOW WHAT WE'RE DOING IS FLUSHING OUT THE ACTUAL, UM, STATEMENT OR REPORT, IF YOU WILL, IDENTIFYING THE BACKGROUND OF WHY WE'RE HERE, WHICH THE, UH, DEPARTMENT OF EQUITY DID A GREAT JOB OF PUTTING
[01:45:01]
TOGETHER AND RELEASING THIS EQUITY TOOLKIT.UNFORTUNATELY, IT SEEMED LIKE THE MOMENTUM WAS DISRUPTED BY COVID, SO THEY DID A GREAT JOB, BUT NOTHING HAS BEEN INSTITUTIONALIZED IN OUR PROCESSES OR POLICIES OR PROJECTS THAT ARE GOING ON IN THE CITY TO DO AN ANALYSIS OF WHO MAY BENEFIT AND CERTAINLY WHO MAY BE, UM, HARMED.
SO WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF PUTTING THAT TOGETHER.
I PROVIDED AN OUTLINE, A VERY ROUGH OUTLINE.
UM, AND, UH, THE TEAM WILL MEET AGAIN THIS MONTH.
AND IT'S ACTUALLY QUITE, IT'S MORE COMPLICATED
UM, IT INVOLVES ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS.
SO IT'S REALLY GONNA TAKE A TEAM TO PULL THIS TOGETHER.
AND I DO APPRECIATE, UM, THE CHAIR AND ALANA'S, UM, UH, AND SHE'S A FELLOW WORKING WITH HER, UM, PARTICIPATION IN PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.
AND I HOPE, UM, I'M NOT SURE WHEN I, I HAVEN'T SPOKEN TO THE TEAM.
I DON'T KNOW IF WE WOULD PRESENT A DRAFT, BUT I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE PROCEDURES ARE TO MOVE TO THE NEXT STEP.
BUT WE'VE MADE PROGRESS AND, UM, I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT THIS CAN LEAD TO.
UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH, COMMISSIONER COLE.
AND I WANNA JUST, UH, CONTINUE TO THANK YOU.
I ASKED FOR JUST, UH, SO THE, THE BODY KNOWS AND THE PUBLIC KNOWS.
I ASKED COMMISSIONER COLE TO TAKE THE LEAD ON THIS.
UM, AND SHE'S HIT THE GROUND RUNNING, AND WE DID, UH, HAVE A FORMAL MEETING AND FACT GATHERING, AND THIS IS THE STAGE WE'RE AT.
UH, I DO WELCOME, UM, AND I'LL PAUSE MOMENTARILY AFTER I MAKE THIS ASK.
IT'S THE AD HO IT'S JUST THE TWO OF US, UH, MIGHTY TEAM, SMALL TEAM.
UH, SO IF THERE ARE OTHER COMMISSIONERS THAT WOULD, WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US, UM, YOU ARE WELCOME TO.
UH, BUT FOR PUBLIC REASONS, WE WOULD HAVE TO KNOW, UH, NOW, RIGHT.
SO I'M JUST GONNA PAUSE TO SEE IF THERE'S AN INTEREST.
SAYS NO, IT'S, NO, NO WORRIES.
WE'RE A MIGHTY TEAM AND WE'LL, WE'LL CONTINUE TO, UH, BE THE TWO OF US IF, IF IT IS THE TWO OF US.
SO, UM, SO I'LL JUST LET THAT KIND OF SIT FOR A FEW SECONDS HERE TO SEE IF THERE IS INTEREST IN JOINING THIS AD HOC COMMITTEE.
I DON'T SEE ANYONE QUEUED UP, SO I'M GOING TO, I KNOW CAPACITY IS SOMETIMES TAPPED, BUT YOU KNOW ME, I WILL CONTINUE TO ASK DOWN THE LINE.
IT'S PART OF MY JOB, ESPECIALLY ON THIS STANDING AGENDA ITEM.
THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM, UM, I KNOW WE HAVE THE BIPOC LGBTQ PLUS AD HOC COMMITTEE.
BATS SHARE AN UPDATE ONE TIME AND, UH, THEN VICE CHAIR COVINGTON.
SO I'M NOT SURE WHO'S GONNA GO, BUT, UH, WE WILL OPEN, I'M SORRY, BEFORE WE MOVE, COMM COMMISSIONER, GUT SPLIT, UH, DIVIDING TASK HERE.
SO COMMISSIONER, I'M SORRY, FLORES, PLEASE.
UM, BEFORE WE MOVE ON, I'M NOT SURE IF COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ, UM, WANTED TO COMMENT ON THE PREVIOUS AD HOC SINCE THE HAND WAS RAISED.
I, I HAD REQUESTED TO SPEAK BEFORE I, I KNEW THE ORDER.
UM, UH, COMMISSIONER FLORES, PLEASE.
UM, WE'RE, UH, WE HAD A MEETING, UM, ON FEBRUARY 22ND WITH THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE LONG BEACH HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND HER, UH, RESEARCH STAFF PERSON.
AND, UM, THE COMMISSIONERS THAT WERE INVOLVED IN THAT MEETING WERE, UH, VICE CHAIR, UH, COVINGTON, COMMISSIONER BATS, COMMISSIONER BUTTS BUTLER, EXCUSE ME, SORRY.
UM, AND OUR STAFF MEMBER, TONY AND MYSELF, UM, WE MET WITH THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF LONG BEACH TEAM TO DISCUSS A PARTNERSHIP TO BRING A, COMMIT, A PERMANENT SPACE, UM, FOR AN LGBTQ MUSEUM OR GALLERY.
THE PURPOSE IS TO PRESERVE THE LGBTQ PLUS HISTORY IN LONG BEACH IN A VISIBLE WAY.
