2023-07-25 NHCHLC Minutes
New HanoverHispanic/Latino Commission
July 25, 2023 5:00 PM
l. Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 5:02 p.m.
Members present: Dr. Andres Afanador, Flor Bautista, Dr. Amanda Boomershine, Gabriel Guerra, Dr.
Susanna Lopez-Legentil, Michel Montalvo, Gustavo Rodea, Maria del Carmen Rodriguez Morales, Dr.
Edelmira Segovia
Members absent: Chris Montero, Helen Tarokic
Staff: Eliza Baldwin (Senior Strategy Analyst), Linda Hamilton (Chief Diversity and Equity Officer),
Karen Richards (Attorney), Tara Robles (Strategy Analyst), Monica Rohena (Diversity and Equity
Coordinator)
Guest: none
II. Approve Agenda
Motion to approve agenda. Maria Motion. Andres Seconded it.
lll. Approve Minutes
Motion by approve minutes. Andres Motion. Michel Seconded it.
lV. Chair Comments
Dr. Segovia went over the questions that she asked Linda Thompson via email. The following was sent
via email.
In the event of an anticipated absence, is the absent member allowed to select another member as
a proxy to express their prepared notes and/or vote? No proxy votes are permitted. Members must be
present during the meeting in order for their vote to count.
Per the bylaws, we have to present an annual report to the commissioners. Keeping in mind the
time of service for each member, when is this? The reports are annual therefore after each year we
would ask that you or a designer present your report. We will help you to select a meeting day after the
first year.
Are we able to accommodate a member to join the meeting online while the larger group meets in
person? Per state regulations these meetings are in person. Exceptions were made during the pandemic
for virtual however after the Governor lifted the state of emergency, we resumed in person meetings.
Our commissioners have submitted a request to the state along with other commissioners to ask for an
exception We have not received a response.
How can we get started with the creation of a Hispanic commission website? Because we have more
than 36 Commissions within the county, managing all those sites would be a nightmare so we have the
option of giving your commission space on our webpage - with the other commissions we staff.
https://www.nhcgov.com/226/Diversity-Equity/please let us know what you'd like us to place on the
site.
Please clarify the structure of reporting to NHC Commissioners. (Annual report and monthly
sessions; minutes, recommendations, etc.) The report is a brief summary of your activities and what
you've accomplished. PowerPoint or verbal presentation. 5 to 10 minutes.
At the meeting, there was some discussion about not emailing more than a number of members at
a time, or else the email could be considered a public record. All correspondence from or to this
committee regarding any Hispanic-Latino Commission business is considered public record since it is a
NHC Commission.
V. Guest Speaker NHC Strategy Department and Attorney
The two members of the strategy team that were present showed and discussed two slides. The first slide
was a review of the Bylaws Article II Purpose (bullet points) and the second slide is below. It was
broken down into three focus points that would help us to identify our starting point, what the county
can do to support it and where we want to go from there.
There were questions asked and answered, some collaboratively, by Eliza Baldwin, Linda Hamilton,
Karen Richards and Tara Robles.
When we, as a body, come up with something that we want to push forward, what is the flow of
that topic or need for it to actually become and action item? If it is within our power to make it
happen or is it a suggestion for us to get permission from the commission to actually make it
happen?Thereal focus of your commission is to adviseand make recommendationsto the NHC
Commissioners about our Hispanic/Latino community, as well as inform our community, educate them
about things that are happening, help to maintain the history. You get to look at how historically
Latino/Hispanic individuals come to this community. That is the goal of your Commission. Annually,
you have a reporting period. Each year, you would do it or you select when you want to do it. You go
before the commissioners at one of their meetings. You let us know what meeting and we will try to get
you under the information section of their agenda. This is normally at the beginning. Someone will come
up and in 3 to 4 minutes you summarize what you all have been working on. Throughout the year you
may want to make recommendations.
