09/20/2023 - Minutes
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MEETING DATE/TIME: Wednesday, September 20, 2023, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
MEETING LOCATION: Town Hall and Virtual Meeting
Members Present
Ali Haddadi
Basil Christopher
Connie Ramaekers
Dolly Specht, Vice Chair
Shaila Kotadia, Chair
Not Present
Bhushan Gupta
Heidi Dixon
Kristi Allen
Isaiah Jackman
Israel Jacquez
City Team Present
Kurt Jun, DEI Manager
Leandro Barrientos, Digital Communications Coordinator
Maureen Wolf, Council Liaison
Nicole Hendrix, Team Liaison
Jade McIntosh, Notetaker
Meeting start: 7:00 pm
Welcome and Introductions
Dolly asked an icebreaker question, “What is exciting in your life right now?”
Connie, 1) the Tualatin Together and Tigard Turns the Tide Community Coalitions share the Strategic
Prevention Framework-Partnership for Success (SPF-PFS) federal grant in the amount of $375,000 a year
for 5 years. They will be working together to implement programs and activities in our communities and
schools to help reduce the use of substances and to help improve mental health and wellness. Tualatin
Together will be the fiscal agent, 2) Tigard High School’s STUDD (Stop Underage Drinking and Drugs)
club was featured in the National Herren Project newsletter, 3) Tigard HS STUDD will also be doing a
“Hat, Glove, Mitten Drive” for the TTSD Caring Closet to help our Tigard families in need. There will
be a collection box near the front of the main entrance at THS for the week of October 9 -13.
Kurt, the city council approved the Racial Equity Action Plan and Equity Commitment Declaration.
City of Tigard
Committee for Community Engagement Minutes
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Dolly, the city council approved the Tigard City Charter last month.
Nicole engaged in June and so was Maureen’s daughter.
Basil, his son played a saxophone at the Vancouver Symphony on the weekend of September 23rd.
Shaila, participated in the Bay Area DEI practitioners' event at Stanford University.
Ali, volunteered at Tigard’s event a month ago.
Liaison Update.
Nicole shared that her goal as a team liaison is to work together in creating an open, safe space
environment for everyone to share ideas while balancing the integrity of individual feedback.
CCE Reflection & Visioning Exercise
CCE Reflections and Accomplishments
This year, Nicole captured three areas that the committee is interested in working on, the DEIB, climate,
and transportation.
Snapshot refinement takeaways. Recognizing our audience, getting clarity on what we are trying to
accomplish, and creating a tool for residents to learn about different neighborhoods, and how
neighborhoods grow over time.
Social media/content influence. Nicole worked with Ali on social media concepts that can be used for
awareness and educational purposes for the whole community. For example, the Persian New Year and
Sheila’s “Talking Tigard” podcast about Tigard DEI work and her work.
Community event guidance. Feedback from members will be used to guide next year’s Juneteenth and
Pride celebrations to make sure that both events receive an equal amount of space and attention. Going
forward Alex and Nicole will hold a community planning session which they’re excited to have.
Levy engagement strategy. Kelsey Anderson from the Police Department (PD) came and presented on
the upcoming PD’s tax levy. Dolly is connecting her neighborhood with the City of Tigard-sponsored ice
cream social event on September 23rd. Councilor Wolf requested CCE’s involvement in community
education and awareness on wh y the public safety levy is important for Tigard.
Time, Place, Manner ordinance presentation by Km Ezell. Basil provided feedback on the ADA
requirement his input was used in the City’s TPM document.
Hall Blvd-neighborhood connections. Dolly is actively engaging the older part of the city’s communities
that were not part of the city through education.
Nicole thanked the CCE’s members for their reflections in the areas mentioned above. CCE’s feedback
does make a difference. Recommendation, Nicole will have a standing agenda item to follow up on
feedback from a previous meeting. Members were also encouraged to share updates on their work by
email.
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Visioning
The CCE’s “Our Vision” could use improvements. Since Nicole started as a team liaison, she noted there
is an interest in increasing engagement. The question remains, how does that look for us?
Meeting with other committee chairs or staff members to discuss what they do to enhance community
engagement and improve the quality of life for the City of Tigard residents. A question such as, “What has
been done, and the plan for community outreach in the future.” Include transportation as a topic.
There have been a lot of questions on the why and discussion around priorities over the minority that
often doesn’t have a voice on the table. We know the why, but we want to work on the how and what are
people willing to do in this group. Good start-up questions for CCE. Are we a collection of individuals
that share what we do individually? Or are we a collective group that works collectively to build a
community? Set realistic expectations for ourselves and as a committee.
We need to come together and get to know each o ther better. Several years ago, CCE was called the
“Neighborhood Network”. At that time a multi-cultural event was held at the library. It was a successful
tool for connecting people. It is important to have action items as they provide members with a sense of
accomplishment for their contribution.
Ideally, we should be both a collection of individuals and a collective group. The reality is we are all
volunteers. Equally important is to know each other, recognize, and respect what each person brings to
the table, and understand why we are here. Each person has a different level of passion and commitment.
Sponsor a multicultural event to collectively engage as a group. Clarify our roles whether we are an
engagement or an advisory group.
As influencers in the community, members collectively agreed to be available in the city’s outreach or
engagement activities individually as much as time allows.
The role of CCE is influencer in the community. In addition to sponsoring events, CCE is also expected
to collect feedback and knowledge from the community and share them with the city councils,
administrators, and Nicole.
The way to engage people is by connecting them with their cultures.
Nicole asked regarding the collection of ideas. Do we want to collect ideas from new members or do they
go by what’s already been planned?
Team Agreement
With respect to strengthening team connection, the first step is formulating an agreement as a foundation
and internal compass before we start moving into action. In seeking feedback, these are some
considerations, a) How to keep people engaged? b) Is there a space for an individual to speak? c)
Agreement in expecting discomfort. Accept the idea that problem-solving doesn’t happen in one sitting.
An action item for Nicole, collect responses/ideas from CCE’s members (electronically) and use them as a
starting point for further conversation in our meetings. Additionally, to ask what has been working and
not working, and use the answers as action items to work on.
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Visioning DEI work
Customized DEI course. “Who the audience is?”, “What topics should be covered?”, “When it occurs?”,
and “What does it look like?”
Who the audience is? - discussion to be continued.
DEI course concept. Understanding the DEI roles and filters to use for this committee to guide work
that needs to be done for certain marginalized communities. The ability to focus our actions based on
information such as culture, income level, and locations in the city. We need clarity in these areas. Having
a DEI experiential learning course is a way to build a sense of community within CCE. We are bonding as
a group.
To develop a DEI customized course that meets our needs, Kurt requested full engagement and feedback
from CCE members about the context and contents we want to see. His objectives for the course are
two-fold, understanding our own personal areas of learning and meeting professional expectations.
Subcommittee Updates – There were no updates.
Review and accept meeting minutes for July 19th.
Accepted and approved.
Open Agenda
Adjournment, 8:30 pm