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HomeMy WebLinkAboutESJ 2025-09-04 MinutesTTE EES Maryan Abdow Jo Anderson Hamdi Diriye Aaron D ra ga n ov Joe Duffle Hannah Hedrick Kathy Hougardy Tukwila Equity and Social Justice Commission City of Tukwila — City Hall 6200 Southcenter Boulevard, Tukwila, WA 98188 Kristen Schwabe -Fry Trish Kinlow Laurel Humphrey, Guest Sherry Williams, Guest Call to Order II Introduction (2 minutes) III Approval of Agenda (2 minutes) IV Approval of Minutes, August 7, 2025 (2 minutes) V Business Items • Ice Breaker Activity to Continue to Get to Know One Another Commissioners learned more about each other. • HealthPoint Tukwila Commons Update — Sherry Williams, VP Community Engagement and External Relations Phase I of the HealthPoint Clinic is a few days ahead of schedule at this point with target completion of Fall 2026. HealthPoint received more than $2 million from the state towards the Tukwila Commons project. The new facility will serve 8,000 patients. Additional space will be available for other purposes. Jo mentioned the need for classroom space for providing computer literacy, for example. Phase II will be constructed 2027-28. • 2025 Work Plan Updates Tukwila Equity and Social Justice Commission City of Tukwila — City Hall 6200 Southcenter Boulevard, Tukwila, WA 98188 Relationship building in the community: • Councilmember Engagement — Kathy Hougardy and CM Hedrick, An effort to formally introduce ESJ Commissioners and the work of the commission to the Council after the election was discussed. How that will be done is to be determined. • Veteran's Day — Jo Anderson and Joe Duffie, Joe suggested working with Parks & Recreation's Veteran's event and encourage veterans to participate in the Honor Flight program. Trish recommended highlighting City Employees who are currently or have served in the military in the Grapevine. • Jo provided an update that the City tabled at the `Summer Souk' night market at AbuBakr, the Mayor participated in a Somali Independent Business Alliance (SIBA) event, and that The People's Project resident steering committee was selected and have begun planning a fair and inclusive participatory budgeting process. Awareness, Forums, Trainings: • Racial Restrictive Covenants — Aaron Draganov and Kristen Schwabe -Fry, discussion tabled • Know Your Rights — Red Card Distribution, Red cards were made available to the Commissioners at the meeting. Equity Policy and Accountability • Equitable Board & Commission Recruitment and Selection — Current Appointment Process, discussion tabled • Inclusive Emergency Communications Plan — discussion tabled VI Miscellaneous • Cannabis Zoning Regulations Considerations — Laurel provided information about the zoning regulations under consideration. The proposed ordinance is to be presented at the next Council meeting for a vote. Commissioners expressed concerns or defended elements of the proposed ordinance. Concerns included lack of acknowledgment of the history of racism and the criminalization of marijuana; insufficient outreach regarding the initiative, including offering translated information; impacts on communities of color and youth; and concerns related to Cannabis sales as a source of revenue for the City. Comments in support of the proposed ordinance included increasing access to cannabis in Tukwila, limits set forth regarding the number of business licenses and locations, regulations set by business owners, and ability to generate revenue for the City. • Blake Pop -Up Event — The Tukwila Municipal Court is offering a pop-up event on September 13 at Southcenter Mall to assist those who may be able to vacate charges regarding marijuana possession and fines collected related to the charges.