SPIRIT Council Data Subcommittee Special Meeting

SIMSBURY SPIRIT COUNCIL
DATA SUB-COMMITTEE

SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES

November 25, 2020, 4-6 pm

ROLL CALL:

PRESENT: Kristen Formanek (to administer the meeting start) Mary-Margaret Girgenti, Tenesha Grant, Rebekah Hatch, Chris Kelly

AWAY: Meg Evans

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE led by Kristen

CALL TO ORDER – 4:05pm

PUBLIC AUDIENCE/PUBLIC COMMENTS – None

UPDATE FROM THE CHAIR – No significant updates. Recap of timeline and presentation to Board of Selectman.

ACTION ITEMS

1. Goal setting
   1. Refer back to Board of Selectmen meeting & the information presented in the SPIRIT Council slides (see attached)
   2. Review proclamation (see attached)

The group agreed that the goals set forth in the presentation to the Board of Selectman were still relevant and appropriate.

1. Upcoming meeting dates

We scheduled a special meeting for Monday, 12/28/2020 @ 6:00pm. Going forward, we will hold meetings on the 4^th Mondays of each month. MOTION: Rebekah Hatch. SECOND: Mary-Margaret Girgenti. All in favor – PASSED.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Appointment of subcommittee recording secretary

Chris Kelly agreed, beginning with the 12/28 meeting, to act as recording secretary for this subcommittee. We will readdress at our June 2021 meeting.

1. Next steps for town-wide surveying procedures, processes, etc.

We agreed that our next step should be engaging an outside consultant, initially to help design/develop a survey that would produce data for the purposes of creating benchmarks.

The DOJ had no specific recommendations for us for further resources.

• will follow-up with Wendy Helmkamp for a list of resources, if available, and connect members of this group with those contacts for follow-up.

Mary-Margaret Girgenti will reach out to Mattice Haynes, a contact forwarded from the City of Decatur, GA. Ms. Haynes assisted Decatur with their “Better Together” work.

The work of the consultant should optimally center around development of a survey, inclusive of the objectives of the Proclamation adopted by the Board of Selectmen in September 2020.

1. Covering upcoming SPIRIT Council events

Based on previous discussion, the group agreed to assign a member of this subcommittee to each event planned by the Events Subcommittee. A calendar of those dates, and the person assigned to the event, is attached.

OLD BUSINESS - None

NEXT MEETING: Monday, December 28, 2020

ADJOURNMENT – 4:45pm

MOTION: Rebekah Hatch. SECOND: Chris Kelly. All in favor - PASSED

EVENTS COVERAGE

In general, the Events Subcommittee endeavors to hold community-wide DEI-related events. In an effort to collect information and input from our community, members of the Data Subcommittee will attend these gatherings.

Thursday, December 3:              Mary-Margaret Girgenti

Thursday, January 7:                   Chris Kelly

Thursday, February 4:                 Rebekah Hatch

Thursday, March 4:                     Chris Kelly

Thursday, April 1/8:

Thursday, May 6:

Thursday, June 3:

SPIRIT Council: Data Subcommittee

2021 MEETING DATES

Monday, December 28, 2020 6:00pm (special meeting)

Monday, January 25, 2021 6:00pm

Monday, February 22, 6:00pm

Monday, March 22, 6:00pm

Monday, April 26, 6:00pm

Monday, May 24, 6:00pm

Monday, June 28, 6:00pm

Monday, July 26, 6:00pm

Monday, August 23, 6:00pm

Monday, September 27, 6:00pm

Monday, October 25, 6:00pm

Monday, November 22, 6:00pm

Monday, December 27, 6:00pm

Information presented to Board of Selectmen

Purpose of the Data SC –

To gather data and to assess progress towards DEI goals developed by the Simsbury SPIRIT Council.

Plans:

1. Engage an expert to assist with gathering & analyzing multi- faceted (quantitative and qualitative) context-specific data
2. Recommend follow-up plans or actions, with community involvement
3. Create benchmarks using existing and not-yet-collected data
4. Monitor progress

RESOLUTION DECLARING RACISM A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS

WHEREAS, racism is a social system with multiple dimensions, including (1) individual racism that is interpersonal, and (2) systemic racism that is institutional or structural and is a system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on the social interpretation of how one looks; and

WHEREAS, race is a social construct with no biological basis; and

WHEREAS, racism unfairly disadvantages specific individuals and communities, while unfairly giving advantages to other individuals and communities, and saps the strength of the whole society through the waste of human resources; and

WHEREAS, racism is a root cause of poverty and constricts economic mobility; and

WHEREAS, racism causes persistent discrimination and disparate outcomes in many areas of life, including housing, education, employment, and criminal justice, and is itself a social determinant of health; and

WHEREAS, racism and segregation have exacerbated a health divide resulting in people of color in Connecticut bearing a disproportionate burden of illness and mortality including COVID-19 infection and death, heart disease, diabetes, and infant mortality; and

WHEREAS, Black, Native American, Asian, Latinx and other residents of color are more likely to experience poor health outcomes as a consequence of inequities in economic stability, education, physical environment, food, and access to health care and these inequities are, themselves, a result of racism; and

WHEREAS, many studies have linked racism to worse health outcomes; and

WHEREAS, the collective prosperity and wellbeing of the Town of Simsbury depends upon equitable access to opportunity for every resident regardless of the color of their skin.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE TOWN OF SIMSBURY TO:

1. Declare racism a public health crisis affecting all of the United States, including Connecticut.

1. Work to become an equity and justice-oriented organization, by continuing to identify specific activities and policies to enhance diversity and to ensure antiracism principles across our leadership, staffing and contracting.

1. Promote equity through all policies and enhance educational efforts aimed at understanding, addressing and dismantling racism and how it affects the delivery of human and social services, economic development and public safety.