Citizens' Unity Commission

Citizens’ Unity Commission Annual Retreat Meeting Minutes Thursday, September 22, 2022 10:00am-3:00pm Community Development Conference Room, City Hall, 5th floor Attendance: Katrina Bailey, Alice Capehart, Jennifer Evans, Erica Spencer, Shuntay Tarver, Ellen Velissarios, Steven Wendell, Samantha Snead, Raquel McMillian, Kathreen Tadrous, Gretchen Nelson, Vidal Dickerson, Phyliss Porter Staff: Imara Gabe Diaz (Director), Assistant City Manager Steve Bond Absent: Chris Grady (AN), Malik Perry (AN) Dawn James-Taylor (AN) Jabari Colon, Brad Young (AN) Guests: Mei Stukes, Jonathan McBride (CDD) Monica Meharg (CDD) Call to Order – Jennifer Evans, Chairperson @ 10:02 am Roll Call – Imara Gabe Diaz, Executive Director Welcome and Occasion CUC Overview New and Returning Commissioner Introductions Old Business Review and Approval of Meeting Minutes – Due to a quorum not met at the beginning of the meeting, approval of meeting minutes from 6/9/22 has been deferred until the next regularly scheduled meeting. Action Items Item 1: FOIA Overview and Commitment to Excellence – DEFERRED Item 2: FY22 Annual Report – Executive Director Gabe Diaz gave a detailed summary of the fiscal year 2022 Annual report for the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Highlighted areas include the City’s Commitment, climate & relations, training & education, program and even highlights, community engagement and infrastructure. New Business 1 Item 1: CUC Bylaws – Gabe Diaz reviewed the updated bylaws of the Commission while bringing attention to the most recent amendments to the composition decrease from 20 to 19 members, updates for clarity concerning consecutive terms and updates to inclusive language as it pertains to pronouns. Item 2: Group Facilitation Exercise – Jonathan McBride and Monica Meharg from Community Development were invited to share facilitation strategies with respect to revolving conversations, qualities of a great facilitator and information on study circles. After the presentation, Commissioners were encouraged to put their learning to the test as we held a mock community conversation centered around a “hot button topic” Item 3: Introduction of Sub-Committees – Gabe Diaz provided a high-level overview of the current sub committees that operate within the CUC and encouraged each commissioner to join at least 1 of the following: Movie Talks, Hampton Health Equity Initiative, Hot Button Conversations, the Unity Awards, Unity Though Arts, LGBTQ Awareness, and the Youth Advisory Group Item 4: Sign-up and Sub-Committee Breakout – DEFERRED Item 5: Officer Elections – Per the CUC Bylaws Commissioner shall elect a Chairperson and a Vice Chairperson from the membership, during the Annual Retreat. Nominations were made with respect to the consent of the nominees for officers. After a simple majority vote of the membership, Ellen Velissarios was elected Chairperson and Raquel McMillian was elected as Vice Chairperson. Announcements Swag bags given to all Commissioners present. Adjourned 2:17pm by Chairperson Ellen Velissarios 2