for for today and uh we'll proceed with welcomes and introductions and uh I'm Leon May one of the co-chairs of this committee hi everyone I'm Thea agnu bben one of the other co-chairs hi Lori picket with Alaska literacy program hi everyone Taylor Donovan with Ral capap all right and I think we'll go on to the online uh folk if you're there we can move there Mara Mar everybody Mara Kimmel with ACLU sorry about that yeah thank you all right Lucy are you there Lucy let's see Teresa hi this is Teresa Holt from AARP Alaska all right thank you Mr Felix hey everyone Felix rera Anchorage assembly of uh telephone people and uh those of you who are connected by telephone you might want to tell us who you are I'm Marita with uh hello everyone um with Alaska Federation Philippian American s Alpa okay thank you all right we have another uh online by way of telephone 570 4244 all righty then no response and uh we'll we'll keep it moving with our move on to our land and labor acknowledgement and uh do we have someone prepared to do that for us if not I'll read our standby all right then we acknowledge that the land that now makes up the United States of America was the traditional home hunting ground trade exchange point and migration route of more than 574 American Indian and Alaska native federally recognized tribes and many more tribal Nations that are not federally recognized are no longer exist we recognize the cruel Legacy of slavery and colonialism in our nation and acknowledge the people whose labor was exploited for generations to help establish the economy of the United States we honor indigenous enslaved and immigrant peoples's resilience labor and stewardship of the land and commit to creating a future founded on respect Justice and inclusion for all people as we work to heal the deepest generational wounds all righty and with that said we move to unfinished business ex yeah let let me ask again for the online participants uh one by way of telephone has not responded and that number is again 570 4244 okay 424 four thank you all right 4244 telephone online hello all right is there any way we could uh hi this is Kate viewer I'm ass Municipal attorney I'm sorry I was having some te technical difficulties Al righty thank you so much this full attorney righty all righty all right we'll can we'll we'll move on with our unfinished business for today and the purpose of our uh intended meeting on today discussion re the options for structure and Staffing and uh as many of us are well aware of we were brought some information from uh uh the chair of the assembly Mr Chris constant regarding uh opportunities to I guess refocus restructure or whatever relative to our our Anchorage committee uh Equity Committee of the assembly and uh as as per a little background we've uh call this special meeting so that those of us who are committee members would have an opportunity uh to respond to the information that we heard in our last meeting and uh possibly move towards uh the ramifications of decision making uh predicated upon how we move forward uh presently we are the Anish equ Equity Committee of the assembly and under the offices of that branch of uh of of our government city government and uh Mr constant brought to us uh the idea of moving from the uh legislative branch to the administrative branch and uh becoming a coam uh a commission rather than uh a committee and uh as far as my understanding of the Genesis of all of that uh other than other than uh moving this assembly I mean this committee out from the assembly's opes the Genesis to my understanding was resourc driven uh as it relates to his statement that uh the assembly uh could could no longer afford the resources to extend to this particular committee and resources being uh the clerk's office and those who are are are working the back this committee didn't serve this committee and what have you and uh intimating that this committee would be better served as a commission under the administrative or executive branch uh and that would facilitate some other needs that this committee may have that the assembly per se could not provide and so that's kind of the Genesis of of where we are and how we we've come to where we are and uh that that's what was laid at our laid at our feet and uh which NE necessitates going forward some type of decision to be made by this particular committee whether or not we choose to do that or or not and that's kind of where it where it sits at now if there any other snakes and tall grass under that I know not but that's kind of that's kind of where we are at this particular moment and uh those of us who were present we heard the discourse and uh the minimal uh conversation around that and so we're here now uh to put some time on the table so that all of our committee could appropriately respond to what they've heard and and and and and determine what the wishes of of this committee might be in the shorttime fashion and uh so that's kind of where we are my co-chair may want to add to that anything yeah thanks just two things one I think it would be productive today to kind of peel back you know the reasons that we're in this meeting today and more focus on what is the optimal structure for our committee to really have the impact that we know we all want to have where are we best housed and I think uh one thing that Lori shared at the meeting last time which I think is really good to focus on is that this committee is bringing an incredible uh incredible group of people from all parts of our community together it's a huge asset and we know it's a huge asset because that's how it started when during covid we we really we saw we saw the impact in a really direct and and real way so I think we should spend our time today thinking what's the best place what's the best structure for us to have the support we know we've talked about wanting to have staff support potentially budget um at some point to do the work we want to do we had a a prioritization session back in January where we really prioritize some things so we know what we want to do what's the best place for us to be what's the best location and structure for us to to get that done and then I think the second thing that would be really helpful which is a smaller thing is that our meeting our regular August meeting is coming up next week we know we have some really good work that Joan and Lori and Pana did that we want to spend some time on related to the language access audit and we know we need to elect new co-chairs and review our Charter so I think that the other question would be does the committee want to spend more time on this topic at our regular meeting in August or are we going to have some result from our special meeting today that you know will not require us to spend more time um at our regular meeting because we have a pretty full agenda so those are my two thanks and to piggyback and to piggyback a little bit on that uh the enlightenment that we had relative to our uh initial meeting was that and I think it's something worth thinking about relative to a committee versus a commission and uh with a commission there would be possibly and I don't know if that's Cod or not but on most of the commissions it's nine persons or whatever and those persons are appointed to the commission by various sources some being the administration some being community and I don't know what all others and maybe Mr Felix can speak of that what all other entities are a part of uh bringing those Commissioners on board and the process to that now it was alluded to that we possibly as far as this committee is concerned depending upon who those Commissioners would be uh there could be uh an advisory committee to the commission that would encapsulate uh much of our committee if if that was the route going that we would take but we would need to understand going in the commission has