City Council Minutes 2021 11 01 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes November 1, 2021 Page 4 of 9 Mr. Graves outlined proposed short-term actions including staffing, a permanent EDI board, social programming reflecting diverse communities, providing more resources in Spanish, hiring bilingual staff, and "safe spaces" for various cultural identities. Ms. Shamsid-been shared other suggestions such as helping city service providers be better equipped to help those with language barriers; ensuring dignified and equitable treatment of all residents and guests regardless of economic status, race or language needs; and ensuring service providers understand the guidelines surrounding ADA compliance and how to access language services. Mr. Graves stated that the 2020 U.S. Census shows the population of Louisville is becoming more diverse and the City needs to adjust services to address the community as a whole. Devanand Heins, EDI Task Force member, identified himself as a multi -racial resident of Louisville and stated he has experienced an interesting journey in Louisville. The small- town feel is amazing, but there have been other aspects that have been challenging. As an example, Mr. Heins spoke about an event his neighbor experienced and relayed to him to include in his Task Force work. His neighbor's son is from a multi -racial family and is black presenting. The son was playing with a white identifying child and there was an incident that caused some pushing which resulted in the white identifying child calling the neighbor's son the "NI -word". The mother of the child went to the father of this boy and said that even though the children were pushing each other it was not okay for the child to call her son by that name. The father said he was okay with his son using that language. Mr. Heins believes it is important to have spaces to talk about these things. Spaces need to be created where conversations can be held where everyone feels heard and ground rules can be shared. It is important to understand that language can be hurtful. Hazleena Hashim, EDI Task Force member, identified herself as Asian and her son is multi -racial. She related that during the pandemic she considered downsizing but realized that she had been priced out of Louisville, so she considered moving to a different city. However, seeing how well the EDI Task Force progressed made her realize that she wants to stay in Louisville to see the EDI Task Force work continue. She wants to be part of the community. She doesn't feel this work is a relay — she's not passing the baton — but wants to run with the city through this process She wants to help the work go further buy rolling up her sleeves and going to the next step. Francisco Estevez, EDI Task Force member, thanked Council for taking on the work. He looked at the work in several other cities and found that all of them have a common trajectory and that Louisville is on the same path. He believes that building on the recommendations from the final report will position Louisville to be a benchmark for other cities to model against. He expressed that it was an honor and privilege to serve on the Task Force, and he gained new friends in the process for which he will be forever grateful.