I heard someone was concerned about the Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff does not work for the
Commission, but if you were concerned about it, you let Monica know and if you want to find out more
about what the Sheriff is doing in order to get a better understanding, we could arrange for him or
someone from his office to come. You could talk through it and if you felt comfortable, you could make
recommendations to him about what you feel would work better. That is your goal, to make
recommendations.
For example, the Community Relations Advisory Committee, found that there was a huge need in our
community for children with special needs. They are not getting all they need in our schools. Since they
already are an Education Information Gathering Committee that makes recommendations, they are
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having a listening session on August the 22. They are having parents of special needs children within
the NHC Schools to come share their experiences. They are going to do small groups, sitting around a
table, so that they can share their concerns. They will collect that information, put it in a document and
share it with the Commissioners or go share it with the NHC school system. They are not going to come
in and say we want this and you are going to do it.
We need some guidance as to what then are the parameters by which we can take some action,
e.g., building a directory. Do we need permission to build a directory of Latino serving agencies?
No, that is information.That is great information. We can help you build it. We have staff. That's what
we're here for. We're here to support you all in the direction you go. If we see you go off, we will tell
you come back over here. If you decide you want to get a directory of services, we will put it on our site
and on our social media page. Monica does a YouTube show called Su Condado. We would add it
wherever we could.
Prior to the annual meeting, we collect this of information. Do we share it with
Monica? Yes, she can collect it for you and when you are ready to put your report together, you can
decide how you want it to look. We can also help you work on that. What you want to highlight. They
would love to have something in their hand before their meeting so they could look at it. We'd love to
put it on our page.
. Is that a gray line? I think
that we can show certain information, like, where you can register to vote. That is education. That's
probably it. Maybe do something online to communicate and make sure individuals know, this is how
you register to vote. You may be able to coordinate with the board of elections to help inform.
Will the County be able to provide some type of statistics or data, something that can show our
starting point so that when we come to the annual reporting, we know our baseline? Where we are
starting? What is the projection? It is going to be important that your secretary keep track of stuff. If
you need data and it is accessible to us, we will make it accessible to you.
When we spoke about the HB10, which is a law that affects Latinos, I feel that since we are a
group advocating for Latinos that this was good information to share? If it is just sharing
information, here is what the bill is, here is what was passed, that is fine. If you say, here is what was
passed and I do not like it so write your congressman, no. Think of how neutral you can convey the
information because you are representing NHC. Whatever you talk about, it cannot become political. It
really does have to be about information.
When you say that it cannot become political, I understand that you are saying that it cannot
become bipartisan. We cannot express whether we are pro or against it. But we can focus on the
impact, whether it is yay or nay and how those results would impact the community? Yes, you can
put out the information. Here is what was passed. I don't like, this is
how it may impact our community. We want to make you are aware so that you know. You can do a
community meeting. Not to debate it, but to say, we want you to be aware of it. This is how it could
impact you. And if there's somebody that can speak to the event to explain it, yeah, because the goal is
to inform people so they can make decisions. Then you invite someone here, to inform. You have not
said anything about what your feelings are about it but you are providing the information. If someone
says, I love it, or someone says, I hate it. That is on them and not you.
If we wanted to get the information to the Commissioners? They have 36 different commissions
across the county but if you make them aware that you are doing this and maybe some of them will drop
in or they may say Linda, I want to come to meet with your Hispanic/Latino Commission.
Another option would be to list it on your annual report. You can say that we had a speaker come in and
explain the impact of HB10 on our community and here is what they talked about.
On the website, have we already invited the public to attend our meetings? Your meetings are
posted on our calendar. Anyone that has access to the counties calendar can see when all of our
commissions meet. The media especially, they know when you are meeting. It is also on the
Diversity andEquity page as well.
When we have someone come out to speak or provide information community wide, can we survey
with select questions in order to gauge if it is good information? Yes,you can. If you have people
that cannot come, we can make it virtual for them. We can set up cameras if we need to, so people can
get on Zoom. We have a lot of people that will tune in virtually.