PEOPLE DESERVE TO KNOW DES BECAUSE PEOPLE DESERVE TO KNOW THEIR, THEIR STORY, THEIR HISTORY.
THE, HIS, UH, THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY HAS A BIG COLLECTION, AND THEY CAN BRING THE FOLLOWING TO THIS PARTNERSHIP.
THEY HAVE ORAL HISTORIES, THEY HAVE RESEARCH, UM, THEY CAN HELP US CURATE, UM, FOR A PROPER SPACE TO MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE TO ALL LONG BEACH RESIDENTS, UM, VIA PERMANENT SPACE.
UM, THEY'RE HAPPY TO BECOME A PARTNER.
THEY HAVE A LOT OF DIGITAL FORMAT, UM, EXHIBIT QR CODE KIND OF, UM, SERVICES OR OFFERINGS THAT THEY'VE DONE.
[01:50:01]
VERY WELL EQUIPPED TO DO IT, WHETHER WE HAVE A PERMANENT SPACE, A TEMPORARY SPACE, OR IT'S A QR KIND OF VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE.SO, UM, WHAT'S BEST IS THAT THEY'RE THE BEST RESOURCE IN LONG BEACH FOR THIS, UM, OPPORTUNITY.
SO THE NEXT STEPS ARE FOR THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO GET BUY-IN FROM THEIR BOARD AROUND MARCH 20, BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN THEIR BOARD MEETING WILL BE.
ONCE THEY HAVE BUY-IN, THEN THEY'LL PROVIDE A PROPOSAL AND A BUDGET FOR WHAT THE PROJECTS WILL LOOK LIKE.
UM, THE AD HOC COMMITTEE WILL WORK TO SECURE PARTNERS TO IDENTIFY A SPACE FOR SUCH AN EXHIBIT.
UH, AND THEN THIS IS THE BEST PART, PLACING QR CODES THROUGHOUT THE CITY SO PEOPLE CAN, YOU KNOW, UH, HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, YOU KNOW, IF THEY CAN'T PHYSICALLY BE THERE, PARTICIPATE IN THAT KIND OF MATTER, WE COULD HAVE ONE RIGHT OUTSIDE THIS HALL, YOU KNOW, THAT KIND OF THING AT THE LIBRARY, AT THE, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU NAME IT.
WE, WE CAN EXPAND THE ACCESS FOR OUR CITY, UH, RESIDENTS TO BE A PART OF IT AND FEEL PROUD ABOUT IT, UM, THE POSSIBLE EXHIBITION LOCATIONS TO CONSIDER.
AND SO IF YOU HAVE ANY CONNECTIONS, LET US KNOW.
CENTER OF LONG BEACH, ONCE THEY HAVE THEIR NEW SPACE, LONG BEACH MUSEUM FOR SEASON, LONG BEACH MUSEUM, ANNEX LONG BEACH PRIDE ORGANIZATION, THE SPACE THAT THEY HAVE ON 10TH STREET MOOLA, MAYBE THEY HAVE A CARVE OUT LOCATION FOR A SEASON FOR US, LBCC, CAL STATE LONG BEACH.
UM, OUR PARTNERSHIP COMMITMENT WOULD BE FOR EVERYBODY TO MEET ONCE A MONTH TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
THE TIMELINE WOULD BE TO SECURE A SPACE BY FALL 2024.
YES, WE HAVE BIG PLANS WITH THE OBJECTIVE TO HAVE THE SPACE UP AND RUNNING BY 2025.
ONCE WE SECURE THE SPACE AND THE PARTNER, THE SPACE PARTNERSHIP, WE HAND OVER THE PROJECT TO THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY SO THAT THEY MAY MAKE IT HAPPEN.
AND WE HAVE ONE SUGGESTED, UM, TITLE, UH, CURATED BY OUR VERY OWN VICE CHAIR COVINGTON, AND MORE SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME.
UH, WHAT WE HAVE ON THE TABLE RIGHT NOW IS PRIDE AND RESISTANCE IN LONG BEACH.
SO IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER SUGGESTED TITLES, SEND 'EM OUR WAY.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE FOR NOW.
WE HOPE TO HAVE MORE UPDATES IN THE FUTURE.
ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER FLORES.
UH, IT SEEMS LIKE WE DO HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS HERE FOR YOU.
SO, UM, OR, OR, REALLY THE, THE ENTIRE AD HOC COMMITTEE COMMISSIONER, UH, GILLETTE, I, I LOVE ALL THOSE PROPOSALS.
UM, AS I WAS LISTENING TO, UM, THE MUSEUM, AND I WAS TRYING TO SEARCH FOR IT, UM, ON MY PHONE, BUT I DO RECALL, UH, DURING THE 100 DAY PLAN OF MAY, REX RICHARDSON LAST YEAR, THERE WERE SOME GROUPS THAT WA HE INTRODUCED MUSEUMS FOR VARIOUS GROUPS.
AND I COULDN'T RECALL, I HAVE THIS VAGUE RECOLLECTION THAT PERHAPS, UM, FOR LG, RIGHT? UH, I, I'M NOT SURE, BUT SO I WAS, I WAS CONFIRMING IF PERHAPS THERE WAS ALREADY, THAT WAS ALREADY INCLUDED IN THE OPERATION BEACH AGENDA.
I'LL KEEP SEARCHING AS OTHERS OR OTHER COMMISSIONERS ARE MAKING COMMENTS.
COMMISSIONER GU, UH, GILLETTE.
WAS IT THE CULTURAL CENTERS, PERHAPS? YES, THERE WAS.
UM, I RECALL FOR, UM, CAMBODIAN COMMUNITY, AFRICAN AMERICAN, OR MAYBE IT WAS, UH, UM, THERE WERE FOUR GROUPS, UH, CULTURAL GROUPS IN LGBTQ PLUS, IS MY RECOLLECTION.
