Citizens' Unity Commission

Citizens’ UNITY COMMISSION Meeting Minutes Thursday, November 10, 2016 – 6:00pm Community Development Conference Room, 5th Floor- City Hall, Hampton, VA Attendance: Sharmane Baynard, Andrea Bynum (Chair), Ruthann Kellum, Carter Phillips (Vice Chair), Luretta Ray, Ray Smith, Mei Stukes, Mary Wallace, Enrique Zapatero Community Liaisons: Burley Gardner (TRADOC Diversity Office Fort Eustis); Ellen Shackelford (Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities) Staff: Synetheia Newby (Executive Director); Wanda Ferrell (Program Coordinator) Call to Order – Carter Phillips, Vice Chairperson @ 6:06 Action Items Item 1: Review and Approval of Meeting Minutes from 10-17-16  Mary Wallace made the motion to approve the October 17th minutes, with the corrections; motion was seconded. New Business Item 1: Membership Vacancies and Updates  At the October 15th city council meeting, there were three vacancies filled on the CUC board o Milton McDonald was re-appointed until June 30, 2020 o Diretta Glover is filling an unexpired term to expire June 30, 2017 o Nickola Walker is filling an unexpired term to expire June 30, 2018  Handout of City Council’s new Summary of Board and Commissions practices was distributed. o Handout attached Item 2: Committee Reports and Discussion  Bylaws and Standards Subcommittee Report o Carter will schedule a meeting with Milton to make updates to the CUC policy and procedures document before the January board meeting. o The CUC board has never had “by-laws,” rather they have always been referred to as policies and procedures. The CUC board will continue to refer to them in this way.   Membership and Orientation Subcommittee Report o This committee met on Monday, November 7, 2016. o Members agreed that the proposed recruitment methodology that was presented by Synetheia Newby at the October 17, 2016 meeting be adopted for use by the commission beginning in 2017. o The committee agreed to meet again to determine interview questions and screening process for CUC applicants, revise the CUC Commissioner Position Description, and draft an orientation process for new CUC members. o Minutes from this sub-committee meeting are attached.  Unity Awards Subcommittee Report o This committee met via phone. o The committee is looking at the date, location and time of the event for next year.  Youth Outreach and Development Subcommittee Report o This committee met on November 5, 2016 o The CUC Youth Advisory Group (YAG) and the Hampton Youth Commission (HYC) should remain 2 separate groups. YAG will remain a youth arm of the CUC o The newly formed YAG will consist of 13 members and one (1) teacher to serve as an advisor and as a non-voting member. o Ages of the group will range from the traditional 8th grader to a senior in college or ages 14-25. o Members will be allowed to serve a one (1) year term with the option for one (1) additional year if there is no one to fill their seat. o Minutes from this sub-committee meeting are attached. Announcements Next Meeting Date and Time: January 12, 2017 6pm-8pm Adjourn. SUMMARY OF COUNCIL CONSENSUS ON BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS PRACTICES The Hampton City Council had several conversations concerning the practices used in making citizen appointments to boards, commissions and committees. These conversations took place at a Council retreat held on August 2, 2016, and at its meetings on October 12 and 26, 2016. The City Attorney read Section 3.12 of the Hampton City Charter: "No person, except a member of council, officer, or employee of the city, who is to be appointed to a term exceeding one year by the city council shall be eligible to serve more than two (2) complete terms in succession and the portion of an unexpired term occurring by reason of a vacancy." Notwithstanding this guidance, the current Council wishes to institute guidelines and practices to utilize when making these political appointments to bodies. It is important to note that this summary serves to express Council's intent but recognizes that specific circumstances may require Council to deviate from these guidelines. It is Council's goal to offer Hampton citizens more opportunities to serve their city and to develop leadership for Hampton's future. Council desires to cast a wider net and to engage more citizens for service opportunities and to provide a means to develop talents for future service to the city. The following summarizes the Council's intended practices: Appointments to boards, commissions and committees (hereinafter referred to collectively as boards), are political appointments. Appointments to boards are generally for one term and reappointment to an additional term is not automatic. It is specifically stated that no stigma should be attached to individuals who are serving as an appointee and who are not reappointed in furtherance of Council's goal to provide opportunities for more citizens to serve. A citizen who has served the limit of terms available on a particular board may be reappointed to that board after a period of one year has elapsed. An unexpired portion of a term of more than 50% shall constitute a full term. A citizen may serve on up to two boards. To be considered for appointment, a citizen must have an application on file in the city's Board Bank. These applications may be filed online or a member of the City Council staff will assist citizens in making application. Council may choose to conduct interviews of potential appointees. A citizen appointee may only serve in a leadership role on one board. Staff will develop for Council's consideration a list of the basic expectations of citizen appointees such as routine attendance, participation, required specific training, etc.  Council may also attach additional expectations to certain boards which require specific education, talent and/or skill sets. The expectations shall be communicated in the board information provided online so applicants are aware of those expectations in advance of filing an application. Expectations will also be reiterated when a citizen is appointed by way of their formal notification of appointment and will be communicated by the staff administrative support at the appointee's orientation to the board. Staff will develop a standard report to be used by city staff providing administrative support to boards to report annually to Council with respect to appointees' adherence to the expectations mentioned above. While Council values board recommendations on board vacancies, any such recommendation is not binding on Council’s appointment. Staff will work toward having each board post its minutes on the city's website. This collective guidance shall be communicated to the citizens of Hampton via e-news, the city's website, the Council's minutes, and also by distribution to the chair and staff administrative support for each board in Hampton. It should be reiterated that the foregoing is Council's expression of its intent and provides guidelines as to its policy and is always subject to various City ordinances and the State Code.  