to be chosen and appointed and uh and uh I guess maybe the municipal attorney could help us with the idea of whether or not uh how that advisory committee would work relative to a commission but uh going to to a commission even though it said this committee could be maybe better facilitated with the resources that we need on the other side but going to commission would not uh uh uh I guess uh make sure uh the persons of this committee and so we would need some input about that as well yeah if you're looking for an answer for me um Eva Gardner Municipal attorney I am here listening I don't have any background on this specific issue yet but I am here listening and happy to to help as I can uh probably more in the future but I did see assembly Council um Matthew hurt is on the line as well okay yeah Matthew you have any input on that for us and I thought person wasend attorney sorry can you hear me yes yeah I'm sorry if you could if you could restate the question for me I apologize oh we were kind of interested as it relates to the uh formation of a commission and uh what part possibly from all of the entities that would make those uh recommendations to the administration or whatever and how that's chosen and then would it be possible to have an advisory committee to the commission and how that would be put together yeah it's an interesting question we don't Felix I saw you unclick your your screen so if you want to chime in feel free to um yeah I don't Matt if you want to address that the advisory com commit committee part I'll address the other um more General title for question okay um so yeah as far as like an advisory committee to a commission I don't know that there is any historical precedent for that and I I'd have to do some some digging um generally commissions um that are appointed or given Powers they're either you know regulatory adjudicatory or advisory in nature so it would [Music] be I think title 21 would probably be the only title I could think of off the top of my head where a commission might have or a board might have some sort of committee that advises it um because generally boards and commissions are where you go to get advice right like that would be where the administration or the assembly would seek um subject matter advice specifically however it's laid out in in code uh whatever the scope of that border commission is um but that said like I don't know that there would be any legal impediment to setting things up in a structure like that I just don't I off the top of my head I can't think of a one that has done that okay thank you sir Mr Felix yeah thanks um so I guess a question for the co-chairs um so I just wanted to quickly go through just title for in general so folks can get a sense of some of the limits and Bounds of a board and commission uh and then include some of the questions that you asked about how appointments are made and that kind of stuff let me know when it's appropriate for me to do that and and I'm happy to get into that I'll try to be as brief as I as I can okay uh you you want to break in here cuz I was going to let him go ahead I see your hand on your go ahead well I I was thinking this was kind of like a brainstorming session on what we're what we're thinking about and um I was wondering I don't see a good match as a border commission based on how structured they are because one of the things we liked was our flexibility to bring in members as we needed them and have them move out and boards and commissions are really structured with the number of people that are on them um but with the changes that are happening around the chief Equity officer I was wondering if maybe um and I'm just brainstorming here because I was trying to think about what made sense but maybe if we became more of an Advisory Group I mean we really wanted to have teeth in some sort of way that like you know we we weren't just throwing out advice into a place that went nowhere but um the chief Equity officer is only one individual and maybe there's a way that we can be an advisory to the the issues that that particular position is working on so I know nobody wants to hear me say the words language access for a while but let's say you know there's a place that then we can funnel information from our direct lived experience around understanding that departments are not providing language access and then we're able to come and work on that issue and we're able to really address issues with the equity officer around like we've talked about um concerns that potentially the health department has been underresourced in ways that doesn't allow us to do the kind of Community Health work we want that there's a way we can work with um ideas and examples based on our experience in a more collaborative and um particular issue way for those who want to work on particular issues to advise the equity officer so that then they can can take action so that was what I sort of came up with I've served on the women's commission before and it's much more formal and you often can't fill positions while you're waiting on appointments and the structure and the way the way it's run by Robert's Rules of Order is sort of like a requirement of a lot of them and we put a lot of time putting an effort into coming up with our own um what is Charter the correct what would we call it our our own our own Charter and you know as a baby organization trying to create something new I think we should be proud of the work that we have done and not um uh be led to believe that we're we're just a a strain on on the system um when I think about the the people power in this room and even the financial assets we bring when we think about if we were compensating all of the people who are coming into this space and working hard on these issues so that's sort of what I came up with a brainstorm so I'm throwing it out there can can I um can I say something Maris Mar yep yes so one thing I want to point out is when the chief Equity officer was position was created it was actually created as a office of equity and inclusion or equity and something else I can't remember the exact title um and and so it's it it wasn't designed to be it was designed to be headed by a chief Equity officer but we very intentionally created an office to be broader and whether that's going to house a commission or be served by an advisory committee I think that's worthy of exploration for the exact points that Lori and others have raised but I would I we we invented this wheel years ago um and we did it incredibly intentionally and deliberately so that no one branch of government could uh could stop it and so the other thing and I know we lost this in court but we designed the chief Equity officer position to be a four-year term appointment so that a mayor couldn't come along and eliminate the position and effectively I would argue that's what we saw happened this last time which is why this committee sorry I'm I know I'm Ming up commission and committee but this is why this entity that we're sitting in right now uh was in part created was to fill a void um that was left by indifference and uh you know and and not great intent to make sure that issues of equity and inclusion are part of our City's infrastructure so whatever do um I think we need to be aware that we will have es and flows of administrations that are favorable and unfavorable toward the issues that we're all representing here and we have an infrastructure already partially in place that we shouldn't abandon okay thank you thank you thank you uh Mara and let me say before Thea comes uh we do have Isa and Celeste uh who whove joined us and uh uh would you like to give your welcome hello everybody hello everybody I'm glad to be here in this discussion is so timely um I'll let Isa share and I see she's got her hand up but um I'll I'll follow if if appropriate because I have a