BUT I, I COULD BE WRONG ON THE LAST, UH, GROUP.
YEAH, I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
I JUST WANTED TO SHARE, UM, JUST, UM, AWE AND APPRECIATION FOR ALL THE WORK YOU ALL ARE DOING.
UM, JUST REALLY EXCITED TO SEE THIS COME TO FRUITION AND LOVE THE NAME.
ANY OTHER, UH, QUESTIONS? YES, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON.
UH, I HAVE A, A RESPONSE, UH, OR CLARIFICATION FOR COMMISSIONER GILLETTE.
UM, SO YES, UH, UNDER, UH, UH, SPACE SPEECH OR BEACH OPPORTUNITIES, UH, THERE WERE THE INTRODUCTIONS OF MULTIPLE CULTURAL DISTRICTS.
THERE WAS THE AFRICAN AMERICAN, THE CAMBODIAN, THE LATINX, AND THEN THE L-G-B-T-Q CULTURAL DISTRICTS.
SO THE L-G-B-T-Q CULTURAL DISTRICT IS CURRENTLY, AND IN ITS FINAL PHASE, OR THIRD TO FINAL PHASE OF ITS PROCESS, THEY'VE IDENTIFIED A LOCATION, WHICH WOULD BE THE BROADWAY CORRIDOR, UH, OR WHAT MANY COMMUNITY
[01:55:01]
MEMBERS CALL THE GAY, UH, IN LONG BEACH.AND, UH, THEY HAVE IDENTIFIED SOME SPECIFIC, UM, ELEMENTS TO MAKE THE CULTURAL DISTRICT, UM, IDENTIFIABLE.
UM, SO THEY'RE LOOKING AT, UM, ART INSTALLATIONS, UH, UPDATED AND, UH, CONTINUOUS LIKE LIGHT POLES, UM, HOW DO YOU SAY, LIKE, FOR LIKE, UM, FACADES, UH, SO THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU ENTER THIS, UH, CULTURAL DISTRICT, YOU'RE ENTERING THE L-G-B-T-Q CULTURAL DISTRICTS.
UH, THERE ARE TALKS ABOUT HAVING PLAQUES, UH, WITHIN THE COMMUNITIES.
UM, AND THEN, UH, THERE ARE OTHER LIKE, UPDATES TO THE PARKS, UH, THE BIXBY PARK THAT THEY WANT TO INCLUDE AS WELL.
SO THAT PROCESS IS CURRENTLY ONGOING.
UH, IT'S BEING LED BY COUNCIL WOMEN, CINDY ALLEN, AND MANY, UM, L-G-B-T-Q STAKEHOLDERS IN THE CITY.
UH, THERE SHOULD BE AN UPDATE COMING UP SOON, UM, TO CITY COUNCIL FOR THE FINAL APPROVAL OF ALL OF THE, THE PLANS FOR THAT CULTURAL DISTRICT.
UH, SO AS AN AD HOC, UH, WE DID HAVE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT IF WE COULD MAKE, UH, THE ART, UH, EXCUSE ME, THE HISTORY, UM, INSTALLATIONS VIRTUAL, UH, WE CAN CREATE A QR CODE AND MAKE, MAYBE INCLUDE THAT AS A PLAQUE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
SO AS PEOPLE WALK DOWN THE STREET, THEY CAN TAKE A PICTURE OF THE QR CODE AND LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF LONG BEACH.
UM, UNLESS THERE ARE OTHER COMMENTS FROM FINISHER, WE DO HAVE ONE MORE UPDATE FROM THE OH, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON.
UH, AND I JUST WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND APPRECIATE, UH, COMMISSIONER FLORES, UH, FOR, UH, LEADING THIS EFFORT, UH, AND, AND, UH, BRINGING THE CONNECTION WITH THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
UH, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING THIS PROJECT COME TO FRUITION, AND IT'S A PLEASURE WORKING WITH YOU AND THE REST OF THE TEAM.
UH, WE HAVE ONE MORE UPDATE FROM AN AD HOC COMMITTEE.
UM, IT IS ACTUALLY COMING FROM COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ WHO WAS SHARING THE AD HOC.
I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A, AN ADDITIONAL UPDATE, BUT I WANNA FOLLOW PROCESS TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANOTHER UPDATE FROM, UH, YOUR AD HOC.
YEAH, WELL, I JUST WANTED TO, UM, I THINK WE NEED TO MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS BECAUSE IN, SO I WAS NOT AT THE, THE LAST MEETING, UM, AS YOU ALL KNOW, AND AT THE LAST MEETING THERE WAS A FEW ADDITIONAL, UH, MEMBERS ADDED TO THE AD HOC.
BUT ACTUALLY, UM, IN OCTOBER, UM, UH, COREY AND NIGHT COMMISSIONER ALLEN AND I, WHEN WE HAD PROPOSED THE AD HOC, WE HAD ACTUALLY CREATED A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE THREE DIFFERENT, UM, TOPICS THAT WE WANTED TO, UM, TOUCH ON.
AND AT THAT TIME, WE HAD, UM, MADE THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN, SO THE, THE AD HOC THAT, UM, I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON IS SPECIFICALLY AROUND, UH, WORKFORCE, UH, ADVANCING EMPLOYMENT AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
AND THAT AD HOC NOW CAN BE DISSOLVED AND THEN WE ACTUALLY NEED TO RECREATE OR CREATE, UM, A NEW AD HOC, UM, TO FOCUS ON HOUSING.
UM, WE CAN COMBINE IT POTENTIALLY, I, I'LL DEFER TO MAYBE THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND, AND, UM, IF WE NEED TO GET CLARIFICATION FROM CITY ATTORNEY, WE WELCOME THAT AS WELL.