Citizens’ UNITY COMMISSION Youth outreach sub-committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, November 3, 2016 – 6:00pm Canty Conference Room, 5th Floor- City Hall, Hampton, VA Attendance: Sharmane Baynard, Andrea Bynum, Luretta Ray, Ellen Shackelford, Mei Stukes Absent: Deena, Franklin, Milton McDonald Staff: Synetheia Newby – Executive Director  Synetheia Newby ensured that the committee was in agreement that re-energizing the youth advisory group is something that this commission should be committed to doing. Not about the methodology of how it is going to happen but that having that arm is important. Everyone agreed.  Sharmane Baynard offered a suggestion that CUC partner with the Hampton Youth Commission instead of having a separate youth advisory group. Their numbers, their accomplishments and their involvement would be beneficial. o Mei Stukes and Synetheia Newby shared that he Hampton Youth Commission (HYC) is connected to the Neighborhood Commission and the work that is done in neighborhoods. They focus on city policy and serve in an advisory capacity to City Council, making sure that the voice of young people is heard and integrated in what is done at a systemic level; that can occur in policy making, policy suggestion, by way of youth engagement and activity. o The committee reached consensus that having a separate youth advisory group from HYC would be wise. The Youth Advisory Group (YAG) will be an arm of the CUC. The current mission statement says that they focus on issues that bring people together.  The committee discussed the role of young adults on the advisory group; this came up in reference to the past Executive Director’s vision to have a separate and more concrete partnership with Hampton University. o This led to a conversation on the appropriate age bracket for YAG and being inclusive of everyone under 30. It was determined that the age of 30 is too high for membership but for target of services and programs it is a good suggestion.  The committee discussed the composition of the group and reached a consensus that the group should start at 8th grade to college seniors. o The committee agreed that each group member will be asked to make a 1-year commitment to YAG. They will have to option to serve one (1) additional year after the first year commitment expires. o The committee agreed that adults will only be in the room as facilitators. And similar to practices with the HYC, parents are not be allowed to sit in on the meetings. Synetheia volunteered to facilitate the youth group and also 1  recommended bringing in guest facilitators depending on the project. The committee agreed that guest facilitators should be used. o The committee reached a consensus that the group should include 13 total members to include: 2 students from each of the 4 high schools and Campus at Lee, 1 teacher who serves on Project Inclusion; the teacher would be a non-voting member.  There was a discussion on the youth who should be chosen for the group. There was a discussion about including the Campus at Lee (the alternative school for Hampton City Schools) as a recruitment site, to ensure that we are not exclusive.  Currently, there are three goal statements drafted for YAG: o Increase youth voice regarding diversity and inclusion in Hampton o Increase diversity IQ of youth in Hampton o Increase the numbers of youth engaged in diversity and inclusion related projects and service opportunities  There needs to be another meeting of this group to continue the conversation and get clear goals for the group.  The YAG would ensure that CUC sponsored or created events have a youth engaging component and 1 or 2 representatives from the YAG should be in attendance at the CUC meetings.  The committee made the following agreements about the YAG application process: o The application should include basic information to include the school they attend, what grade they are in currently, their interests, a school or community reference and have them answer 3 questions about their interest in the group. o The committee agreed that the application would include race but youth do not have to answer; the same will be true with sexual orientation and gender. o The committee discussed an interview process. The committee reached a consensus that no interviews will be done, however, training and orientation should be a part of the process once the applicants become a member. Consideration should be given to having YAG partner with HYC to be trained.  Next Steps o This committee will meet again to clarify the mission and goals for the group. o Mei and Sharmane will draft the application for the youth group before the Thanksgiving holiday. o The goal is to have the YAG application available online, in schools, and community centers by December 1, 2016. It will be available for completion throughout the month of December. o Synetheia will send Sharmane the CUC logo for the application. Adjourn. 2  Citizens’ UNITY COMMISSION Membership & orientation sub-committee Meeting Minutes Monday, November 7, 2016 – 6:00pm Canty Conference Room, 5th Floor- City Hall, Hampton, VA Attendance: Burley Gardner, Enrique Zapatero Absent: Milton McDonald, Ray Smith Staff: Synetheia Newby – Executive Director  The committee reviewed the proposed recruitment methodology document, which was presented by Synetheia Newby at the last full commission meeting on October 17, 2016. o The committee agreed that the proposed methodology should be adopted for use by the commission beginning in 2017.  There was a discussion on the demographic information that Enrique Zapatero disseminated to the committee, via email, on October 17, 2016. Those demographics are attached to these minutes. o Synetheia shared the current commission composition by race, gender, and age. o Enrique recommended that the race/ethnic composition of the commission reflect the race/ethnic demographic breakdown for the City of Hampton so that it is reflective of the diversity of the citizenry. o The committee discussed that there are other areas of diversity that should also be reflected in the composition of the commission such as sexual orientation, age, education level, socio-economic level, geographic location, and religion.  There was a discussion on being intentional about recruiting from the populations not represented on the commission. The primary question was how to best accomplish this task. o There was a discussion about using current CUC programs as an opportunity to educate, promote, and recruit. o Enrique suggested the creation of a targeted marketing plan that will focus reaching the populations that are absent on the commission. This plan would include the creation of graphs that show the diversity of the city as it compares to the diversity needed on the commission. o Burley suggested that as the commission thinks about recruitment, in general, there should be more work done to ensure that the community is aware of what the commission is and the work that it does.  Next Steps: o This committee should meet again to determine interview questions and screening processes for CUC applicants, revise the CUC Commissioner Position Description, and draft an orientation process for new CUC members. 1