Ogden Community Engagement and Opportunity Commission

Meeting Minutes Ogden Diversity Commission Zoom Meeting WEDNESDAY, December 9th, 2020 – 1:00 PM In Attendance: Stacy Bernal, Kathie Darby, Kye Hallows, Christine Ipsen, Betty Sawyer, Jeremy Shinoda, Roger Snow, Tom Szalay, Iveth Vazquez, Adrienne Andrews, Taylor Knuth Ogden City Staff Present: Viviana Felix, 1. Welcome. 2. Roll Call. 2.1. Approval of minutes from 11/18/2020. (No minutes prepared). 3. New Business. 3.1. Commissioner Check-in (Chair Knuth – 10 mins). a. Item was skipped and instead Darren Parry was given time to provide his insight on the proposed Bingham Fort Lane Honorary Street. See public comment section. 3.2. Nine Rails Art Plaza Information (Jake McIntire – 30 mins). a. Jake McIntire went through the timeline and process of collecting community feedback for the plaza design. Information about the purpose for the plaza can be found at ninerailsplaza.com b. There are three main focuses for the space: arts, events, and everyday use. These are being incorporated into the design. Partners in arts programming include Weber State University and Ogden Contemporary Arts. They also want the community to use the space and want it to be as accessible as the amphitheater and Ogden parks for reservation. Fees and reservation process are still pending. c. Jake share the design and different components that make up the design of the art plaza.  d. Commissioners also provided feedback to Mr. McIntire on what they would like to see happen in the arts plaza. 3.3. Proposed Bingham Fort Lane Honorary Street (Viviana – 25 mins). a. Chair Knuth reviewed the request for recommendation sent by Ogden City Council and mentioned having an official vote at the end of the discussion on whether the commission agrees or disagrees with the honorary street naming. He invited everyone to engage in conversation. b. Commissioner Snow asked for review of comments submitted to Viviana. c. Viviana mention having received comments only from Commissioner Snow. d. Commissioner Snow provided his comments on the proposed honorary street and sees that the proposal seems appropriate for the area outlined where pioneers at that time lived. He also suggested that the recommendation needs to include acknowledgement of Native people to the land and perhaps providing Mr. Parry’s contact information to further explore this idea. e. Chair Knuth asked if the petitioner responded to the invitation to attend the meeting. An email was sent, Viviana did not hear back from the petitioner. f. Chair Knuth shared some background information on honorary street names for Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez two efforts that the Diversity Commission was involved in a few years ago. These two honorary street names were initiated by Dr. Crawford and former Council member Jesse Garcia. g. Viviana reminded the Diversity Commission that they have been asked to provide their recommendations, but this does not decide if the honorary street naming is finalized. Ogden City Council has the final say in the honorary street name process. h. Vice Chair Andrews mentioned that partnerships and education should be happening at the same time as the honorary street name process. This can help provide depth to why honorary street names are important in our community. Vice Chair Andrews would like to see expectations for people going through the honorary street name process with the city. i. Viviana clarified that the honorary street name does not change the residential addresses, those would remain the same. j. Commissioner Shinoda asked if the honorary street name precludes it from other acknowledgements. k. Chair Knuth shared that he had a conversation with Weber Heritage Foundation with Katie Stewart. l. Commissioner Bernal expressed appreciation for the letter written to the Commission by Mr. James Singer. She also expressed that the language and verbiage used in landmarks in the area erases the presences of Native People. m. Commissioner Sawyer asked if it is possible for the Commission to send recommendations to the Planning Commission about honorary street name requests. She also mentioned that racial and equity lenses need to be included when receiving these requests and that it should be shared with the Planning Commission. n. Chair Knuth reviewed the process that happened a few years ago when revisiting the honorary street names of MLK and Cesar Chavez. The Commission provided other ideas for how to honor individuals in community. Additionally, Chair Knuth brought up the expectation from the city to have people pay for signage and how that becomes a barrier for many. o. Commissioner Snow expressed that the commission can serve as a resource to obtain funding. p. Vice Chair Andrews stated that it is critical to connect people with funding sources, but we need to use an equity lens to acknowledge that funding resources aren’t available to everyone because of network, access or other reasons. q. Chair Knuth is cautious of having the Commission become a fundraising body. There are many examples of money being available for items that elevate the predominant narrative. r. Chair Knuth entertained a motion to agree or disagree with the recommendation of the Bingham Fort Lane Honorary Street Naming.  s. Viviana clarified that the vote being casted is to agree or disagree with moving forward with the Bingham Fort Lane Honorary Street Naming. t. Chair Knuth followed up by saying that a letter with a summary of today’s discussion would be sent to Ogden City Council further explaining the results. We would make sure to have everyone see it before it gets sent. u. Commissioner Snow moved to recommend the naming of Bingham Fort Lane. Commissioner Darby seconded the motion. v. Commissioners in favor of recommending the honorary street name change: 1. Commissioner Snow w. Commissioners against recommending the honorary street name change: 1. Commissioner Bernal 2. Commissioner Darby 3. Commissioner Hallows 4. Commissioner Ipsen 5. Commissioner Sawyer 6. Commissioner Szalay 7. Vice Chair Andrews 8. Chair Knuth x. Commissioners absent from voting: Commissioner Shinoda. y. Commissioner Snow explained his vote. z. Commissioner Bernal explained her vote. aa. Commissioner Snow mentioned that it would be nice to have the name of the honorary street name to be more inclusive. 