BUT, UM, I REMEMBER WHEN WE HAD THIS DISCUSSION, THIS WAS ONE OF THE, UM, POINTS THAT, THAT, UM, TAYLOR, UM, CITY ATTORNEYS REPRESENTATIVE BROUGHT UP WAS THAT BECAUSE IT'S SUCH A BIG TOPIC, UM, IT WAS BETTER TO LIKE PARSE THEM OUT.
AND SO WE, AT, IN, IN OUR OCTOBER UPDATE, WE SAID, OKAY, WE'LL START WITH EMPLOYMENT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, THEN DO HOUSING, THEN DO MENTAL HEALTH SLASH LIKE SUBSTANCE, UM, USE.
AND SO, UM, THAT'S WHERE WE'RE AT NOW.
SO I WANT TO MAKE A MOTION TO DISSOLVE THE WORKFORCE, UH, EMPLOYMENT AND WORKFORCE AD HOC.
AND THEN, UM, WE CAN, IF THERE'S INTEREST, UM, FROM OTHER COMMISSIONERS, THEN WE CAN, UM, OPEN THE AD HOC FOR ONE OF THE OTHER TWO TOPICS.
UM, TWO THINGS KIND OF STAND OUT.
ONE PROCEDURAL, SINCE WE HAVE THE ACTIVE MOTION ON THE FLOOR FOR THE AGENDA ITEM AS IS, I'M GONNA TOUCH BASE WITH, UH, OUR MADAM CLERK TO SEE IF, UH, UH, ALYSSA'S, I'M SORRY, COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ SAYS, UH, NEW MOTION.
WHAT, WHAT WOULD BE THE PROCESS? 'CAUSE IT WOULD BE A MOTION TO DISSOLVE THIS CURRENT AD HOC, AND THEN I WOULD THEN RECOMMEND IF, IF WE CAN MOVE THAT FORWARD, UH, FRIENDLY TO TABLE THE ADDITION OF THE OTHER ONES FOR THE NEXT MEETING SO THAT WE CAN, UM, FIGURE OUT HOW TO, HOW TO PUT THE LANGUAGE THERE FOR THE NEXT, UH, MEETING.
YEAH, SO THE ORIGINAL RECOMMENDATION HAS THE, THE ACTION TO CREATE AND DISSOLVE AD HOC
[02:00:01]
COMMITTEES.SO IT WOULD JUST BE LIKE AN AMENDED, UM, AMENDMENT TO DISSOLVE THE EMPLOYMENT AND WORKFORCE AD HOC COMMITTEE.
UM, AND WE CAN JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT.
AND THEN IN YOUR NEXT MEETING, IF YOU WANTED TO CREATE YOUR NEXT AD HOC, THEN THAT WOULD JUST BE PART OF THE STANDING ITEM.
IN OTHER WORDS, SO IF YOU WANT, YOU CAN AMEND THE, THE MOTION TO SPECIFY THAT YOU'RE DISSOLVING THIS, THIS SPECIFIC AD HOC COMMITTEE.
SO YOU CAN, UM, COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ CAN, UM, ADDRESS THE MOTION AND THE SECONDER.
UM, THE FIRST IS COMMISSIONER MONTGOMERY.
ARE YOU OKAY WITH THAT, UM, MODIFICATION? YES, THAT'S FINE.
AND I'M ASSUMING SINCE COMMISSIONER GO THAT'S, THAT'S A GIVEN.
SO THAT'S, SO WE, UH, SO PART OF IT IN OUR VOTING ONCE WE GET THERE IS TO DISSOLVE THIS AD HOC, AND THEN I, I WILL MAKE A COMMITMENT HERE THAT AT OUR NEXT AGENDA, AT OUR NEXT MEETING, WE WILL OPEN IT UP FOR THESE TWO OTHER AD HOC COMMITTEES.
SO THE ONLY ASK I HAVE IS THAT FOR COMMISSIONERS TO CONSIDER JOINING THESE AD HOC COMMITTEES, WE'LL LOOP THEM INTO THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM OR THE NEXT, UH, AGENDA IN APRIL.
EVERYBODY'S CHAIR COVINGTON, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR, UM, COMMISSIONER GUTIERREZ.
UH, THE ORIGINAL TENT OF THESE THREE SPECIFIC ITEMS ARE TO ADDRESS THE RACIAL RECONCILIATION FRAMEWORK, UM, GOALS.
IS THAT STILL GOING TO BE A COMPONENT OF THE, UH, HOUSING AND THE MENTAL HEALTH, UH, AD HOCS MOVING FORWARD? YES.
SO THE HOUSING AND, UM, MENTAL HEALTH ARE, THEY WERE, UM, OTHER FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO RECIDIVISM.
AND SO THERE ARE, UM, SOME RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAN BE BROUGHT FORTH, UM, UNDER THOSE SPECIFIC TOPICS AS IT RELATES TO RECIDIVISM.
AND SO THE, THE, UH, THE SUGGESTION FROM TAYLOR CITY ATTORNEY FROM CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE AT THE TIME WAS TO CREATE DIFFERENT AD HOCS TO ADDRESS EACH TOPIC.
SO IT STILL, UM, SO THAT WE'RE LIKE FOLLOWING THE RULES OF HOW AD HOCS HAVE TO BE, UM, LIKE STRUCTURED AND COMPRISED.
I HAVE A QUESTION FOR, UH, MADAM CLERK.
UH, IN REGARDS TO THE LETTER THAT WE'RE GONNA SEND, UH, TO CITY COUNCIL ON THIS PARTICULAR MATTER OF EMPLOYMENT, DOES THE DISSOLVING OF THE AD HOC INTERRUPT OR, UM, POSE A POTENTIAL CHALLENGE FOR THE PROCESSING OF THE LETTER? I DON'T BELIEVE SO.