lot to say too but I'll do it in such a short period of time you won't even notice thanks all right Isa thanks Celeste and I have three children as my spouse is delayed getting home from work so if I abruptly stop it's because one is crying and you won't hear me anyways so I just want to say really briefly that whatever we do if we just go like okay we're just going to become a commission and all of a sudden what the whole point of this was was multiple voices M representing multiple sectors and groups and the true diversity and equ like the true diversity of our city and now you have nine seats that can get filled we're just leaving voices out of the room again and the whole point was to try to not do that and I just hate for us to to say well that's the only place we can go and then we end up in that same boat and now it's the people who have the time to serve on the commission who get the voice in the room and not the other parties and I don't know I mean good work can still be done but we so intentionally built this room so that people that it was low hanging fruit for people to get involved and have their voices heard and we can very quickly work ourselves out of that so I don't know maybe some of what's being suggested and thinking about it differently I just want to make sure we don't lose that piece of what was really powerful about this group and why it really worked during Co and other things we've tackled is because there are different perspectives and not just nine people thanks all right thank you Isa we'll get we'll get Thea then we'll get back to Celeste um thanks I was actually hoping we could hear from Felix just because I don't have it clear in my head exactly what and commissions are I haven't served him one before so um if we could hear that and then I also maybe as part of that Felix if you could weigh in on you know is there a possibility for the kind of creativity that I think Lori was just suggesting of like a new thing like or do we have to kind of fit into one of these existing categories like could we be an advisory committee to the um Chief Equity officer and kind of maintain our maintain all the things that Isa was just describing that are important to us thank you Thea and that was one of the reasons I was wanting to get uh Felix to chime in so that uh we would have something to weigh over against what we are now and look at the totality of the picture and kind of see what what is the decision-making process that we're up against and so and I'm going to ask I'm going to ask that you hold just a second and we'll hear Celeste and then then we'll get back to Felix okay thank you for this um you know as we all know this is exhausting work I mean it seems like everything is a fight and I know we can't give up hope but this committee to me is unique it brings people from across our community from various sectors and you know we're not going to be like the normal Commission because we're not and that's okay um but but I I don't want to waste any time coming to meetings and not bearing any fruit from our work that's the main thing and I continue to see systemic concerns throughout the municipality every time you turn around there's something and so we've got a great bunch of folks that's good don't get me wrong but we've got to be in a position where we can accomplish real work like we did when we were part of the health Team and and that's true talk because since we've been here in this space I feel like we've done a lot of meetings but the the real work and I I know we've done had some great conversations but there's real work to be had and that's where I want to be so thank you thank you Celeste all right we're back at you Mr Felix all right great so I think like I said earlier I'm going to try to be as quick as I can uh just to go over the basics of a border commission so let me just share the um particular uh code and then uh let me go through it okay so uh boards and commissions are ruled by title four um named boards and commissions uh I'm going to go through this brief so this is important unless otherwise provided and I'll going to probably go back to this many times these rules that I'm going to go through generally govern boards and commissions so first is the power I think as folks have have said the P this particular board or commission whichever way it looks like would be an advisory commission it wouldn't be regulatory appell quasi judicial it would be advisory in its nature um appointments to a boarded commission are um done as provided by in the charter and basically what the charter says unless it's for some very specific boards and commissions that are outlined in the charter the mayor appoints a board or commission and the assembly confirms or denies cont information of said appointments um getting to some of the the questions that folks have asked of how particular um appointments can be funneled to the mayor um there's a a informal and formal ways to do that so uh informally any group or entity can um suggest that an individual apply and they can Lobby the mayor and say hey this is the the representative of this particular group and we we have encouraged them to apply please consider this particular appointment formally um there are there's at least one that I know of uh the new uh naming commission where we have put in there I believe for the native Village of auta they have have the ability to recommend a an individual for a specific seat as outlined in the code um it's something that that's very new um something that we tried uh to give the native El kuta very concrete representation on that particular commission so that is something um that you can put into code um with I think some varying degrees um uh of uh caution that I'm sure the attorneys would go into in terms of qualification of members to be in AB boarded commission you need to be if eligible meaning 18 or older you need to be a qualified voter of the municipality live in the municipality um and these things don't really matter too much um terms for board and commission members are three years um and you can uh be reappointed to a border commission however many times Mayors would like to reappoint you to a particular board or commission uh we've had folks serve on boards and commissions for many many many years um generally speaking so except as otherwise provided boards and commission members do not get any kind of compensation for attendance at meetings um and then these I won't go into specific too much here but this basically lays out some of the attend attendance requirements and um some of the things that make you excused or possibly vacates a uh seat um important thing to note here is if you are one of the N uh members appointed which I guess stepping back a a minute most boards and commissions are nine individuals the biggest boarding commission that we have right now is 15 individuals for a very specific reason um but that's that's the range is nine is the average the norm and then 15 is the biggest that we have so uh if you are one of those nine or 15 individuals then uh the expectation is that you're going to the meetings if you are absent from three meetings without an excuse then you are automatically kicked out of that seat if you are absent from six meetings with an excuse then you are automatic kicked out from that seat um see uh sorry I'm just trying to find the most relevant things um let's see so um one thing that's a little bit different from the current structure is that there is a specific process that's laid out here in code around removal um it's very rare um but it has happened where if uh a specific member of a border commission does something that may violate the ethics code or um cause constitute a breach of the public trust then there is a process through the ethics board where a Bard commission member may be removed again super rare I don't expect