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Record. 00:00:07
Good evening. I'd like to call the August 14th, 2023 regular meeting of the City of Pacific Groves Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 00:01:01
Task Force to order at 6:01 PM. 00:01:08
Item 8. 00:01:16
The appointment of work plan subcommittees will be continued to the September 11th, 2023 regular meeting. 00:01:18
City Clerk Dei. Coordinator Kendall, will you please take A roll call vote? 00:01:26
Yes, chair bully. 00:01:33
Present Vice Chair Mark. 00:01:35
Present member. 00:01:38
Present. 00:01:40
Thank you. You're welcome. 00:01:42
Item 2 on the agenda is approval of the agenda. One of the ways that we strive to make our meetings as inclusive as possible is to 00:01:45
give explanations as we move along so you understand how the Brown Act process and the City Committee process works. 00:01:52
The agenda is really the road map for our meeting. It's published online and available in print at least 72 hours before each 00:02:01
meeting so the public has notice of items being considered by the task force. 00:02:08
I would like to move to approve the agenda with Item 8A continued to the September 11th, 2023 meeting. Is there a second? 00:02:17
2nd. 00:02:26
Thank you. 00:02:28
City Clerk Dei. Coordinator Kendall, would you please take A roll call vote? 00:02:30
Yes, chair. 00:02:36
I remember. 00:02:39
Aye, Vice Chair. Mark. 00:02:40
Motion carries 3. 00:02:44
One and what I failed to mention was we have a new appointment, uh Coral Barrett and she is not at this meeting but she will be at 00:02:46
the next. 00:02:50
Thank you. We look forward to welcoming her. 00:02:56
Item number three on the agenda is presentations. 00:03:00
Presentations are special informational items that help us with our task force work or recognitions by staff or a task force 00:03:04
member or a guest. 00:03:09
No task force discussion or public comment will be taken during item 3. 00:03:15
And this evening's presentation will be by Chief Kathy Madelone from the Pacific Grove Police Department. 00:03:21
And we welcome the Chief. Thank you. 00:03:29
Share the screen here. 00:03:33
OK, everybody can see that. Good. So good evening, Commissioners, members of the public and city staff, thank you for the 00:03:41
opportunity to provide you with an overview of your Police Department. Our motto is our community, your police. Our mission is to 00:03:48
provide exceptional public safety service and enhance the quality of life in our community. We have 5 core values of excellence, 00:03:54
community respect, professionalism and integrity. And our staff do their very best each and every day to live up to these values 00:04:01
and work together to accomplish our. 00:04:07
OK. Our team when fully staffed has a total of 34. 00:04:20
There are 23 sworn and 11 professional staff. We are currently recruiting for two community service officers and two police 00:04:24
service technicians. On July 31st we welcomed a new Police commander to the team and I'd like to ask him to stand up real quick. 00:04:32
So we can meet him. This is Brian Anderson. He comes through us from the city of San Jose. He was. 00:04:40
We retired there as Lieutenant. He started, as I said on July 31st and we threw him right into the fire because I was on 10 days 00:04:49
of vacation and the commander Santos. Stand up please, Sir. 00:04:55
You know our Dave. 00:05:01
He had an unexpected. 00:05:05
Incident. So he was out of work. 00:05:07
Commander Anderson was in charge right away. He did great while I was away. Just so you know. OK, so back to the presentation. So 00:05:10
recruiting and retention is affecting departments across the nation. So recruiting costs money and takes a significant amount of 00:05:17
time, which is why retaining good staff is very important and helps us provide service to our community. 00:05:24
Our team is very diverse. We are more diverse than the community we serve, which is important to mention because we are tourist 00:05:32
destination. 00:05:35
The stats I'm providing are based on 31 members, which will change slightly when we hire our next four employees. So currently we 00:05:40
have 34% female, 61% male. We are 59% white, 6% African American, 19% Hispanic and 16% Asian. 00:05:49
So having a healthy culture within the Police Department is vital to providing professional and quality service to our community. 00:06:01
I believe that providing the staff with the best. So so you see my graph here is is a three legged stool. 00:06:08
Right. And so the staff is up on top. The staff to me is the most valuable. 00:06:15
Of our of our assets that we have and each of the three lakes need to be working. So providing best police practices which is our 00:06:20
accreditation program, taking care of our staff mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally, which is the Wellness leg and 00:06:26
developing the team professionally and personally, which is the training leg. 00:06:32
With the most advanced and timely training is the key to the success. All three legs on the stool revolve around staff, and as I 00:06:39
just stated, staff are our most valuable resource. I believe the way they are treated directly impacts the way they treat members 00:06:46
of the public they encounter. If one of the legs of the stool is broken, the stool isn't stable. 00:06:52
You might be able to use your balance and lean on the seat of the stool, but all three legs must be working for there to be a 00:06:59
solid foundation. So let's dive into what each of these three legs are and how they are, how we are creating and cultivating a 00:07:04
solid foundation in the Police Department. 00:07:09
So Kali accreditation, our department voluntarily enrolled in Kalia, which is the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement 00:07:14
Agencies in January of 2018. Glee accreditation aims to establish a foundation for public safety agencies that focus on achieving 00:07:20
the best outcomes in the delivery of services. 00:07:26
Consistent internal and external review combined with third party validation of an agency's policies and procedures is critical in 00:07:33
delivering high quality public service safety services and promoting accountability. Although accreditation does not prevent all 00:07:40
adverse outcomes, it does set the course for success and provides a tool for review and ongoing measurement. Accreditation is 00:07:48
built on best practices in the form of standards. Our department was awarded clear accreditation in November of 2020. 00:07:56
Since then, we have completed and will continue to complete annual compliance reviews as we prepare for our next on site 00:08:04
assessment with independent auditors, which it will be in 2024, around November of 2024 and I also like to add that. 00:08:12
We are the only accredited agency and at least three counties, and we are the smallest municipal accredited Police Department in 00:08:20
the whole state of California. So through accreditation, there is a clear commitment to procedural justice, ethical policing, 00:08:27
Community Trust and engagement, transparency and service delivery, appropriate organizational culture, fairness and systems and 00:08:33
processes, and consistency in what citizens should expect from their Police Department. 00:08:40
And it is an ongoing. 00:08:47
The Wellness leg is very important to me and our administrative team, officers working on patrol who are not in the correct frame 00:08:50
of mind. 00:08:54
Can result in significant consequences to everyone involved, which is why so much effort is put into providing every resource 00:08:59
possible to our staff. 00:09:03
We have a one police chaplain, Pastor Charlie Rodriguez from the Peninsula Church, and we're always looking for other pastors to 00:09:07
join. So if anybody's interested in that, they can contact me or one of the commanders. We have a a peer support team that 00:09:14
consists of five members of the Police Department specially trained to help members process their responses to critical incidents. 00:09:20
We contracted with an employee assistance program that specializes in dealing with first responders and the critical incidents 00:09:27
they respond to. 00:09:31
We also have a software program called the Guardian Tracking Program that helps us monitor officers behaviors, their early warning 00:09:35
indicators. 00:09:39
To more significant issues so we can address them. 00:09:43
Early on and help prevent them from compounding or manifesting into larger problems. 00:09:47
Finally, we provide our each officer and their family members with an application, the Lighthouse app on their phones that 00:09:52
provides them with real time resources and tools. Why is this important? 00:09:57
The average person experiences 2 to 3 critical incidents in their lifetime, while the average police officer can see upwards of 00:10:03
188 critical incidents throughout their twenty year career. 00:10:09
Training last leg. 00:10:16
Our department participates in and follows hiring standards and training requirements specified by the California Commission on 00:10:19
Peace Officer Standards and Training. 00:10:23
Some department members started their law enforcement career in Pacific Grove and others are lateral officers who bring a wide 00:10:28
variety of law enforcement experience from other agencies. So, for example, the two commanders of myself are lateral officers. We 00:10:33
come in from different departments. All peace officers in the state of California are required to attend an accredited police 00:10:38
Academy. 00:10:44
Our department also invests in additional advanced training for our staff. 00:11:25
PGPD participates in the One Mine Pledge, which implements strategies for improving police response to persons affected by mental 00:11:29
illness. All sworn members of the PD attend Crisis Intervention Training in 2023. Members of the PD attended 2909 hours of 00:11:35
training throughout the year. 00:11:41
We we fully understand without the public's trust, it doesn't matter. If we have a good foundation internally, we will not be 00:11:50
successful. We believe one of the best ways to gain the public trust is to have continual positive interactions with our community 00:11:55
and members of the public. 00:12:00
We love engaging with our community and attend nearly every community event that occurs in the city. In addition, we also host 00:12:05
several events throughout the year to help maintain and grow our relationships with the public. 00:12:10
This slide shows a list of the larger events we host throughout the year. The key to each of these events is the opportunity for 00:12:16
members of the public to interact and get to know our staff understand that we are humans behind the badge and uniforms we wear. 00:12:23
Relationships or bonds are fortified and built, which help promote trust and collaboration. 00:12:30
We just graduated our second youth Academy in May and we hope to host another Citizens Academy in the fall. 00:12:35
Our National Night Out event has grown each year. It's a family event held the first Tuesday of every August. Our Halloween event 00:12:41
is so much fun. We love getting dressed up and engaging with the community. 00:12:47
We often host coffee with a cop events at business locations in the community and we'll be holding one of those in on September 00:12:53
15th from 10:00 to 11:30 and the location will be determined. 00:12:58
So please follow us on our social media and come join us. We participate in the Special Olympics events that help raise funds for 00:13:04
the athletes. We also reestablished our Neighborhood Watch program. And finally, our school resource program is built on a 00:13:11
partnership with PG USD. Their relationship between the SRO students, faculty and parents are immeasurable and invaluable. 00:13:18
SRO programs encourage dialogue between schools and law enforcement to help bridge the gap across professional cultures. It helps 00:13:26
prevent school based violence, connect at risk students and needed services, divert youth from juvenile court and create safe, 00:13:31
secure and peaceful school environments. 00:13:36
Members of the PGP. 00:13:42
Police Department understand and take our mission seriously. We strive to promote peace and harmony with all by building strong 00:13:44
relationships with our community. We are committed to our values of excellence, community respect, professionalism, integrity. We 00:13:50
live up to our model of our community and your police. 00:13:55
So thank you again for the opportunity and I'd be happy to answer any questions, although no questions are allowed for this 00:14:02
matter, but I will. 00:14:05
I am always available via e-mail and phone and you can also pop in the office if I'm there. I I love to interact with the 00:14:09
community. My door is always open but I'll leave the slide up for a few minutes. So this is the way you can connect with us and 00:14:16
follow us on social media so that you can learn about any of the events that we're having any anything that's significant for you 00:14:23
to know about as long as as in regards to police incidents that are going on. So this is the best way to contact with us so. 00:14:30
Thank you, Chief. Madeline here, I think. Thank you so much for having me. We can G very proud of many of the aspects of the city 00:14:37
organization that we've heard about tonight, the Police Department. So yes, I will note that the presentation that the chief gave 00:14:43
is attached to the agenda that is available online. And also, Chief, if you could say the date of the next coffee with the cops, 00:14:50
even though you don't know the location yet, sure, it'll be Friday, September 15th, it'll be from 10:00 to 11:30 at a location in 00:14:56
the city. 00:15:02
Thank you so much. We really appreciate your being here. My pleasure. 00:15:08
Item number four on the agenda is task force and staff announcements, City related items only. 00:15:16
Are there any task force announcements? 00:15:23
You will not be surprised to hear that I have a few. 00:15:33
First, I'd like to comment on the resignation of Secretary Donna Stevens. I wanted to share some of Secretary Stevens resignation 00:15:37
letter to the mayor and the task force because she does address the citizens of Pacific Grove as part of it. I'm quoting. Please 00:15:44
know that I'm thankful and honored that I had the opportunity to serve on such an esteemed task force. It was my pleasure to serve 00:15:51
with each of you to move the needle on diversity. 00:15:58
Equity and inclusion efforts in the City of Pacific Grove. I am proud of the work the Task Force has achieved and is proposing to 00:16:05
accomplish to move towards unity in the City of Pacific Grove. 00:16:11
Finally, I want to address the citizens of Pacific Grove. At every DEI Task Force meeting, I felt your passion and dedication to 00:16:17
the place referred to as America's Last Hometown. 00:16:23
I'm hopeful that everyone can respect each other's opinions, even if they are contrary to your own, and instead focus on what you 00:16:30
have in common as you continue the great work you're doing to build a more inclusive community. 00:16:37
We appreciate Secretary Stevens's contributions and wish her all the best in the future and as mentioned, we do have a new task 00:16:44
force member appointed and we look forward to their attendance at the next meeting. 00:16:50
I wanted to acknowledge the June closing of Pacific Grove Cleaners after 97 years in business. 00:16:56
And the contributions of Randy Uchida and his family for nearly a century to the business and cultural life of Pacific Grove. Mr. 00:17:03
Uchida, Randy's grandfather opened the business in 1926. Because California law prohibited anyone of Asian lineage from owning 00:17:10
land, Mr. Uchida had to have a white friend buy the property and lease it back to him. 00:17:18
In 1942, with other neighbors of Japanese ancestry, the family was sent to an internment camp and their property was seized. 00:17:26
Thanks to the kindness of friends and others, they were able to reclaim their property upon return and flourish in our community. 00:17:34
