Citizens’ Engagement Advisory and Review Commission (CEARC)

City of Hampton, VA Meeting Minutes Citizens’ Engagement Advisory Commission Attendance: Sanket Acharya, Steve Bond (ACM), Chris Bowman (Vice Chair), Steve Brown (Chair), Leroy Foster, Ebony Majeed, Ahmed Noor, Ryan Taylor Absent: Larry Enscore, Councilman James (Jimmy) Gray, Joshua Head, Henry Mills, Councilman Will Moffett, Shawn O’Keefe Staff: Synetheia Newby (Executive Director) & Wanda Ferrell (Program Coordinator) __________________________________________________________________ Date: November 15, 2016 Time: 6:30pm Venue: Veterans Conference Room, Rupert Sargent Building, Hampton __________________________________________________________________ Call to Order: Steven Brown, Chair at 6:46pm Action Items Item 1: Review and Approval of Meeting Minutes-September 20, 2016 • The meeting minutes were approved, with no corrections. Old Business • Item 1: Change in Commission Name Final Update Per Assistant City Manager Steven Bond, City Council approved the resolution for the name change to the Citizens’ Engagement & Review Commission or CEARC. • Item 2: Commission By-Laws Final Update and Adoption Per Assistant City Manager Steven Bond, City Council approved the updated by-laws, as adopted. • Item 1: Committee Reports A. Membership/Orientation 1. The notes from the sub-committee meeting are attached. 2. Recommendations from the sub-committee included: a. Two to three weeks after new members being appointed by City Council, they will receive: b. A welcome call from the Executive Director. 1  c. CEARC Orientation packet. The committee will make recommendations for the content of the packet. 3. Synetheia Newby recommended that the packet be disseminated, electronically, as well as made available on the CUC website. 4. It was noted that a letter is sent from the Clerk of City Council notifying appointees as this is the first appropriate point of contact. So the timeline for receiving the call and packet may need to vary. B. Media & Marketing a. No members of the committee were present. b. Report tabled until the January 17, 2017 general meeting. New Business Item 1: Meeting Frequency Discussion A. After discussion the group decided to meet bi-monthly beginning January, 2017. B. If an incident occurs there will be a special call meeting. The November meeting can be used as the annual retreat, if agreed upon by the commission. C. The motion was made by Dr. Noor to accept the new bi-monthly meeting schedule and was properly seconded. Item 2: New Board and Commission Practices A. This document dictates City Councils intentions on how city boards and commissions should operate. B. The document is attached to these minutes Item 2: Meeting attendance A. Chairperson Steven Brown noted that, per the by-laws, any member that knows in advance that they will miss a meeting should contact staff to constitute having an excused absence. B. Please respond to any communication from staff to alert them of your attendance or absence to any meeting. C. Three absences, without notification, will lead to dismissal from the commission. Item 2: Proposed Recruitment Methodology for New Commissioners A. The proposed methodology is attached. B. City Council agrees that having the community select citizens’ that they trust to dispel rumors and be honest is the best way to recruit for this commission. C. Chair Steven Brown suggested that members have ongoing training on cultural competency. 2  a. Synetheia recommended that the Hampton Diversity College and the following the training road map that was agreed upon previously be two ways of accomplishing this. D. Leroy Foster suggested that the interviews of potential members be done by the full commission versus by the Executive Director and Membership & Orientation committee. The full commission agreed to this change; the document will be updated to reflect the change. Item 3: Commission Elections: Chairperson and Vice Chairperson A. Chris Bowman was nominated as the Chair of the Commission. Motion to accept Chris as the Chair, by acclamation, was made by Dr. Noor, and properly seconded. A vote was called, all in favor. Chris Bowman will serve as Chair until November 2017. B. Ebony Majeed was nominated as the Vice Chair of the Commission. Motion to accept Ebony as the Vice Chair, by acclamation, was made by Dr. Noor, and properly seconded. A vote was called, all in favor. Ebony Majeed will serve as Vice Chair until November 2017. Announcements Commissioner Steven Brown announced that he is planning to resign from the CEARC as of January 2017. He expressed his appreciation to the group for allowing him to serve as Chair of this group and as a member for so many years. Next Meeting: January 17, 2017 Adjourn. 3