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HomeMy WebLinkAbout202020-08-25 Minutes Page 1 Meeting Minutes New Hanover County/City of Wilmington Community Relations Advisory Committee Virtual Teams Meeting August 25, 2020 – 5:30 PM Committee Members Present: Chair Evelyn Bryant, Vice-Chair Jeff Hovis, Liz Carbone, Reverend Charles Davis, Courtney Horton, Jen Johnson, Kathy King, Lori Wainright, Florence Warren, Scott Whisnant; Corporal Crystal Williamson, Representative for Wilmington Police Department Staff Present: Tufanna Bradley, NHC; Linda Thompson, NHC; Dahria Kianpour, NHC; Suzanne Rogers, CoW Absent: Elise Rocks, Chief Deputy Ken Sarvis, Donny Williams, Chief of Police I. Call to Order Chair Bryant called the meeting to order at 5:34 pm. Roll call was taken and a quorum was established. Ms. Bradley introduced Linda Thompson, Chief Diversity and Equity Officer, as the new staff liaison. Chair Bryant thanked Ms. Bradley for all of her hard work and contributions made for the CRAC. Liz Carbone and Courtney Horton introduced themselves to the committee. II. Approve Agenda MOTION: Reverend Davis MOVED, SECONDED by Ms. Warren, to approve the agenda. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. III. Approve Minutes MOTION: Vice-Chair Hovis MOVED, SECONDED by Ms. Johnson, to approve the minutes of July 28, 2020. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. IV. Sub-Committee Reports Crisis Prevention/Preparedness: Since Mr. Wexler has resigned from the committee and was the chair of this sub- committee, Revered Davis volunteered to be the new chair. By general consensus of the CRAC members, Revered Davis is designated chair of the Crisis Prevention/Preparedness sub-committee. A brief discussion was held regarding the Crisis Prevention/Preparedness to meet at a future time. Programming and Public Education: Ms. Wainright stated the sub-committee members discussed hosting a zoom meeting to receive public input with speakers invited to present and/or answer questions. This will be explored further at the next sub-committee meeting. She then introduced Mr. Whisnant to share his presentation on school redistricting. Discussion was held about when Mr. Whisnant should share the presentation and whether it should be at a future CRAC meeting or presented at a separate meeting. Mr. Whisnant provided a brief overview of the impact of neighborhood schools in the New Hanover County School District. The presentation is included as an attachment to the minutes. Members thanked Mr. Whisnant for his research on this issue and for all of the hard work. Regarding sources that were used for the data, Mr. Whisnant said he collected information from the County, Cape Fear Collective, and School Digger. Mr. Whisnant would like to share the presentation with Dr. Faust to determine the next steps. He hopes this provides opportunities for more open discussions about the issue and to show the statistical information. Chair Bryant Page 2 stated she wanted to make sure the presentation is shared effectively in a way that still aligns with the goals and purpose of the CRAC. Discussion was held regarding the possibility of partnering with other organizations to help share the information with the public. This topic is a significant problem that needs to be addressed and might be better addressed through the Public Education Sub-Committee. Ms. Thompson stated in her new position, she will be developing a strategic plan and would like CRAC members to help inform plan in order to assist with the CRAC to be more structured, focused on specific issues, and to measure what is being accomplished. Regarding when Mr. Whisnant’s presentation should be shared, Ms. Warren suggested to first present it to Dr. Foust with only a few CRAC members before presenting it at a formal meeting. Mr. Whisnant and Ms. Thompson will work to set up a meeting with Dr. Foust. A separate meeting date will be scheduled to present it to the public. V. Update on CRAC Presentation at the City Council Meeting Chair Bryant thanked Vice-Chair Hovis, Ms. Wainwright, Ms. Rogers, and Ms. Bradley for attending the CRAC presentation at the City Council Meeting. She would like to present this at a future County Commissioners meeting, but prefers to wait until the hospital situation is done. Chair Bryant stated the implicit bias training recommendation was to have this mandatory by the following year. The City website also has not been updated with the CRAC information. Regarding the updates on the LGBTQ recommendation, Ms. Johnson stated Tony McEwen from the City contacted her and provided her with notes on what has been completed. It was submitted for the Municipal Equality Index with the Human Rights Campaign. Some of the other updates the City has completed include: the anti-discrimination policy had been updated to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for City employees; appointment of the City Economic Development Director Erris Dunston to serve as liaison for the LGBTQ community; annual reports are reported to the FBI for hate crimes acts; June was proclaimed as Pride Month. Ms. Johnson will continue to be in contact with Mr. McEwan for updates and follow-up. Regarding where the information can be found for the LGBTQ liaison for the Wilmington Police Department, discussion was held that since it is not clear where it can be found, Ms. Johnson stated she would follow up with Mr. McEwan to inform him about that. Reverend Davis stated he would add the contact information for Corporal Williams, Ms. Thompson, and Ms. Dunston to the NAACP’s contact listing for discrimination, prejudice, and bias. Ms. Johnson recommended that regular follow up to continue with elected officials by the CRAC chair in order to continue moving forward with requests and recommendations. She suggested the CRAC member who is the lead on a certain request to follow up with the CRAC Chair to send the reminder note to the elected officials. Ms. Thompson stated the County Manager has already incorporated the Implicit Bias Training as a requirement for County employees. Ms. Johnson requested for the next meeting to add to the agenda a discussion on how CRAC members are appointed in order to have a better understanding of the City and County appointment process and the designated categories, and whether the categories can be changed. A suggestion was made that it could be a possible recommendation to the elected officials to designate other categories. VI. Public Comments: None. VII. Announcements: Ms. Bryant stated the CRAC will fall under the City oversight in October for the next two years. VIII. Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m.