2022-07-26 CRAC Minutes
MINUTES
New Hanover County/City of Wilmington
Community Relations Advisory Committee
Special Meeting / Microsoft Teams Virtual Meeting
July 26, 2022 @ 5:30pm
CRAC Members present:
City of Wilmington Appointees New Hanover County Appointees
☒ Courtney Horton ☒ Liz Carbone
☒ Jen Johnson ☒ Cherri Cook
☒ Kathy King ☒ Kimberly Geiger
☒ Dr. Charlrean Mapson ☒ Erin Howell
☒ Lori Wainwright ☒ Fawn Rhodes
☐ VACANT ☒ Dr. Kaari Snook
City of Wilmington and New Hanover County Support Staff present:
City of Wilmington Support New Hanover County Support
☒ Joe Conway, CEIO ☐ Linda Thompson, NHC CDO (Absent)
☐ Lynn Hartley, WPD Officer (Absent)
☒ Melissa Huffman, Asst. City Attorney
☒ Amy Schlag, E&I Specialist
The meeting was called to order at 5:33 PM.
The minutes from June 28, 2022, meeting were unanimously approved, with a motion by Liz
seconded by Kathy.
The agenda was unanimously accepted, with a motion by Lori seconded by Fawn.
Election of Officers
- Kathy, Kaari, and Lori were on the nominating committee
- Proposed slate:
o Chair: Liz Carbone
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o Vice Chair: Fawn Rhodes
o Secretary: Kathy King
- With no other nominations from the group, the slate was unanimously approved.
Meeting Schedule
- Liz made a motion to meet bimonthly, with subcommittees meeting monthly, which did
not pass.
- Fawn made a motion to meet monthly for the next 6 months and then bimonthly going
forward after 6 months, with a second by Courtney. The motion passed unanimously.
- There will be no meeting in December, so bimonthly meetings start in February.
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- The November meeting was rescheduled to the 29 so as not to conflict with
Thanksgiving.
LGBT Community Concerns – Meeting Recap
- (A detailed summary can be found in the minutes from the July 5 meeting.)
- There is a concern around reporting and data collection – is the City and/or the County
tracking reports of discrimination, and if so, how is this being accomplished in an
accurate and efficient manner?
- Joe: Speaking on behalf of the City, public accommodation complaints are handled by
Code Enforcement, but other complaints would be referred out to offices such as the
WPD, DOJ, EOCC, HUD, etc. Joe plans to have a meeting with Brian from Code
Enforcement to understand what the tracking system is and if there is one. If not, the
committee and staff collectively agreed that there must be an effective system in place
to track all complaints, and that City staff should update the committee monthly in
regard to their progress in this area.
Action item: Joe and Amy will update the C-RAC monthly on data collection
regarding reporting.
- Jen: There needs to be more advertising, communication, and overall public awareness
about the NDO and how to report instances of discrimination; it is also important to
remember that C-RAC cannot generate communications, they have to come from the
City or County Communications offices.
Action item: The Public Education Committee will work with the City and County
to redesign and update C-RAC marketing materials.
- Jen: The training offered by the North Carolina Human Relations Commission on topics
like hate crimes and civil rights should be revisited.
Action item: The Programming Committee will contact the NCHRC and plan
training for City and County staff as well as the community.
Public Comment opened – no comments.
- There are no subcommittee reports; Linda and Liz’s presentations are moved to the
August meeting.
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Announcements
- Kathy: East Wilmington Day coming up in October.
Action item: The Public Education Committee will plan to attend and share info
about C-RAC.
- Charlrean: Hybrid seminar on Medicaid expansion impacts on the IDD community on
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August 4, 6:30 PM. Additionally, Vaccination/booster clinic for individuals with special
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needs on August 13 in collaboration with the Disability Resource Center – all are
welcome.
Action item: The Executive Committee will explore hosting a meeting focused on
educating the committee about individuals with developmental disabilities.
- Lori: Thanks to Jen for her focus, preparation, and courage as leader of the C-RAC; Jen
has worked hundreds of hours behind the scenes and all of her hard work is so
appreciated.
- Joe: The City is encouraging committees to go back to face-to-face meetings, but it is not
required.
- Fawn made a motion to alternate in-person/virtual meetings every other month, but
that motion was rescinded so as not to confuse the public about the C-RAC meeting
schedule.
- Lori made a motion to meet in person, which did not carry with a tied vote.
- Kaari made a motion to have hybrid meetings, which passed unanimously. The location
of future in-person meetings is TBD once a location is secured by Joe Conway.
Public Comment opened – no comments.
The meeting was adjourned at 7 PM.
Minutes prepared by Liz Carbone, Secretary
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The next meeting will be Tuesday, August 23, at location TBD with a hybrid option.
PURPOSE: The committee was established by the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners
and Wilmington City Council for the purpose of addressing community issues involving prejudice
or discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, creed or religion, age, gender, sexual
orientation, disability or medical condition; informing the Appointing Authorities and other
organizations of their findings; and making recommendations, in an advisory capacity, to the
Appointing Authorities and other organizations, as necessary.
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