it to happen but just wanted to note that's something different from the current structure um unless otherwise stated in the code section that creates this border commission generally speaking there's a chair and a vice chair oh that's interesting hey Matt um for whatever reason this language in here isn't gendal neutral gender neutral so can we um figure out what's going on with this I'm pretty sure we did that in our code not that long ago side note to Matt okay then um on Quorum uh so this would also be something that that's a little bit different from currently Quorum is a majority of the members so if there are nine seats Quorum is five that's the minimum you have to have in order to actually vote doesn't mean that you can't have a meeting per se but if you're going to um vote on minutes if you're going to vote on anything official during the meeting um then you need to have a quorum um boards and commissions can go into EX cutive session for very specific reasons I will say I think the only boards and commissions that probably go into executive session are Quasi judicial or regulatory boards and commissions I don't expect that to happen here conflicts of interest um that's sort of normal to what we have now is there's an expectation if something is being voted on and you think you have a conflict of interest for you to declare that let me just double I think that's pretty much it yeah that's that's that's pretty much it in terms of the very general rules of boards and commissions I'm happy to answer any other questions Thea did ask a question around sort of a new thing and I and I will say um I think echoing a little bit of what the chair has stated um really it's it's uh we're we're in a space where we can really think creatively so are the choices a committee of the assembly or a border commission um no th those aren't the only two binary choices um there is an opportunity and this I don't know if it's been done frequently but it has been done uh for example with um at least for a while with welcoming Anchorage there was a a board not a board but a committee that was leading some of the work with welcoming Anchorage I think there was also going to be a committee for the climate action plan that was sort of helping uh lead and Steward some of the work with the climate action plan so there is some precedence of having committees that the administration sets up that um they can pretty much set up however they would like and they would act in some kind of advisory uh role to help push forward uh a specific plan or help a specific office so that there is precedence for that uh and there may be some other very creative things that we can come up with I think as as the chair stated sort of skies the limit um obviously within legal boundaries I think that's pretty much all I have for now all right any further questions mayor um Felix who makes a board or commission is that an assembly decision or is that a an administrative decision it can be both but in the end it has to be approved by the assembly okay and I'm just I know that I um said this before but I'm just we have an opportunity here to do as Felix just suggested and be creative because we have an infrastructure which is the office of equity and so I would urge us to consider uh what I heard from the comments that were discussed already is that what people are really fond of about this com this group is that it has flexibility in terms of composition and Direction and I think that um we can seek to embed those values and those practices within the office of equity especially with a new Chief Equity officer and get back to the original intention of that the creation behind that office and I believe that Felix was on the assembly when that was passed um into into code thank you mayor and uh we would say welcome to uh tyy and uh to to panana uh to the discussion on on this evening as well and uh basically basically I see hand but basically what I'm what I'm what I'm hearing uh subsequent to the conversation is the possibility of an advisory committee uh to the office of equity and Justice and uh and and my thinking thoughts on that is would that provide what this committee needs relative to because that was going to be a question I had Felix relative to uh funding as it relates to commissions I don't think I heard anything uh about that and how how they operate as it relates to funding and Staffing and all of that and which was one of our major concerns but if the uh Chief Equity officer uh and that office is fully established and supported if we were to be be an advisory committee to that office uh how would that affect our current status is sort of a question I kind of that I have and then we'll hear from Miss Lori any input on that Felix yeah so um if this group decided to move towards being an advisory committee of the office of equity and justice um then I think the only procedural thing that we would uh need to I don't even know if we actually need to do anything because I'm fairly certain and Matt you can correct me if I'm wrong that this particular committee the way that it's was allowed in code because folks may remember years ago we had to amend code to allow this committee to exist I think that particular provision is going away soon I think it's sunsetting might be wrong uh Matt can correct me um so we can just let this committee die uh because it's being sunsetted and then um the committee would transition over to being an advisory committee of the office of equity and Justice and in that role I would hope that there would be an opportunity for um collaboration between the branches but I think as the chair has suggested likely the administration would um hopefully provide going to some of of what you're asking it more of the funding uh help uh and assistance for this committee and some of the Staffing assistants I will tell you generally for boards and commissions um unless otherwise provided in a specific Department's budget uh most advisory boards and commissions think like the women's commission um think the public transit Advisory Board um they don't have like a particular uh fund uh annualized funding for those um boards and commissions um what they do have is Staff related to those particular Boards of commissions that might attend so I think for the women's commission I think it's somewhere in the health department so there's a a someone in the health department who comes and and is Staffing the same kind of way that Jasmine is staffed for this committee right now for the um public transit advis Advisory Board there is someone who is Staff in the same way that Jasmine is now but they also have the director of public transit and a few other folks who regularly attend that particular um board for the public transit Advisory board so it just depends on uh how the thing is set up and the expectations that are had and if the administration agrees to those expectations um and so if if the expectation is that there this is an advisory committee of the office of equity and Justice and that the office of equity and Justice will help to staff this particular advisory committee then that's a a discussion and a negotiation you need to have with the administration slash the the assembly but really on the Staffing side it would likely be the administration okay thanks uh did I see you l so I'm not exactly sure who to ask this question to but I know that the lawsuit was lost um around um having the chief Equity officer be an appointed position forgive me if I get incorrect but I've heard mention that there might be some efforts to change that and and so that that particular position isn't underneath any branch so that they can then operate in a in a space that couldn't be managed by a branch is that something that um the current Administration and assembly is looking at doing or is it possible uh is it possible oh Matt go