Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights Advisory Board

Minutes Wichita Diversity, Inclusion & Civil Rights Advisory Board July 22, 2021 5:30 PM-7:00 PM Members Present: Pastor Dioane Gates (virtually), William Polite Jr. (virtually), Thy C Phan, Mackenzie Borland, Renee Carrion, Pastor Pamela Hughes Mason, Tabitha Lehman, Jennifer Brehon, Kelli Grant, Shala Perez Members Absent: Michelle Cadena City Staff: Adam Nebenzahl, Management Fellow; Donte Martin, Assistant City Manager; LaShonda Garnes WSU/PPMC; Jamie Buster, Deputy City Clerk; Susan Leiker, HR; Angeline Johnson, WSU/PPMC Guests: Item Description 1. Oath of Office All members took their Oath given by Jamie Buster, Deputy City Clerk 2. Approval of Agenda for Pastor Pamela Hughes Mason moved, Tabitha Lehman seconded. 11-0 July 22, 2021 motion approval 3. Approval of Minutes Corrected “T” “TC”, moved and seconded with necessary corrections. for June 28, 2021 Unanimously approved. 4. Introductions Each member introduced themselves, their background, what Councilmember nominated them, and their ‘why’ to joining the Advisory Board. 5. Roles and a. How we got to the Board: Mayor established a task force to analyze Responsibilities (Board, injustices in the community. Committee had meeting and engaged PPMC, and city staff) by WSU to help work through to get to specific goal areas. What were the big things they wanted to see to make progress. Established sub-committees to establish strategies. Purpose in governance subcommittee felt they need something long term and sustainable. Advisory board ordained by ordinance. Developed draft report for the Advisory Board. Went before council in Dec 2020 about work that had been done and recommended establishment of Advisory Board. This board is given a facilitator because of the importance of the work. b. Primary purpose of the DICRAB is to make recommendations to the Mayor and City Council on strategies to engage Wichita’s diverse residents, business and community leaders. Strategic thought on how to move forward. c. Work with residents staff and elected official to update and implement a strategic plan that guides the work d. Promote the work of through collaborations, presentations, and other community outreach and initiatives e. Serve as a conduit for community engagement, education f. Public Policy Management Center (PPMC): will serve as facilitator, project manager, point of contact to the advisory board, help AB  with development of a strategic roadmap and guide the work; partner with Chair and Co-Chair in meeting preparation; partner with board to host/facilitate community discussions; partner with city staff to manage advisory board request for info, attendance of subject matter experts, and website management. g. City staff will provide the advisory board support: Susan Leiker – Subject Matter expert, Donte Martin – Subject Matter Expert, Adam Nebenzahl – Secretary. h. Tabitha Lehman asked who’s responsible for meeting publication and how it will be disseminated. City will post on their website and all minutes and agendas will be posted shortly after first meeting. Need to identify location and consistent dates first. Donte Martin confirmed the details and explanation of the webpage and posting of information through the media. Media releases and web releases. 6. Presentation from a. Donte Martin gave a background on his role as Assistant City Assistant City Manager Manager for the City of Wichita. He mentioned the City’s desire for a broader discussion of race. b. Foundational work on national League of Cities: Wichita received a grant from NLC providing technical assistance on equity work and training. NLC sent staff to train Wichita staff on race and equity. City created webpage on race, equity, and leadership. NLC held a conference in New Orleans to continue discussion with other cities who received the grant to focus on racial equity work. c. Defined Equity and Equality and how they differ. d. Defined equity tools and examples of what they are and how they work. e. Operationalizing Equity – Contracting, hiring, economic development. Discussed the percentage of minority contract payments. Discussed community outreach regards to contracting. Partnering with State of Kansas, Sedgewick County, USD 259, WSU and others to streamline processes and improve information sharing. f. Operationalizing equity community investment: discussed programs the city participates in including: Fuse Fellowship, Community needs assessment, opportunity zones, community benefit agreement, PROPEL microloan program. g. Operationalizing equity in workforce: discussed how the City believes their workforce should reflect the community it serves. Collected staff demographic, produced workforce diversity report, and developed diversity and inclusion survey (survey has not been released yet and will be shown to Advisory board first before broad public release). Showed workforce diversity, gender, EEOC, to population charts. h. Next Steps: Organizing equity and community engagement. Next steps include building on Racial and Equity Leadership and City DEI efforts, engage residents in addressing barrier. Primarily focusing on areas of contracting, hiring, and community investment.  