HomeMy WebLinkAboutESJ 2025-01-09 MinutesTukwila Equity and Social Justice Commission
City of Tukwila — City Hall
6200 Southcenter Boulevard, Tukwila, WA 98188
Maryan Abdow
Hamdi Diriye
Aaron Draganov
Joe Duffie
Kathy Hougardy
CM Jovita McConnell
Call to Order
II Introduction (2 minutes)
III Approval of Agenda (2 minutes)
I EE°°'I°"I G RAINU I E
Kristen Schwabe -Fry
Jo Anderson
Brandon Miles
IV Approval of Minutes, December 5, 2024 (2 minutes)
V Business Items
• Introduce the New Youth Commissioner and Icebreaker Activity for Commissioners to
Continue to Get to Know One Another
Commissioners learned more about each other. Jo provided copies of the Boards &
Commissions Handbook and the ESJ Commission by-laws to new members.
• 2025 Work Plan
Commissioners continued discussing strategies and opportunities in 2025 including next
steps:
Relationship building in the community:
• Councilmember listening sessions — find opportunities to engage Councilmembers and
Community members. Seek new or existing opportunities in the community. Seeing the
City seal and an official at a table is a draw for community members to stop by. This
election year is a motivating factor for Councilmember outreach and opportunity for
voter education/registration. If it takes place in April, it is also an opportunity to
Tukwila Equity and Social Justice Commission
City of Tukwila — City Hall
6200 Southcenter Boulevard, Tukwila, WA 98188
encourage community members to run for office. CM Jovita and Kathy to bring ideas to
the February meeting.
• Pride Month (June) — Help develop and implement activities and have a presence. Start
small this year and seek partnership opportunities. The activity could be celebratory,
educational, or both. CM Jovita and Lina to brainstorm and bring ideas.
• Juneteenth (June 19) — Help plan/Volunteer/Have a presence. The planning committee
led by Jo to convene soon. Joe would like to help plan and volunteer and Maryan is
available the day of.
• World Refugee Day (June 21) — Help plan/Volunteer/Have a presence. Planning is
underway and the next meeting will be Friday, January 17 at 2pm. Partners include the
International Rescue Committee, King County Library System, and Wide World for
Refugees. Maryan is interested in volunteering. Kristin inquired about connecting the
event to the 2025 World Cup Club games and is interested in attending the next
planning meeting.
• Veteran's Day (November 11) — Help develop and implement activities and have a
presence. Joe would like to help plan this.
Awareness, Forums, Trainings:
• Racial Restrictive Covenants — Provide information about how to remove covenants and
potentially pay the associated fee. Awaiting response from legal regarding the ability to use
commission funds to pay the $20 recording fee for those who wish to strike the language
from their home deeds. Kristen and Aaron will contact the UW project managers about
timeline for the map of impacted areas.
• Know Your Rights — Identify strategies for supporting vulnerable populations. The Tukwila
School District has strengthened their resolution. Jo will bring the City's 2019 resolution for
review. It was recommended that the resolution be reintroduced and amplified by the
Council.
Equity policy and accountability:
• Support Human Resources Recruitment — Jo will check in with HR about upcoming job fairs
and other activities that could be supported. Jo will forward job opening to the council for
dissemination.
• Equitable Board & Commission Recruitment and Selection — Jo will bring the current policy
(last updated 2023) to the February meeting for review. It was noted that community
members may have fear or feel intimidated to join; especially if they have no previous
experience or know of others who have been involved. Another barrier is the inability to
participate due to other priorities (work, family, etc.). Compensation and creating
welcoming and inclusive spaces, free of bias for diverse membership was discussed.
Tukwila Equity and Social Justice Commission
City of Tukwila — City Hall
6200 Southcenter Boulevard, Tukwila, WA 98188
VI Miscellaneous
• State of the City — Brandon provided information about the upcoming State of the City
on March 26. It was noted that the event is during the last 10 days of Ramadan and
unlikely to draw Muslim community members; suggesting an alternate date in April.
Also, given the current sociopolitical climate, it was suggested that
• TCLI —Due to time constraints, Jo will send the Tukwila Community Leadership Initiative
slides in a follow-up email.
VII Adjournment