ahead if you want to talk about it no I don't want to cut you off um but yeah I would it is possible I don't that legislation hasn't been specifically proposed yet but it is something that and I know has been a point of to poal collaboration between the assembly and the administration and it's um yeah considering how textual the Court's opinion was it literally was just based on which title of code that position was created under it's it's it's very feasible to relieve the Court's concerns by moving it out of title three and putting it yeah potentially in Title Five under Equity can can I just interject to that was the original point again I know I said this earlier but that was the precise point in creating the office and the position was to make it so it would not be subject to political uh changes um in in regimes and administrations and the whole position which was litigated was the the chief Equity officer position was designed much like what is It Felix the audit um the audit position yeah which is accountable to both uh the assembly and the mayor and can't be fired by either and that was unfortunately what we lost on in court but if it's as easyest solution was was just suggested by Matt that would be phenomenal but that was the original intention and I think that is something that we really need to strongly think about if we're reconstituting this or re revising this particular um constellation of folks is that whatever we do we want to insulate it from political change and that again it was the original intent and that's something I worked on a lot with the chief of staff at the time Jason binstead and so we could also talk to him about how we tried to create that well basically would seemed to me to be most appropos to have that office of equity and Justice outside of either Branch uh so as to be able to facilitate change within within either branch and uh so if that could be facilitated somehow that would be that would be awesome uh as well righty any other question commentary yes um so just to kind of restate what I think we're you know what we're hearing um it seems like at least some in the committee are interested in exploring if we could be an advisory committee to the office of equity and justice um what would be the steps if the committee wanted to take that route and I guess this is maybe a question to Felix or maybe Matt um what would be the steps for the committee um to to move in that direction if that's what the committee wanted yeah thanks so um you know one of the the nice things about uh the administration and the executive branch is that it can uh unless it's doing something that's in conflict with code it can out of whole cloth create these kinds of committees and essentially that's what it would be is um the if that's the direction that this group wanted to go with you would need to have a a a dialogue with the administration and I would be happy to be a part of it I'm sure Cameron would as well and perhaps uh the chair and um you would have to have a conversation with the administration and get the administration's agreement to create this kind of advisory um committee and because it is not a border or Commission because it's an advisory kind of committee um to this office um then I imagine uh the group could be very creative and how you structure it uh and how it's it's facilitated how it's managed somewhat similar to how this particular committee is very Nimble um so you wouldn't have to go through any kind of formal in my opinion lawyers might tell me I'm wrong but I don't think you'd have to go through any formal kind of code changes or anything it would literally be something that the administration could make out a whole cloth well my question uh followup to that Mr Felix would be this uh is it incumbent upon the administration to set the parameters for this particular position as currently set uh as far as the uh office of equity and Justice or the chief Equity officer would with this current admin Administration being uh the one that's setting the parameters for that particular office and uh with those parameters uh not really yet having been set uh how would we know where to fit in yeah thanks so um you know I think just going back our prior conversations one of the things that we had talked about was at least trying to decide what path we want to go towards and having an idea so that when an eventual Chief Equity officer comes on board um we can slide in and um be part of that conversation from the very beginning so um I don't have any like specific answer um other than to say that I know that the Administration has some thoughts and ideas of of what they want this position and this office to do and I think they're probably going off of the foundation that was made and created several years ago um from what I have heard um so there is a a job description there is a foundation that is that has already been created for the office um the administration isn't here to speak for themselves uh at least I don't think um we have anyone from the mayor's office to speak for the administration but I'd imagine that that's what they're going to do so that Foundation will be there and then how this particular advisory committee Works within that Foundation I think it's a discussion we'll have to have with Kim whenever she gets on board and I honestly forget I don't know if it's this month or it's next month when she gets on board I saw September September I thought it was September yeah so so there is lead time I think to have those conversations so that it's a smooth transition okay oh righty any other questions or commentary relative to what you've heard thus far and and one of the things I I I think that's worthy of uh possible consideration anyway is is if that were to come about as far as being some type of advisory committee uh to the to that particular office uh then would we be thinking in terms of having input to the totality of the work of that office or would we be more or less tasked with potentially doing the work of that office and so I think that would be something to consider going forward as well anyone else yes Thea um I guess just thinking back to what we heard from the administration when they were here at our last meeting um and then Marie kind of followed up by sharing here's all the openings for boards and commissions I mean I guess I I think our conversation um you know before we dove into this topic we we talked a lot about some of the things that our committee has talked a lot about which is like how do we make employment at the municipality really accessible I mean you shared all the good examples around um some of the qualifications and how they disqualify people who are otherwise would be great candidates um language access is another thing we've talked about that you know is is deeply within the power of the administration to change grants and contracts we've talked a lot about that again that's deeply within so I feel like um if we were to be in that role of um and and Lori just suggests a steering committee to the office of equity and Justice which is which is a nice difference um that we could really help kind of move the needle on some of those things which would be super exciting I mean there's a need right now to fill all these positions and we've got people ready to to jump in how do we remove those barriers you know really kind of make our Workforce represent the community I don't know to me it sounds you know and personally yeah I I agree and for me personally just a just tag on uh since since no one is you know really jumping feet first uh into this but for me uh specifically hearing the parameters of uh boards and commissions and all of that I think for what this committee represents uh that commission status would be a little too restrictive for what we're trying to accomplish and that's that that's my story and I'm