[Frances Nwajei]: Hello, everybody, and welcome to the December 2023 Human Rights Commission meeting with the City of Medford. I'm Frances Marchand, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. I'm now going to popcorn it over on to our commissioners. So over to you, Diane.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Hi, I'm Diane McDonald. I've been on the commission for the last year and I'm a resident of West Medford. And then I also work in higher ed as a community builder through stories and I'm a tour guide at Royal House and Slave Quarters locally.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Diane. Would you like to popcorn it over to someone else?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I'll popcorn over to Stephanie.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_05]: Hi everyone, Stephanie Cornell. I have been first year on the commission and I am a Medford resident as well and I will popcorn it to Maureen.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Hi, I'm Maureen Curley. I am, I also live in West Medford. I've been on, this is my third meeting. I am also a volunteer here at the Royal House and Slave Quarters and I will send it over to Jack.
[Jack Buckley]: Hi, everyone, Chief Jack Buckley. I've been a police officer in the city of Medford for 25 plus years. I am just starting my sixth year of Chief of Police in my sixth year on the Human Rights Commission. So welcome, everyone. And I will send it to Rob, I think, right?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Thanks, Chief. Yep, this is Rob Klein. I've been on the commission about three years at this point. Happy, lucky resident of South Medford. And my professional endeavors don't align with the board whatsoever. I'm in tech sales for reference. I think we do have a new face on the call as well, Adam. I don't know, Frances, if this is the opportunity to do an added intro or we should hold there.
[Frances Nwajei]: We should hold there for now because we're going to go into the intro right after our touchstones. All right, do I have a commissioner volunteering to read our HRC meeting touchstones? Make me be the reader of the touchstones.
[Jack Buckley]: I don't have a problem reading it, Frances, I just don't have it up. Can you put it on the screen? I just don't have it in front of me.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay, all righty, hold on. I usually prepare better, you know that. Right, let me look for it. Bring it up. It's there. Of course, I can't find it handily. Here we go.
[Jack Buckley]: Method Human Rights Commission meeting touchstones. Be present, presume welcome, and extend welcome. Order of meeting is the commission meets to discuss the agenda first. At conclusion of meeting agenda, members of the public are invited to share comments. Raise your hand before speaking and avoid interrupting others. Speak for yourself and speak your truth in ways that respect others' truths. Acknowledge others' lived experience to promote human dignity. Listen deeply. Believe that it's possible to emerge refreshed, surprised, and less burdened. Expect and accept a lack of closure. When things get difficult, turn to WANDA.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Chief. It's really incredible that at this time I have to say the seconds to last and the last bullet are just so real right now. expect and accept a little closure and when things get difficult tend to wonder when you look at just what is occurring on a global scale. All right, at this time, we're going to reverse our typical agenda, because we have Adam LaFrance joining us on behalf of the Massachusetts Human Rights Coalition as our invited guest. So I'm going to turn it over to Adam to provide to provide update, introduction. And then when Adam is done, it will go back to commissioners to ask questions and stuff. So over to you, Adam. Hi.