I want to recognize their strength, resilience, resilience, and service to our community for nearly 100 years. 00:17:41
The month of July was Disability Pride Month, an opportunity to honor the history, achievements, experiences and challenges faced 00:17:50
by individuals with disabilities. 00:17:55
Both visible and invisible, the Americans with Disability Act, known as the ADA, was passed in July 1990. 00:18:01
Hence the recognition in July, the 2023 theme for Disability Pride Month was Advancing Access and Equity. 00:18:10
I very much hope that next July council will acknowledge this landmark month and the city will fly the disability flag. 00:18:19
I also want to appreciate the Mayor's August 2nd Proclamation honoring the all black 54th Coast Artillery Regiment who served our 00:18:27
country so honorably while experiencing lifelong prejudice and discrimination. 00:18:34
It made such an impact on me to hear directly from surviving regiment member William E Jackson, senior in a 2011 Santa Cruz 00:18:42
interview. It's available online, of his life as a black man in segregated military and civilian life. 00:18:51
I also want to recognize the Hiroshima Nagasaki Remembrance and Floating Peace Lantern ceremony on August 5th at Lovers Point. 00:19:00
It was a solemn and moving remembrance. 00:19:09
And finally, Pacific Grove schools are back in session and I hope we can all help facilitate the safety of our communities 00:19:12
children by driving carefully during school hours around schools. 00:19:17
And watching out for each other. 00:19:23
Are there any staff announce? 00:19:26
Staff has no announcements. 00:19:29
Thank you. 00:19:31
Item number 5 is Council liaison announce. 00:19:33
Council member Padori. 00:19:38
Or are there any announcements from council member Padori? 00:19:41
Yes, there is. Council member Padori could not be present tonight, but on behalf of him he asked that I share. He first wanted to 00:19:45
congratulate Coral Barrett on their appointment and welcome them to the task force and and looking forward to meeting them next 00:19:50
month. 00:19:56
He also wanted to report that last month he had the opportunity to attend Monterey County's inaugural annual Race Relations Summit 00:20:03
meeting in Seaside, CA. The event was hosted by the black leaders and allies. 00:20:10
The goal was to bring regional community leaders to talk about race and the importance of diversity in work, environment and in 00:20:17
our communities. 00:20:21
His big take away was that we are all in this together and he wanted to especially thank the DI Task Force for the important work 00:20:26
that you all are doing for our community. Thank you. 00:20:32
Thank you. 00:20:38
Item number six is general public. 00:20:41
This is an opportunity for members of the public to comment on any item that is not on the agenda that is within the jurisdiction 00:20:44
of the City and of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force. And I will note that the Task Force often receives comments via 00:20:51
e-mail between meetings. I want to acknowledge the comments and the community interest. Task Force members are not able to engage 00:20:58
in dialogue via e-mail. 00:21:04
Comments regarding items on the regular agenda shall be heard prior to the task force consideration of the items at such times as 00:21:13
items are called. 00:21:17
And each member of the public may comment once per agenda. 00:21:22
Comments from the public will be limited to 3 minutes and will not receive Task Force action. 00:21:27
Speakers must adhere to the time limits, using the time limit lights as a guide. 00:21:33
Comments and statements should be addressed to the task force and not the audience. 00:21:38
Public comment is encouraged if it is not disruptive to the meeting. 00:21:44
As the chair, if someone chooses to engage in disruptive conduct, I will respond in a viewpoint neutral manner according to the 00:21:48
following rules of order. 00:21:53
Asking the individual to cease the disruptive behavior or call a meeting recess If the disruption continues, I may confer with 00:21:58
city staff, including the City attorney. 00:22:04
Ask that the member of the public making the disruption be ejected from the meeting. 00:22:10
Or adjourn the meeting. 00:22:14
Comments may be made in person or remotely using Zoom or by phone. 00:22:17
If in person, please come up to the podium one at a time and watch the time. Keeping lights red means that your 3 minutes has 00:22:23
ended. If joining the meeting by phone, please press star 9 to raise your hand to speak. 00:22:30
And Star 6 to unmute your phone. 00:22:37
I will now open general public comment to members of the public present. Would you indulge a comment? 00:22:41
To go back. 00:22:49
Would that be all right if point of indulge I'm sorry I missed that. Yeah indulgement. So what this would be doing is going 00:22:51
reopening then the staff. 00:22:56
Oh, yeah, that's at the Chair's discussion anyway. OK. So before I open general public comment, we'll go back to the task force 00:23:03
comments, OK And go to vice chair Mark. Thank you. 00:23:10
I couldn't remember the Robert's Rules for that. I did want to acknowledge we have a larger. 00:23:18
A larger number of community members here and I wanted to welcome. 00:23:27
And thank you for being here. 00:23:33
Your community engagement is very important to us. Your viewpoints matter and. 00:23:37
One of our charters is to have community engagement. So I'm hoping that we will continue to see you and and that you will come up 00:23:44
to this public comment portion and you will speak your mind, positive, negative, creative thoughts, whatever. So thank you again 00:23:51
for being here. 00:23:59
Thank you, Vice. 00:24:08
And now I will open general public comment and we will take members of the public who are present in person 1st and then we will 00:24:11
go remotely. 00:24:15
The podium is right. 00:24:21
Welcome. 00:24:30
Thank you. I'm Colleen Ingram, resident. 00:24:32
Thank you very much for the work you do. 00:24:36
I just wanted to give a shout out to Ralph Romero and his blog called The Peninsula Report. 00:24:39
You can find it. 00:24:45
Thepr.substack.com. 00:24:47
And I'll send that to you in an. 00:24:51
But this blog highlights feel good stories and events happening in the Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. 00:24:53
That celebrate our DI. 00:24:59
The most recent. 00:25:01
Includes information about Monterey City expanding its walking tour to include the Pearl District Path with history of Asian 00:25:03
immigrants and eventual Sicilian settlement. 00:25:08
Lower Presidio New Monterey Path will show importance of the Chinese and Portuguese and how they impacted Cannery Row. 00:25:14
Other August events highlighted are West End celebration in Sand City, the Turkish festival in Monterey. 00:25:24
There are new business features and a wonderful. 00:25:31
About the Salinas High School Students Invitation to the Mikvah Challenge Soapbox National Showcase in Washington, DC. 00:25:35
The Challenge is a public speaking program that challenges young people to speak out about issues that affect their lives. 00:25:44
Zabela's speech was a fact filled love letter to. 00:25:51
The farm workers who supply our nation with food. 00:25:55
As the daughter of farm workers, she wrote the speech as a way to thank her parents to let them know their work is valued and that 00:25:59
she is so proud of. 00:26:03
Being your daughter. 00:26:08
So if you get a chance, check it out. It's really nice. 00:26:09
Thank you. 00:26:13
Thank you. 00:26:15
Welcome. And the DI Task Force, Miss Kendall. My name is Mike Gibbs. I'm a member of the EDC here in Pacific Grove, speaking as a 00:26:34
private citizen. 00:26:40
And I just a couple of recognitions the CHIEF give, I've seen the presentation before but. 00:26:45
Her Wellness program is outstanding and it's true, is one of the few certification programs among small cities in the United, not 00:26:50
California, but the United States. So that's a wonderful thing. And I would like to also thank Chairman Bowie for the shout out to 00:26:56
the 54th and also sending me the video. 00:27:02
I think interview with Mr. Williams and that was extremely interesting so. 00:27:09
I'm here tonight just to you know I'm it's great to see everybody here. This is probably as many people of every other meeting for 00:27:13
the past 10 meetings put together which I have been at most of and I'm here to talk about EE is the equity in. 00:27:20
Dei A lot of people think that the E stands for equality, It stands for equity. We have things like the women's, you know, equal 00:27:28
Rights Amendment. 00:27:32
Not the equity Rights amendment, it was the Equal Rights Amendment. And I think some people are confused about the difference 00:27:37
between the two things. Equity is common outcomes and equality is common opportunity. Everybody has the same opportunity, but 00:27:44
equity calls for the same outcome for mostly everybody. So when I was in traveling in the South part of Peru and the Inca. 00:27:51
Outback near Arekeepa. There's it's a it's a big famous Inca culture makes the Keshava language and they have a saying that when 00:27:58
you walk down the street the Ke$ha would agree to each other. Amasua Amayu on Makia and I probably goof that up, but it's 00:28:04
basically. 00:28:10
Don't cheat, don't steal, don't lie. And I think that one of the things that. 00:28:16
We're starting to see in our school system is the development of equity, equity, grading, those kind of things in the school 00:28:22
system. 00:28:25
And the current PG USD school system is looking at equity grading. 00:28:29
Which basically says that cheating is taken out of. 00:28:35
The equation cheating doesn't count or it's given a pass. 00:28:39
And I It made me think of the Inca Don't cheat. Don't. 00:28:42
Kind of. 00:28:47
And outcomes are like that are not common in the workforce. If you get a job, you're expected to not cheat. You're held 00:28:48
accountable if you don't. And I and to me, the equity. 00:28:53
Umm, sort of. Movement has gone way too far to make sure everybody is treated exactly the same regardless of their work ethic. 00:29:00
Regardless the preparation, regardless of their homework, regardless of their ability to contribute to the team, nonetheless 00:29:08
everybody's treated the same way and I I think it's it's gone to, you know, kind of the wrong direction. 00:29:13
So for me, the E always stood for equality and let's make sure we give everybody the same opportunity to achieve at their own 00:29:19
level. 00:29:23
And so that's my comment here tonight. I appreciate your service. It's great to see everybody here and I hope other people talk 00:29:27
up. I'm looking forward to what they have to say. Thank you very much. 00:29:32
Thank you. 00:29:38
Welcome, Madam Chair, Madam Vice Chair, Member, Madam Clerk. 00:29:46
My name is Segal and Rub. 00:29:51
It's the first time I come here. I've been living in Pacific Grove for nine years. 00:29:54
And I just want to to to tell a little story of one night when we were in our house and we've been flying a rainbow flag since we 00:29:59
moved to PG. 00:30:04
And one night we heard little bang on our door, very timid. And it was a group of students from the middle school, from Pacific 00:30:10
Grove Middle School. 00:30:14
Who had gathered enough courage to come and let us know how important for them it was to see our flag, the flag on our house, 00:30:19
because it made them feel safer? 00:30:25
And all these signs like the like the City Hall and the police flying the flag, all these signs are so important for people who 00:30:31
feel like they're not part of. 00:30:36
And what you're doing is essential. 00:30:42
Oh, and by the way, there's never too much equity that doesn't exist. 00:30:45
And and to finish, 'cause I'm I'm gonna make it short to finish to go back to the the schools. 00:30:49
Pacific Grove Union School District. I mean, we moved from Paris and we looked at all the schools on the West Coast and there were 00:30:56
two that respected our criteria and PG was one of them. 00:31:02
So from Europe we flew direct to. 00:31:09
Because of the school, thank you to the school. So I just want to say that this school district is so strong. 00:31:11
And so dedicated to the well-being of all their students that surely. 00:31:19
And with the results they have, they know better than any of us, simple citizen, what they're doing. 00:31:27
My son graduate. Our son graduated from TGI school two years ago. He's thriving in UC Irvine. 00:31:34
And so are all his friends from the Pacific Grove School District. So again. 00:31:40
Thank you very much the I task force. I appreciate what you do. I encourage you to do even. 00:31:46
Thanks. 00:31:51
Thank you. 00:31:53
Welcome. 00:32:02
Thank you. Good evening. My name is Carol Marquardt. I live in Pacific Grove and. 00:32:03
See, I'm really happy I've been to all these meetings. 00:32:10
And we'll be happy to see people here and we now have three DI task force members here. 00:32:15
And I learned there were five appointed and looking forward to the. 00:32:23
Person. 00:32:28
Going to be appointed and I'm looking forward to also. 00:32:30
Councilmember Padori attending I I don't think I've seen him attend in the last five meetings that I've been here. 00:32:34
In the past I have talked about. 00:32:42
A proposal that the DEI task Force had of spending $356,000 for a consultant. I don't know if that's coming up tonight, but I 00:32:46
understand the seed collaborative. 00:32:52
Is an organization in Southern California, and he recommends that the state must ask for. 00:32:59
Age, gender, gender orientation, gender expression and income for any applicant. 00:33:06
Who replies in the city Pacific Grove. 00:33:13
Now I understand from reading the Wall Street Journal and the Monroe Herald and many other newspapers that there are certain 00:33:17
protected groups. 00:33:22
And they are and I have to read this. 00:33:27
Race, Sex, Color, Ethnicity, National origin, Religion, Sexual orientation, Gender identity, Age, Disability. 00:33:32
Generic information and veteran status. Now that's a lot of protected people, so I wonder if the number of people. 00:33:41
Been discriminated against are going to outnumber the people who are discriminating. 00:33:52
And I also remind you that Chief Justice John Roberts the majority opinion in June and. 00:33:59
That was against the preferential admissions in certain universities and his conclusion is that. 00:34:08
Applicants or anybody must be treated based on his or her experiences and individual. 00:34:17
And not as a basis of race. Thank. 00:34:24
Thank you. 00:34:28
Welcome. 00:34:39
Hello, my name is Liz Jacobs. I'm a resident in Pacific Grove. 00:34:42
I am here because I first of all want to say thank you so much for the work that you do. 00:34:47
It's very affirming for me and in these times especially and I it's much appreciated. 00:34:53
I among the hats I wear, one of them is that I'm the chair of the Business Improvement District in Pacific Grove and. 00:35:02
You know, in our August meeting following discussion of the Supreme Court ruling that businesses may if they want to. 00:35:11
Refused service to people that they feel violate their religions or offend them. 00:35:23
And this was targeted, of course, at the LGBTQ plus community and. 00:35:29
The business owners in Pacific Grove that were attending the August meeting voted. 00:35:36
To. 00:35:43
Create and distribute decals for businesses in the Lighthouse District in the downtown. 00:35:45
That say all are welcome because we we feel that it's a step backward to, you know refuse service we feel. 00:35:51
And that we don't want to lose the. 00:36:01
The inclusivity. 00:36:04
Our our dedication to the whole community. 00:36:07
And I just wanted to say you, this will be happening in the future and. 00:36:11
You know it's. 00:36:19
I think we feel that it's very much in line with the work that you're doing. I just wanted to come here and say, you know, thank 00:36:19
you for for what you're doing. 00:36:23
And you know, we appreciate the the dissent opinions, I guess in the. 00:36:28