i. Ethics Policy: Applies to the working board. Donte Martin opened questions to the board about the policy, either sending to LaShonda Garnes or in the forum. 7. Non-Discrimination a. ACM Martin provided a timeline of the development of the NDO, Ordinance (NDO) what an NDO entails and potential next steps. Martin discussed the Update and Board development of the Ordinance and how it was modeled after other Discussion ordinances from Topeka, Manhattan and Overland Park with the help of organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and Equality Kansas. b. Martin detailed recent City Council actions related to the NDO c. Next Steps: working through a facilitation and engagement process with a 3rd party facilitator. Open discussion with relevant classes and key stakeholders affected by the ordinance. Board Comments d. Mackenzie Borland stated that the board must try its hardest to get it ready on October 12 and recommended to meet more frequently to ensure enough discussion occurs because of its importance. Unsure how facilitation would occur. e. Pastor Mason wanted to know if more meetings means more discussion with the community and emphasizing that the board be open and work with the community. Donte Martin answered that this first meeting was about establishing housekeeping and that once this necessity is concluded, they are able to open up more frequent discussion with the community. f. Tabitha Lehman wanted to comment that voting and public comment should not occur simultaneously. She felt that this should be the entire board and not moved to a sub-committee. g. Jennifer Brehon asked if the board had watched the public comment from the July 6 and 13 council meetings. Noted that public feedback has begun through those meetings. Can utilize that to help move forward with the work to help shape a discussion with the board. h. Pastor Mason clarified that the board should watch the 11 hours of council meeting and come back and discuss it as a framework and set a timeframe from there. Need to take themselves out of the equation and emphasize that they are representative of the community. i. Donte Martin stated although much of the recent focus has been on LGBTQ and veterans, the NDO would apply to all protected classes. He later listed what protected classes are affected by the ordinance  j. Mackenzie emphasized public engagement and openness and wanted to clarify her previous remarks about an open process. k. Tabitha questioned Jennifer Magana’s (Legal Department Director) role in future meetings and Donte clarified what her role will be introducing and explaining the NDO. Questions can be submitted to LaShonda that can be sent to Legal. l. Shala Perez noted a desire for an expedited comment process to allow more comment over a longer period of time m. Tabitha emphasized her desire to have the website up and running as soon as possible and then make edits later n. Pastor Mason requested input first on the website and being on the forefront of it first. Donte will consult about giving feedback on the website o. Kelli Grant wanted to understand what the Board’s job is? A new ordinance, edited ordinance? What is the end-game. Donte Martin answered that it is up to the board. The board is providing recommendations to the City Council and the board is to interpret that as narrowly or broadly as they choose. p. Mackenzie Borland asked about access to public comments. Donte Martin answered that curated comments will be presented to the board and multiple forums will be provided for public comment. 8. Board Meeting Dates a. Discussed the most feasible dates for reoccurring meetings. Decision has been made to move forward for doodle poll to determine the regular meeting day of the week and time. b. Pastor Mason recommended having the meeting recorded. c. Pastor Mason proposed the 24th of August @ 5:30pm for the next meeting. Works for all present except for possibly Tabitha Lehman. Location will be City Hall. Board Agenda will be send out by LaShonda and sent to the board via email 9. Officer Election a. Officer positions were presented and LaShonda opened up Discussion members to send their resume or bio to herself to help gather backgrounds. b. Discussed the Chairperson roles. LaShonda discussed that roles can be updated as they were created prior to the board meeting. By- laws will be sent to members and will be discussed in august and possibly updated and officer votes in September 10. Open Discussion a. Mackenzie wanted to know how to arrange meetings outside monthly board meetings times. LaShonda said that the City will set up the facilitated discussion and then after that the board can decide when and how frequently to meet again.  b. Pastor Mason wanted clarification of the facilitated discussion. Donte Martin answered that this discussion the board will be grounded in state, federal, and local law by the Chief Attorney Jennifer Magana. 11. Adjourn Meeting adjourned at 7:15pm July 22, 2021. Minutes filed by Adam Nebenzahl, Secretary