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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 10/26/2021 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2021 CITY CENTER 5:00 – 6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOMS 6:30 – 7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Ron Case, Council Members Kathy Nelson, Mark Freiberg, PG Narayanan, and Lisa Toomey CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Police Chief Matt Sackett, Fire Chief Scott Gerber, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community Development Director Julie Klima, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Administrative Services/HR Director Alecia Rose, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City Attorney Maggie Neuville, and Recorder Katie O’Connor Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and II (5:30) I. RACE EQUITY Mayor Case stated the City Council will have a conversation he hopes many other cities will also plan to have followed by substantive actions. Getschow added the concept for the race equity initiative began in 2020. The process with the Human Rights and Diversity Commission (HRDC) began at the beginning of last year. There have been a few progress reports since then, but tonight the HRDC will present their draft report and an overview of the recommendations and concepts. This is a document that the Council would vote to approve at a future Council meeting. Megan Yerks, Community Services Coordinator, recognized all of those who have participated in the process. This is a starting point rather than a finish line. The project statement was read. A reminder was given about the six areas of inquiry of the initiative: emergency response; facilities and programs: accessibility and culture; recruiting, hiring and retention; connection to community; community experience; and developing future leaders. Case inquired how the six areas of inquiry were decided. Yerks responded it was a collaborative decision between staff and the HRDC prior to the consultant coming on board. Sana Elassar, HRDC member, discussed the overarching findings. One of the strengths noted was the sense of safety. Many reported this as a reason they choose to live in this community. It was also noted there is an appreciation for the involvement of Staff and Elected Officials. They are actively engaging and visible to the community. Another strength was the appreciation of the park system. Participants shared their appreciation for the beauty and availability of the City’s park system. This is another reason residents choose to live here. Hina Kazama, HRDC student member, provided an overview of the overarching findings considered opportunity areas found when analyzing the data. One of the themes was the City Council Workshop Minutes October 26, 2021 Page 2 inconsistent commitment to equity. Community members shared experiences when the City said the right things but did not follow up with action. Although residents share a sense of pride in the level of excellence of this City, there were also noted disparities in these opinions between the experiences of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) residents versus white residents. Further explanation is needed to uncover and address these disparities. Another opportunity area is the lack of diversity among City Staff and leadership. There is still work to be done. Community members have expressed they do not see themselves reflected in Staff and leadership. They also acknowledged cultural and language barriers to connecting with the City. The last opportunity area is the impact of socioeconomic status. Many community members of color shared experiences of a lack of financial resources creating barriers for them and their children. It was also noted the difficulty to obtain affordable housing in the City. Toomey inquired how large the survey was. Yerks responded page 19 of the report shows the internal and external participants in focus groups, world cafés, and the survey. Keerthana Ramanathan, HRDC student member, delved into the recommendations under the emergency response area of interest. The survey indicates overall, residents hold the police and fire department in high regard. However, some BIPOC residents have expressed a general mistrust in law enforcement. Some officers have also expressed concerns about the challenges of cross-cultural interactions and the desire to build mutual trust and understanding. There are four recommendations listed in the report to help address these concerns. Frequent enhanced culture and de-escalation training for both police and fire personnel, considering implementation of police sub-beats, exploring additional initiatives or programs that support crime prevention and community building initiatives, and community gathering and listening sessions. Regular and on-going community gathering and listening sessions would include stakeholders honestly sharing their perspectives and openly talking through their concerns and expectations. This would help build trust and relationships. John Urbanski, HRDC member, talked about the recommendations for facilities and programs: accessibility and culture. He highlighted the recommendation to ensure everyone has equitable access to facilities and programming and are treated with respect and dignity. Equitable access to facilities and programming that is safe, inclusive, culturally relevant, and welcoming to everyone provides an opportunity for all residents to participate. The cost, location, and class time may be barriers to some of the resources. One of the recommendations is to work with the BIPOC community to identify barriers and to help reduce and eliminate barriers. Other recommendations are to review the City’s current code of conduct, grievance procedure, and discrimination policies and to continue to expand no or low-cost community-based programs in underrepresented neighborhoods. Leslie Philmont, HRDC member, presented on the recommendations for recruiting, hiring and retention. It is recommended to strengthen recruiting and hiring practices to attract a City Council Workshop Minutes