Supreme Court that say the 14th Amendment does say that we are all protected The the IT makes provisions for protecting all 00:36:34
members of society. So yeah, thank you so much for having that as your ethos. And I think the majority of people in our community 00:36:41
feel the same way. Thank you. 00:36:48
Thank you. 00:36:56
Welcome. 00:37:05
My name is Beth Walker. My pronouns are she. 00:37:09
I'd like to speak directly to the task force and say thank you for all that you're doing. I know this work is difficult, but 00:37:13
desperately needed. 00:37:17
And absolutely worth it. 00:37:22
I was reminded in the 4th of July parade where we had a contingent for Monterey Peninsula Pride. 00:37:25
That there are a lot more of people who believe in the DEI work than not. 00:37:32
It was a. 00:37:38
Reminder that there can be hope. 00:37:41
I know that. 00:37:46
The dissenting opinion can be loud and bullying, but we have more supporters, more people that believe like we do, that we can be 00:37:49
Better Together. More diversity is better and change is good. 00:37:55
I am sure sometimes it feels like you're walking alone. 00:38:02
And nothing could be further from the truth. 00:38:06
I'd also like to speak to things that I have heard people say from this podium. 00:38:09
This task force has existed for 2 1/2 years. I know that a lot of people haven't paid attention up until the last election. 00:38:13
The intimidation and attacks on the LGBTQ AI Plus community using conspiracy theory. Talking points, National Q Anon Conspiracy 00:38:24
theory. 00:38:29
Theory talking points such as we can live with the L and the G and the B, but the rest of the alphabet has to go. 00:38:35
That's not the way it. 00:38:43
There's just as many people in this country with green eyes as there are transgender. 00:38:46
Are we going to murder all of the green eyed people in this country? I don't think so. 00:38:51
Small minded people don't get to decide whose life they approve of or. 00:38:56
For those that do not understand your impact. 00:39:00
These kids are more than likely to be tormented in school, experience domestic violence, more likely to become homeless, more 00:39:03
likely to self harm, and more likely to attempt suicide. They are trying to live their authentic life and they deserve our 00:39:09
support. 00:39:15
I'd like to speak directly to our neighbors of color, LGBTQ AI, plus families, friends, neighbors, especially our queer and trans 00:39:21
youth. 00:39:25
You are loved, supported. You are worth fighting. 00:39:30
Please do not let these bullies get in the way of you pursuing and living your best life in your authentic self. 00:39:34
Don't let a small group of hateful people change how you feel about our city or how you feel about yourselves. 00:39:41
We see you. We love you, We support you, and you have allies here. Thank you. 00:39:48
Thank you. 00:39:55
Taking no other public comment in person. 00:40:05
Are there any who would? Oh, here's one more. 00:40:08
Welcome. 00:40:13
Hi there. My name is Melanie Zaragoza. I'm board chair of Monterey Peninsula Pride, but here acting as a private citizen. 00:40:16
I just also want to thank this task force for being here. I've been board chair for Monterey Peninsula Pride since 2021, and it's 00:40:24
been some of the most rewarding work that I've done in my 10 years in the nonprofit sector. 00:40:31
It's volunteer work. 00:40:39
And myself and ten other people work countless hours to serve the queer community here. And that was very visible at our Pride 00:40:41
parade last month, and I hope that many of you were there. 00:40:48
So I just want to say thank you on behalf of Monterey Peninsula Pride and myself for having this task force. We know that 00:40:56
diversity is so important, equity is so important, inclusion is. 00:41:02
So important. This is such a privileged community and it is a privilege to be a part of it as well and as a young person at 00:41:08
Chicana. 00:41:13
And a person who's part of the queer community. I just want to encourage you to keep the work going. 00:41:18
And I'll bring my own phrase forward that I heard when I was in school, which is equality is making sure everybody has shoes. 00:41:23
Equity is making sure everybody has shoes that fit. 00:41:32
Thanks. 00:41:37
Thank you. 00:41:39
Welcome. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks for your work. I really appreciate you all. And I just wanted to quickly address the 00:41:49
issue of equitable grading. 00:41:55
That was mischaracterized here this evening. It is not about turning a blind eye to cheating. Equitable grading is about. 00:42:03
Mastery. Making sure that the student has mastery of the material instead of penalizing them in a way that does not recognize 00:42:13
their work. For example, a neighbor of mine, a young man, he turned he had a situation in his family and he turned in his 00:42:19
assignment late. 00:42:26
And he was penalized 50%. 00:42:32
And so that. 00:42:35
Do anything about his learning. He had the material, he had an A, but because it was late and that for some reason they weren't 00:42:38
able to let that the teacher know he was penalized. So equitable grad. 00:42:44
Is about that. It's not about allowing cheating and also regarding trans people. 00:42:51
Erasing people. 00:42:58
Is fascism and we don't do that in this country. 00:43:00
Thank you. 00:43:04
Thank you. 00:43:07
Clerk TEI Coordinator Kendall, Do we have any citizens who would like to comment on general public comment remotely? 00:43:14
I do not see any hands raised. 00:43:23
OK. Thank you. 00:43:26
I will now close general public. 00:43:28
Item number seven is the consent agenda. This deals with routine and non controversial matters. The vote on the consent agenda 00:43:32
applies to each item unless removed. 00:43:37
Any task force member or the public may remove an item for individual consideration. 00:43:43
When items are pulled for discussion, they are placed at the end of the regular agenda. 00:43:49
One motion shall be made to approve all non removed items on the consent agenda. 00:43:54
Are there any requests by a task force member or the public to remove a consent agenda item? 00:43:59
Clerk DI Coordinator Kendall. 00:44:07
Sorry, any request from the public to remove a consent agenda item? No, Nobody online. OK, thank you. Seeing none, I would move to 00:44:10
approve the consent agenda. Is there a second? 00:44:16
2nd. 00:44:23
Members, thank you. 00:44:25
City Clerk the Coordinator Kendell, may we have a roll call vote. 00:44:28
Yes, chair, chair. 00:44:33
I remember hoops. 00:44:35
Aye, Vice Chair Marks. 00:44:38
Motion carries 3. 00:44:41
Thank you. The minutes of the June 12th, 2023 DI Task Force Regular meeting and the July 10th, 2023 DEI Task Force regular meeting 00:44:44
adjourned due to a lack of quorum were approved. 00:44:51
And then item number 8A on the regular agenda has been continued to the September 11th meeting. 00:44:59
Item number 8B on the regular agenda is a report from the underrepresented Groups and Communities Subcommittee. 00:45:07
There'll be a brief oral agenda report, then task force come, task force questions. 00:45:14
Then public comment on this agenda item and then task force discussion. 00:45:20
As the remaining member of the underrepresented groups and community subcommittee, I will present the report. 00:45:26
And I will note that this subcommittee was established by the task force because several items in our purpose have to do with 00:45:33
underrepresented communities. 00:45:39
First of all, our Task Force Purpose Item C is to promote the participation of underrepresented communities. 00:45:47
Including, but not limited to, people of color. 00:45:56
LGBTQ. 00:46:01
People with disabilities, immigrants and others and monitor change that occurs to diversity, equity, inclusion and racial justice 00:46:02
within the city. 00:46:07
And item D of our purpose is to provide feedback, guidance, strategies and recommendations to increase community engagement by 00:46:12
underrepresented groups. 00:46:17
And as a task force, we felt that having a shared understanding of the terms underrepresented groups and underrepresented 00:46:24
communities would help us in our work with and for the community. So you heard a presentation tonight from our Police Department. 00:46:30
Every month we've been having a presentation from different community groups or parts of the city that help us understand more 00:46:36
about our community and about underrepresented groups within the community. For example, at the last meeting we had a 00:46:42
presentation. 00:46:48
By the President, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. So we heard from the business organization. 00:46:55
So during July, Secretary Stevens and I continued working on identifying underrepresented groups and communities not listed in the 00:47:01
task force purpose. And one thing that we found was it's possible to get demographic data, for example, from the census, but self 00:47:09
identification is not something that's usually captured with traditional data gathering models. So we see that as sort of a big 00:47:16
hole quite frankly that somebody who's experienced in this work who has done. 00:47:24
A lot of work in cities and communities might be able to help the other. 00:47:32
We also hoped to bring back information as we continue to work on this to help us as a task force. Another item in our purpose is 00:47:37
to develop a community lens to examine city policies, programs, and practices. So getting a broader sense of our community is 00:47:44
going to help us develop that community lens. 00:47:52
I will say that a couple of things that we did notice before Secretary Stevens had to leave was that one area that we noted is 00:48:00
that Pacific Grove does not have a Youth advisory committee to represent the approximately 18% of Pacific Grove's population that 00:48:07
is 18 and under. In fact, the City Charter does not allow anyone to be appointed to a committee unless they're old enough to 00:48:13
register to vote. 00:48:19
And we think that we felt that the work of the youth ambassadors, most recently this summer, shows the value of welcoming and 00:48:27
including young voices and perspectives into civic life. Valuable not only for now, but certainly for the future when we want to 00:48:32
have engaged citizens. 00:48:37
And then, although people of color are specified as one underrepresented community, Secretary Stevens and I noted that there are 00:48:43
many different groups and experiences within that phrase. 00:48:49
And it is very clear to us as a task force, and I'll say this, having been on the task force since the beginning that expressed 00:48:55
public interest from our very beginning, including to the present, there is, let me put it another way, there has been and there 00:49:03
continues to be expressed public interest in recognizing, learning about and never forgetting. 00:49:10
For example, Pacific Groves, Chinese. 00:49:18
Or the black and African American life in Pacific Grove, Japanese American history, indigenous people, and many others. 00:49:21
We feel that this is such an important part of the work of diversity, equity and inclusion for Pacific Grove, learning about our 00:49:30
shared history and heritage, but also hearing directly from the people whose lives and experiences were changed and also helped 00:49:38
change Pacific Grove. So I sincerely hope that the task force will take this under consideration for the future as well. We will 00:49:46
continue to have presentations. We have them scheduled out pretty much through the end of this year. 00:49:54
And my hope is that as we're able to get another subcommittee appointed to look at this, we will be bringing back to the task 00:50:02
force more information about underrepresented communities. 00:50:08
In addition to the ones listed. 00:50:14
Are there any questions from the task force? 00:50:17
So we will take public comments on this item. Now. Comments will be limited to 3 minutes and will not receive Task Force action. 00:50:25
Speakers must adhere to the time limits using the time limit lights as the guide. Again, comments and statements should be 00:50:32
addressed to the Task Force and not to the audience. And again, public comment is encouraged if it is not disruptive to the 00:50:38
meeting and as the chair. If someone chooses to engage in conduct that is disruptive, I will respond in a viewpoint neutral manner 00:50:45
according to the rules of order. 00:50:51
Comments may be made in person or remotely using Zoom or by phone, so I will first open public comment on the underrepresented 00:50:58
subcommittee item to members of the public present remotely. 00:51:04
Clerk Dei Coordinator Kendall, Do we have any members present remotely? 00:51:13
A No hands raised online. 00:51:20
OK, then I will open it up to those who are present in person. 00:51:24
Welcome. Thank you very much. 00:51:36
I'm back again and I would like a list of your underrepresented people because I already gave you a list race, sex, color, 00:51:40
ethnicity and national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, genetic information and veteran 00:51:47
status. 00:51:54
So is this a list of the marginalized group? Because. 00:52:01
Half of the people in this room are marginalized. 00:52:06
So can we provide a list of those people? Thank you. 00:52:09
Thank you. 00:52:14
Welcome. 00:52:28
Thank you. This morning gives again. I was hoping more people would get up and and talk. It is a. 00:52:29
Democracy and open forum. And I know some people are here for the first time, but just what I have learned is that any citizen, 00:52:35
you don't even have to be a member. 00:52:40
Our resident in Pacific Grove can come and talk. You can come to the Economic Development Council, the Planning Commission. 00:52:46
That DEI task force and and speak out and the first public comment is pretty much anything that's not on the agenda and then. 00:52:54
You have public comment on each of the agenda items, so I think more discussion is is great. 00:53:01
On this particular item, you know. 00:53:08
Haven't been around for a few. 00:53:12
You know, we've, we've learned with our family, our communities. 00:53:14
That there are certain things in common. We have a common language, we have common rules, we have common culture, and we have 00:53:17
really more in common than we really know. 00:53:21
And you all probably have heard me ask this before, but. 00:53:26
In terms of what are the the topic is if you have terms or conditions make make sure that we have engaged the public in more than 00:53:32
just the public comment section. And I think early on at the DI meeting somebody mentioned a town hall meeting. 00:53:39
It's not a formal meeting, it's just out there to get to get public input. 00:53:47
And and listen to the public because I think one of the difficulties is and and Miss Barclay might have, you know, sort of 00:53:53
indicated this is that when we have a list of terms and people don't know what it is, it's it's hard to support other terms. And 00:53:58
you all are very familiar and one of your first meetings you referred to the 1964 civil rights amendment, which is very important 00:54:04
under Lyndon Johnson. 00:54:09
And since subsequent to that other groups. So for example I was a Vietnam era vet. 00:54:15
And that was added to the civil Rights Amendment later. And so I would just question, are people like that included in the 00:54:22
underrepresented groups? I I just don't know, 'cause you may have published the list, I don't know. 00:54:28
What it is So getting the input of the community is really, really important to having a collaborative spirit in the community. 00:54:35
And you know, there's been a lot of chatter on Next door. And I've been responsible for probably 3/4 of it over the past two 00:54:41
weeks. And I appreciate everybody's comments, including members of this particular task force, because I think that's part of the 00:54:47
discussion, is to push it ahead and find some common ground rather than, you know, bite at each other or, you know, take shots at 00:54:53
each other. 00:54:59