[SPEAKER_05]: Good evening, everyone. And thank you for inviting me, Frances. It's really nice to join you this evening. and just talk through a little bit about what the coalition is. And hello to Munir. Nice to see you again. We've worked in the past through this organization, which I have to say wouldn't exist without the efforts of Medford. It started in Medford with the former diversity director, Diane McLeod, who retired about 2015, 2014, 2016, right around there. And it was something that she had created. I'm not sure if it was just her or in partnership with someone else, but my recollection is it's her sometime in the mid 1990s. And it worked to build this association of others who are parts of human rights commissions in other towns in and around the Commonwealth to come together and trade notes and exchange stories, troubleshoot issues, and see how each of us could do our work in our towns that much better, and have others we could turn to with those questions or issues. And that's actually how I came to be part of it, through the Melrose Human Rights Commission, which I joined in 2013 and was on for six years before term limits. And I finished my term. But through that, came to participate in this group. And when Diane retired, several of us said, well, let's keep this group going. We really benefited from this. We really like this. And it's been immensely helpful, especially as some of us came into it without maybe some uh, you know, experience in this kind of work, but really a commitment to advancing this kind of work, um, and seeing it happen, uh, at the local level. And, uh, you know, so an opportunity to learn a fair amount. Um, so we kept the, the traditions, uh, that Diane had established. We meet the second Friday of every month, uh, at 9 AM. And that's for about two hours. We do that almost every month, except for a couple months in the summertime. So fairly tied to the academic calendar. And actually, one of the silver linings of the COVID remote virtual experience was really being able to expand participation across the Commonwealth. So where before we would meet in person at Medford City Hall, upstairs, we now meet by Zoom. And consequently, we have many more people from all across the Commonwealth who will attend and some outside the Commonwealth. We have a couple of representatives from Rhode Island who now join us. And there's been other folks who are interested, who maybe don't have something like this in their state, but said this is something we'd like to, you know, can we participate and see what we can do and bring back to our communities? So essentially, that's what we do once a month. And we probably have, everyone's fairly busy, but I think we usually have between 10 and 20 participants each month. But we probably have, we have well over 100 people who are part of our our communication group. So we can not only talk in meetings, we can talk online. We have essentially a listserv or a Google group where that can happen. If things happen in between meetings, our conversations last longer than those meetings. So it's been a really great resource. And in addition to our monthly meetings, we have started in the last few years trying to have annual or semi-annual convenings that focus on a particular topic each time. And those are essentially a half day or three quarter day in-person networking event where we have guest speakers and really delve into a topic and try to understand it a little bit better, and see what we can do in our respective communities at that local level to either raise awareness or advance or support one issue or another related to that topic. So in May, we just had that on the topic of health and health care equity in the Commonwealth, in part looking at the health equity compact and the legislation that's currently pending at the statehouse. and some of the serious issues around that here in the Commonwealth. And we've tried to do that pretty annually. So we're now in between and probably looking at our next topic for our next convening. So other than our monthly meetings and our occasional convenings, in-person convenings, we also have been trying to build more of a resource bank. but part of which is internal and members can access. And some of it is actually on our website. So if you're looking for representative examples of things like public statements, you can look there. There's a section there most recently on statements that have been issued by different commissions relating to Israel and Gaza. But there are others as well. I just take a quick look. They talk about a number of different things that have come up, I think, have been the most common experiences across HRCs, and that have included land acknowledgments, relationships with law enforcement, holiday cultural calendars that schools or municipalities can publish and be mindful of and respect everything that's going on. community DEI positions, equity assessments, ways in which to structure a commission, because they differ. Some have obligatory liaisons from different departments. Others, like Melrose, are much more open. So it can really depend. Is that a question? Which, by the way, feel free to ask any questions as they come up.
[Frances Nwajei]: You know, thank you so much commissioners. As I said, it was best to have Adam here because I couldn't do justice to the information provided. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to share your email addresses because you should have already been receiving some of the communications that have gone out. Most recent communication was in regards to the land acknowledgments that was done. I hope I'm not confusing it with the decision to change the seal unless I could be confusing two separate emails. But do you have any questions for Adam? This is a great time for commissioners to ask their questions.
[SPEAKER_05]: There were a few notices that went out. I think one was the, on the work of the committee that was working to change the seal that went out recently. There was another one on the zoning for bathrooms and plumbing that will help facilitate development and avoid having to go through special permits and such.
[Frances Nwajei]: Commissioner McDonald, go ahead, please.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So, so we're still an incomplete commission where we're looking to fill 3 slots and I would just love to get a sense from you Adam and thank you for joining us. What are some of the high performing, high functioning commissions in the state that you've observed? Because I feel as if we're still trying to find our rhythm together and, you know, finish filling out the commission and really, you know, have a cohesive charge and leadership. So we're still We're all still working together on that, even though we have a number of initiatives on the calendar. And we just made the Declaration of Human Rights in honor of, you know, December 10th. But I would just love to hear some examples of, you know, high functioning commissions in the state that we can turn to, to just look at as role models.