October 26, 2021 Page 3 more diverse city workforce representing the community. One of the overarching findings was to reflect the overall community and population brings in needed and possible missing perspectives in the City’s operations. It is recommended to build upon efforts to enhance, sustain, and foster an inclusive work environment to retain a diverse city workforce. Enhance professional and career development opportunities to support and strengthen a more diverse City workforce. Improve data collection, reporting, and strategic use of data to support the recruitment, hiring, and retention of a more diverse city workforce. It is extremely important for residents to feel welcome and included. Not only should we build upon these efforts, but the efforts should be documented through data collection. Urbanski stated there are themes in the report but some of these are also overlapping. In regard to recommendations for connection to community, the first recommendation is to communicate Eden Prairie’s commitment to racial equity and celebrate the diversity of our community with internal and external stakeholders. The City should affirm its long-standing commitment to racial equity and broadly communicate the City’s efforts and existing policies. When doing so, utilize a variety of communication tools. Action items are to foster belonging by using a racial equity framework to engage with BIPOC communities, implement racial equity tools to change or modify policies, programs, or practices perpetuating inequities, and create opportunities for two-way communication. In regard to data collection and analysis, the City should regularly collect and analyze data to proactively address racial disparities. Conduct further analysis of the 2020 Equity and Inclusion Survey and develop an action plan for a follow-up survey. The third recommendation states all residents should have access to all resources the City has to offer. This includes providing translation and interpretation to eliminate barriers. Develop strategies for increasing access to City leadership. Continue additional community-based opportunities for Council Members and City leadership to interact with residents from underrepresented communities such as Coffee with a Council Member or Kickin’ it with the Cops. Ramanathan discussed the recommendations for community experience. BIPOC residents noted they often feel disconnected from the overall community. Many residents have also noted a large wealth gap within the community. The first recommendation mentions devoting more resources to community events and block parties to promoting the gathering of residents of different cultures. Another is to provide additional support and resources to community members and organizations working on similar diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Community members and organizations have expressed interest in partnering with the City to help create an inclusive and equitable community. Philmon discussed the recommendations for developing future leaders. This is an opportunity to engage and partner with Eden Prairie Schools. Another way to engage is to encourage youth employment opportunities as youth may not be aware of the opportunities available to them. Identify opportunities to raise the voices of young people in our community. It is City Council Workshop Minutes October 26, 2021 Page 4 recommended to continue the students on commissions program and to create opportunities for youth to interact with elected officials and leadership. Nelson inquired if the recommendations were based on overarching themes from all of the BIPOC communities or were there differing perspectives from certain communities. Yerks responded there are unique characteristics to each of the participants. A few noticeable differences are the experiences of those with varying socioeconomic status and recent immigrants. Case inquired if there is a need for more specific targeted initiatives for certain communities. Yerks replied when looking at next steps and work plans some of the more targeted engagement can be considered. Case added the recommendations were general enough to also cater this to the needs of the community. Freiberg noted there is a lot to digest in the report. There seems to be a lot of perceptions of well-intended efforts and initiatives. It sounds like it would be helpful to make changes and efforts measurable so there is data to be documented. He agrees there should continue to be a focus on developing youth and having a students on commission program. Narayanan thanked the HRDC for their work. He noted the Council’s intentionality when selecting Commission Members. He would like to learn more about the gap for access to parks and recreation programs and facilities. A large barrier to access is the lack of ability to communicate if an entire family cannot speak English. Toomey thanked the HRDC. She stated in her work with nonprofits and with the police department she has noted they have great outreach programs. She also agrees there is a need for translation services. Case stated Staff and Elected Officials should continue to engage with BIPOC to determine how we are doing. The City can celebrate the work they are doing but also needs to continue to realize there is a long way to go. Samuel Griffin, HRDC member, stated City Staff will utilize the report to create steps for implementation. HRDC will work to bring the impact of the report into the community. Staff will provide the initial implementation plan to HRDC within six months and will continue to provide semi-annual updates. Continued community engagement will be conducted. The presentation and report will go to the Council for final approval at a future meeting. Case noted he would like to take a deeper dive with projects such as these. He suggests utilizing the Council retreat as a time for these discussions. Nelson inquired when this report and presentation would come to the Council. Getschow stated potentially in December. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) City Council Workshop Minutes October 26, 2021 Page 5 II. OPEN PODIUM III. ADJOURNMENT