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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-10-27 Minutes Page1 ADOPTED MINUTES MEETING MINUTES New Hanover County/ City of Wilmington Community Relations Advisory Committee Virtual ZOOM Meeting October 27, 2020 5:30 PM Committee members present: Liz Carbone, Courtney Horton, Jen Johnson, Kathy King, Lori Wainright, Scott Whisnant, Florence Warren, Reddgo Long Jr., Megan Mullins Staff Present: Linda Thompson, NHC; Suzanne Rogers, COW; Erica Jacobs-Graham, COW; Crystal Williamson, COW; Tomeka Jarreau, NHC; Melissa Huffman COW Absent: Chair Evelyn Bryant, Reverend Charles Davis I. Call to Order Committee Member Lori Wainright called the meeting to order at 5:36 pm. Roll Call was taken. Everyone introduced themselves. A quorum was established. II. Approve Agenda Motion: Kathy King; second Florence Warren to approve the agenda. Upon vote, the motion carried unanimously. III. Approve minutes Motion: Liz Carbone; second Megan Mullins to approve the minutes with change to sentence to read: At this point, the City has not made any decisions due to the remaining public safety issue at this time, therefore the 90-day timeframe has not begun. Upon vote, the motion carried out unanimously. IV. Sub-committee reports Crisis Prevention/Preparedness: Kathy King suggested becoming more active in the community by learning more about historical points of the City of Wilmington. Expressed the need for more African American history in the community. Ideas included were having the NHC museum capture African American history and visiting the archives of slavery registers in the Register of Deeds. Linda expressed reaching out to churches with getting Page2 ADOPTED MINUTES input from the community about issues of concern during the crisis. The plan is to evaluate and implement a plan to open discussions with the youth leaders of protests groups and others. Programming and Public Education: Several sub-committee members will engage with New Hanover County Schools (NHCS) staff to learn more about resources to stop Bullying and determine next steps for CRAC. Liz Carbone reported on meeting with the City staff working on 1898 Massacre; the CRAC recommends the City support existing efforts instead of creating a new event. Liz will inform the CRAC when more details are available as the V. Old Business: A. School redistricting presentations - Scott Whisnant has made several presentations of the data on neighborhood school districts and the negative impact on low income schools and African American students. Scott presented to Dr. Foust and again with the NHCS executive staff; likewise, Scott presented to Chris Coudriet and NHC executive staff who asked NHC staff to look into solutions, including housing patterns and future bonds. The CRAC sponsored presentation Oct 22 had roughly 50-70 participants and was well received as was a presentation to the NHC Resiliency Task Force. B. Rise together- continues to be an active conversation among the group, Lori shared excerpts of City Managers letter in response to request from CRAC to work with the City on Rise Together. Letter describes process underway at the City to conduct an internal organizational assessment and to engage with CRAC in the future as Rise Together is a long-term initiative. VI. New Business: A. Committee did not vote on new officers, consensus to hold elections in November and for members to communicate with each other in the interim to ascertain who would be willing to serve as Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary. Evelyn Bryant has served 2 years and will not be able to serve as chair in new election. B. An informal (ad hoc) group Lori, Reddgo, Jen, Kathy, Florence, and Linda will meet within next two weeks to discuss plan to host virtual forum, possible using Big B, to engage with youth and others about concerns and issues in community around race, equity, inclusion, and moving forward from here. C. Next step for Presentation School Redistricting continue to make the presentation, CRAC make recommendations to NHC, NHCS. Scott will draft letter with recommendations which may include: Universal Pre-K; Changes to Housing Development Patterns via LDO; Support for Future School Bonds contingent on equity and integration w/in schools; models/examples from other communities. Florence and discuss housing development patterns with CF Housing Coalition. Scott and Florence will engage with former NHCS board members Rhodes, Rudabaugh for input. Page3 ADOPTED MINUTES VII. Public Comments: None. VIII. Announcements: Linda Thompson wanted to congratulate Kathy King on her Interview on WECT about housing and her ability to rent to two families in need. IX. Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 6:37 p.m.