sticking to it anyone else so here he hearing nothing else let let's go ahead it from this Vantage Point uh unless my steam coost co-host wants to add uh uh different directives or what have you but uh is this something that we would consider I I guess the first thing on the table that the uh chair assembly chair would be interested in hearing uh what would what would be our determination and decision relative to uh the idea that he presented of uh this becoming a commission uh so to speak and so uh I I think we need to make that determination uh off the off the bat and then present an alternative if that's not the direction we choose to go and I think we've discussing an alternative already and so but I think we need to make a determination something uh formulative so that he'll have a response back from this committee and so uh so what do I hear yes Pastor May yes Pastor May if you like I I mean I can make a I can make a motion but I just want because I've heard it a couple of times already this com this committee and I don't like advisory but you know if that's what we're we're going um this committee is not here to do the work of the equity um of the equity CH Chief Equity officer we we you know I don't think that's what I was alluding to yeah yeah to do that work the city needs to step up and equip that office with the employees that they need to manage that office and that is not us we're not getting paid to do that work and if there're serious about equity which I know they are they need to put their money where their mouth is bottom line I am tired of those offices not having staff you know one or two people running the office carrying this heavy load and being ineffective and not that's just not this office it's aerc and all and and the rest of them oeo and so I'm I'm tired of that but I just wanted to get that in thanks yeah and and thank you for that because that was my commentary based on that that we're not here to do their work and uh so that's why I formulated in a question form uh just so that would be brought to the Forefront in uh this particular session Lori Celeste I'm not sure if you heard but um Thea threw out steering I I passed her a sticky note with the word steering committee because like that a little bit better than advisory I'm curious to how you feel about that yeah yeah and through the co-chairs um I really I perked up when I heard staring because we're staring them and we're not doing I mean you know I don't mind assisting but yeah I like it and my my question followup question to that would be for one for Matthew or Felix or somebody what difference would there be to to the title entitlement of that committee as far as steering versus advisory what would be the great advantage of a steering committee versus the other yeah so that's not something really um because if you're going this direction it would be something that the administration would create really out a system outside of the code and the structures in the code um it would really be up to the administration and discussions that this group has with the administration on the route that it wants to take and if this group says we want to be a steering committee and here's how we envision that working um then I would hope that the administration would be open to those ideas okay now you mentioned out I see you hand you mentioned outside outside of code what is is possible relative to code so um I think as I said before um so there's there's precedent for having steering committees or advisory committees that help to guide an Administration the executives efforts I use two examples the climate action plan envisioned a steering committee I don't know if that's they called it in the plan but something like a steering committee that would help to guide the efforts um and provide advice on the efforts of the climate action plan welcoming Anchorage also had a similar kind of effort um so these are are things that the administration creates outside of the code and by outside of the code I mean you don't the administration doesn't need to um doesn't need to activate or trigger any part of code to create these kinds of steering committees it is something that the administration can do out of whole cloth so that's why I say that's why I'm using that phrase outside of the code because it you can be much more creative and Nimble when you create these kinds of of things through the administration so this this Maran go ahead Mar thank you first I just want to respond to Celeste um I hope that you weren't uh taking what I was saying as in any way implying that we need to relieve the administration or the government the local government of its obligation uh to what we're all trying to do here because I'm in complete agreement with that we need to make sure that we have resources and put the resources where they need to go um Felix I appreciate you continuing to bring up the climate action plan and welcoming Anchorage those were two ad hoc efforts um the climate action plan committee was intended to just draft the climate action plan and so it was convened for a very specific purpose and same with welcoming Anchorage for that matter and neither one of those it has been enduring and so I really and I don't know if it's Way Beyond the scope of my participation on this committee to ask but I it would be great to be able to find the um the the ordinance that creat created the Office of equity and Justice and see what possibilities exist within that ordinance to create a steering committee to advise the office about the issues that we all are bringing to this group one of the things um again that you know that happened with this group the way that I understand the history is that it was first housed in the health department and then it had to move to the assembly um because again there was an unwelcoming Health dep Department uh who was not very attuned to the need for pursuing issues of equity in our city and so again we have a unique opportunity here to re to to create something that is enduring so it's not just a oneoff it's not just because we want to create a plan or have a welcoming initiative or anything like that but this could be something that is sustaining Beyond Administration I think we have the basics of a of a framework for it that we don't need to reinvent necessarily but maybe we need to invigorate and build out some of that existing framework so it would be supremely helpful for me and I tried to poke around and I could not find the ordinance that created the Office of equity and Justice so if one of the um if we can get that from either an assembly member or uni staff that would be really really helpful because then I think we can start to think about how we can build the best institution that has sustainability and has some ability to um to work with existing infrastructure to guide more Equity oriented policy thank you mayor and uh my thinking well go ahead Thea you no I was going to say my thinking is is that uh first off as I was alluding to a minute ago and I was actually calling for uh a movement and uh celest alluded to the possibility be a uh assisting that movement but one of the things that we need to to finalize off the bat is and from a totality of what I'm hearing is that we are really not as a uh Committee in favor of the restrictive elements of a commission and so I think we need to formalize that and uh have an answer for the assembly chair on that and then as a followup to what uh Mr Felix has been intimating throughout this discussion of our idea of a forward thrust uh uh we would have to initiate some kind of communication with the administration relative to what we might want to attempt to do and see where we can go from there uh I I just wonder and I don't want to cast any negative aspirations on anybody but I just have a wonderment within me if uh the Staffing as it relates to