SPIRIT Council - Minutes
SIMSBURY COMMUNITY FOR CARE
SPIRIT Council Meeting Minutes
MEETING September 24, 2020 - 6-8 pm
Via Zoom Live Feed
PUBLIC COMMENTS were able to be submitted to be read during the public audience portion to Simsbury Town Clerk at EButler@simsbury-ct.gov. Deadline for public comments was no later than 4:30pm Wednesday, September 23, 2020.
Meeting called to order at 6:00
PUBLIC AUDIENCE No public comments were posted.
Roll Call: In attendance via zoom were: Gertrude Banks, Sarah Batchelder, Chief Nicholas Boulter, Carol Clark-Flanagan, Cheryl Cook, Meg Evans, Annalise Febus-Barlow, Kristen Formanek, Mary-Margaret Girgenti, Tenesha Grant, Rebekah Hatch, Wendy Helmkamp, Sue Homrok-Lemke, Lloyd Huie, Chris Kelly, Nicole Kodak, Officer Todd Kushman, Nkosi Lee, Lyndsay Neffinger, Gene Ott, Joan Robichaud and Diana Yeisley
UPDATE FROM THE CHAIRS. Co-chairs Cheryl and Nicole thanked the committee for the work, especially with the Events Committee launching the Simsbury Let’s Talk series. They shared that the Board of Selectmen has identified SPIRIT work as one of their top priorities. SPIRIT will present to the Board of Selectmen Tuesday, September 29. The Town plans to incorporate SPIRIT In all matters impacting diversity, equity and inclusion going forward. SPIRIT is collaborating with other active community groups such as Holding the Door Open.
ACTION ITEMS
Minutes from June 25th were approved as written.
SPIRIT presentation to the Board of Selectmen Sept 29th was discussed.
Diana motioned to approve.Meg seconded.No objections. Presentation was approved.
3. Town Resolution to declare racism a public health crisis was discussed. If the Board of Selectmen enacts it, the Resolution will call for SPIRIT to do work to support it. Nicole moved to approve and forward for BOS vote. Cheryl seconded. No discussion. The Resolution passed and will be presented to the BOS Tuesday September 29. Kristen forwarded resources on Health Equity data supporting racism as a public health crisis from the Farmington Valley Health District.
Given the volume of work to be done, the committee discussed the addition of a vice-chairperson. Nicole moved to appoint Tenesha Grant as vice-chair of SPIRIT. Cheryl seconded. No discussion. Motion passed unanimously.
5. Work to transition SPIRIT to a Town Committee was discussed.
There is much work to organize the new committee, develop policies and procedures, set goals, adopt calendars, etc.SPIRIT’s next calendared meeting will occur Nov. 2.Nkosi requested SPIRIT consider how to gather and benefit from the entire council considering ideas while respecting FOIA requirements.Chief Boulter suggested SPIRIT consider a working group to allow opportunities for discussions.Rebekah raised the value of committees sharing plans and having the chance to reverberate off each other’s ideas.Tenesha raised the Resolution as a guide to shape SPIRIT goals going forward.
Chris Kelly has agreed to help lead SPIRIT through the multi-step process of organizing and goal-setting as a town committee.
SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTS
Events Committee – Nkosi shared the work around Simsbury Let’s Talk series partnering with the Simsbury Public Library. There is a calendar with at least one conversation per month through Juneteenth 2021. These events have been well-attended with excellent discussions for participants to listen, learn, and support our community members. Nkosi has been a fantastic moderator, engaging all participants and encouraging depth of conversation. We encourage all SPIRIT members to join upcoming events. Once we are able to gather in person, the committee has plans for other events including cultural music and food trucks.
Data / Audit Group – This subcommittee has been working to identify what data we need and what data is currently available to assess progress toward DEI goals set by Simsbury SPIRIT council. The passing of the Resolution will support the need to partner with an outside expert for independent data collection and an audit. This work was a top priority coming out of the initial town forum in May 2019 attended by over 100 community leaders. This subcommittee feels strongly that whatever data is gathered to understand the climate, perception, life experiences among community members needs to go beyond quantitative data to reflect qualitative feedback through further listening sessions, conversations at Let’s Talk events, etc.
Outreach Committee – The goal of this subcommittee is to promote awareness of the SPIRIT committee and partner with other organizations locally and regionally to drive progress in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. In addition to plans to reach out to these organizations, the subcommittee plans to offer a series of interactive sessions covering the history of race in America to be facilitated by Lloyd Huie starting as early as November. The committee is working through how to structure the event virtually to allow for discussion, which is a critical component for the series.
NEW BUSINESS
Discussion on becoming a Town Committee
As SPIRIT’s staff liaison, Kristen detailed the structure, process, FOI training, membership requirements and commitments of serving on a town committee. She discussed the benefits of becoming a town committee. She outlined requirements of operating as a town committee. Once the committee members have been appointed, the FOI commissioner has agreed to provide training to the new committee members. At this time, we will discuss how to engage with each other meaningfully while still upholding FOIA requirements as a public committee. Kristen also informed that zoom meetings and events are a heavy lift requiring two social services staff. Subcommittee meetings for all town committees occur early mornings or during the day.
Actions if approved to become a Town Committee
Cheryl and Kristen led the discussion on member commitment for Town Committee Steering Members including monthly Committee meetings, monthly subcommittee meetings, possibly attending meetings of other town commissions, volunteering at events once we are able to hold them in -person, actively publicizing events, and working in between. SPIRIT will request a larger than typical number of members, leaving spots open for student members, marketing expert, and future community members. We expect every current member to have the opportunity to be on the Steering Committee. It was requested that each SPIRIT member to respond in writing if you want to be part of Town Committee given the above commitments. SPIRIT will keep a list of volunteers for those who wish to be involved with less commitment.
SPIRIT’s immediate actions to organize at a town committee will include writing policies & procedures, setting a calendar of all meeting dates for the year, establishing committee structure (chairs and subcommittees, commission liaisons), and goal-setting.
LIAISON REPORTS
Update on the Equity Council
Nicole updated on Equity Council passing the Equity Statement to the Board of Education who approved it. This statement will be used as the equity lens for Simsbury Public Schools. The Equity Council also voted to create subcommittees to meet between council meetings to move the work forward.
Introduction and Update from our Library Liaison
Lyndsay Neffinger updated that the Simsbury Public Library has been working as the SPIRIT liaison since July. They have supported all the Simsbury Let’s Talk events and have several additional events for SPIRIT to co-sponsor with them as well. The library has acquired a second zoom account for events. The library agrees to organize a living document of town resources to support diversity, equity and inclusion with books, articles, videos, podcasts, etc. Lyndsay requested that SPIRIT members help monitor the list and recommend resources. Kristen offered for Social Services to provide books for youth community members for virtual book groups.
OLD BUSINESS- none
Diana motioned to adjourn. Nkosi seconded. Meeting adjourned at 7:42 pm.
NEXT MEETING: Monday, November 2, 2020