Find some common ground for having a discussion. 00:55:05
And so for public forums like that, that's always been sort of my agenda is people ask me what's my agenda, just get some 00:55:08
discussion, get ideas out and share them with people. And it's one of the easiest things to make happen. It's it's hard to 00:55:14
facilitate, but I would really love to see that around this particular topic, what is an underrepresented group. So more you can 00:55:20
add to that the better. Thank you. Thank you. 00:55:26
Welcome. 00:55:37
My name is Mishka Chudolowski and I've been president of PG. I'm a newcomer. It's only been like 25 years. 00:55:39
So. 00:55:49
This is the first time I've been to this group and what I have heard about it. I applaud your work and thank you for your time and 00:55:51
service. 00:55:55
So forgive my ignorance, but I think one of the biggest unrepresentative groups is low income in this area. And my question is, is 00:56:00
that part of your? 00:56:06
Your focus or is that totally out in left field? 00:56:13
Thanks. 00:56:19
Thank you. 00:56:21
Welcome. Thank you. My name is Colin Crook, I'm resident of Pacific Grove and I think for your plan for learning more about or 00:56:32
discovering more underrepresented groups sounds really good to me. 00:56:38
How can we learn about others and their experiences unless we listen to them? 00:56:44
So I've attended quite a few of these meetings via Zoom. This is my first one in person, but I look forward to getting more 00:56:50
reports both from city departments and from or from or about those underrepresented groups. Thank you guys for what you do. 00:56:56
Thank you. 00:57:05
Welcome. 00:57:15
Thank you very much. 00:57:17
I've looked online about. 00:57:20
How you find these underrepresented groups and how difficult it can be. 00:57:22
For a task force. 00:57:28
And I understand, too, that this is under the purview of what a consultant would do, what they're used to doing. 00:57:30
Where they have the tools to do this. 00:57:38
So I I'd like to support that idea of the consultant. 00:57:42
Being on board for this and to also I know. 00:57:47
Under a different subject but. 00:57:52
Affecting this. 00:57:54
Our consultant fee was for 2 1/2 years. 00:57:56
So if you divide that up, the. 00:58:00
Really not that bad, so I'm hoping that we can do this. Thanks. 00:58:03
Thank you. 00:58:09
Welcome. It's so lovely to hear that. 00:58:17
Welcome. 00:58:21
I'd also like to voice my support for the idea of expanding what it means to be underrepresented. How wonderful. And I'll just 00:58:24
give a small anecdote, if you'll have me. 00:58:30
My family is one who has been afraid of the census. 00:58:37
I think a lot of people know what I mean. They're afraid of being counted and they're afraid of being identified because they have 00:58:43
been under represented. And it wasn't until I became more actively a part of local politics, my community, that I really 00:58:50
understood that not being counted means being invisible. 00:58:58
And so having that representation drawing out what it means to be a person of color. 00:59:05
To be a person part of the queer community, it's just an extra step that feels simple and makes people feel welcomed, so I 00:59:12
encourage you to continue to explore that. 00:59:18
Thank you. 00:59:28
I am seeing no other oh, here's. 00:59:36
We also have one caller online. 00:59:41
Welcome. 00:59:44
Yes, thank you for your all your work. My name is Bruce Donet. I've been. 00:59:46
Resident of this community for almost 40 years. I am a identified white male, able bodied, formerly educated. 00:59:50
Christian Reard. 01:00:00
Individual in in this culture. 01:00:04
When I heard the question about. 01:00:07
How did you come up with this list of underrepresented people? My thought was. 01:00:10
I maybe there were a few people that a few groups that you put yourself, but to me they've. 01:00:18
That list does represent people who are underrepresented. 01:00:24
And. 01:00:30
It's hard. 01:00:35
It's hard to accept initially, I think. 01:00:37
Uh, people being underrepresented Because I know my. 01:00:41
My experience. 01:00:47
My. 01:00:49
Has all told me that I'm not underrepresented. 01:00:51
I've always been represented. 01:00:55
But I've been represented on the basis of gender. I've been represented on the basis of sexual orientation and religion and 01:00:58
immigrant status and whatever. OK. So I think initially it feels like somehow I'm going to be less represented. 01:01:08
I should. I just want to say something and that is that. For example, I don't know black history, OK? I also don't know female 01:01:20
history. 01:01:23
Or I should say, I don't know black experience or female experience and the only way I have ever. 01:01:28
Learned anything about this is by. 01:01:34
And I've had to probably, probably give up my gender role conditioning. 01:01:38
And my racial conditioning. 01:01:44
But what I've gotten in return has been my humanity. So I want to thank you all for doing the work you do. I support you. And this 01:01:48
is my first meeting, and I hope I haven't rambled on too much. Thank you. 01:01:55
Thank you. 01:02:03
Seeing no one else in person, I will reopen it for our one remote speaker. 01:02:11
Thank you, Chair, Inga, Lawrence and Dymer. 01:02:17
Welcome. Thank you, Sandra, and thank you Chair. Umm. 01:02:21
I gather, and I have all along because I think I've attended every meeting that you've had. 01:02:26
By zoom, of course. 01:02:32
That this list is not something that's complete. The subcommittee is to create a list of other. 01:02:36
Represented groups that you underrepresented. Groups that you haven't named. 01:02:45
So I look forward to you creating that. 01:02:51
And I would like to say also to kind of address the newcomer quote of five years that this very old Comer from old timer of 70 01:02:54
years. 01:02:59
Definitely has spoken about. 01:03:06
Lower income? 01:03:09
And especially senior lower income as a vastly underrepresented group that needs inclusion, especially in things like. 01:03:12
Addressing city contracts that don't include us at all, but just lump us in with a vast affluent majority. 01:03:24
And yes, this is something that. 01:03:33
Needs a little work and. 01:03:36
I would like to say that just continue your list and I hope you get another member for your subcommittee. Thank you. 01:03:39
Thank you. 01:03:49
I will now close public comment. 01:03:51
And I'll bring this item back to the task force for any further discussion. There will be no action taken. It was just an oral 01:03:56
report. 01:03:59
Uncharacteristically quiet today. 01:04:11
I am. 01:04:16
Moved and I am hopeful. I've been really drained by by this work lately and. 01:04:18
Just the. 01:04:28
Just hearing the thoughts and the. 01:04:29
Just. 01:04:34
Reactions. 01:04:36
Just just thank you. 01:04:39
I'll echo that just hearing. 01:04:48
From everyone tonight and seeing how. 01:04:51
Even just talking about the beginning of this work to identify underrepresented groups kind of resonates with so many people. 01:04:55
In the room is wonderful encouragement. 01:05:04
To keep it going. And yeah, so thank you to everyone as well. 01:05:08
Thank you. This is Ben. 01:05:14
Terrifically engaged meeting. We certainly appreciate that. 01:05:16
I would note that. 01:05:21
The work the Secretary Stevens and I began has been interrupted, and another subcommittee will be appointed to carry this on. 01:05:24
In our discuss. 01:05:32
We actually talked about there's really two parts to underrepresented. So one is the communities, the groups and the ones that 01:05:34
were listed were actually laid forth by council in our purpose when we were formed as a task force. So that was our starting point 01:05:40
and our work is really to try to identify other communities and I think all the public input that we receive is extremely helpful 01:05:47
with that. 01:05:53
But of course the other side of underrepresented is what does it mean to be represented. And in the United States in a democracy, 01:06:00
we elect representatives to represent us. So that will also be something I think that the subcommittee will be looking at is who? 01:06:08
Who are our representatives and how do they reflect the community and how do we know that and what are the ways that? 01:06:17
They can be identified, those various. 01:06:26
Identities can be identified and and sort of looked at, so that is going to be the other side of the equation is knowing all of 01:06:30
these different communities and groups. 01:06:36
Throughout the city. 01:06:43
How are they represented? How are their voices? How are our voices heard? So the work will continue. 01:06:45
Chair, May I? Yes, Vice chair. 01:06:52
So my background is, some of you may know as a grant writer in the nonprofit sector and. 01:06:57
When you persuasively writes a proposal, you have to quantify. 01:07:06
Quantify your ask, but you also have to have qualitative data and. 01:07:13
And in trying to find underrepresented communities here, it's tricky because I think as our chair, Bowie said. 01:07:21
Much more eloquently than I ever would. It's it's tricky to find people who will self identify and we haven't even really started 01:07:33
because. 01:07:38
It it's tricky. 01:07:43
But I will also say that umm. 01:07:46
Quantifying is also difficult because of the. 01:07:51
Excuse me? 01:07:57
I I'm struggling in. 01:07:59
Interaction. 01:08:03
Thank you. I haven't had dinner. 01:08:06
Intersection. Intersectionality. And that also speaks to how. 01:08:10
We all are on several different lists. How? How do we, how do we quantify that? It's how. 01:08:18
Miss Melanie had spoken to the fact that she's a Chicano. She's or you know, we're we're a number of different things. 01:08:28
So it. 01:08:38
There's a road ahead of us and we all have a place and we all have value. So thank you for your patience and thank you for your 01:08:39
input because it's going to shape. 01:08:44
Shape where we go. 01:08:50
Thank you, Vice chair. 01:08:53
We will move on now to item 8C on the regular agenda, which is the recommendation to adopt A Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task 01:08:57
Force cultural calendar. 01:09:03
So there will be an agenda report and a presentation and then task force questions, then the opportunity for public comment and 01:09:10
then task force discussion. And because this is a recommendation to adopt, then there will be an action taken and vice Chair Mark. 01:09:19
Several months ago, in order to do the work of the task force, just about everyone except for me as somebody who works full time, 01:09:29
has family obligations, has life obligations. 01:09:34
And. 01:09:40
Obviously we're all volunteers up here. To do the work as efficiently as we can, we establish subcommittees which is no more than 01:09:42
two people or one person as a lead. 01:09:47
That takes on different parts of the work. At our next meeting, we'll actually go over our work plan. We have an adopted work plan 01:09:53
sort of holding back on that until we are fully up to speed with all the task force members or. 01:09:59
Most of them we. 01:10:06
But in order to do that, we've established subcommittees and in this case, it was the vice chair who took the lead by herself to 01:10:09
bring this forward and really continue the work that was done by the previous task force and a subcommittee to get it to this 01:10:16
point. So really appreciate your taking this on and doing this. So now a presentation by Vice, the vice chair. 01:10:23
Thank you, Chair Bowie. 01:10:31
And I. 01:10:34
I was on the first term also, however. 01:10:36
I was not TAS. 01:10:40
The cultural calendar. Umm, so I will start. 01:10:43
With the recommendation so. 01:10:47
Tonight I will hope that we vote and discuss to send. 01:10:50
Sent to the City Council. 01:10:57
An expanded excuse me. 01:11:00
This is a. 01:11:04
A typo? Excuse me to send a cultural calendar up to the City Council for review and with the hope and goal to go ahead and upload 01:11:06
it onto the DEI portion of the city website. 01:11:14
By no means is this extensive I. 01:11:23
How can it be? This is a base with a reflection of. 01:11:26
Excuse me, of significant cultural recognitions at the federal States and local level and. 01:11:35
Again, it's not extensive. I didn't even think about Romero's newsletter as a res. 01:11:43
Someone had brought up. 01:11:53
But we can do that I. 01:11:56
And again, we're hoping that it will be posted to the DI website and another goal would be that we're celebrating and amplifying. 01:11:58
The recognition of cultural diversity of our communities in each respective month of relevance. 01:12:10
Further we would. 01:12:19
Provide a framework, A cyclical framework for the future task forces. 01:12:21
And recommending these recognitions. 01:12:27
And help community chairs and staff contribute to the calendar agenda. 01:12:31
In a timely and proactive. 01:12:37
I'm also hoping that we'll be able to have. 01:12:41
A very quick and efficient way for the entire community to be able to submit. 01:12:47
Their their recognitions and heritage and and items that is important to them. However, right now our discussion. 01:12:57
And a recommendation is just a base, a base calendar which may or may not be in the agenda and it was posted on the website. 01:13:07
So. 01:13:19
I have a few other words to say. 01:13:21
But then we'll wrap it up. 01:13:26
Because there's so much time on my hands, I wanted to start with this Gandhi quote. Our ability to reach unity and diversity will 01:13:42
be the beauty and the test of our civilization. So I wanted to speak. 01:13:49
To the reason why. 01:13:57
The diversity. Diversity. 01:14:02
Calendar is so important and again it speaks to recognizing. 01:14:05
The value and. 01:14:13
The value of people and their heritage and recognizing who they are. 01:14:18
I don't think that there's too many. 01:14:25
There could ever be too many. 01:14:29
Too many items on this calendar. 01:14:34
Too many protected classes. What are we going to stop protecting people so? 01:14:38
With that, I'm gonna go ahead and and my presentation. Thank you. 01:14:43
Thank you, Vice Chair. And now is an opportunity for the task force to ask any questions of the Vice Chair. 01:14:50
On the. 01:14:57
Not a question, but just yeah, it isn't available in the agenda packet and just looking through here, you know, you can see that 01:15:02
you did so much work on it. So thank you for. 01:15:07
All that you've included actually I wouldn't be curious to know kind of where you. 01:15:15
Gathered all this from it must have taken. 01:15:19
A long time, yeah. I did a lot of research and unfortunately my. 01:15:22
It was very hard to call things down, but there are a few sites and you you would be very surprised to know if there are a lot of. 01:15:31
Well, no. 01:15:42
There are a lot of services. 01:15:44
Because this work is so important that actually that actually do diversity calendars for. 01:15:47
Companies and businesses and. 01:15:56
Yeah, Recognizing their employees. 01:16:01
Really. Really. 01:16:04
Yeah, brings the corporate culture together and also you know that innovation. 01:16:07
Breeds This is me pitching, pitching, diversity and economic development. 01:16:13
Yeah. 01:16:20
Thank you Vice Chair. This is an incredible amount of work and that went into this and want to really appreciate that. So I wanted 01:16:23
to be, it seemed like looking at this sort of the primary use. 01:16:29
This is a question. The primary use of this calendar would be. 01:16:35
On the DEI website so it would be available to the public, to the staff, to anyone. 01:16:40
And then the secondary use would be then to provide a cyclical framework for the task force. In recommending recognitions to the 01:16:47
City Council, As for example we did for Pride month, we recommended a. 01:16:53
Proclamation for that. OK, well, that's that's useful. Umm, I. 01:17:00
Clerk DEI, Coordinator, Candel, I wonder sort of the process with this before we go out to public comment. If it goes on the 01:17:06
website, does it go to council at that point or is it something that's put on our website as part of our work with our framework 01:17:13
with the website? And then if a proclamation were to be developed from the calendar, then that would go to the City Council, Is 01:17:21
that correct? That is correct. I believe that was the initial discussion between the task force. 01:17:28
Great. Thank you. And then my second question for. 01:17:37
For the Clerk DEI coordinator is. I know that we a couple of meetings go ahead a presentation from the city's information 01:17:41
resources person, who then subsequently left the city and what is this? What is the state of the staffing for information 01:17:48
resources for posting something to the to the web page, for example? 01:17:54
We have contract IT assistance and and depending on how. 01:18:02
We wanted to post this. I could potentially post it as well. OK. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. Good. 01:18:10
And now? 01:18:19
It's time for public comments. Again, I give these reminders each time. Comments will be limited to 3 minutes. Will not receive 01:18:21
Task Force action. Speakers must adhere to the time limits, using the time limit lights as a guide. Comments and statements should 01:18:27
be addressed to the task Force and not the audience. 01:18:33
Public comment is encouraged as long it is not disruptive to the meeting. And as the chair, if someone chooses to engage in 01:18:40
conduct that is disruptive, I will respond in a viewpoint neutral manner according to the rules of order. Comments may be made in 01:18:48
person or remotely using zoom or by phone. I will first open public comment on the cultural calendar agenda item to members of the 01:18:55
public in person, then to those who are present remotely. So now we'll open the comment to members who are here in person. 01:19:03
Welcome. 01:19:20
The packet and read through all. 01:19:26
The listings, I just had a question you you sort of indicated an idea that it worked miss mark that there were some things that 01:19:30
were not included and I'm just wondering if there was a screen or how did you decide what was going to be on the final list? 01:19:36
And not on the final list. I was interested in this Australian recognition for. Sorry day. 01:19:42
Yeah, I don't, I don't know what that is, but maybe is it referred to the board game and from, you know, even though it's a 01:19:47
diversity calendar, I see it more as an inclusion calendar and there are 365 days a year there are only, you know, maybe 891012 01:19:53
events per month. 01:19:58
I think you have a lot more days to fill and that would be more inclusive if we had, you know, one for each day and there's plenty 01:20:04
of days you have I I didn't see butterfly. 01:20:09
A day up there, I didn't see other things that would be, you know, much more relevant to Pacific Grove. I'd like to see some of 01:20:14
those things that are going on here. And the other question is, is that the somebody brought up the contract with Seed. I'm 01:20:21
wondering if they helped with this with this calendar at all and Seed is connected with something called the Obi. 01:20:28
Uh, Institute. Mr. Gibbs, we're actually not discussing the consultant at this time. This is a discussion of a cultural calendar. 01:20:36
I was just asking. 01:20:41
They were part of the my question was were they part of the selection process and because they talk about other and they talk 01:20:46
about belonging and to me, I'm just, I'm sorry, but any questions about the consultant who are not a part of this agenda item. And 01:20:51
this the consultant item has already been heard by the task force and it's no longer a part of the task force work. So if you 01:20:57
could. 01:21:03
And find your comments to the cultural calendar, please. Right. I was. I was just asking if they were, if they participated in 01:21:09
this, I wasn't discussing. 01:21:13
The fact of the contract, I just wanted to know if they had some. 01:21:17
If they had some part in this at all. 01:21:21
So, all right, well, forget to forget the the consultant. I guess the general term would be what items are others and what items 01:21:23
belong on the contract. And we started my discussion. How did you decide? 01:21:29
What items got left on the table and what belonged? And from an accusative, inclusive standpoint, it would seem to me to be. 01:21:36
An interesting thing and you know if you turn over the most of the coins in your pocket it says E purpose you know them out of 01:21:43
many. 01:21:47
And I'm kind of an out of many one guy, right? So you know, it's like having a birthday party. 01:21:51
And inviting everybody on your list. And then you forget Uncle Frank. 01:21:56
You know, or Aunt Emma, and they're not on the list. And you go, holy moly, what happened? Uncle Frank's down the list and then 01:21:59
you get a bad e-mail because he wasn't on the list. I just want to make sure that we have enough opportunity for everybody to be 01:22:05
on the calendar and because it's an easy way to offend somebody by making them another rather than a belonger. So thank you for 01:22:11
that. I wasn't trying to introduce the contract or any of the terms. 01:22:16
Or anything like that. So I appreciate your attention. Thank you. 01:22:22
Thank you. 01:22:26
Welcome. I thank you. I'm back. We have to talk about the rules of order because I've heard people applauding back here, and I 01:22:33
heard somebody yelling shut up when Mike Gibbs was talking. So you need to be aware of how people are behaving here. And when we 01:22:39
talk about the rules of orders, nobody's going to start a riot in here. 01:22:45
But there needs to be some decorum and you need to be aware of that. Thank you. 01:22:52
Thank you. 01:23:00
Thank you. I didn't get a chance to look at this, but I just wanted to talk about. 01:23:08
An event that happened last month, which was the Summer Lights, which is the evolution of the Feast of Lanterns, and I just wanted 01:23:15
to say that I thought it was such an amazing. 01:23:22
Effort by the youth ambassadors and that I really look forward to more of it and it just I was I. 01:23:29
Made my heart full because they worked so hard and they took the ideas of inclusion and they just ran with that and they're just 01:23:39
going to do more and I'm just proud of them. So I look forward to that on the calendar. Thank you. 01:23:46
Thank you. 01:23:54
Welcome. 01:24:06
Half Walker. My pronouns are she and her. 01:24:09
So what I inferred from the presentation, thank you Miss Mark, is that not that there were selections done on purpose to leave 01:24:13
things out. 01:24:21
But that that one person cannot possibly. 01:24:28
Research and include everything that is out there. 01:24:33
And therefore. 01:24:38
The list will and calendar will be growing and. 01:24:40
Updated on a regular basis. 01:24:46
As someone who? 01:24:49
Does these things for a living. 01:24:51
It's not possible to do everything when you're one person and my understanding. 01:24:54
Which I got from your presentation was not that you chose to exclude things. 01:25:01
But that you haven't. 01:25:08
Done everything because it's not possible yet. 01:25:10
So that's all. Thank you for your work. I appreciate it. 01:25:14
Thank you. 01:25:19
I don't see anyone else in person, so clerk dei, coordinator candle do we have? 01:25:25
Participants remotely we do. We have two callers, Inga Lawrence and Joymer. 01:25:32
Welcome. 01:25:37
Thank you Sandra and Chair. 01:25:39
I am the one who wrote to the DVI DEI calling this an extensive list because it is. It's extensive in the fact that yes, there can 01:25:41
always be more, but I'm kind of agreeing that every single day of the calendar year could have. 01:25:51
An event with it. 01:26:02
I consider that when too many things are put on something, it no longer is inclusive. It doesn't make anything special or 01:26:06
recognizable. It is just a list. And that bothers me because it's like marketing of Taco day and and whatever day, you know, I 01:26:15
mean it's it's it becomes less special and rather meaningless. 01:26:24
And it's sort of like, well, I don't know, what is the purpose to monetize it. You know, it's like everything seems to be 01:26:34
monetized, even library books. They say, oh, you saved this amount of money by checking out the book on your receipt. Guess what? 01:26:40
I didn't save it because I wouldn't have bought it. 01:26:47
You know I am able to read it because we have a public liar library that my taxes pay for okay. So here we have this. Well in 01:26:53
Norway and Sweden we have different days for my name day and queen harolds day and I mean Sonia and and King Hara you know I mean 01:27:04
each culture has their special days and what what it's in and one is I love the the fact that the woman got up and spoke about. 01:27:14
The Youth Ambassadors, that's great. That's a special events calendar. 01:27:25
Sponsored by the City and. 01:27:31
Full cost recovery, whatever. That's a cult. That's a special events calendar, not a cultural calendar. So I don't know For 01:27:34
posting on ADEI website, I think it's fine. You can and certainly people can add anything, and I'm certain that if people start 01:27:42
adding, it'll come to every day of the year has some special. 01:27:50
Day attached to it. 01:27:59
I don't. 01:28:03
Carry on. 01:28:06
Thank you. Bye, bye. 01:28:07
Thank you. 01:28:11
Yeah. So we will finish with our remote. 01:28:12
Public comment and I do want to encourage everyone in the room to be sure and remember that this is a task force meeting and we 01:28:16
need to focus on the work at hand. Thank you. 01:28:21
Yes, I have not yet finished the remote public comment. Thank you. 01:28:27
We're DI coordinator, Kendall. There's another speaker. There is one more speaker, Dan Miller. 01:28:33
Welcome. 01:28:38
Yeah, I'm kind of amazed at some of the stuff that went on tonight. 01:28:41
I've been at 1000 meetings in this city. I served on the City Council for six years. 01:28:46
I was on the Planning Commission for three years. 01:28:51
And cutting off Mr. Gibbs on a legitimate question, and it was a legitimate question. It might not be in your eyes. You might not 01:28:53
want the question answered. But that was a legitimate question. And as far as this calendar realized, this is the concept of one 01:29:00
person and the days they feel need to be recognized. And I'll tell you, looking at it, there's a whole lot of stuff being left off 01:29:07
that a whole lot of people not being recognized. And once you start doing a calendar like this. 01:29:15
You're not including everybody, you're excluding them. And there you are, miss marks, making faces again. 01:29:22
I also have a problem having a cult. 01:29:29
Recognition calendar put out by a person who has been on social media in the past 48 hours calling people Nazis. So yeah, don't 01:29:32
stop me ma'am, you can't do it. Not legal. By the meetings of laws and Robert's Rules of Order. I can basically say anything that 01:29:40
has anything to do with the what it's is at hand And what is hand is at hand is the calendar that one of your representative did 01:29:48
and if that's going to be adopted. 01:29:56
By anybody. It should be examined what this person is out there in the vitriol that she constantly exposes out on next door and 01:30:04
social media. It has to stop. I've said this before and you and the rest of you have never even discussed how out of line he is 01:30:13
with this. And by the way, I've lived here 68 years, so if we're going to count years, in fact, Miss Bowie, I think you went to 01:30:21
high school with my sister and I think you were actually friends with my sister. This is the most disappointing. 01:30:29
Discussions I've ever seen by committee in this town? No, thank you. 01:30:38
I'm sorry. 01:30:46
Please don't have any responses, this is still a task force meeting. 01:30:47
And we will continue. Are there any other remote public comments? 01:30:51
No other ones are raised. 01:30:57
OK. Thank you. 01:30:59
I will now close public comment. 01:31:01
And I'll bring you back to the task force for a discussion and then action. 01:31:05
I. 01:31:15
Missing the Lords and. 01:31:16
As always had. 01:31:19
Had a great points. 01:31:22
What? I gleaned from what she? 01:31:27
I commented upon was that we really should define a metric. 01:31:31
For what we put. 01:31:38
What we put on the calendar. 01:31:40
Summer lights I think is appropriate to put on there because. 01:31:45
We can discuss that in a letter later time, but we should speak to how we define. 01:31:51
And what is going to what and how? 01:32:00
We we decide what goes on to the calendar and I think. 01:32:06
Obviously, we would start with our ordinance. 01:32:11
The purpose? 01:32:17
For the task force. 01:32:21
Number hoops. 01:32:26
I think that's a good idea and. 01:32:29
Just to echo though, a couple of things that were said as one. 01:32:31
Person going into this, you know that didn't have that metric. Again, just to thank you. 01:32:36
All the research you did do to make sure that there was so much representation. 01:32:43
And I also think when we're looking at this calendar and knowing that our goal is to post it to the website. 01:32:49
Keeping in mind. 01:32:56
When we post something to the website and knowing that it may be a living document. 01:32:58
It's also. 01:33:05
I think from my perspective, a call. 01:33:06
Get people curious. 01:33:10
It's not just a call to say, hey, look at this calendar. These are all the days that matter and that's what we've decided. 01:33:12
The call is to take a look at the calendar and say, well, here's a holiday that is recognized here somewhere else that I've never 01:33:19
heard of. 01:33:23
Let me go find out more about that, whether that's by coming back to this task force, whether that's by. 01:33:28
Doing research on other parts you know of the Internet with people you know, I think. 01:33:34
I just wanted to make that comment because I think. 01:33:40
Is relevant with we're we're going to be talking about more things that we're adding to the website here in the future too and I 01:33:44
think it's relevant as we talk about each of these things. 01:33:49
We're not. 01:33:55
The information stops there. It's a start. 01:33:57
Right, Yeah. 01:34:00
Yeah, yeah, so. 01:34:03
My vision for this is that it would be a conversation with the community and with us, and that this is just a jumping off point. 01:34:09
I would just love for someone to say hey. 01:34:23
I am not represented there and. 01:34:28
It's a pretty great culture and I would love to share. 01:34:33
And and then I would I would love people to get excited and. 01:34:39
You know and have events and particularly have epicurean cuisines, but that that's. 01:34:44
But yeah, so that that's where I was. It's not an exhaustive list or calendar. 01:34:52
And down the road, again, I would, I would love for it to be very easy for people to contribute. And for those who don't know it, 01:35:01
it's not really. It's a very static website. So it's you can't just. 01:35:08
But we can work on that just with an e-mail, so and then. 01:35:17
Good. The chair. 01:35:23
I I do think a lot of the fluff could be called from this work in progress calendar. 01:35:28
There are some things that slipped through there, as Mr. Miller pointed out. 01:35:36
And I wouldn't mind taking another pass before uploading it. 01:35:43
OK, So what I think I'm hearing is that we've got some input from the public as a part of this discussion. 01:35:49
That having an understanding of sort of the basis for the. 01:35:57
Inclusion of these items and what I do see in your agenda report is a listing of significant cultural recognitions at the federal, 01:36:02
state and local level. So I think that that. 01:36:08
Describes the framework for what the cultural calendar would be, and then the various purposes of it. And also wanting to find a 01:36:15
way to have the public be able to propose dates and events as well that could then be reviewed by the task force as they came 01:36:22
along or on a regular basis, say. And so I think what I'm hearing is that perhaps more work. 01:36:30
Could be done on the cultural calendar and then brought back again. Is that what you're proposing or? 01:36:38
