CommUNITY Alliance

STERLING HEIGHTS CommUNITY Alliance Minutes of Wednesday, June 16 , 2021 Meeting Locatio n: Community Center Teen Room Members Present: Stacy Bahri, Tim Doppel, Ricardo Harris, Sara Itoh, Lea Mitchell, Nakia Powell-Thomas, Rich Rubba Members Absent: None Representing the City: Melanie Davis Meeting called to order at 6 :11 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES : Motion to approve the meeting minutes of the May 19, 2021 CommUNITY Alliance made by R. Rubba; Seconded by: R. Harris Ayes: all Nays: none AGENDA ITEMS: A. New Member Introduction  R. Rubba is a newly appointed commissioner to the CommUNITY Alliance, fulfilling the term vacated recently by Piedad Mantinan. He introduced himself to the group, providing information on his personal and professional background and his desire to be a part of this commission. B. SWOT Analysis Takeaways and Action Plan  The group reviewed the SWOT report provided by consultant Tylene Henry. One of the items that was an opportunity was engaging volunteers. N. Powell-Thomas volunteered to draft a volunteer form that we can link to the Alliance’s page on the City’s website.  The group talked about what specific things we might like to put into our upcoming action plan. o Social media – the group decided to use the City’s existing social media channels rather than creating their own for ease of management. Next steps will be to decide what content to post (Educational? Promotional? Other?)  o R. Harris volunteered to put together an annual calendar of days important to various aspects of diversity and inclusion that we can use for various social media posts. o The group would like to create a full communication plan that starts with “meet the CommUNITY Alliance” and includes a description of who we are and who we are not.  The group reviewed their individual “wish list” items for the Alliance for inclusion in the group’s overall strategic plan. o R. Harris suggested a series of events with one night in each City park featuring a local neighborhood representative and various City Council representatives. He also suggested focusing on community policing efforts, going into actual neighborhoods and engaging with teens. He suggested researching successful programs in other cities we might be able to use as a model. o N. Powell-Thomas suggested we do some research on the events held by nearby communities to see how they do events in a way that engaged EVERYONE. She recommended that we not CHANGE our current events, but incorporate additional elements that would be relevant to everyone (e.g. adding diversity to the musical acts). o S. Bahri suggested educating people on who their neighbors are. Where do they come from? This would be backed by actual data regarding who lives here in Sterling Heights. o L. Mitchell suggested a conversation-type program that would pair polar opposites with each other to share and learn. M. Davis noted that she believes the national organization that hosts these conversations is called The Unity Project. T. Doppel agreed to investigate. o S. Itoh suggested a “buddy” program where residents could shadow a person with a disability for a day to learn some of the challenges they face every day and deepen their understanding of residents who may have a disability. o T. Doppel suggested that we meet with the City Manager to discuss our hiring practices and how we can increase D,E&I in that process. He also suggested we meet with the Police Chief to learn more about the PD’s racial diversity training efforts and training on how to deal with those who may be mentally challenged. Lastly, he recommended we do a deep dive on the 2020 Census to determine what our actual makeup is as a City.  The group discussed plans for the June 18 Cultural Exchange. S. Bahri developed some language regarding the differences between a refugee and an immigrant, and M. Davis will turn that into a flyer we can distribute at the Alliance table. L. Mitchell noted she has additional handouts and a volunteer sign-up sheet she has created and will be bringing candy to hand out to engage attendees.   L. Mitchell made a motion to table items D (police mural discussion) and E (preliminary Oktoberfest ideas) until the July meeting. N. Powell- Thomas seconded the motion. Ayes: all Nays: none OLD BUSINESS:  There was no old business at this time. NEW BUSINESS :  M. Davis shared the future meeting calendar through June 2022. She noted that she is unavailable for the July 21, 2021 meeting, and the group agreed to move the meeting to Wednesday, July 28, 2021 instead. ADJOURNMENT : On a motion from L. Mitchell and a second from R. Rubba , the meeting was adjourned at 7:4 1 p.m.