HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-01-28 Minutes
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New Hanover County/City of Wilmington
Community Relations Advisory Committee
NHC Library 101 Chestnut Street, New Hanover Room
January 28, 2020 5:30 PM
Committee Members Present: Chair Evelyn Bryant, Vice-Chair Jeff Hovis, Reverend Charles Davis, Jen Johnson, Kathy King,
Elise Rocks, Lori Wainright. Florence Warren participated by phone.
Absent: Courtney Horton, Lewis Stroud, Owen Wexler, Scott Whisnant
Staff Present: Tufanna Thomas, New Hanover County; Dahria Kianpour, New Hanover County; Suzanne Rogers, City of
Wilmington
I.Call to Order
Chair Bryant called the meeting to order at 5:38 pm. Quorum was established.
II. Approve Agenda
MOTION: Ms. Warren MOVED, SECONDED by Ms. Wainright, to approve the agenda. Upon vote, the MOTION
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
III. Approve Minutes
MOTION: Vice-Chair Hovis MOVED, SECONDED by Ms. King, to approve the minutes of October 22, 2019. Upon vote,
the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
IV. Sub-Committee Reports:
Crisis Prevention/Preparedness Sub-Committee as follows: No meeting was held.
Ms. Wainright reported for the Programming Sub-Committee as follows:
C-RAC Survey Update
Dr. Christina Lanier Dr. Kristen DuVall, Social Science Applied Research Center, UNCW, presented the following
information regarding the C-RAC survey:
Survey Objective: Community-
experiences with discrimination
Specifically, survey questions focused on four areas including: Employment/economic development, housing,
education, and government services
Data Collection Methods:
Disseminated using multiple modes: web, telephone, and paper.
Web-based survey was created using Qualtrics: Available October 14, 2019 - November 17, 2019
Telephone survey was created using the Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) system:
Commenced October 28, 2019 & completed November 16, 2019
Paper copies of the survey were disseminated by members of C-RAC to agencies & events throughout
New Hanover County: Available beginning on October 7, 2019 -November 20, 2019.
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Responses by mode of survey dissemination:
Mode of Survey Dissemination # of Respondents
Web Survey 371
Telephone Survey 19
Paper Survey 125
Total 515
Additional respondent demographics:
Household Income:
44.5% greater than $75,000
34.5% less than $50,000
Housing Status:
70% own
25.3% rent
Age:
Average age = 49.9 years
Range -19-94 years
Years in NHC:
41.4% more than 20 years
5.9% less than 2 years
Reside in ILM: 72.6% yes
Employment and Economic Development:
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Employment and Discrimination:
23.4% of respondents reported having experienced discrimination while seeking employment in NHC
25.7% experienced discrimination at their current or previous place of employment
37.0% indicated observing instances of employment discrimination
How often they believe that employment discrimination occurs within New Hanover County:
4.7% never occurred
44.3% occurs often or very often
Comparison by Racial Groups:
Comparison by Gender:
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Housing in New Hanover County:
Housing and Discrimination:
11.1% experienced discrimination while seeking housing in NHC
6.8% reported experiencing discrimination at current or previous residence
18.5% observed discrimination in this context
How often they believe that housing discrimination occurs within New Hanover County:
Over 50% reported sometimes
43.0% reported often or very often
Comparison by Racial Groups:
Comparison by Gender:
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Education in New Hanover County: 53.5% of respondents currently and/or previously have children,
grandchildren, or other dependents attending public school in the County:
Comparison by Racial Groups:
Comparison by Gender:
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Government Services: Ease/difficulty accessing services provided by NHC and City of Wilmington:
Experience and observation of discrimination accessing government services:
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Frequency of discrimination in the delivery of government services:
Comparison by Racial Groups:
Comparison by Gender:
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Summary:
Intentional first step to identifying issues of prejudice or discrimination among community residents.
Reveal a theme that many residents experienced discrimination within the domains of
employment/economic development, housing, & education.
More respondents reporting having observed discrimination within these same domains.
Across all 4 domains, a higher percentage of Black/African American & Other/Multiracial respondents
reported experiencing discrimination as compared to their White counterparts.
Serve as a catalyst for conversation and action among the C-RAC, as well as leaders within the community.
Chair Bryant thanked Drs. Lanier and DeVall for the presentation.
A brief discussion was held regarding how disparity or income was tracked, which was separated into different
categories as can be seen in the survey data.
Regarding the phone survey and why there were only 19 respondents, Ms. DuVall stated there were
originally two weeks scheduled for the phone interviews and it was extended to three weeks in an attempt to
increase the numbers. Some respondents that were called did not meet the criteria for the survey. Also, there was
a specific budgeted amount to pay students, so once that was met the phone calls stopped. 125 phone call
respondents was the goal in order for it to count as randomized. Discussion was held regarding possibly
reopening the online survey in order to increase the number of respondents. Ms. DuVall stated the online
responses would not be counted as a true random survey. Discussion was held whether to continue the online
survey even though those responses would not be counted as random sampling. Specific questions about disability
was not included in the final survey. Ms. Rogers stated for the housing piece, the New Hanover County/Workforce
Housing Joint Committee is contracting for a study on affordable housing.
Discussion was held regarding the survey being a starting point to identify areas that could be focused. Drs. Lanier
and DeVall will share information regarding the details of the discrimination information and create an appendix
for the survey.
Ms. King left at 6:30pm.
LGBTQ Update: Ms. Johnson shared a document with LGBTQ antidiscrimination recommendations for the County
and City and requested feedback from members. Suggestions were made to re-structure the recommendations
in order of things that can be done quickly and then list the other recommendations that require a longer timeline
towards the end of the list. Some items require funding, so that would need to be clear when to request the funds
for the budget.
Ms. Thomas requested the final version in order to share it with the managers to create a way to share it with
the Commissioners. Ms. Johnson will not be at the February meeting so it will be provided at the March
meeting.
Reported for the Public Education Sub-Committee as follows: No meeting was held.
VI. New Business:
Chair Bryant will send an email update regarding the following:
Partnership Advisory Group Update
Census 2020 Update
County/City Workforce Housing Advisory Committee Update
VII. Public Comments: None.
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VIII: Announcements:
Reverend Davis shared a list of resources used by the NAACP Legal Redress Committee. As chairman of that
committee, they have been receiving many various discrimination issues, some of which they will assist and others
they are not able to. The issues that the NAACP does not assist will be referred to C-RAC. C-RAC members are to
direct the complaints to the C-RAC website in order to follow the process.
IX. Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 7:17pm.