Is there any other outlet for the community to know about this besides the county website? We can
do a news release and let the media know that you all have started your meetings. Monica sent all the
headshots to Travis. I think that we were going to put it on social media. If you want to have a remark
from Dr. Segovia, who your officers are, do a release and let them know your next meeting and that you
would love the community to come out. Maybe you can host a listening session to see what the needs
are. You can get people in here and talk. If this site is not located right then let us find a better one to
host it.We can definitely do that, when you are readyour communication team can put together a news
release.
Immigration is political? Yes. What do you want to say about immigration?
It is known that we have undocumented people here in the county. If we have a listening session
and people start talking about not having a licenses, etc. because they are undocumented,
what is the gray line? When we are representing the county, how do we educate ourselves to know
that we are not crossing that line? If it is a listening session, that is what it is. You are there to find out
what their needs are. When Mari and Monica really began to work with a lot of the community folks,
they found that for people who needed documentation, information was vital. They worked on getting
the consulates here. We may not be able to make a person a citizen but we may be able to, based on
what you learn from your listening session, bring something here that may help them. I know the
Mexican Consulate wants to come back again. At the end of the day, as the Hispanic/Latino
Commission, your job is to find out what the human needs of this community are. When we say a
listening session, it means to get a bunch of tables because when you do it in a big group people are
scared. If you put five or six to the table and each one of you take a table you can write down what the
needs are and thenbring it back to the group. I know Dr. Segovia and Dr. Boomershine have interns that
can help compile the report and then we can present it. You can line up what your focus is going to be
for the year.
Other commissions that have been established for years; how do they operate? Do they start the
fiscal year with
not? I assume that the goal comes after we have a listening session to access their needs? Take a
couple of months to figure out based on your own knowledge what do you think your top three issues
are andgo from there.The next step is to have a listening session and a survey to gather more
information. Since you are all new, you are starting from the beginning and have that grace period. We
are here to help but you all are the subject matter experts.
How do we reach those people that do not have email? We tend to reach out to those that have an
email, they have an iPhone or another device. How do we reach the part of the community that
needs us most? Flor, who works for Port City United may be a nice resource because they are out and
about in the community. We can set up the listening stations at different locations, like community
centers, go to where there is a physical building, it can be indoors or outdoors. You can do it anywhere
you want. Reach out to any nonprofits, churches, tiendas, any organizations that work with the Hispanic
community so that we can get the word out. HHS is another resource. We can do a survey at the
FaithActionID event. Maybe some people may not feel comfortable filling out a survey or maybe the
wording may be intimidating. Meeting people where they are, is going to be the most effective.
Have an idea about what you want to go after when you do the listening sessions, the topics, so that you
stay on track. At the end of the year, how do you know that you were successful? What does success
look like to you? Like when you asked about the Latino voters. That is something that is measurable.
Also remember that the goal that you set for the year is not locked in. There are a lot of different things
going on and you have to be flexible and you may have to change your goals.
Is there any existing datathat we can pull from? Are there similar listening sessions or surveys
that were done? The county is doing the Language Equity project. The have surveyed or assessed the
county services. It is important to know where you all have gaps. I do not know if that is public. Monica
will ask.
Vickie and Rebecca have been doing community needs assessments at the FaithActionID and have
gotten about 400 responses. Many of them were not residents of NHC but we can sort that out.
I have a question about the scope or the audience that we are serving. It says residents and
businesses in the county. So, is that people who live and work in the county or just people who live
in the county? What we have to consider is that if the person is a business owner in the county but say
they live in Pender County there may be things that will affect them as a business owner but if it is a
personal family matter, NHC services would not be available to them. That is something that you want
to consider.
When other listening sessions have happened, has the county provided a moderator? I know that
Linda has done facilitations for many of them.