UM, I CAN GO AHEAD AND CONFIRM OR SEE IF I CAN CONFIRM THAT TODAY.
IF NOT, I CAN ALWAYS REACH OUT TO EQUITY STAFF.
MM-HMM,
SO I, I BELIEVE IT'S FINE, BUT UM, I CAN GO AHEAD AND DOUBLE CHECK AND LET EQUITY STAFF KNOW.
BECAUSE I KNOW AT THIS POINT IT STILL NEEDS TO BE FINALIZED AND THEN TRANSPOSED, UM, ON ALL THAT INTO A MEMO.
SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE DOING OUR DUE DILIGENCE SO THAT WE DON'T MESS UP THE PROCESS OF IT GOING TO CITY COUNCIL.
POTENTIAL CATCH, JUST DEPENDING ON WHAT MADAM CLERK, UM, FINDS OUT WHEN I'M, I GET THE IMPRESSION FROM BODY LANGUAGE THAT WE HAVE AN ANSWER.
SO, UM, I CONFIRM WITH EQUITY STUFF THAT IT WOULDN'T AFFECT IT.
'CAUSE THE COMMISSION ALREADY, UH, APPROVED THE RECOMMENDATIONS TONIGHT.
SO THE DISSOLVING OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE WOULDN'T AFFECT THE PROCESS TO GET THAT TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL.
OKAY, COMMISSIONER, UH, GUTIERREZ AND I ALSO JUST WANNA, UM, DRAW ATTENTION TO, UM, IN OUR LETTER, IN THE BACKGROUND SECTION, IT CALLS OUT, UM, THAT THE AD HOC, UM, YES.
THAT THE AD HOC, UH, WAS TO INFORM RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE AREAS OF EMPLOYMENT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, AND THAT IT WAS LIKE PART ONE OF THREE AND IT CALLS OUT HOUSING AND MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT, UM, TO JUST WANNA UPLIFT THAT.
AND I BELIEVE COMMISSIONER BUTLER IS, UH, QUEUING UP, UH, PHYSICALLY.
COMMISSIONER BUTLER, THANK YOU.
UH, THAT WAS MY FIRST QUESTION IS AM I BEING SEEN WHEN I REQUEST TO SPEAK? UM, 'CAUSE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR A FEW MINUTES.
I ACTUALLY WANTED TO COMMENT, UM, ON OUR PARTICULAR AD HOC COMMITTEE, THE COMMITTEE THAT COMMISSIONER BATS, COVINGTON, TONY
[02:05:01]
AND I SIT ON, UM, I, I, I KNOW WE PASSED IT.WE CAN, YOU COULD DEFINITELY STILL CHIME IN.
UM, UNFORTUNATELY IT'S NOT, I, I, I, I'M, DON'T SEE YOU QUEUED UP, BUT I GOT THE WORD DOWN THE LINE HERE.
I, AND MAYBE IT'S JUST ME SITTING DOWN HERE THAT'S, I'M A LITTLE BIT REMOVED.
UH, I JUST WANTED TO ADD A COMMENT TO WHAT WE, TO WHAT WE WERE DISCUSSING OR TO WHAT WAS BEING DISCUSSED.
OUR, OUR AD HOC IS THE BIPOC AND QT PLUS COMMUNITY.
UM, I, I JUST WANT US TO REMAIN DILIGENT IN LOOKING AT WHATEVER WE'RE DISCUSSING, WHATEVER WE'RE DOING FROM THE BIPOC LENS.
ALSO, I HADN'T REALLY SEEN A FOCUS ON THAT, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS I VOLUNTEERED TO SIT ON THIS COMMITTEE.
AND BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT IMPORTANT, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE LOOK AT EVERY, EVERYTHING WE DO FROM THAT PARTICULAR LENS ALSO.
THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME GET IT IN.
UM, PROCESS WAS, I THINK WE'RE AT THE POINT NOW WHERE WE CAN VOTE, UM, ON THIS ITEM.
UM, MADAM CLERK, MOTION CARRIES.
THAT BRINGS US TO OUR FINAL AGENDA ITEM.
SO, UH, CAN YOU GO AHEAD AND PROCEED WITH AGENDA ITEM SIX? YES.
[6. 24-52432 Recommendation to receive and file a monthly update from the Office of Equity. Suggested Action: Approve recommendation. ]
A RECOMMENDATION TO RECEIVE AND FILE A MONTHLY UPDATE FROM THE OFFICE OF EQUITY.CAN I GET A, A MOTION FROM COMMISSIONERS
UH, PUBLIC COMMENT PLEASE, MADAM CLERK, IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC COMMENT IN PERSON ON ITEM NUMBER SIX, PLEASE LINE UP AT THE PODIUM AT THIS TIME.
AND IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS IN THE ZOOM THAT WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT ON NUMBER SIX, ITEM NUMBER SIX, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FEATURE.
NOW, SEEING NONE, BOTH IN ZOOM AND IN PERSON, THAT CONCLUDES PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEM NUMBER SIX.
SO I'M NOW GONNA ASK THE OFFICE OF EQUITY FOR THEIR STANDING, UM, UPDATE.
UM, AND I WELCOME THEM TO SHARE WHAT THEY HAVE, UH, THEY HAVE FOR US.
HELLO AND GOOD EVENING, UH, COMMISSIONERS.
UM, THE OFFICE OF EQUITY RECENTLY CONCLUDED THE SEVENTH TRAIN, UH, THE SEVENTH TRAINING IN OUR SERIES ON RESULTS BASED ACCOUNTABILITY, UH, WHICH IS THE FRAMEWORK WE ARE USING TO DEVELOP DEPARTMENTS, UH, RACIAL EQUITY ACTION PLANS.