3.4. Virtual Annual Report with City Council December 8th at 4PM (Viviana – 2 mins). a. Viviana provided an update of the annual report that was had with Ogden City Council. b. Chair Knuth thanked everyone who listened in to the report. Chair Knuth mentioned that City Council would like the Commission to engage with youth more. Chair Choberka mentioned the youth council in the meeting.  3.5. Terms Ending in March of 2021 (Viviana – 5 mins). a. Viviana named the commissioners who terms are up to expire. She asked to please let her know if you wish to continue serving on the commission or no longer wish to serve. b. Vice Chair Andrews shared her experience serving on the commission and how she will miss being on the commission but is still willing to engage. c. Viviana mentioned that applications are open all year round. Please ask people you know to submit an application. We will start promoting in mid-January for people to get their applications in for the first review. 3.6. Ogden Connections Magazine Diversity Section (Viviana – 5 mins). a. Viviana explained that there is space on the Ogden Connections magazine for the Diversity Commission to share information. Next magazine comes out in February and would need an article early January. The magazine will cover information for the months of February, March and April. b. Chair Knuth suggested that Commissioner Bernal write a piece on neurodiversity. c. Commissioner Bernal accepted. Viviana will connect with more information and deadlines. 3.7. Rules Committee Reactivation (Viviana – 3 mins). a. Viviana said that the rules and procedures need to be reviewed. She reached out to the only remaining member of this functional committee Commissioner Darby. Viviana would like the rules committee to update our governing documents to reflect our new virtual reality as well as other expectations. b. Commissioner Hallows moved to approve Commissioner Darby as Chair of the rules committee. Seconded by Commissioner Snow. Motion approved. c. Commissioner Darby is now the new chair for the rules committee. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please let Viviana know. It is a 3-member committee, doesn’t require a large commitment. 4. Old Business.  4.1. Community Conversation Committee Update (Vice Chair Andrews – 10 mins). a. Vice Chair Andrews would like to let everyone know that Commissioner Snow did reach out to her and needs to follow up with him. b. Vice Chair Andrews mentioned the following dates as conversations happening in partnership with different law enforcement agencies: January 28th – virtual, April 22nd – virtual, July 29th – in person, and October 28th – in person. All start 5:30PM. c. Viviana mentioned that the first panel discussion will be a panel of chiefs from around Weber County. She is working on social media posts to collect questions. 4.2. Outreach Committee Video Series Update (Commissioner Shinoda – 10 mins). a. Commissioner Szalay has been working with Viviana and Alexia – Ogden City Marketing to get the videos edited. He has edited clips of the videos and Viviana will start posting them soon. b. Commissioner Szalay would like to capture stories from all of the commissioners. Viviana will talk to Commissioner Szalay about the best way to go about connecting with individual commissioners. 4.3. Racial Equity in Policing Committee Update (Commissioner Sawyer – 10 mins). a. Commissioner Sawyer shared notes from a conversation with a community police consultant. She also shared information about an event on mental health and policing. b. The past month the committee has focused on collecting information. They are yet to establish a meeting date and time. It looks like it will most likely be a Thursday evening. 5. No Action Required. 6. Comments: 6.1. Commission Staff. a. Viviana mentioned that book orders for the Holidays have been placed and she will deliver those once they are here. b. Viviana reminded everyone that there are still free flu vaccines available at any of the 3 Midtown locations in Ogden for the community.  6.2. Commission Members. a. Commissioner Sawyer – Project Success will be hosting a Flu Shot Clinic on Dec. 19th at their location on 29th street. They will also be providing free coats for children. b. Chair Knuth – Free COVID testing at Marshall White Center Dec. 12. Intermountain will be having another COVID test site at James Madison Elementary on Dec. 19th. c. Vice Chair Andrews – mentioned stuff animal drive being conducted for victims of violence in partnership with WSU Women’s Center, Ogden Police Department and WSU Police Department. 6.3. Public Comment: a. Darren Parry – introduced himself. Mr. Parry expressed that he doesn’t have a problem with the naming of the street, however he mentioned that more honoring of Indigenous Peoples needs to occur acknowledging that they were in the land long before pioneers. Mr. Parry further expressed that there isn’t enough acknowledgement of Native People in the Ogden area. Mr. Parry didn’t express a clear opinion for or against the honorary street name. Mr. Parry provided some brief history of the Native people in the Ogden area. To engage with the tribe, feel free to reach out to Mr. Parry. b. Ben Tecumseh DeSoto – friend of Commissioner Szalay. Expressed his thoughts on ways of honoring people that are appropriate for our community. 7. Adjournment. (Motion made by Commissioner Darby. Seconded by Commissioner Sawyer). NEXT REGULAR OGDEN DIVERSITY COMMISSION MEETING WEDNESDAY, January 13th, 2021 Virtual Meeting Minutes prepared by: Minutes approved by: Date: _______________________________ _______________________________ 3/4/2021 __________________________ Viviana Felix – Ogden City Taylor Knuth, Chair