CommUNITY Alliance

STERLING HEIGHTS CommUNITY Alliance Minutes of Wednesday , May 17 , 2023 Meeting Location: City Hall Members Present: Stacy Bahri, Cindy Bjornson, Sandy DelVillano-Marchi, Tatrika Graphenreed, Michael Mazur, Rich Rubba, Nakia Powell-Thomas Members Absent: Representing the City: Melanie Davis Meeting called to order at 6 :05 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES : Motion to approve the meeting minutes of the April 19, 2023 CommUNITY Alliance made by C. Bjornson; Seconded by S. Bahri and voted all in favor. AGENDA ITEMS: A. Group Bonding Exercise – M. Davis ran the group through a bonding exercise called Roses and Thorns where everyone shared something they are proud of and something that presents a significant challenge in their life. B. New Resident Meet and Greet – The group discussed final details for the upcoming Meet and Greet at Ike’s. Final revisions were recommended for the bingo card. N. Powell-Thomas will randomize four cards and submit to M. Davis for printing. C. Memorial Day Parade – C. Bjornson will be driving her convertible with her granddaughter. T. Graphenreed also plans to attend. N. Powell-Thomas and R. Rubba are tentatively planning to participate. S. Bahri cannot attend but will be donating candy. M. Davis had car magnets made up and they will be at the registration check in at Dodge Park. D. Pride Flag Raising – M. Davis noted that the City has been doing more to pre-promote this event this year. It will be in the upcoming City News and there is a Facebook event with Macomb Pride as a co-host. Macomb Pride will have a rep speaking, and M. Davis is working with Amazon to see if they can have some Glamazon reps attend and speak if possible. A media advisory will got out to invite all media to attend. C. Bjornson will make remarks as representative for the CommUNITY Alliance.  E. Strategic Plan Updates a. M. Mazur recommended that all members take the plan home and review it in preparation for the June meeting where we can spend more time doing a deeper dive on the plan and making recommendations for what we’d like to keep, change or remove for the next 2-3 years. The group concurred. OLD BUSINESS: M.Davis noted that the Human Library final evaluation was compiled and submitted on Monday. Now that we know the type of feedback they require, we can hold a more comprehensive debrief session for books and readers will everything is still fresh in their mind and also get a better response rate. We will note this for future Human Library events. NEW BUSINESS : There was no new business at this time. ADJOURNMENT : The meeting was adjourned at 7:33 p.m. on a motion from S. Bahri and seconded by R. Rubba.