resource of where we are now was the the bottom line on on the fostering a move from the assembly uh Branch side of it and if there were some other underlying factors that maybe we don't know about but uh that's just inquiring minds want to know but anyway anyway we need to make a determination Thea um so I would like to make a motion we don't um use Robert rules that much but I think maybe now's a good time so we can get on the record around kind of where's our committee um coming down on this question so I'd like I move that we um Empower our assembly Liaisons to begin conversations with the administration to um establish a steering committee for the office of equity and Justice that would adopt in a modified form the charter of this committee and the membership of this committee and the the common practices of this committee and would work with the administration to amend code in order to establish that steering committee as part of the office of equity and Justice all right thank you Thea I would entertain a second and then I would offer some discussion on that motion is there second and um Pastor may this is Pana I second the motion all right thank you thank a discussion yeah thank you thank you panana for that second and so it's been moved and seconded uh that we move forward with the discussion with the administration through alaon about where we can go with this ultimately uh but initially my reference to was make a definitive motion and I guess we'll go backwards and make a definitive motion on the idea of a commission that's presented to us uh by Mr constant and so I kind of saw those two as as kind of separate motions uh so to speak uh but Thea went on and forward to move the motion to go in the other direction so which effectively uh shuts down the other one but I still wanted a motion on the table to uh shut that down so we could present that to Mr conson as well but we'll go ahead and entertain discussion on the motion that's on the floor and then we can go back to that right any discussion the only thing I I would like to just put out there maybe we can strengthen the amendment to include um recommendation that the entire office of um the chief Equity officer be have it be pursued that that is then put into code that it is not under the mayor or the assembly that that moves forward okay so now now if I'm hearing you correctly probably not good you no you meant it's not a good Amendment for this one because we personally as a committee wouldn't have teeth into that that would be something separate for us to Broach with our Liaisons for seeing where could move with that yeah you know so that'll be a little distinct and different from this one it just provides us more protection if that whole department that were under is yeah outside politics yeah so so that'd be a little different from what we're doing right just I just have everything I want that would be wonderful for all of us all right I'll say Amen to that yeah take it to church but anyway uh uh any further discussion on the on the motion that's on the floor not hearing any all in favor I I any opposers eyes have it and so so mod it be so we can move in that direction and uh can I uh have a motion that we have a definitively no relative to the commission aspect of it so we can relay that to uh uh uh assembly chair Mr constant Pastor may this is pan again so moved that we um dissolve the concept of becoming a commission and send that information forward to Chris constant thank you pan is that a second second all right second about Miss Lori oh any further discussion I I have some discussion on it may okay you know I know Chris Christopher was really um hoping that we could move in such a direction and I just want to make sure that you know this is not going to hinder the relationship uh with this committee this um uh with this committee and with our chairman um I know he's been very supportive of so um I just wanted to offer that as well thank you thank you celest but I personally I would think not that it wouldn't affect that because I think as as uh the Genesis that he had given to us was it was all predicated upon resources that the assembly could no longer provide for this particular committee and so he was given an option in that his bottom line assertion was that the bottom line mind was that we would no longer be facilitated by the assembly and uh it's its resources could he didn't have any he said it was what eight or nine staff persons and they could no longer do it and so that was the Genesis that was presented to us relative to making some kind of transition and or change and so I don't think he would have an issue as long as his goal of uh not having to provide resources to this committee would be accomplished in some fashion so I don't I don't think he'd really have an issue or see it as a as a personal affront or and that's just my opinion on it and uh maybe someone else sees it differently well not hearing any any further discussion on the motion he none all in favor I go ahead yeah this is Teresa I was just wondering do we lose any power in not being a commission versus this uh alternative that we're proposing uh well that's a that's a good that's that's a good question but uh as it relates to power we are an advisory committee to the assembly and uh so the power is in the assembly and uh so if we became a a commission under the administrative side uh to a degree uh I guess as it relates to power I I really don't know how much power that gave would give us and that's just my thought on it somebody else might want to speak to that Pastor mate this is mar again um yes I think that if we were successful in doing as Lori just suggested even if not now but if we were successful in reconfiguring the office of equity and Justice so it was accountable to both and and couldn't be controlled by either branch of government that potentially gives us more power um because we then have two branches of government that we could operate on right and and that's awesome but the thing that I see right now is uh that is sort of outside of our purview as it relates to that becoming I guess code so to speak and so go ahead but it already is code and so I think that our ask of our our assembly Representatives here could be could you go to the mayor's office and start conversations about how to reinvigorate what's already in code with the inclusion of now this steering committee okay so my assumption was that that was one reason uh Mara that you were asking about the the Genesis of that ordinance uh to see where that would come into play and maybe maybe maybe Felix can speak to that I don't know go ahead Mara well I was just gonna say that's quite all right um I was just going to say I think I'd like to see that ordinance again um and at the time it was you know it was like I keep saying and I apologize for being redundant but it was because we wanted to make it accountable to uh and not controlled by both branches of government um and so I just would like to see it again to remind myself of how it was structured but I do know based on memory that that um that that was the precise vision and Viewpoint and value that we were we were holding in that I think it would be really interesting to have a conversation with th uh with the attorneys about what went wrong in that court case and um again what Matt reference could be easily fixed because we do already have code and so if it's just a couple of fixes that we need to make within what is existing I think that that would be the easiest Road plus the inclusion of a steering committee yeah and and and I'm thinking what I'm hearing what I'm hearing Mara is that even in your thought processes the two become one as it relates to uh functioning on the administrative side as a steering committed to the uh Chief Equity officer's office of equity and Justice uh so to speak and and I'm