Minutes - SPIRIT Council

Meeting date: 
Thursday, February 27, 2020

Community for Care

SPIRIT Council

DRAFT Meeting Minutes

MEETING –February 27, 2020– 6:00-8:00 PM

Eno Memorial Hall – Old Court Room

Meeting called to order at 6:04

PUBLIC AUDIENCE in attendance

Introductions of five visitors were made.

INTRODUCTIONS

Council members introduced themselves.

ACTION ITEMS

A motion was made, seconded and passed to add discussion of the SPIRIT council name to the agenda under action items. 

Minutes from January 23rd were discussed and approved.

Plans for the March 11th Implicit Bias co-hosting with Community for Care and Simsbury Social Services were reviewed.  We will attend the 5:45 CFC meeting followed by the event at 6:30 at the Simsbury Public Library.  Shane Scott, Board member of Our True Colors, will be the speaker. 

An update was given for the March 18th SCTV taping of SPIRIT council introduction. 

SPIRIT council is on the Agenda for a presentation at the April 6th Board of Selectman (BOS) meeting held at 6:00 pm at Town Hall.  Preparation for the meeting will happen separately.

Angelica Soto has agreed to act as our Social Media Coordinator.  We will ask BOS for approval to have a Facebook page and Instagram account representing this town work. 

Carol Clark-Flanagan was not available to discuss video and photos.

We discussed changing SPIRIT council name. We have received mixed reactions to the council name as we begin to engage with community members.  Discussion was had and it was concluded that we will continue to be Simsbury SPIRIT council.  As we proceed and the scope of council work clarifies, we may revisit the name. 

SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTS

Slogan Committee/ Marketing Committee –The positive slogan is Simsbury on the rise.  The Committee will now broaden to become the Marketing Committee with banners in town being the big next step.  We will begin to investigate possibilities and what is needed to accomplish this.

Data and Research Group –Rebekah Hatch has assumed the role of chair. We may need funding, and we need clarity around what meaningful data we want to measure.  We have identified potential sites that may help us as we begin our own research and examine our own community wellness measurement and indices; Decatur, GA Better Together website, HFPG and Datahaven, and the CT Data Collaborative and Yale research students.  We will also begin to research potential grant opportunities.

Outreach Committee –Letters and emails have gone out to Simsbury businesses and organizations introducing SPIRIT council and inviting them to March 11th Implicit Bias event.  Sue Lemke will represent Simsbury Public Schools on March 26th at the Greater Hartford Interfaith Action Alliance event and has offered to share our letter of introduction.

NEW BUSINESS

Lloyd has agreed to tape a multi-segment series on racial awareness on SCTV.  He will collaborate with his co-facilitator. 

We will identify other topics and formats for future community conversations.  This will likely be the core focus of our work to welcome, celebrate, and take action to support diversity and inclusion among current and future community members. 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Sue Lemke provided an update on the work of the Equity Council.  They have neared completion of the proposed district’s Equity Stance and will begin to look at Simsbury school equity data.  

OLD BUSINESS – none presented.

Meeting adjourned at 8:06 pm.  Next meeting to be held on March 26th, 2020.

Respectfully Submitted,
SPIRIT Council