CITY OF SHORELINE

 

SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL

SUMMARY MINUTES OF SPECIAL JOINT MEETING

                                                               

Wednesday, January 20, 2021                                                       Held Remotely via Zoom

7:00 p.m.

                                             

PRESENT:  Mayor Hall, Deputy Mayor Scully, Councilmembers Chang and Robertson
 

ABSENT:    Councilmembers McGlashan, McConnell, and Roberts

 

STAFF:        Pollie McCloskey, Executive Assistant; Suni Tolton, Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator

 

GUESTS:     DarNesha Weary, Racial Equity Consultant of Let’s Do Work

Planning Commission Members: Chair Laura Mork, Vice Chair Jack Malek, Janelle Callahan, Julius Rwamashongye, Mei-Shiou Lin, Pam Sager

Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services/Tree Board Members: Chair John Hoey and Sara Raab McInerny

                    

At 7:00 p.m. the workshop co-facilitators, Suni Tolton and DarNesha Weary, began the meeting and asked participants to share their homework from the last training session which was to do some independent learning on the topic of diversity, racial equity, and/or inclusion. Participants shared webinars, films, books, and conversations they engaged in to increase their understanding and comfort discussing the topic. 

 

Ms. Weary gave a brief recap of the first session’s content that was held on October 21st which included 1) race matters; 2) we aren’t just talking about individual acts of bigotry; 3) institutions and systems maintain and perpetuate racism and inequities; 4) government has a responsibility for ending inequitable outcomes and advancing racial equity; and 5) early experiences with race impacts our interactions. Ms. Weary also gave a brief recap of the second session’s content that was held on November 18th which included 1) diversity, inclusion, and equity are not single concepts; 2) racial equity is ending disproportionate outcomes by race; 3) we all have implicit bias; 4) racial bias is mostly unconscious; and 5) we must acknowledge and challenge biases with strategic interventions to change outcomes. 

 

Ms. Tolton then talked about individual explicit bias, individual implicit bias, institutional explicit bias, and institutional implicit bias, and used examples from law enforcement to explain. She said a police officer calling someone an ethnic slur while arresting them is an example of individual explicit bias. A police officer calling for back-up more often when stopping a person of color is an example of individual implicit bias. A police department refusing to hire people of color is an example of institutional explicit bias. Police emphasis patrols targeting communities of color and street-level drug arrests is an example of institutional implicit bias. Participants were asked to share any examples they could identify from their own work. 

 

Ms. Weary explained the definitions and concepts of individual racism, institutional racism, and structural racism and shared a five-minute video called “5 Things You Should Know About Racism” (MTV Decoded – Franchesca Ramsey). She discussed how racism is often thought of as individual acts of bias, however, focusing on individual acts can obscure the institutional and structural realities that create and maintain racial inequity more broadly. She said, to have the greatest impact on achieving racial equity, it is important to understand and identify strategies that are systemic in nature, and we must also take responsibility and recognize where we have power and influence to change outcomes. 

 

For the remainder of the training, Ms. Tolton asked participants to think about what they can do individually, and in their roles representing the City of Shoreline, to advance racial equity. Participant responses included: increasing their own knowledge and continue learning; purchasing from businesses owned by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities; engaging in dialogue with family members; working on their own implicit biases; recruiting more diverse representation for City boards and commissions; working on law enforcement reform; advocating for housing policy that provides appropriate housing for all; using racial equity lens in evaluating policy; and involving more community representation in decision-making.

 

Ms. Tolton and Ms. Weary thanked all participants for their attendance and encouraged all to support one another to advance the work of racial equity in the City of Shoreline.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.

 

/s/Suni Tolton, Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator