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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 09/06/2022 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 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 Matthew 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 INITIATIVE UPDATE Klima presented on the implementation of the Race Equity Report. There are 22 recommendations total in the report. In addition to the recommendations, there are suggested actions to inspire Staff. After the City Council accepted the Race Equity Report, the implementation shifted to staff responsibility. There were individual department meetings to see what the work means within those departments. The individual department meetings launched the formation of the Eden Prairie Race Equity Action Team (REAT). The membership was determined by the individual departments, and there are a wide variety of roles represented. The REAT mission statement is “As the REAT, we are committed to facilitating progress as we work collectively to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within our organization and the community we serve.” There are three primary responsibilities: accountability, collaboration, and engagement. The accountability piece includes tracking, assessing progress on the recommendations, and communicating actions and initiatives to internal and external stakeholders. Collaboration includes supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion goals by sharing ideas and progress. Engagement includes reporting back to each department, Human Rights and Diversity Commission (HRDC), Council, and the community members the City is serving. In return they will receive feedback on the community member’s needs and learn how the City can best support their needs. The first task REAT was asked to complete is to identify current and planned activities that support the race equity initiative recommendations. This helps establish a baseline. They will continue to implement the recommendations and report progress of implementation goals to internal and external stakeholders. Staff created an implementation tracking document to be utilized as a resource for information on efforts across the City. Departments will be building these actions into their work plans as well. City Council Workshop Minutes September 9, 2022 Page 2 Narayanan inquired if there is a shared document REAT is working on or managing in software such as Sharepoint. Klima responded there is a document in a shared drive employees have access to. At some point there would be some metrics to begin tracking. Narayanan inquired if the City has a project manager. Getschow replied often divisions do their own project management, sometimes with the help of IT. Depending on the division, there are many different software management tools being utilized. Case inquired if there are Staff who are six sigma certified. Getschow replied no. Babar Khan, HRDC member, inquired about utilizing a software to have the historical knowledge of the process such as Microsoft Project. Getschow responded City Staff have shared drives and documents, and Staff may already be using a specialized software that would suite their needs for project management and tracking. Case stated specific project management details can be discussed at a later time if needed. Getschow noted the City has a specialized software to track the performance dashboard. Klima noted all six areas of inquiry have existing work being done. All six departments are doing work in at least one area. Each of the 22 recommendations have documented or existing planned activity being done. Yerks presented some implementation highlights. In the police department, there has been work on Emergency Response recommendations two and three. These goals center around community engagement activities. Recommendation two is the implementation of sub-beats. This would assign officers to be liaisons to specific geographic areas in the City to build and strengthen relationships. This program was launched late spring as the Neighborhood Police Officers (NPOs). The new community liaison officer, Juliette Glynn, has been out organically creating connections and relationships with the police department. This role combines investigative duties with community liaison work. A social worker, Molly Mitley, has also been paired with Eden Prairie police. Some of the areas she is involved in are mental health, chemical health, and vulnerable adults. Chris Wood added Molly has been a great asset to the team. She gets referred to a lot of calls and will also come out to an active scene. Narayanan inquired if other cities are doing similar initiatives. Yerks replied within Hennepin County there are a number of departments who are partnering with social workers. The social workers are Hennepin County employees, so they also have the ability to rely on one another. Narayanan asked if sub-beats are typical with other cities. Wood replied he is not aware of the concept happening in other cities. It is relatively new. Toomey asked if a resident would be connected to their specific neighborhood officer if they call the City. Wood responded a caller would be identified by their address and connected with the officer. Yerks stated the fire department is working towards Emergency Response recommendation three and community experience recommendation one. For recommendation three they are exploring additional initiatives or programs that support crime prevention and community City Council Workshop Minutes September 9, 2022 Page 3 building initiatives. Fire has already started working with Prairie Meadows multi-family to do fire safety education and fire extinguisher training. From that encounter, fire department Staff were then invited to their ice cream social. Recommendation one works to devote more resources to promoting block parties and community