I don't think that that would be necessary. I mean, I would very much like to go ahead and make the vote now. 01:36:47
And perhaps. 01:36:56
Just make sure that I. 01:37:00
On to both. 01:37:02
And. 01:37:04
Yes. And what I did hear you say was there were some fluff you thought could be taken out and so. 01:37:07
Yes, yes. And I think that. 01:37:12
Probably a task force meeting is not the place to go into extensive line by line, right? I I just. 01:37:14
I I don't believe that it requires another month and another vote. 01:37:21
Maybe if I could check in? 01:37:28
Clerk DI Coordinator Kendall to help us in moving forward. 01:37:30
I think if we're not ready to finalize tonight a vote to finalize tonight, I think it probably should come back another time 01:37:36
because we want to be able to bring this back before the task force as well as the public. 01:37:41
And do that simultaneously, so. 01:37:48
I think that you could solicit input from the public that could be by e-mail directly to you. That wouldn't be a conversation. 01:37:51
That occurs, but they, but definitely the public could. 01:37:59
The task force or e-mail you directly with their input as well if you wanted to do that in between now and the next month, the 01:38:04
next meeting which is on September 11th, but I would recommend it coming back again if it's not fully. 01:38:11
Sure. 01:38:20
Well, can I speak to the fact that you said? 01:38:22
Well, if I take another pass at it and then we end up uploading it, I mean when that's go public right there. 01:38:26
I think that that's a task force direction, but I think tonight you you're you're actually voting to make a recommendation and you 01:38:38
don't have a final product in front of you. So that's. 01:38:43
That's why I'm recommending it come back again, right? We've done that before in the past though, haven't we? 01:38:49
I've seen. 01:38:58
All right. 01:38:59
I don't remember. 01:39:01
Items OK, that's OK. This is good. This is good. Let's be our best. 01:39:03
Yeah. And I think the challenge is that because it would be these all of these specific things that would be being approved, then 01:39:08
if we were to come back and remove some, then that's a little different than coming back and adding. That's fantastic. We had a 01:39:14
lot of feedback that I can go ahead. 01:39:19
And incorporate. So, OK, thank you. And again, really appreciate your taking on this work and knowing that we're looking at a 01:39:24
metric of significant cultural recognitions at the federal, state and local level and we will get Butterfly Parade on there. 01:39:32
And also yes, taking in the the input from the public, we did receive some by e-mail as well as in person. So I appreciate very 01:39:41
much appreciate your taking this on yet again. 01:39:46
And we will not take action on this item then and then we'll have it brought back at the next meeting. 01:39:52
That OK. 01:39:58
All right. 01:40:02
And I think is there anything else we need to do clerk DI coordinator Kendall to wrap this up or we're pretty clear, I think, 01:40:07
yeah, I think you're clear on the direction. OK, good. Thank you. Our next meeting will be September 11th, 2023 at 6:00 PM in the 01:40:13
chamber as well as remotely. 01:40:19
Thank you all for being here and I will adjourn the meeting at 7:40 PM. 01:40:26
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Record. 00:00:07
Good evening. I'd like to call the August 14th, 2023 regular meeting of the City of Pacific Groves Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 00:01:01
Task Force to order at 6:01 PM. 00:01:08
Item 8. 00:01:16
The appointment of work plan subcommittees will be continued to the September 11th, 2023 regular meeting. 00:01:18
City Clerk Dei. Coordinator Kendall, will you please take A roll call vote? 00:01:26
Yes, chair bully. 00:01:33
Present Vice Chair Mark. 00:01:35
Present member. 00:01:38
Present. 00:01:40
Thank you. You're welcome. 00:01:42
Item 2 on the agenda is approval of the agenda. One of the ways that we strive to make our meetings as inclusive as possible is to 00:01:45
give explanations as we move along so you understand how the Brown Act process and the City Committee process works. 00:01:52
The agenda is really the road map for our meeting. It's published online and available in print at least 72 hours before each 00:02:01
meeting so the public has notice of items being considered by the task force. 00:02:08
I would like to move to approve the agenda with Item 8A continued to the September 11th, 2023 meeting. Is there a second? 00:02:17
2nd. 00:02:26
Thank you. 00:02:28
City Clerk Dei. Coordinator Kendall, would you please take A roll call vote? 00:02:30
Yes, chair. 00:02:36
I remember. 00:02:39
Aye, Vice Chair. Mark. 00:02:40
Motion carries 3. 00:02:44
One and what I failed to mention was we have a new appointment, uh Coral Barrett and she is not at this meeting but she will be at 00:02:46
the next. 00:02:50
Thank you. We look forward to welcoming her. 00:02:56
Item number three on the agenda is presentations. 00:03:00
Presentations are special informational items that help us with our task force work or recognitions by staff or a task force 00:03:04
member or a guest. 00:03:09
No task force discussion or public comment will be taken during item 3. 00:03:15
And this evening's presentation will be by Chief Kathy Madelone from the Pacific Grove Police Department. 00:03:21
And we welcome the Chief. Thank you. 00:03:29
Share the screen here. 00:03:33
OK, everybody can see that. Good. So good evening, Commissioners, members of the public and city staff, thank you for the 00:03:41
opportunity to provide you with an overview of your Police Department. Our motto is our community, your police. Our mission is to 00:03:48
provide exceptional public safety service and enhance the quality of life in our community. We have 5 core values of excellence, 00:03:54
community respect, professionalism and integrity. And our staff do their very best each and every day to live up to these values 00:04:01
and work together to accomplish our. 00:04:07
OK. Our team when fully staffed has a total of 34. 00:04:20
There are 23 sworn and 11 professional staff. We are currently recruiting for two community service officers and two police 00:04:24
service technicians. On July 31st we welcomed a new Police commander to the team and I'd like to ask him to stand up real quick. 00:04:32
So we can meet him. This is Brian Anderson. He comes through us from the city of San Jose. He was. 00:04:40
We retired there as Lieutenant. He started, as I said on July 31st and we threw him right into the fire because I was on 10 days 00:04:49
of vacation and the commander Santos. Stand up please, Sir. 00:04:55
You know our Dave. 00:05:01
He had an unexpected. 00:05:05
Incident. So he was out of work. 00:05:07
Commander Anderson was in charge right away. He did great while I was away. Just so you know. OK, so back to the presentation. So 00:05:10
recruiting and retention is affecting departments across the nation. So recruiting costs money and takes a significant amount of 00:05:17
time, which is why retaining good staff is very important and helps us provide service to our community. 00:05:24
Our team is very diverse. We are more diverse than the community we serve, which is important to mention because we are tourist 00:05:32
destination. 00:05:35
The stats I'm providing are based on 31 members, which will change slightly when we hire our next four employees. So currently we 00:05:40
have 34% female, 61% male. We are 59% white, 6% African American, 19% Hispanic and 16% Asian. 00:05:49
So having a healthy culture within the Police Department is vital to providing professional and quality service to our community. 00:06:01
I believe that providing the staff with the best. So so you see my graph here is is a three legged stool. 00:06:08
Right. And so the staff is up on top. The staff to me is the most valuable. 00:06:15
Of our of our assets that we have and each of the three lakes need to be working. So providing best police practices which is our 00:06:20
accreditation program, taking care of our staff mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally, which is the Wellness leg and 00:06:26
developing the team professionally and personally, which is the training leg. 00:06:32
With the most advanced and timely training is the key to the success. All three legs on the stool revolve around staff, and as I 00:06:39
just stated, staff are our most valuable resource. I believe the way they are treated directly impacts the way they treat members 00:06:46
of the public they encounter. If one of the legs of the stool is broken, the stool isn't stable. 00:06:52
You might be able to use your balance and lean on the seat of the stool, but all three legs must be working for there to be a 00:06:59
solid foundation. So let's dive into what each of these three legs are and how they are, how we are creating and cultivating a 00:07:04
solid foundation in the Police Department. 00:07:09
So Kali accreditation, our department voluntarily enrolled in Kalia, which is the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement 00:07:14
Agencies in January of 2018. Glee accreditation aims to establish a foundation for public safety agencies that focus on achieving 00:07:20
the best outcomes in the delivery of services. 00:07:26
Consistent internal and external review combined with third party validation of an agency's policies and procedures is critical in 00:07:33
delivering high quality public service safety services and promoting accountability. Although accreditation does not prevent all 00:07:40
adverse outcomes, it does set the course for success and provides a tool for review and ongoing measurement. Accreditation is 00:07:48
built on best practices in the form of standards. Our department was awarded clear accreditation in November of 2020. 00:07:56
Since then, we have completed and will continue to complete annual compliance reviews as we prepare for our next on site 00:08:04
assessment with independent auditors, which it will be in 2024, around November of 2024 and I also like to add that. 00:08:12
We are the only accredited agency and at least three counties, and we are the smallest municipal accredited Police Department in 00:08:20
the whole state of California. So through accreditation, there is a clear commitment to procedural justice, ethical policing, 00:08:27
Community Trust and engagement, transparency and service delivery, appropriate organizational culture, fairness and systems and 00:08:33
processes, and consistency in what citizens should expect from their Police Department. 00:08:40
And it is an ongoing. 00:08:47
The Wellness leg is very important to me and our administrative team, officers working on patrol who are not in the correct frame 00:08:50
of mind. 00:08:54
Can result in significant consequences to everyone involved, which is why so much effort is put into providing every resource 00:08:59
possible to our staff. 00:09:03
We have a one police chaplain, Pastor Charlie Rodriguez from the Peninsula Church, and we're always looking for other pastors to 00:09:07
join. So if anybody's interested in that, they can contact me or one of the commanders. We have a a peer support team that 00:09:14
consists of five members of the Police Department specially trained to help members process their responses to critical incidents. 00:09:20
We contracted with an employee assistance program that specializes in dealing with first responders and the critical incidents 00:09:27
they respond to. 00:09:31
We also have a software program called the Guardian Tracking Program that helps us monitor officers behaviors, their early warning 00:09:35
indicators. 00:09:39
To more significant issues so we can address them. 00:09:43
Early on and help prevent them from compounding or manifesting into larger problems. 00:09:47
Finally, we provide our each officer and their family members with an application, the Lighthouse app on their phones that 00:09:52
provides them with real time resources and tools. Why is this important? 00:09:57
The average person experiences 2 to 3 critical incidents in their lifetime, while the average police officer can see upwards of 00:10:03
188 critical incidents throughout their twenty year career. 00:10:09
Training last leg. 00:10:16
Our department participates in and follows hiring standards and training requirements specified by the California Commission on 00:10:19
Peace Officer Standards and Training. 00:10:23
Some department members started their law enforcement career in Pacific Grove and others are lateral officers who bring a wide 00:10:28
variety of law enforcement experience from other agencies. So, for example, the two commanders of myself are lateral officers. We 00:10:33
come in from different departments. All peace officers in the state of California are required to attend an accredited police 00:10:38
Academy. 00:10:44
Our department also invests in additional advanced training for our staff. 00:11:25
PGPD participates in the One Mine Pledge, which implements strategies for improving police response to persons affected by mental 00:11:29
illness. All sworn members of the PD attend Crisis Intervention Training in 2023. Members of the PD attended 2909 hours of 00:11:35
training throughout the year. 00:11:41
We we fully understand without the public's trust, it doesn't matter. If we have a good foundation internally, we will not be 00:11:50
successful. We believe one of the best ways to gain the public trust is to have continual positive interactions with our community 00:11:55
and members of the public. 00:12:00
We love engaging with our community and attend nearly every community event that occurs in the city. In addition, we also host 00:12:05
several events throughout the year to help maintain and grow our relationships with the public. 00:12:10
This slide shows a list of the larger events we host throughout the year. The key to each of these events is the opportunity for 00:12:16
members of the public to interact and get to know our staff understand that we are humans behind the badge and uniforms we wear. 00:12:23
Relationships or bonds are fortified and built, which help promote trust and collaboration. 00:12:30
We just graduated our second youth Academy in May and we hope to host another Citizens Academy in the fall. 00:12:35
Our National Night Out event has grown each year. It's a family event held the first Tuesday of every August. Our Halloween event 00:12:41
is so much fun. We love getting dressed up and engaging with the community. 00:12:47
We often host coffee with a cop events at business locations in the community and we'll be holding one of those in on September 00:12:53
15th from 10:00 to 11:30 and the location will be determined. 00:12:58
So please follow us on our social media and come join us. We participate in the Special Olympics events that help raise funds for 00:13:04
the athletes. We also reestablished our Neighborhood Watch program. And finally, our school resource program is built on a 00:13:11
partnership with PG USD. Their relationship between the SRO students, faculty and parents are immeasurable and invaluable. 00:13:18
SRO programs encourage dialogue between schools and law enforcement to help bridge the gap across professional cultures. It helps 00:13:26
prevent school based violence, connect at risk students and needed services, divert youth from juvenile court and create safe, 00:13:31
secure and peaceful school environments. 00:13:36
Members of the PGP. 00:13:42
Police Department understand and take our mission seriously. We strive to promote peace and harmony with all by building strong 00:13:44
relationships with our community. We are committed to our values of excellence, community respect, professionalism, integrity. We 00:13:50
live up to our model of our community and your police. 00:13:55
So thank you again for the opportunity and I'd be happy to answer any questions, although no questions are allowed for this 00:14:02
matter, but I will. 00:14:05
I am always available via e-mail and phone and you can also pop in the office if I'm there. I I love to interact with the 00:14:09
community. My door is always open but I'll leave the slide up for a few minutes. So this is the way you can connect with us and 00:14:16