thinking that what I'm hearing all of this works into that and uh if that could be accomplished that would be that would be wonderful but relative to the power question that was raised a moment ago as it relates to a commission versus what we're talking about my thought would be that if we could effectuate change directly uh through that particular office as it's set up to to bring about change then I would think that that would be more powerful than anything else we could be doing that's just my thought on it somebody else want to speak to it Theo well okay go ahead celest well since since we're engaging to try to see what we can do to make it more effective I I'm wondering if there can be language that talks about the staff uh beefing up the staff in this um so anything that we can include I think we should bring it to the table now that will make the office stronger thank yeah and I and I think Mr Felix have spoken to that quite often and effectively in in that that would be a discussion for the administration and part of the motion that uh uh theia made earlier was that alaon would begin the conversations with the administration uh to to make all of that a possibility yeah yes ma'am um I guess in just to like to address Teresa's question about losing power when a new Chief Equity officer takes that role I think what we've seen in the last three years is that even though there's a really good job description there's you know language and code there's still a huge and we know this from just doing the work there's a huge range of interpretation to what it really means to do work that builds equity in our community and so I see there being quite a bit of power if we can use the charter our annual priorities that we've already set our practices our membership and have that readymade on September 9th when our new Chief Equity officer walks in the door to me that sets that work up on a really strong Foundation to go forward forward and I think it really avoids what otherwise Could Happen which is that office ends up just reacting and kind of trying to be the things that 10 different people want it to be and I feel like we actually have quite a bit of power if we can use what we've created over the last two years and couple that with a new you know I think really awesome person who's going to be a really great Chief Equity officer and just like kind of combine forces and charge ahead and and create a lot of that momentum and also kind of cover like Community cover for that person to really go forth and do the work and so I I feel like we're we're gaining power with this idea and not I think I think what Pastor May said a little bit ago is just like right now we don't have a ton of power right um so I think we actually are gaining Power by by this move yes and to pigy back on that uh uh and relative to your question Teresa is is that I think uh the the big deal in a lot of our discussion has been around losing the uh Collective cohesiveness as it relates to the group that we have versus uh moving to a group that would be presented by a commission that we know not what that uh composition would be Pastor may this is Mara I just wanted to say um I am gonna have to hop off in just a minute or so and I wanted to express my gratitude for everybody on the call and for all the hard work and the visioning that you're all doing I'm really really grateful thank you ever so much and thank you for participating uh in a big way on this evening yeah yeah and so we'll go ahead and if there's no further discussion we'll go ahead and entertain the the motion on the floor as it relates to sharing with our assembly chair that we've effectively decided to go in another Direction and so that's that's on has her hand up do what now Celeste has her hand up I didn't get it that that was go ahead okay all right thank you thank you can we just restate the motion really clearly um because I'm worried people are going to vote Yes when they mean no and so is this is a question is the motion so um Hannah and Lori that we reject the proposal that this committee become a commission that's that was the initial Genesis of it okay so if I vote Yes I'm voting yes to reject that proposal we're voting yes to say to Mr conston that uh we're not interested at this particular time in becoming a commission and choose to go in another Direction okay I just wanted to be sure was stated yeah all right is that all Minds clear all in favor I I opposers like opposers any all right no opposers so we move forward with uh making uh uh the chair of the assembly Mr cson aware that the commission idea as brought forth is not a direction that we choose to go in and we have chosen another alternative all righty very good I I think uh that was the particular specific work that we came here for on today was to make some kind of determination moving forward and I think we have effectively decided that and uh uh Mr Felix is there any question that you may have in that our original motion a prior motion was that uh leaz SS would begin discussion with uh inclusive of the assembly chair and what have you an Administration with the idea of us becoming a steering committee uh to the uh office of equity and Justice with the incoming new uh Chief Equity officer so is is that okay with you guys if you're asking if I understand the motion and the expectation yes I do all right that would be great go ahead and Felix are are you um also interested in engaging in that conversation about learning what it is that um it would take in order to get the office um the Independence that we're clearly expressing we hope it has yeah that that'll we all wrapped into the conversation that has had with the administration is um the steering committee the Staffing funding um code all of those aspects will be wrapped into that conversation thank you and I want and I want to thank you uh Mr Mr Rivera for all of your expertise across these last two and a half plus years and and even now in been willing to help facilitate uh what we're trying and attempting to do at this particular Point thank you so much you've been so very helpful in all of these procedes yeah and I and I think that's PL and I think that's the plural of process yeah you're here all righty alrighty any any further input from anyone I think we have a direction I think we've made a determination and I personally think it's a very positive one and I think would Empower us to a higher degree and uh help us to effectively uh do has been alluded to by many of us over time to have some teeth and to effectively bring about some changes rather than as uh celest saluted to Simply meeting yeah yes Miss Lori my only concern is Jasmine she's going to miss us terribly oh she is she yeah yeah yeah and let me piggyback on that and say how how thankful and grateful we are to your assistance throughout all of all of this over these years it's been wonderful working with you and uh hopefully we'll continue that on the on the other side in some shape form of Fashion on the record it has been great to work with you and I'll still be here so yeah yeah yeah and we haven't move you yet yeah all right until some determinations are made uh through the legislative and administrative branches and we'll still plan to uh uh meet going forward any audience participation all right hearing none thank you then we'll entertain our regular meeting in uh August and move forward with our specific agenda relative to Charter and and uh all of these offic is that we have to decide uh until further notice so we'll stay on our agenda until further notice and and keep it moving all righty any anything anybody need St Thea you want anything all right we did I just did that thank you yeah yeah we did do the audience all righty then hearing nothing else I'll move for adjournment bo bo done yeah thank you guys thank you thank you yeah yeah minutes early yeah