UM, SECONDLY, TRANSPORTATION DAY WILL BE ON THURSDAY, MARCH 28TH.
UH, SO THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND, UH, KCO ARE CO-HOSTING A TRANSPORTATION DAY FROM NOON TO 5:00 PM UH, AT THE MICHELLE OBAMA NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY.
AT THIS EVENT, PARTICIPANTS CAN HEAR FROM REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE CITY'S TRANSPORTATION PARTNERS DURING A PANEL DISCUSSION, UH, MODERATED BY FORMER KCO CHAIR AND DISABILITY CHAMPION, DECA MCLEAN.
UM, BROWSE, UH, RESOURCE TABLES AND HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO APPLY FOR ACCESS, UH, PARATRANSIT AND DIAL A LIFT SERVICES, GET THEIR MONTHLY DEVICES CLEANED FOR FREE, OBTAIN MORE INFORMATION ABOUT TRAVEL TRAINING AND USING THE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AND MUCH MORE.
UM, ALSO, WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON THE LANGUAGE ACCESS POLICY TENURE UPDATE.
UM, WE'RE ALSO CURRENTLY WORKING ON THE RACIAL EQUITY AND RECONCILIATION INITIATIVE, THREE YEAR UPDATE.
AND LASTLY, JUST A REMINDER TO PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR FORM 700 AS THEY ARE DUE.
UM, WITH THAT, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
AND JUST MAKE SURE IF YOU NEED YOUR TICKET, YOUR PARKING TICKET VALIDATED TO JUST COME TO ME AFTER THE MEETING.
IF I MAY, REALLY QUICKLY, JUST TO CLARIFY, TRANSPORTATION DATE IS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
IT'S AN EVENT TO HELP MAKE SURE OUR COMMUNITY WITH DISABILITIES HAS ACCESS TO, UH, TRANSPORTATION, WHICH DOES SERVE AS A VITAL, UM, YOU KNOW, COMPONENT FOR, UH, FOR, FOR THEIR LIVELIHOOD AND WAY OF GETTING AROUND THE CITY.
THANK YOU FOR, UH, UPDATING US AND EVERYTHING THAT YOU CONTINUE TO DO TO ENSURE THAT OUR WORK MOVES FORWARD, UM, INCLUDING THE MECHANICS OF THE WORK ITSELF.
SO I APPRECIATE BOTH TONY AND ALANA, UM, FOR, FOR THEIR WORK.
UH, WE NOW NEED TO MOVE FORWARD TO THE VOTE.
UM, MADAM CLERK, COMMISSIONER BATS.
WE ARE NOW GONNA PROCEED WITH, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ANYTHING THAT IS NOT LISTED ON THE AGENDA.
SO PLEASE TOUCH, UH, BASE WITH BOTH ZOOM AND MEMBERS OF, OF THE PUBLIC IN PERSON.
[PUBLIC COMMENT Opportunity to address the Equity and Human Relations Commission on non-agenda items. Each speaker is limited to three minutes to make their comments unless extended by the Chair.]
[02:10:01]
THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE NON-AGENDA, PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS TIME IN PERSON, PLEASE LINE UP AT THE PODIUM.AND IF IN THE ZOOM, PLEASE USE THE RAISE HAND FEATURE NOW, OR DIAL STAR NINE OF CALLING IN FOR NON-AG AGENDA.
PUBLIC COMMENT, SEEING NONE, BOTH IN THE ZOOM AND IN PERSON.
THAT CONCLUDES NON-AGENDA, PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND THIS, UH, LEADS US TO ANNOUNCEMENTS
[ANNOUNCEMENTS]
FROM THE COMMISSION.UM, I HAVE, UH, A COUPLE, ACTUALLY, I'LL KICKSTART OFF, UH, THIS PIECE.
UM, I WANNA INVITE EVERYONE TO TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY, UH, THE CENTER AND OTHER PARTNERS, UM, INCLUDING OUR, OUR VICE MAYOR.
UH, WE'LL BE, UH, SCHEDULING AN EVENT ON MARCH 30TH FROM FOUR TO EIGHT AT BIXBY PARK.
UH, THIS EVENT IS IMPORTANT PERIOD, HOWEVER, UH, I WOULD BE REMISS IF I DID NOT ADD, UH, A RECENT, UH, NATIONAL TRAGEDY OF, UH, UH, NEXT, UH, BENEDICT, IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH, UH, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT IN OKLAHOMA, WHO HAD BEEN BULLIED FOR SOME TIME AND SCHOOL DID NOT TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, UH, A YOUNG, UH, NEXT BENEDICT WHO IDENTIFY AS, UM, GENDER NON-CONFORMING, UM, AND ALSO NATIVE AMERICAN, UH, WAS BULLIED AND WAS BEAT UP AND DIED.
UM, UH, UH, I BELIEVE A DAY AFTERWARDS.
IT IS NOT CLEAR, ALTHOUGH I AM CONVINCED, UH, THAT ANTI L-G-B-T-Q SPECIFICALLY ANTI-TRANS RHETORIC CONTRIBUTED TO THE ATMOSPHERE AROUND THE SCHOOL AND BEYOND THAT LED TO THIS PERSON'S, UH, YOUNG PERSON'S DEATH.
AND SO, UH, I WANTED TO CONTEXTUALIZED TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY AMIDST THIS BACKDROP OF ANTI L-G-B-T-Q, UH, RHETORIC, DIVISIVENESS, UH, HOMOPHOBIA, TRANSPHOBIA, AND ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION THAT INTERSECT WITHIN THE L-G-B-T-Q COMMUNITY.
SO, INVITE EVERYONE THERE, UM, IF YOU'RE AVAILABLE, AND I'M SURE YOU'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO SEE ADVERTISEMENTS FOR THIS PARTICULAR EVENT.
UM, THIS ALSO SEGUES INTO MY OTHER ANNOUNCEMENT.
UM, SO I MIGHT BE, UH, TRAVELING LATER THAT WEEK.
SO I'VE ASKED VICE CHAIR COVINGTON, UM, AND OF COURSE, NO SURPRISE TO ME.
UH, HE, HE MIGHT BE HANDLING, UH, THE NEXT MEETING.
WE WILL, OF COURSE, PREPARE IN ADVANCE, AS WE ALWAYS DO WITH OFFICE OF EQUITY.
UH, BUT HE IS HIGHLY LIKELY HE'LL BE CHAIRING THE NEXT, UH, MEETING AND CONNECTED TO THAT.
UM, I KNOW WE'RE IN MARCH, BUT THESE THINGS NEED TO BE, UH, DISCUSSED WHILE IN ADVANCE.
SO MY TERM AS CHAIR IS TECHNICALLY UP IN JULY, AND THAT'S WHEN WE DECIDE AS A BODY AS WELL WHAT THE ORGANIZATION OF AND THE LEADERSHIP IS GONNA BE FOR THE NEXT TIME AROUND.
AND ALTHOUGH TECHNICALLY I'M ELIGIBLE FOR A SECOND TERM, UM, I, MY WORK PORTFOLIO, AS ALL OF YOU ARE VERY FAMILIAR 'CAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF INFORMAL DISCUSSIONS IN TERMS OF OUR PROFESSIONAL LIVES AND STUFF.
IT HAS GROWN, WHICH IS GOOD NEWS FOR ME.
LIKE I AM, I'M IN THE, IN THE FIELD OF TEACHER PREPARATION AND WORK AT A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION, AND WE'RE DOING AMAZING WORK THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND BUILDING SUSTAINABLE TEACHER RESIDENCY MODELS.
AND SO, GIVEN HOW MY WORK PORTFOLIO CONTINUES TO GROW AND EXPAND, UH, I DEFINITELY AM COMPLETING THIS YEAR.
UH, 'CAUSE I'M EXCITED AND I, I LOVE THE WORK WE DO.
LOOK AT WHAT WE JUST DID TONIGHT, TWO, TWO RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND THE LAST TIME AROUND, I THINK WE HAD A COUPLE OTHER, IT'S, WE'VE, WE'VE BEEN DOING AMAZING WORK IN THIS LAST YEAR AND WHICH IS, UH, REALLY A TESTAMENT TO THE WORK THAT WAS DONE MANY YEARS BEFORE THAT WITH THE PRIOR CHAIR AND CHAIRS BEFORE THAT.
SO I DO WANT TO OFFER A, A, A GENTLE NUDGE TO ANYONE THAT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT LEADERSHIP, UM, AS CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
BUT IN PARTICULAR, UH, NO SURPRISE HERE TOO, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON HAS EXPRESSED INTEREST, UM, IN, IN THE CHAIRSHIP.
SO I WANTED TO KINDA SHARE THAT AS WELL.
SO ANYONE ELSE IS INTERESTED IN EITHER ROLE.
AND I ALSO FILL IN, UM, KIND OF THE, UH, EVERYTHING THAT'S INVOLVED IN THESE ROLES.
UM, IT'S, IT'S GOOD WORK, UH, BUT YOU'LL SEE ME MULTITASK, BE, YOU HAVE TO BE A REALLY GOOD MULTITASKERS.
UM, UH, SO, SO LET'S HAVE, START HAVING THESE DISCUSSIONS, UM, SO THAT WE ARE PREPARED IN JULY, UM, IN TERMS OF, UH, THE, UH, THOSE TWO PARTICULAR ROLES.
SO, UM, YEAH, I REMEMBER, UH, IT WAS THE PRIOR CHAIR, CHAIR GUTIERREZ.
I, I REMEMBER, UH, WHEN SHE MADE THOSE ANNOUNCEMENTS, I WAS WELL IN ADVANCE.
SO I TAKE, UH, I TAKE A CUE FROM HER AND IT'S LIKE, YEAH, WE NEED IT.
WE NEED TO HAVE A DISCUSSION NOW.
SO I WANNA GIVE EVERYONE THE HEADS UP NOW AS OPPOSED TO JUST SURPRISING EVERYONE IN JULY.
UM, HEY, I, I, I'M NOT, UH, I'M, UH, NO, THIS IS, I WISH I COULD, I WISH I CONTINUE THIS 'CAUSE I'VE LEARNED A LOT, BUT WORK IS CALLING ME TO DO SO MUCH.
AND, UH, I'M, I'M VERY PASSIONATE, OF COURSE, ON, ON EDUCATION.
[02:15:01]
SO, SO I'M JUST SAYING THAT FOR NOW.AND THEN I WILL MOVE, UH, TO SEE IF THERE, ARE THERE ANNOUNCEMENTS? I SEE VICE CHAIR AS VICE.
I THOUGHT HE HAD, HE WAS ON THE MIC.
ANY OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS? COMMISSIONER, UH, GILLETTE AND, AND THEN COMMISSIONER, WELL, COMMISSIONER BUTLIN, COMMISSIONER BUTLER AND COMMISSIONER, JUST BECAUSE OF THE PRIOR INCIDENT.
THANKS FOR INCLUDING ME THIS TIME.
UM, I, I JUST LIKE TO MAKE A GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON APRIL THE 20TH.
UM, MY COMPANY, THE SPEAKUP EMPOWERMENT FOUNDATION, WILL HOST ITS EIGHTH ANNUAL MISS SINGLE MOM EMPOWERMENT FORUM AT THE AIRPORT MARRIOTT IN THE GRAND BALLROOM.
