Anti-Racism Task Force

Anti-Racism Task Force Regular ARTF Meeting Minutes June 10th, 2024 Attendance o Kirk Hart o Darnell Ford-Co Chair o Michelle Clay o Josh Cotton o Colleen Alleyne o Sacha Armstrong Crockett o Sam Rival o Dr. Lee Morgan o Ahmad Daniels o Councilwoman Linda Salafia Absent- Pat Alston Absent-Reverend Anderson Absent –Brian Gartner Quorum: Yes_X___No____ Start Time: 6:45 pm Stop Time: 8:45 pm Monday June 10th 2024 Anti-racism Taskforce, Co-Chair Ford called the meeting to order at 6:45 pm. Acceptance of April minutes-Member Colleen Alleyne accepted first, Kirk Hart second all in favor. Public Comment: No Public comment. Correspondence and announcements: Maria Scarlett responded, a funding request was made by an individual from the community regarding the ARTF paying for his CDL license. Individual also inquired about information on affordable housing. Co. Chair Armstrong- Crockett said this may be a topic that the Labor Equity workgroup or the Task Force at large may want to have a discussion on or they may want to a have a discussion on job readiness or training. Co. Chair Ford said that makes sense. Member Clay said is asked these questions often. She said the community would like to know what the Task Force is doing with the funds. Dr. Lee asked about the annual reporting of the Task Force funds. Co. Chair Ford said they are tasked with quarterly reporting. The next quarterly report will be in August. Co. Chair Ford asked Maria Scarlett if she was able to help the individual with housing and Maria noted she was not able to help him with housing she was hoping the Anti-Racism Task Force may be able to help him. Workgroups. Member Colleen Alleyne discussed the racial bullying that is ongoing within the Middletown schools. She said there have been reports of bullying around the students of color. She said the administration is not doing anything about it. She believes there is a real problem. She said some of the bulling involves the teacher’s children. She believes those students are being protected because they are the children of the high school staff. She said she is aware of this information because of the NAACP. Michelle Clay asked if the NAACP is doing anything about it. Colleen said the president of the NAACP has looked into these complaints. She said there are new allegations of racial bullying being reported. Member Dr. Lee suggested getting a legal advocate for those families. Member Ahmad Daniels said for many years he has watched the school system sweep things under the rug. He said the school system and the city do not believe there is a racial issue happening. The school system and the Board of Education often try to handle issues internally, leaving those issues to be swept under the rug and not properly addressed. He said the Task Force is seen as a safe place for the community to bring their issues and received advocacy. He said there is a need for more education and awareness among parents, such as filling out complaints with the Office of Civil Rights. Member Councilwoman Linda Salafia explained how the Board of Education is broken down into separate departments. She said the Board of Education Administration runs the schools. Then there is the Board of Education electives officials who are funding the Board of Education. She said if there is a problem or the issues are not being resolved the way you want it to then the first step is to bring the complaint to the Board of Education electives. Member Dr. Lee explained OCR (Office of Civil Rights) to the Task Force. He said because the Middletown BOE receives federal funds the OCR can come in and help resolve educational issues. He said they have the power to do the same things that the court system can do. He said if there is a complaint from the protective class (BIPOC) they will come in and help to resolved it. He said Middletown have not filed a complaint with them. Co. Chair Crockett suggested the Task Force post some of the links being discussed on City’s the Anti-Racism Task Force page. She said it may be a good idea to add some of the resources that the public is looking for on the website. She said that will be something the Educational workgroup may want to work on. Member Daniels said the Anti-Racism Task Force does not have an identity in the community. He discusses the need for the Anti-Racism Task Force to be more visible within the community. He said the Anti-Racism Task Force needs to establish an identity. Co. Chair Armstrong Crockett asked what Member Daniels sees the Anti-Racism identity being. Member Daniels said we need to start showing face. He said the community is not aware that the Anti-Racism Task Force is connected with the mayor. Co. Chair Ford said The Anti-Racism Task Force is charged with making recommendations to the mayor. He said that does not mean the Anti-Racism Task Force cannot make recommendations to other groups, for example the NAACP and the Electives on the Board of Education. He said he believes the Board of Education needs to have a conversation with the Anti-Racism Task Force. Member Dr. Lee and Co. Chair Armstrong Crockett said they would like to invite Dr. Waters to the Anti-Racism Task Force meeting in August. Co. Chair Ford would like to invite some of the electives to the August meeting. Member Collen Alleyne made a recommendation to hold the Board of Education accountable. She asked what policies do they have and are those policies being followed or enforced? She said the Anti-Racism Task Force can ask those questions. She said that will be part of asking the Board of Education what are they doing. She said the Board of Education does not believe there is an issue. Co. Chair Ford said it is a huge undertaking and asked if the Task Force has the ability to take on such a huge undertaking. MOTION to adjourn made by Member Morgan. Second motion made by Michelle Clay. The Motion passed unanimously Old Business Co. Chair Armstrong Crockett: The Q. Williams Scholarships were awarded to three Middletown High School Students. Co. Chari Ford said the 2025 Scholarship will be announced earlier. Co. Chair Armstrong Crockett: The Crosswalk is completed. There will be a ribbon cutting. Co. Chair Armstrong-Crockett said the dates will be emailed. She said it may be on June 24th or the 25th. Civilian Review Board Update. There will be a meeting with the Mayor and the chief of Police. Co. Chair Ford said he wanted to make sure the mayor had the opportunity to take a look at the draft first before it goes to public safety. New Business Housing Segregation. There was no feedback from the community in regards to the Affordable Housing plan. Co. Chair Armstrong Crockett said the city will be more transparent and thoughtful of people of color when creating the next Affordable Housing plan. Labor Equity Co. Chair Armstrong Crockett said they will need to explore options for job skill training and filling the gap with the labor equity goals. She said fresh new ideas are need in the Labor equity department. Co. Chair Ford said the he wanted the Task Force to take note that the Anti-Racism Task Force budget reduction went from 200,000 to 80,000. Member Josh Cotton asked if everyone on the Anti-Racism Task Force on the same page? He asked if everyone is fighting for the same thing. Co. Chair Crockett-Armstrong said that is a question that needs to go before the Mayor. Co. Chair Ford made motion to adjourn member Dr. Lee made a motion and member Kirk Hart second.