HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/11/2021 REAC MEETING MINUTESRace Equity Advisory Committee
Thursday, November 11, 2021, 6:00 pm
MINUTES
Bremerton REAC-PURPOSE
• To advise the City Council, by applying a race equity analysis to all aspects of governance; and
• To maintain engagement with and accountability to other work being done throughout the Bremerton
Community in service of Race Equity
Bremerton REAC – VISION
Bremerton Race Equity Advisory Committee envisions a City that:
• Strives to continually dismantle its own institutional racism, within policies, programs, budgets, initiatives,
legislation, systems, and infrastructure.
• Amplifies and joins racially, culturally, and socially integrated community endeavors toward equity, well-being,
and liberation for all; and
• Aspires to model for the nation a City in which people of different races, ethnicities, and backgrounds can
interact, form friendships, and participate fully in the community’s political, economic, educational, cultural,
and civic endeavors.
Group NORMS
• Flexibility: balance between more structure (hand raising) and flow
• Mindful of each other’s body language, coming off mute, etc.
• Speak up if you’d like us to call attention to our process.
• Someone will monitor the chat and hand-raising emoji.
• If you’ve already spoken/contributed on something, hang back a bit to allow others to contribute before
you do again.
• Speak your truth.
• Expect and accept non-closure.
• How will we hold ourselves accountable to these group agreements?
Meeting was convened at 6:06 PM.
1. Welcome -Intros:
-In attendance: Michael Goodnow (Vice-Chair), Airen Lydick, Erin Burrows, Glenna Matteson, Darryl Riley,
Sarah van Gelder
-Land Acknowledgment
-Reading of Purpose, Vision and Norms
2. Public Comment: Mike Simmons requested concrete examples of systemic racism. Mr. Riley responded,
resource added to the chat: "Undoing Institutional Racism" Workshop https://www.pinwseattle.org/
3. Approve Minutes from Previous Meetings:
Approved
4. New Business:
a. Agenda for December – moved to end of the meeting
b. GARE - City of Bremerton will become a member, liaison has not been determined – could be Lori Smith
or Leslie Daugs, suggestion of REAC member serving as lead. Glenna Matteson was suggested and
agreed to serve in this capacity. Airen Lydick will follow up with Leslie Daugs.
c. Leslie will send update on applicants via emails
-announcement of open seats needs to be sent to email list
-previous applicants will be reached out to
-applications available on City’s Website through the following link:
https://www.bremertonwa.gov/FormCenter/Boards-Commissions-9/Application-for-City-Boards-
Commissions--51
-request for Educate/Communicate group to craft announcement, put out updates to the email list, this
will require an update of how we distribute minutes and agenda in advance of meetings
-Possibility of announcing at the Dec 11th Human Rights Conference
5. Sub Committee Report Outs:
Change the Power:
-13 people responded to informal interviews, opting for a public forum in January or February 2022 to bring
together council members, REAC member, government staff and the public to better understand the
impact of racism
-Can the forum be scheduled in advance of the City Council retreat/planning sessions?
-Darryl Riley shared additional event in the works between the Up from Slavery Initiative (UFSI) + NAACP in
March as follow-up event, educating and empowering Black community members
-Use a chunk of time (replacing committee updates)
-review SWOT:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h_Q0801jKXnCF5Q7rSbdwb3sEBDtNLeT/view (March 7, 2021)
-plan to request time at the City Council retreat to hold members accountable to operating with an anti-
racist lens and impact on BIPOC residents
-Can we as REAC set 1-3 priorities we’d like Council retreat address?
Maybe include that in the December agenda, building on the comments we got from the community
interviews.
-suggestion of the application of a question related to race equity applied to each priority
6. Old Business:
-Meeting with Mayor to address racial equity in Mayor's priorities this coming year, was named last
meeting
-Support for Leslie Daugs in distribution of tasks/follow-up assignments
-Follow-up: connection with other racial equity advisory committees, Bainbridge Island, Kitsap County is in
process, Poulsbo is considering
-Hoping all of Bremerton REAC, all of City Council, and all guests will watch the recordings of Port Madison
Dialogues by Suquamish Tribe and partners. (There's also a feedback form for each recorded session, and
please be sure to complete that.) Would others be interested in a (not in our regular meeting) discussion
to reflect on the Dialogues together and talk about how what we learned and how it might impact our
work going forward? https://bit.ly/PortMadison
7. Public Comment: Jeff Coughlin
Meeting was adjourned at 7:32 PM.
Next Meeting via Zoom on 2nd Thursday of each month.
Thursday, December 9, 2021
Notetaker: Glenna
Time Keeper: Erin
Land Acknowledgment: Darryl
Tech co-host: Quinn
Facilitator: Airen and Sarah