events to gather residents of different cultures. One recent example is the pop-up splash pads. Another educational piece they are bringing to various locations in September is the cooking demo trailer. Gerber added Staff is being innovative to go out into the community and to fill a need while also providing education on fire safety. Nelson added it is great to see Staff and the fire department going out to multi-family units. Narayanan inquired if there are local community leaders the City is partnering with. Yerks replied the concept is similar to neighborhood watch. Wood added the neighborhood watch program is still ongoing and the neighborhood police officers do try to meet with those groups. Narayanan added maybe a refresh of the program name would be helpful. Yerks presented on Parks and Recreation department’s work towards facilities and programs recommendation number two. They have a new outreach budget area and are redirecting funds toward finding and serving members of the community currently underrepresented in fee-based programs as well as purchasing equipment for loan-out. One area this has been utilized is creating a new supervisor - youth sports and community programs role. This position will provide department-wide leadership in creating partnership and bringing programs into neighborhoods or other venues. Freiberg inquired how much money has been allocated. Lotthammer responded it is a little over ten thousand dollars, and those dollars have been moved from a different line item. Some of these funds are being seen with pop up splash pads and bringing free, loan-out equipment at neighborhood parks. Freiberg asked if the funds also allow for free programs. Lotthammer replied in the past there has been about eight to twelve thousand dollars in scholarship funding. The scholarship program itself does not reach everybody. In recent years Staff has looked at those who have registered for programs and where there are gaps in the system. This has guided Staff to know where to bring programs in the City at no cost. Nelson asked if People Reaching Out to People (PROP) also has scholarship funds for parks and recreation programming. Lotthammer noted many of the people they serve are not getting involved in those ways, but if there are kids involved with PROP’s services they often consider involvement in programs. There are also ongoing free programs for adults such as fitness in the parks. Nelson inquired about funding for sports or other activities for older age kids. Lotthammer responded many of the sports associations do provide assistance for sports. Yerks added Staff worked with Reta Johnson, the homeless liaison for the school district, for the recent Cops and Bobbers event. Through their program, a number of students were signed up to attend Cops and Bobbers. Lotthammer added they are trying to figure out who they are City Council Workshop Minutes September 9, 2022 Page 4 not reaching in the traditional ways for programming. Nelson inquired about the ability to translate the park and recreation registration page. Getschow replied he believes the website has those capabilities to pair with translation services, but he will confirm. Khan inquired about the involvement and outreach to Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) about their wants or needs. Lotthammer responded registration does not include identifying information such as race. Much of the information being collected and used is based on income level. Narayanan suggested reaching out to other nonprofits to collaborate such as Eden Prairie Community Foundation and PROP. Toomey added Eden Prairie Crime Fund. Lotthammer added PROP is helpful about directing children toward City programs. Yerks presented on public works connection to community recommendation number four. They have continued to implement recommendations from Eden Prairie Bicycle and Ped Plan using input from Somali Moms Group, Senior Center and ECFE group. Resulting actions have included capital improvement projects to remove barriers in the system. They have since removed barriers at multiple problem intersections. They have more projects planned in the next few years as well. In regard to human resources, the recruiting, hiring, and retention recommendation number one is being worked on. Human resources will be strengthening training and processes for interviewers and hiring managers to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the interviewing and onboarding process. The additional DEI training includes understanding, identifying, and challenging subconscious biases we all have that can create different barriers for candidates during the hiring process. Initially, the goal is to provide this training to Hiring Managers, and then it will be extended to additional peer interviewers. In regard to communications, they are focusing on community recommendation number one. Staff are creating a DEI page on the City website and will be featuring an article in the fall 2022 Life in the Prairie newsletter. The vision is to continually update the page as the DEI journey continues. Rose stated the interview process has always been collaborative across departments, so the training will span all the departments. Case inquired about early recruitment in high school. Rose responded the City is partnering with school liaison officers to have youth apply with the City. The City is also refreshing its recruitment video. Yerks presented on community development and their work on community experience recommendation two. They are researching and exploring the potential benefit and opportunity in use of a scorecard for equity in development. Klima added it is being looked at regionally and nationally, and it can be used to further engage the community and evaluate development proposals. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) II. OPEN PODIUM III. ADJOURNMENT