Then my other question would be, would you have a bilingual person there? You need to have a
flow; they can be hard to manage so you need to have a strategy. 1. Has the strategists been
provided by the county? 2. Is the strategist Spanish speaking? We do not have a bilingual strategist
p.
I think that we need to be mindful of Monica. I know that Monica can do it but I think that we have to
keep in mind your position and time.
I think that if we break it into small groups then those of us who speak Spanish can be a part of a single
group.
We already know that there is a childcare crisis in the county because it was in the news
yesterday. Once we find and verify the data, that there is a childcare crisis for this community,
what can we do? Could you give me an example of what we are able to do in this commission? You
are advisory. Identify what the issues are and see where you can take it from there. You keep pulling the
thread until you get to what you need. It could be as simple as Port City United because they work in the
schools so they get to see a lot there.
You asked about a moderator earlier. I reached out and we have a DSS attorney who is bilingual and she
is willing to come and moderate for you guys. She works at DSS and she has those connections to
programs that give vouchers for childcare.
When you were talking about immigration, we have a least three specialists in town that do immigration.
We have Helen on our commission. There is also Vanesa Gonzalez and Margaret Jennings. You can
have one come in and do a workshop. We can advertise it and ask them if they would be willing to
donate their services.
1. Identify your need
2. Bring in the speaker or make that connection
3. That person may help you solve that crisis.
4. present it in your presentation to the commissioners. You can tell
them that it is a big need and that you have already spoken to the different people/programs (DSS,
immigration attorney, etc.).
As you work your process you might put together a tutorial for the people that come behind you.
VI. New Business
1. Hispanic/Latino Directory
Hispanic-Latino Serving Agencies and Businesses.xlsx (sharepoint.com)
All the columns have been set up, there are 6. All members have to work together to add information.
2. Website Content
bĻǞ IğƓƚǝĻƩ /ƚǒƓƷǤ IźƭƦğƓźĭΏ\[ğƷźƓƚ /ƚƒƒźƭƭźƚƓ bĻǞ IğƓƚǝĻƩ /ƚǒƓƷǤͲ b/ ΛƓŷĭŭƚǝ͵ĭƚƒΜ
What is essential to have on the website?
Is the target audience the Hispanic/LatinX community? I think that we need to be considerate of them as
our audience but I do not know if they are our primary audience. We cannot assume that all Hispanics
speak Spanish. Demographics are going to show that we are leaning in the other direction. I did not see a
great. It needs to be a bilingual page.
It is documented that the Latino community tends to lean more on phones not laptops so it needs to be
mobile friendly.
All the dates of the meetings are already on the website. Not on the Hispanic/Latino Commissions link.
Monica will ask Travis because all the other commissions are only that way.
I just want to make sure that we can make a request for what the committee is choosing, recommending
or asking. I know that we have to be mindful of length and effort put into it. Not just mirror or follow
what other commissions suggestions or requests have been.
I think that with the new website that the County wanted everything to look the same.
Can we just ask them? I know that they want it to be consistent but if consistent is not going to
serve our community, then that is something that needs to be brought up. If phones are the primary
way to reach them, then on phones it does not come up the same way. Maybe make a request via Ms.
Linda.
Dr Segovia will ask about the Language Equity piece, the dates, membership on the side as leadership.
Anything else?
.r whatever platform
the county uses.
I want you all to be thinking about how we are going to divide into subcommitteesso that we can divide
the work and tackle it. Like a communications committee, an education committee, etc. What are topics
that we have to educate ourselves and the community about. We can begin with two or three. We are a
team of 11 people and at some point, we are going to divide into small groups to work and apply our
different skills and expertisein the field that is being identified.
VII. Other Business
We are postponing the FaithActionID fromAugust to a tentative date of October 21 because of lack of
equipment.
VlII. Public Comments
None
IX. Adjourn: Meeting was adjourned at 6:17 pm
Motion to adjourn the meeting. Amanda Motion. Susanna Seconded it.
NEXT MEETING August 22, 2023 NHC GOVERNMENT BUILDING