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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018 Community Relations 045pLITH 8E4'O U \ d W PE R x 186 OFFICE OF THE CLERK KAREEMAH N. FOWLER, CITY CLERK COMMUNITY RELATIONS MARCH 12, 2018 4:45 P.M. (ORGANIZATIONAL) Committee Members Present: Regina Williams-Preston, Sharon L. McBride, Gavin Ferlic, Karen White Committee Members Absent: None Other Council Present: John Voorde, Jo M. Broden, Oliver Davis, Tim Scott Other Council Absent: Dr. David Varner Others Present: Kareemah Fowler, Bianca Tirado, Graham Sparks, Bob Palmer Agenda: Organizational Meeting Committee Chair Regina Williams-Preston called to order the Community Relations Committee Organizational meeting at 4:45 p.m. She introduced members of the Committee and proceeded with the meeting. Organizational Meeting Committee Chair Williams-Preston briefly went over the Community Relations Committee 2017 Annual Report. She stated, There were three (3) main areas of focus and we had four (4) public meetings last year to cover those three (3) main topics. The three (3) topics were about racial and economic justice, reducing violence by building peace, and housing and neighborhood development. With regards to racial and economic justice, we hosted the American Democracy Collaborative early on to talk about working with the anchor institutions in our community to address issues of income inequality by focusing on community wealth building. We were looking at how or would the City be interested in investing in things like Cooperatives to address some of these inequities. Out of those conversations, and working with Christina Brooks in the Diversity and Inclusion Office, there was a partnership with Prosperity Now and that created the Race and Wealth Divide Report. That gave us some numbers and gave us a slap in the face as to where we are. It is a great place to start to address these issues.We held one(1)meeting on reducing violence by building peace. We invited local organizations to work on peace building and one (1) of the biggest themes of those reports was restorative justice.That is the idea of building better and strong relationships throughout the community to be able to address things.We will be talking about what we can do this near in terms of moving that forward. One(1) suggestion was to replicate the South Bend Community School Corporation's restorative justice implementation team. We need to look at that so we can actually identify youth,seniors,and community members to learn how to actually INTEGRITY1 SERVICE1 ACCESSIBILITY JENNIFER M.COFFMAN BIANCA L.T7RADo JOSEPH R.MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIREcToR OF OPERATIONS DEPU'T'Y/DIREcFoR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 415 County-City Building 1 227 W.Jefferson Blvd,I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 1 f 574.235.91731 www.sou,llendin.gov ®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK run these groups. Other cities have conflict resolution centers that work with neighborhoods. We would be giving these people these skills to do this themselves. We hope we will be able to work with the Residential Neighborhood and Health and Public Safety Committees to look at that. The final issue we talked about was housing and neighborhood development. We had lots of meetings and initiatives that come forward. We are looking raise awareness about the housing conditions. The Administration put money in the budget to address that and we are very excited about that. We are moving forward with the community needs assessment to get people's input as to what their needs are. What I loved was that it was a nice collaboration between community wellness partners and the City of South Bend. They are currently recruiting folks, training them, and releasing them into their own neighborhoods this spring. Committee Chair Williams-Preston then opened the floor to comments from Council and Committee members. Councilmember Tim Scott stated, This is really good and you hit it on the head. We are touching a lot of other Committees as well. Just make sure there is good communication between them all. We will be working with a group to display more artwork between the Mayor's Office and the Clerk's Office. We want to focus on strengthening the relationship between the citizens and their government. Committeemember Karen White stated,We need to look at enhancing our communication between all sectors of the City. It is very important we have a strong relationship with our schools. I believe the School Board meets at the same time the Council meets, and that really hampers both entities to have a solid relationship.I don't know if we could have a conversation about that.I do remember maybe four(4)years ago,there was a letter sent to look at the scheduling of our meetings. Committeemember Gavin Ferlic stated, In the past, it hasn't worked with the School Board to change the date but as long as everyone is ok with it, we could look at changing those dates. With no further discussion, Committee Chair Williams-Preston adjourned the Community Relations Committee Organizational meeting at 4:58 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Regina illiams-Preston, Chairperson EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1 227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 1 TTD574.235.5567 I www.southbendin.gov