THE INVITATION IS OPEN TO THE RESIDENTS OF OUR FAIR CITY.
ALL OF THEM, ALL OF US KNOW A SINGLE MOM IN OUR LIFE ON SOME LEVEL OR ANOTHER.
AND I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW ALL OF THEM ARE WELCOME.
I ENCOURAGE YOU TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO PLEASE HIT OUR WEBSITE AND FILL OUT THE REGISTRATION FORM.
IT IS A DAY THAT WAS BUILT, ESPECIALLY TO FACILITATE THE SUCCESS OF THE SINGLE MOTHERS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
IT, ITS INTENTION IS TO HELP THEM ELEVATE TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF THEIR SUCCESS IN THEIR PROCESS, WHATEVER THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE DURING THE NEXT MEETING.
SO WE HAVE ONE MORE MEETING BEFORE THE EVENT.
I WILL BRING IN INVITATION FLYERS IF I DON'T ELECTRONICALLY SEND THEM TO YOU.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO EXTEND AN INVITATION, UH, FOR THE FIFTH ANNUAL LONG BEACH FILIPINO FESTIVAL, WHICH WILL BE HELD ON SATURDAY, MAY 4TH AT 11:00 AM TO 7:00 PM AT JACKIE ROBINSON ACADEMY, WHICH IS NEXT TO THE WILLOW STATION, UM, METRO PARKING.
AND, UM, I'M NOT SURE IF, UH, COMMISSIONER KHAN WILL BE SHARING, UH, THE APRIL 7TH EVENT.
I'M HAPPY TO PROVIDE THE INFO, BUT, UM, YES.
UM, I WAS ALSO MADE AWARE THAT, UH, THE CAMBODIA TOWN CULTURAL, UH, OH, CAMBODIA TOWN PARADE AND CULTURAL FESTIVAL IS GOING TO BE HELD ON SATURDAY, APRIL 7TH.
UM, ENTRIES ARE BEING INVITED FOR ANY OTHER GROUPS TO PARTICIPATE, UM, IN THE PARADE.
AND THEY'RE, UH, ENCOURAGING A DIVERSE GROUP OF, UM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, COMMISSIONER.
UM, UM, GILLETTE, UH, ANY OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS? COMMISSIONER KHAN? NO, JUST THE ONE TO MAKE A LITTLE BIT CORRECTION.
AND I BELIEVE, UH, IN ADDITION TO CAMBODIAN NEW YEAR AND THE CELEBRATION, UH, I BELIEVE THAT, UH, LONG BEACH QURAN IS ALSO COMING BACK AND TYPICALLY HAPPENS ON SATURDAY.
AND THEN CAMBODIAN NEW YEAR HAPPENS ON SAT SUNDAY, SO IT'S GONNA BE A FULL WEEKEND OF FESTIVITIES.
UM, I ALSO WANT TO INVITE THE PUBLIC, UH, ON MARCH, I BELIEVE, 19TH, LET ME JUST DOUBLE CHECK MY NOTES.
AH, I HAD THIS AND I, I MISPLACED IT.
UM, SO LATER THIS MONTH, UH, AT CITY COUNCIL, THE CITY COUNCIL WILL BE DISCUSSING SAFE PASSAGES, UH, FOR THE CITY OF LONG BEACH.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS COME UP TO OUR COMMISSION IN THE PAST WHEN IT COMES TO VIOLENCE PREVENTION.
UH, I BELIEVE IT'S GONNA BE THE 19TH.
UM, BUT I WILL FOLLOW UP VIA EMAIL.
UH, I'M INVITING THE COMMUNITY TO COME OUT AND LISTEN AND LEARN, UH, AND ALSO SHARE RECOMMENDATIONS OF HOW WE WANT TO SEE SAFE PASSAGES, UH, WHICH IS AN INITIATIVE, UM, THAT IS COMMUNITY DRIVEN, AND ALSO INCLUDES COMMUNITY INTERVENTION WORKERS TO KEEP OUR COMMUNITY SAFE FOR AND BY THE COMMUNITY, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT IN TERMS OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION INITIATIVE.
SO, AGAIN, THAT'S HAPPENING MARCH 19TH AT CITY COUNCIL, AND IT'S THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE THERE.
[ADJOURNMENT]
BY, UH, VICE CHAIR COVINGTON AND COMMISSIONER SCHULTZ, THAT ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE ROLES THAT I CARRY AS SHORE, UH, AS CHAIR, UH, IS, UH,[02:20:01]
TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO, TO CLOSE THE MEETING IN HONOR, UM, AND, AND IN CELEBRATION, UH, OF, OF, OF A PERSON OR GROUP OR INDIVIDUALS.SO, GIVEN HOW I STARTED OFF TODAY'S ANNOUNCEMENTS, UM, I WANNA CLOSE TODAY'S MEETINGS IN HONOR OF A YOUNG LIFE, UH, NEXT BENEDICT, UH, OF, OF WHOSE LIFE I SHARED EARLIER.
AND, UH, UM, I, UH, EXTEND, UH, ON, ON BEHALF OF THE COMMISSION, I HOPE I CAN DO THIS, UH, CONDOLENCES, UH, TO, UM, ANNEXES FAMILY.
I, I, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE THIS ON, ON PUBLIC RECORD AND, UH, MAY ANNEX REST IN POWER AND IN PEACE.
AND MAY WE DO MORE TO PROTECT THE LIVES OF TRANSGENDER GENDER FLUID, GENDERQUEER, GENDER NON-CONFORMING, UM, INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES, NOT ONLY HERE IN LONG BEACH, UH, BUT BEYOND, UH, THE BORDERS OF LONG BEACH.
SO AGAIN, MAY NEXT REST IN PEACE AND POWER.