follow us on social media so that you can learn about any of the events that we're having any anything that's significant for you 00:14:23
to know about as long as as in regards to police incidents that are going on. So this is the best way to contact with us so. 00:14:30
Thank you, Chief. Madeline here, I think. Thank you so much for having me. We can G very proud of many of the aspects of the city 00:14:37
organization that we've heard about tonight, the Police Department. So yes, I will note that the presentation that the chief gave 00:14:43
is attached to the agenda that is available online. And also, Chief, if you could say the date of the next coffee with the cops, 00:14:50
even though you don't know the location yet, sure, it'll be Friday, September 15th, it'll be from 10:00 to 11:30 at a location in 00:14:56
the city. 00:15:02
Thank you so much. We really appreciate your being here. My pleasure. 00:15:08
Item number four on the agenda is task force and staff announcements, City related items only. 00:15:16
Are there any task force announcements? 00:15:23
You will not be surprised to hear that I have a few. 00:15:33
First, I'd like to comment on the resignation of Secretary Donna Stevens. I wanted to share some of Secretary Stevens resignation 00:15:37
letter to the mayor and the task force because she does address the citizens of Pacific Grove as part of it. I'm quoting. Please 00:15:44
know that I'm thankful and honored that I had the opportunity to serve on such an esteemed task force. It was my pleasure to serve 00:15:51
with each of you to move the needle on diversity. 00:15:58
Equity and inclusion efforts in the City of Pacific Grove. I am proud of the work the Task Force has achieved and is proposing to 00:16:05
accomplish to move towards unity in the City of Pacific Grove. 00:16:11
Finally, I want to address the citizens of Pacific Grove. At every DEI Task Force meeting, I felt your passion and dedication to 00:16:17
the place referred to as America's Last Hometown. 00:16:23
I'm hopeful that everyone can respect each other's opinions, even if they are contrary to your own, and instead focus on what you 00:16:30
have in common as you continue the great work you're doing to build a more inclusive community. 00:16:37
We appreciate Secretary Stevens's contributions and wish her all the best in the future and as mentioned, we do have a new task 00:16:44
force member appointed and we look forward to their attendance at the next meeting. 00:16:50
I wanted to acknowledge the June closing of Pacific Grove Cleaners after 97 years in business. 00:16:56
And the contributions of Randy Uchida and his family for nearly a century to the business and cultural life of Pacific Grove. Mr. 00:17:03
Uchida, Randy's grandfather opened the business in 1926. Because California law prohibited anyone of Asian lineage from owning 00:17:10
land, Mr. Uchida had to have a white friend buy the property and lease it back to him. 00:17:18
In 1942, with other neighbors of Japanese ancestry, the family was sent to an internment camp and their property was seized. 00:17:26
Thanks to the kindness of friends and others, they were able to reclaim their property upon return and flourish in our community. 00:17:34
I want to recognize their strength, resilience, resilience, and service to our community for nearly 100 years. 00:17:41
The month of July was Disability Pride Month, an opportunity to honor the history, achievements, experiences and challenges faced 00:17:50
by individuals with disabilities. 00:17:55
Both visible and invisible, the Americans with Disability Act, known as the ADA, was passed in July 1990. 00:18:01
Hence the recognition in July, the 2023 theme for Disability Pride Month was Advancing Access and Equity. 00:18:10
I very much hope that next July council will acknowledge this landmark month and the city will fly the disability flag. 00:18:19
I also want to appreciate the Mayor's August 2nd Proclamation honoring the all black 54th Coast Artillery Regiment who served our 00:18:27
country so honorably while experiencing lifelong prejudice and discrimination. 00:18:34
It made such an impact on me to hear directly from surviving regiment member William E Jackson, senior in a 2011 Santa Cruz 00:18:42
interview. It's available online, of his life as a black man in segregated military and civilian life. 00:18:51
I also want to recognize the Hiroshima Nagasaki Remembrance and Floating Peace Lantern ceremony on August 5th at Lovers Point. 00:19:00
It was a solemn and moving remembrance. 00:19:09
And finally, Pacific Grove schools are back in session and I hope we can all help facilitate the safety of our communities 00:19:12
children by driving carefully during school hours around schools. 00:19:17
And watching out for each other. 00:19:23
Are there any staff announce? 00:19:26
Staff has no announcements. 00:19:29
Thank you. 00:19:31
Item number 5 is Council liaison announce. 00:19:33
Council member Padori. 00:19:38
Or are there any announcements from council member Padori? 00:19:41
Yes, there is. Council member Padori could not be present tonight, but on behalf of him he asked that I share. He first wanted to 00:19:45
congratulate Coral Barrett on their appointment and welcome them to the task force and and looking forward to meeting them next 00:19:50
month. 00:19:56
He also wanted to report that last month he had the opportunity to attend Monterey County's inaugural annual Race Relations Summit 00:20:03
meeting in Seaside, CA. The event was hosted by the black leaders and allies. 00:20:10
The goal was to bring regional community leaders to talk about race and the importance of diversity in work, environment and in 00:20:17
our communities. 00:20:21
His big take away was that we are all in this together and he wanted to especially thank the DI Task Force for the important work 00:20:26
that you all are doing for our community. Thank you. 00:20:32
Thank you. 00:20:38
Item number six is general public. 00:20:41
This is an opportunity for members of the public to comment on any item that is not on the agenda that is within the jurisdiction 00:20:44
of the City and of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force. And I will note that the Task Force often receives comments via 00:20:51
e-mail between meetings. I want to acknowledge the comments and the community interest. Task Force members are not able to engage 00:20:58
in dialogue via e-mail. 00:21:04
Comments regarding items on the regular agenda shall be heard prior to the task force consideration of the items at such times as 00:21:13
items are called. 00:21:17
And each member of the public may comment once per agenda. 00:21:22
Comments from the public will be limited to 3 minutes and will not receive Task Force action. 00:21:27
Speakers must adhere to the time limits, using the time limit lights as a guide. 00:21:33
Comments and statements should be addressed to the task force and not the audience. 00:21:38
Public comment is encouraged if it is not disruptive to the meeting. 00:21:44
As the chair, if someone chooses to engage in disruptive conduct, I will respond in a viewpoint neutral manner according to the 00:21:48
following rules of order. 00:21:53
Asking the individual to cease the disruptive behavior or call a meeting recess If the disruption continues, I may confer with 00:21:58
city staff, including the City attorney. 00:22:04
Ask that the member of the public making the disruption be ejected from the meeting. 00:22:10
Or adjourn the meeting. 00:22:14
Comments may be made in person or remotely using Zoom or by phone. 00:22:17
If in person, please come up to the podium one at a time and watch the time. Keeping lights red means that your 3 minutes has 00:22:23
ended. If joining the meeting by phone, please press star 9 to raise your hand to speak. 00:22:30
And Star 6 to unmute your phone. 00:22:37
I will now open general public comment to members of the public present. Would you indulge a comment? 00:22:41
To go back. 00:22:49
Would that be all right if point of indulge I'm sorry I missed that. Yeah indulgement. So what this would be doing is going 00:22:51
reopening then the staff. 00:22:56
Oh, yeah, that's at the Chair's discussion anyway. OK. So before I open general public comment, we'll go back to the task force 00:23:03
comments, OK And go to vice chair Mark. Thank you. 00:23:10
I couldn't remember the Robert's Rules for that. I did want to acknowledge we have a larger. 00:23:18
A larger number of community members here and I wanted to welcome. 00:23:27
And thank you for being here. 00:23:33
Your community engagement is very important to us. Your viewpoints matter and. 00:23:37
One of our charters is to have community engagement. So I'm hoping that we will continue to see you and and that you will come up 00:23:44
to this public comment portion and you will speak your mind, positive, negative, creative thoughts, whatever. So thank you again 00:23:51
for being here. 00:23:59
Thank you, Vice. 00:24:08
And now I will open general public comment and we will take members of the public who are present in person 1st and then we will 00:24:11
go remotely. 00:24:15
The podium is right. 00:24:21
Welcome. 00:24:30
Thank you. I'm Colleen Ingram, resident. 00:24:32
Thank you very much for the work you do. 00:24:36
I just wanted to give a shout out to Ralph Romero and his blog called The Peninsula Report. 00:24:39
You can find it. 00:24:45
Thepr.substack.com. 00:24:47
And I'll send that to you in an. 00:24:51
But this blog highlights feel good stories and events happening in the Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. 00:24:53
That celebrate our DI. 00:24:59
The most recent. 00:25:01
Includes information about Monterey City expanding its walking tour to include the Pearl District Path with history of Asian 00:25:03
immigrants and eventual Sicilian settlement. 00:25:08
Lower Presidio New Monterey Path will show importance of the Chinese and Portuguese and how they impacted Cannery Row. 00:25:14
Other August events highlighted are West End celebration in Sand City, the Turkish festival in Monterey. 00:25:24
There are new business features and a wonderful. 00:25:31
About the Salinas High School Students Invitation to the Mikvah Challenge Soapbox National Showcase in Washington, DC. 00:25:35
The Challenge is a public speaking program that challenges young people to speak out about issues that affect their lives. 00:25:44
Zabela's speech was a fact filled love letter to. 00:25:51
The farm workers who supply our nation with food. 00:25:55
As the daughter of farm workers, she wrote the speech as a way to thank her parents to let them know their work is valued and that 00:25:59
she is so proud of. 00:26:03
Being your daughter. 00:26:08
So if you get a chance, check it out. It's really nice. 00:26:09
Thank you. 00:26:13
Thank you. 00:26:15
Welcome. And the DI Task Force, Miss Kendall. My name is Mike Gibbs. I'm a member of the EDC here in Pacific Grove, speaking as a 00:26:34
private citizen. 00:26:40
And I just a couple of recognitions the CHIEF give, I've seen the presentation before but. 00:26:45
Her Wellness program is outstanding and it's true, is one of the few certification programs among small cities in the United, not 00:26:50
California, but the United States. So that's a wonderful thing. And I would like to also thank Chairman Bowie for the shout out to 00:26:56
the 54th and also sending me the video. 00:27:02
I think interview with Mr. Williams and that was extremely interesting so. 00:27:09
I'm here tonight just to you know I'm it's great to see everybody here. This is probably as many people of every other meeting for 00:27:13
the past 10 meetings put together which I have been at most of and I'm here to talk about EE is the equity in. 00:27:20
Dei A lot of people think that the E stands for equality, It stands for equity. We have things like the women's, you know, equal 00:27:28
Rights Amendment. 00:27:32
Not the equity Rights amendment, it was the Equal Rights Amendment. And I think some people are confused about the difference 00:27:37
between the two things. Equity is common outcomes and equality is common opportunity. Everybody has the same opportunity, but 00:27:44
equity calls for the same outcome for mostly everybody. So when I was in traveling in the South part of Peru and the Inca. 00:27:51
Outback near Arekeepa. There's it's a it's a big famous Inca culture makes the Keshava language and they have a saying that when 00:27:58
you walk down the street the Ke$ha would agree to each other. Amasua Amayu on Makia and I probably goof that up, but it's 00:28:04
basically. 00:28:10
Don't cheat, don't steal, don't lie. And I think that one of the things that. 00:28:16
We're starting to see in our school system is the development of equity, equity, grading, those kind of things in the school 00:28:22
system. 00:28:25
And the current PG USD school system is looking at equity grading. 00:28:29
Which basically says that cheating is taken out of. 00:28:35
The equation cheating doesn't count or it's given a pass. 00:28:39
And I It made me think of the Inca Don't cheat. Don't. 00:28:42
Kind of. 00:28:47
And outcomes are like that are not common in the workforce. If you get a job, you're expected to not cheat. You're held 00:28:48
accountable if you don't. And I and to me, the equity. 00:28:53
Umm, sort of. Movement has gone way too far to make sure everybody is treated exactly the same regardless of their work ethic. 00:29:00
Regardless the preparation, regardless of their homework, regardless of their ability to contribute to the team, nonetheless 00:29:08
everybody's treated the same way and I I think it's it's gone to, you know, kind of the wrong direction. 00:29:13
So for me, the E always stood for equality and let's make sure we give everybody the same opportunity to achieve at their own 00:29:19
level. 00:29:23
And so that's my comment here tonight. I appreciate your service. It's great to see everybody here and I hope other people talk 00:29:27
up. I'm looking forward to what they have to say. Thank you very much. 00:29:32
Thank you. 00:29:38
Welcome, Madam Chair, Madam Vice Chair, Member, Madam Clerk. 00:29:46
My name is Segal and Rub. 00:29:51
It's the first time I come here. I've been living in Pacific Grove for nine years. 00:29:54
And I just want to to to tell a little story of one night when we were in our house and we've been flying a rainbow flag since we 00:29:59
moved to PG. 00:30:04
And one night we heard little bang on our door, very timid. And it was a group of students from the middle school, from Pacific 00:30:10
Grove Middle School. 00:30:14
Who had gathered enough courage to come and let us know how important for them it was to see our flag, the flag on our house, 00:30:19
because it made them feel safer? 00:30:25
And all these signs like the like the City Hall and the police flying the flag, all these signs are so important for people who 00:30:31
feel like they're not part of. 00:30:36
And what you're doing is essential. 00:30:42
Oh, and by the way, there's never too much equity that doesn't exist. 00:30:45
And and to finish, 'cause I'm I'm gonna make it short to finish to go back to the the schools. 00:30:49
Pacific Grove Union School District. I mean, we moved from Paris and we looked at all the schools on the West Coast and there were 00:30:56
two that respected our criteria and PG was one of them. 00:31:02
So from Europe we flew direct to. 00:31:09
Because of the school, thank you to the school. So I just want to say that this school district is so strong. 00:31:11
And so dedicated to the well-being of all their students that surely. 00:31:19
And with the results they have, they know better than any of us, simple citizen, what they're doing. 00:31:27
My son graduate. Our son graduated from TGI school two years ago. He's thriving in UC Irvine. 00:31:34
And so are all his friends from the Pacific Grove School District. So again. 00:31:40
Thank you very much the I task force. I appreciate what you do. I encourage you to do even. 00:31:46
Thanks. 00:31:51
Thank you. 00:31:53
Welcome. 00:32:02
Thank you. Good evening. My name is Carol Marquardt. I live in Pacific Grove and. 00:32:03
