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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRAC Meeting Notes _ August 27, 2024 Mee?ng of the Community Rela?ons Advisory Commi?ee (C-RAC) Wilmington City & New Hanover County Governments DATE This Commi?ee shall be organized for the purpose of addressing community issues involving prejudice or discrimina?on on the bases of race, na?onal origin, creed or religion, age, gender, sexual orienta?on, disability or medical condi?on; informing the Appoin?ng Authori?es and other organiza?ons of their findings; and making recommenda?ons, in an advisory capacity, to the Appoin?ng Authori?es and other organiza?ons, as necessary. Bylaws, 2016 CALL TO ORDER TIME: 5:30 LOCATION: New Hanover County Government Center QUORUM: Yes CITY APPOINTEES: COUNTY APPOINTEES: Kirsten Kainz Liz Carbone ATTENDANCE Charlrean Mapson Cherri Cook Victoria McSwain (absent) Stephanie Medcalfe SabreniaSmallwood-Moore (absent) Fawn Rhodes Antrevonn Tate Sam Wheeler Genna Wirth GUESTS: None Unanimous approval of June minutes secured by vote. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Reports from City of Wilmington staff liaison (Kimberly Carson) OLD BUSINESS Reports from New Hanover County staff liaison (Linda Thompson) Discussion of Fair Housing ini?a?ve ideas Elec?ons (chair, vice-chair, secretary) NEW BUSINESS Proposal of communica?on to elected officials (Sam Wheeler) None PUBLIC COMMENT Dr. Mapson has invited the NC Council of Disabili?es to meet in ANNOUNCEMENTS eastern North Carolina, preferably Wilmington. She described the new documentary, “Unmet”, that portrays the widespread staffing As government appointees we, members of the C-RAC, agree to du?fully a?end mee?ngs of the C-RAC, represent our community to the best of our knowledge, and promote the purpose and ac?vi?es of C- RAC throughout Wilmington and New Hanover County. shortages for disability services. One issue for CRAC to consider is how we might promote training for law enforcement to improve their capacity to work with people with disabili?es, including prisoners. ADJOURNMENT NEXT MEETING September 24, 2024 MEETING NOTES CRAC Elec?ons: Liz suggested that we tailor the agenda so that elec?ons would occur first and then asked the group to nominate others or self-nominate for the role of chair, vice-chair, and secretary. Each of the current officers described their role as laid out in the CRAC by-laws.  Kirsten nominated Stephanie for secretary  Fawn nominated Genna for vice-chair  Several people spontaneously nominated Tre for chair The slate was moved, seconded, and voted into office unanimously City Update: Ms. Carson reported that there were no complaints of discrimina?on in the City. County Update: Ms. Thompson reported that there were three reports of discrimina?on in the County. One complaint was based on an experience at a business, and the county gave the complainant informa?on about the Be?er Business Bureau. Two complaints were from a single complainant related to grievances about racist child welfare prac?ces. HHS followed up on the child welfare complaint. Ms. Thompson also described County interest in efforts to diversify local court juries. Members asked ques?ons about jury composi?on in NHC and poten?al discrimina?on in selec?on to juries. Conversa?on ensued. Fair Housing: Liz invited the group to discuss poten?al follow-up on fair housing issues based on our June presenta?on. Conversa?on led to a sugges?on that we consider a series of fair housing learning opportuni?es in 2025 for tenants, landlords, and non-tradi?onal housing providers. Group members named poten?al community partners, including youth and families. We also discussed transla?ng our efforts into ac?on and improvement by polling elected officials about their priori?es and ques?ons about fair housing and mapping CRAC efforts onto those priori?es and ques?ons. Elec?on Communica?on Update: Sam reminded the group about CRAC 2024 efforts related to vo?ng and presented a dra? communica?on related to voter rights and id intended for City Council and County Commission. CRAC members unanimously voted for Tre to send the updated dra? to elected governing bodies in the City and County. As government appointees we, members of the C-RAC, agree to du?fully a?end mee?ngs of the C-RAC, represent our community to the best of our knowledge, and promote the purpose and ac?vi?es of C- RAC throughout Wilmington and New Hanover County. Genna men?oned that Hollis Briggs, Jr. has organized elec?on protec?on efforts in the past. It’s possible that we can support something similar this year. Sam will inves?gate what the NC Board of Elec?ons is planning for to promote safe selec?ons. Linda suggested that CRAC could circulate informa?on to promote safe elec?ons. ACTIONS VOTES Three new officers were unanimously elected Minutes were approved NEXT STEPS As government appointees we, members of the C-RAC, agree to du?fully a?end mee?ngs of the C-RAC, represent our community to the best of our knowledge, and promote the purpose and ac?vi?es of C- RAC throughout Wilmington and New Hanover County.