pages: CityCouncil/2020-06-29.pdf, 8
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CityCouncil | 2020-06-29 | 8 | Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft stated the process is about finding solutions to serious long- standing issues in the community; it should not be about further dividing community or increasing mistrust; all energy needs to be directed to achieving important objectives; she would like to look at the most effective ways to accomplish the goals; she has thought a lot about the topic of systemic racism; one definition is a system or structure that have procedures or processes that disadvantage African Americans; it is important to address and acknowledge racism exists outside of community institutions; while Council may not be able to legislate to address it, it needs to be part of the discussion; she would like to have input from all five Councilmembers working together; she was surprised by the ready-made proposal brought to the rest of the Council by two Councilmembers; she prefers organic discussion with Councilmembers starting from the same place, also keeping in mind transparency and bringing the public along; expressed concern about comments regarding the details of the Vice Mayor's proposal, which were not included in the proposal or staff report from the last meeting; she learned the comments were from Vice Mayor Knox White's detailed Facebook post; a lot of people many not have seen it; she anticipated the Council would be addressing the issue starting fresh today; expressed concern; stated that she was a little thrown-off; she would have preferred details be posted be part of the staff report or as an attachment so all Councilmembers can be on the same page; inquired how the Council can have a participatory discussion given she, and perhaps others, have not had an opportunity to read Vice Mayor Knox White's post. Vice Mayor Knox White responded it was not his intent to just drop his proposal and ask for support; he likes to get a lot of community input; he worked with Councilmember Vella on thinking of ways to move forward and what it would look like; it has to be fair, center Black and youth voices; members of the community who are not often led to the table have been brought forward; he posted on Facebook and asked for feedback. Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft inquired whether Vice Mayor Knox White shared the document with the rest of the Council, to which Vice Mayor Knox White responded that he sent it to the City Clerk to be distributed; the reason Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft had not seen it yet was because he wanted to make sure everyone had their say first before diving into something that had bullet points; he tried to outline a way forward, but did not anticipate there would be support for any one particular proposal; he is happy to discuss his thoughts rather than defending why he thought engaging with the community before the meeting was worthwhile. Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft stated that she does want to hear Vice Mayor Knox White's thoughts and she also believes in engaging with the community; her concern is that it is a limited community as he did not share it with people other than those that follow him on Facebook; she wants to have a full and robust discussion from all Councilmembers and staff. Councilmember Oddie stated it would be good to hear thoughts before getting into a specific plan of action. Special Meeting Alameda City Council 8 June 29, 2020 | CityCouncil/2020-06-29.pdf |