See, I'm really happy I've been to all these meetings. 00:32:10
And we'll be happy to see people here and we now have three DI task force members here. 00:32:15
And I learned there were five appointed and looking forward to the. 00:32:23
Person. 00:32:28
Going to be appointed and I'm looking forward to also. 00:32:30
Councilmember Padori attending I I don't think I've seen him attend in the last five meetings that I've been here. 00:32:34
In the past I have talked about. 00:32:42
A proposal that the DEI task Force had of spending $356,000 for a consultant. I don't know if that's coming up tonight, but I 00:32:46
understand the seed collaborative. 00:32:52
Is an organization in Southern California, and he recommends that the state must ask for. 00:32:59
Age, gender, gender orientation, gender expression and income for any applicant. 00:33:06
Who replies in the city Pacific Grove. 00:33:13
Now I understand from reading the Wall Street Journal and the Monroe Herald and many other newspapers that there are certain 00:33:17
protected groups. 00:33:22
And they are and I have to read this. 00:33:27
Race, Sex, Color, Ethnicity, National origin, Religion, Sexual orientation, Gender identity, Age, Disability. 00:33:32
Generic information and veteran status. Now that's a lot of protected people, so I wonder if the number of people. 00:33:41
Been discriminated against are going to outnumber the people who are discriminating. 00:33:52
And I also remind you that Chief Justice John Roberts the majority opinion in June and. 00:33:59
That was against the preferential admissions in certain universities and his conclusion is that. 00:34:08
Applicants or anybody must be treated based on his or her experiences and individual. 00:34:17
And not as a basis of race. Thank. 00:34:24
Thank you. 00:34:28
Welcome. 00:34:39
Hello, my name is Liz Jacobs. I'm a resident in Pacific Grove. 00:34:42
I am here because I first of all want to say thank you so much for the work that you do. 00:34:47
It's very affirming for me and in these times especially and I it's much appreciated. 00:34:53
I among the hats I wear, one of them is that I'm the chair of the Business Improvement District in Pacific Grove and. 00:35:02
You know, in our August meeting following discussion of the Supreme Court ruling that businesses may if they want to. 00:35:11
Refused service to people that they feel violate their religions or offend them. 00:35:23
And this was targeted, of course, at the LGBTQ plus community and. 00:35:29
The business owners in Pacific Grove that were attending the August meeting voted. 00:35:36
To. 00:35:43
Create and distribute decals for businesses in the Lighthouse District in the downtown. 00:35:45
That say all are welcome because we we feel that it's a step backward to, you know refuse service we feel. 00:35:51
And that we don't want to lose the. 00:36:01
The inclusivity. 00:36:04
Our our dedication to the whole community. 00:36:07
And I just wanted to say you, this will be happening in the future and. 00:36:11
You know it's. 00:36:19
I think we feel that it's very much in line with the work that you're doing. I just wanted to come here and say, you know, thank 00:36:19
you for for what you're doing. 00:36:23
And you know, we appreciate the the dissent opinions, I guess in the. 00:36:28
Supreme Court that say the 14th Amendment does say that we are all protected The the IT makes provisions for protecting all 00:36:34
members of society. So yeah, thank you so much for having that as your ethos. And I think the majority of people in our community 00:36:41
feel the same way. Thank you. 00:36:48
Thank you. 00:36:56
Welcome. 00:37:05
My name is Beth Walker. My pronouns are she. 00:37:09
I'd like to speak directly to the task force and say thank you for all that you're doing. I know this work is difficult, but 00:37:13
desperately needed. 00:37:17
And absolutely worth it. 00:37:22
I was reminded in the 4th of July parade where we had a contingent for Monterey Peninsula Pride. 00:37:25
That there are a lot more of people who believe in the DEI work than not. 00:37:32
It was a. 00:37:38
Reminder that there can be hope. 00:37:41
I know that. 00:37:46
The dissenting opinion can be loud and bullying, but we have more supporters, more people that believe like we do, that we can be 00:37:49
Better Together. More diversity is better and change is good. 00:37:55
I am sure sometimes it feels like you're walking alone. 00:38:02
And nothing could be further from the truth. 00:38:06
I'd also like to speak to things that I have heard people say from this podium. 00:38:09
This task force has existed for 2 1/2 years. I know that a lot of people haven't paid attention up until the last election. 00:38:13
The intimidation and attacks on the LGBTQ AI Plus community using conspiracy theory. Talking points, National Q Anon Conspiracy 00:38:24
theory. 00:38:29
Theory talking points such as we can live with the L and the G and the B, but the rest of the alphabet has to go. 00:38:35
That's not the way it. 00:38:43
There's just as many people in this country with green eyes as there are transgender. 00:38:46
Are we going to murder all of the green eyed people in this country? I don't think so. 00:38:51
Small minded people don't get to decide whose life they approve of or. 00:38:56
For those that do not understand your impact. 00:39:00
These kids are more than likely to be tormented in school, experience domestic violence, more likely to become homeless, more 00:39:03
likely to self harm, and more likely to attempt suicide. They are trying to live their authentic life and they deserve our 00:39:09
support. 00:39:15
I'd like to speak directly to our neighbors of color, LGBTQ AI, plus families, friends, neighbors, especially our queer and trans 00:39:21
youth. 00:39:25
You are loved, supported. You are worth fighting. 00:39:30
Please do not let these bullies get in the way of you pursuing and living your best life in your authentic self. 00:39:34
Don't let a small group of hateful people change how you feel about our city or how you feel about yourselves. 00:39:41
We see you. We love you, We support you, and you have allies here. Thank you. 00:39:48
Thank you. 00:39:55
Taking no other public comment in person. 00:40:05
Are there any who would? Oh, here's one more. 00:40:08
Welcome. 00:40:13
Hi there. My name is Melanie Zaragoza. I'm board chair of Monterey Peninsula Pride, but here acting as a private citizen. 00:40:16
I just also want to thank this task force for being here. I've been board chair for Monterey Peninsula Pride since 2021, and it's 00:40:24
been some of the most rewarding work that I've done in my 10 years in the nonprofit sector. 00:40:31
It's volunteer work. 00:40:39
And myself and ten other people work countless hours to serve the queer community here. And that was very visible at our Pride 00:40:41
parade last month, and I hope that many of you were there. 00:40:48
So I just want to say thank you on behalf of Monterey Peninsula Pride and myself for having this task force. We know that 00:40:56
diversity is so important, equity is so important, inclusion is. 00:41:02
So important. This is such a privileged community and it is a privilege to be a part of it as well and as a young person at 00:41:08
Chicana. 00:41:13
And a person who's part of the queer community. I just want to encourage you to keep the work going. 00:41:18
And I'll bring my own phrase forward that I heard when I was in school, which is equality is making sure everybody has shoes. 00:41:23
Equity is making sure everybody has shoes that fit. 00:41:32
Thanks. 00:41:37
Thank you. 00:41:39
Welcome. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks for your work. I really appreciate you all. And I just wanted to quickly address the 00:41:49
issue of equitable grading. 00:41:55
That was mischaracterized here this evening. It is not about turning a blind eye to cheating. Equitable grading is about. 00:42:03
Mastery. Making sure that the student has mastery of the material instead of penalizing them in a way that does not recognize 00:42:13
their work. For example, a neighbor of mine, a young man, he turned he had a situation in his family and he turned in his 00:42:19
assignment late. 00:42:26
And he was penalized 50%. 00:42:32
And so that. 00:42:35
Do anything about his learning. He had the material, he had an A, but because it was late and that for some reason they weren't 00:42:38
able to let that the teacher know he was penalized. So equitable grad. 00:42:44
Is about that. It's not about allowing cheating and also regarding trans people. 00:42:51
Erasing people. 00:42:58
Is fascism and we don't do that in this country. 00:43:00
Thank you. 00:43:04
Thank you. 00:43:07
Clerk TEI Coordinator Kendall, Do we have any citizens who would like to comment on general public comment remotely? 00:43:14
I do not see any hands raised. 00:43:23
OK. Thank you. 00:43:26
I will now close general public. 00:43:28
Item number seven is the consent agenda. This deals with routine and non controversial matters. The vote on the consent agenda 00:43:32
applies to each item unless removed. 00:43:37
Any task force member or the public may remove an item for individual consideration. 00:43:43
When items are pulled for discussion, they are placed at the end of the regular agenda. 00:43:49
One motion shall be made to approve all non removed items on the consent agenda. 00:43:54
Are there any requests by a task force member or the public to remove a consent agenda item? 00:43:59
Clerk DI Coordinator Kendall. 00:44:07
Sorry, any request from the public to remove a consent agenda item? No, Nobody online. OK, thank you. Seeing none, I would move to 00:44:10
approve the consent agenda. Is there a second? 00:44:16
2nd. 00:44:23
Members, thank you. 00:44:25
City Clerk the Coordinator Kendell, may we have a roll call vote. 00:44:28
Yes, chair, chair. 00:44:33
I remember hoops. 00:44:35
Aye, Vice Chair Marks. 00:44:38
Motion carries 3. 00:44:41
Thank you. The minutes of the June 12th, 2023 DI Task Force Regular meeting and the July 10th, 2023 DEI Task Force regular meeting 00:44:44
adjourned due to a lack of quorum were approved. 00:44:51
And then item number 8A on the regular agenda has been continued to the September 11th meeting. 00:44:59
Item number 8B on the regular agenda is a report from the underrepresented Groups and Communities Subcommittee. 00:45:07
There'll be a brief oral agenda report, then task force come, task force questions. 00:45:14
Then public comment on this agenda item and then task force discussion. 00:45:20
As the remaining member of the underrepresented groups and community subcommittee, I will present the report. 00:45:26
And I will note that this subcommittee was established by the task force because several items in our purpose have to do with 00:45:33
underrepresented communities. 00:45:39
First of all, our Task Force Purpose Item C is to promote the participation of underrepresented communities. 00:45:47
Including, but not limited to, people of color. 00:45:56
LGBTQ. 00:46:01
People with disabilities, immigrants and others and monitor change that occurs to diversity, equity, inclusion and racial justice 00:46:02
within the city. 00:46:07
And item D of our purpose is to provide feedback, guidance, strategies and recommendations to increase community engagement by 00:46:12
underrepresented groups. 00:46:17
And as a task force, we felt that having a shared understanding of the terms underrepresented groups and underrepresented 00:46:24
communities would help us in our work with and for the community. So you heard a presentation tonight from our Police Department. 00:46:30
Every month we've been having a presentation from different community groups or parts of the city that help us understand more 00:46:36
about our community and about underrepresented groups within the community. For example, at the last meeting we had a 00:46:42
presentation. 00:46:48
By the President, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. So we heard from the business organization. 00:46:55
So during July, Secretary Stevens and I continued working on identifying underrepresented groups and communities not listed in the 00:47:01
task force purpose. And one thing that we found was it's possible to get demographic data, for example, from the census, but self 00:47:09
identification is not something that's usually captured with traditional data gathering models. So we see that as sort of a big 00:47:16
hole quite frankly that somebody who's experienced in this work who has done. 00:47:24
A lot of work in cities and communities might be able to help the other. 00:47:32
We also hoped to bring back information as we continue to work on this to help us as a task force. Another item in our purpose is 00:47:37
to develop a community lens to examine city policies, programs, and practices. So getting a broader sense of our community is 00:47:44
going to help us develop that community lens. 00:47:52
I will say that a couple of things that we did notice before Secretary Stevens had to leave was that one area that we noted is 00:48:00
that Pacific Grove does not have a Youth advisory committee to represent the approximately 18% of Pacific Grove's population that 00:48:07
is 18 and under. In fact, the City Charter does not allow anyone to be appointed to a committee unless they're old enough to 00:48:13
register to vote. 00:48:19
And we think that we felt that the work of the youth ambassadors, most recently this summer, shows the value of welcoming and 00:48:27
including young voices and perspectives into civic life. Valuable not only for now, but certainly for the future when we want to 00:48:32
have engaged citizens. 00:48:37
And then, although people of color are specified as one underrepresented community, Secretary Stevens and I noted that there are 00:48:43
many different groups and experiences within that phrase. 00:48:49
And it is very clear to us as a task force, and I'll say this, having been on the task force since the beginning that expressed 00:48:55
public interest from our very beginning, including to the present, there is, let me put it another way, there has been and there 00:49:03
continues to be expressed public interest in recognizing, learning about and never forgetting. 00:49:10
For example, Pacific Groves, Chinese. 00:49:18
Or the black and African American life in Pacific Grove, Japanese American history, indigenous people, and many others. 00:49:21
We feel that this is such an important part of the work of diversity, equity and inclusion for Pacific Grove, learning about our 00:49:30
shared history and heritage, but also hearing directly from the people whose lives and experiences were changed and also helped 00:49:38
change Pacific Grove. So I sincerely hope that the task force will take this under consideration for the future as well. We will 00:49:46
continue to have presentations. We have them scheduled out pretty much through the end of this year. 00:49:54
And my hope is that as we're able to get another subcommittee appointed to look at this, we will be bringing back to the task 00:50:02
force more information about underrepresented communities. 00:50:08
In addition to the ones listed. 00:50:14
Are there any questions from the task force? 00:50:17
So we will take public comments on this item. Now. Comments will be limited to 3 minutes and will not receive Task Force action. 00:50:25
Speakers must adhere to the time limits using the time limit lights as the guide. Again, comments and statements should be 00:50:32
addressed to the Task Force and not to the audience. And again, public comment is encouraged if it is not disruptive to the 00:50:38
meeting and as the chair. If someone chooses to engage in conduct that is disruptive, I will respond in a viewpoint neutral manner 00:50:45
according to the rules of order. 00:50:51
Comments may be made in person or remotely using Zoom or by phone, so I will first open public comment on the underrepresented 00:50:58
subcommittee item to members of the public present remotely. 00:51:04
Clerk Dei Coordinator Kendall, Do we have any members present remotely? 00:51:13
A No hands raised online. 00:51:20
OK, then I will open it up to those who are present in person.