[SPEAKER_05]: They go through cycles. Some of it can vary. In some years, there can be a lot of activity and a lot of all hands on deck and a very active commission, some of which you'll see more of if they've been around for a while. Arlington has been around for a long time. Melrose has been around since the 90s. Those are some of the earlier ones that I know of. Brookline has been very strong and active for a very long time. I imagine you'll see more of that in cities, so Cambridge, Somerville, particularly Cambridge. Somerville has gone through some cycles, as best as I recollect. I know Boston also was active for a time, then it went dormant for a time, and they were recently revived by Mayor Walsh. And now they have, I think they're in their second or third year of activity under their new chair. Um, but it can really depend. Yeah. Um, I think one of the newest is, uh, Watertown. They were just, uh, created, um, and approved in September or October. Uh, and we helped them with that process and they have a very strong ordinance, uh, that they adopted. Um, you know, as they took a look at other, other groups ordinances and some of the things that they should think about In crafting that, there's some like borders really engaged on that. So they put together a really great example of an HRC ordinance.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Oh, that's helpful. And that's the city of Watertown?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: And they got guidance from your coalition and other communities?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yes. Some of the members who are residents who are organizing that initiative reached out and participated in our group. And then later after they'd really put together this strong package as they were getting toward the subcommittee discussions and the the final votes, you know, we were asked to come and talk. So it was great to see that that made it across the line and hopefully they're out the gate and getting things going.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: That's great. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_05]: Certainly.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much, Adam. Commissioner Curley.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Yes. Thanks so much for coming, Adam. This is really helpful. And I found the emails I've already seen from the group really enlightening. So I think it's going to help us a great deal and be able to interact and find out what other people are doing. I had a couple of questions about how they're structured. First of all, how many are there in the state? Do you have any idea about how many local commissions there are?
[SPEAKER_05]: So a few years ago, we undertook a survey project. And we all took segments of the state and drilled down into their public municipal information and tried to reach out where we could to make contact. And I think we had about 30 commissions, predominantly in the eastern part of the state. Let's see, since then, there have probably been about 10 or 15 more that have been created, so that we're getting much more activity, which really all of this started to tick up after around 2016. Because when I joined the commission in Monroe in 2013, there wasn't a whole lot of interest, it seemed. There were a number of seats opened. It was sort of a quiet commission. They would have events and people would hear about it here and there, but it didn't have a lot of public presence in some ways, or energy behind, or rather interest in participating. That changed we saw in those years with many more people being very interested in joining the commission. My understanding from folks who've been doing this much longer than I have, that it has those cycles. That can be something to be aware of. We've seen probably about 30 commissions grow to about 45 in the last few years, or still nascent trying to put that together in their towns. And some of them have developed regional subgroups. The South Shore has a coalition, and they collaborate at that level to consider things that impacts each of those towns. And they're all pretty much municipal commissions except for Cape Cod, which has a county-wide advisory body that handles all the towns on the Cape. So that's the only county size, the county version that I'm aware of. But since then, there have been growing interest in the central part of the state and out in the Berkshires. So we have participants from North Adams and Pittsfield on occasion in and around the Worcester area or the Pioneer Valley.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Great. That's helpful. We've been struggling with getting members a little bit and we've been doing a lot of outreach recently, which I think is working, you know, I think it is good. I didn't know whether you had any words of wisdom to share with us about how we might be able to recruit and we are, of course, looking for diversity that represents Medford and we've tried, we've developed a little flyer, we've attended different events and we are trying to get out there. If you got any hints for us or is there anything, maybe there's something in your resource that can tell us how to do it better.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, nothing magic. That's basically how we did it in Melrose, reaching out every which way, whether it was through personal contacts, people we might know who might have an interest, but also events, publications in local media, whether it's social media or print media, a number of town-wide events or group organization events where we could attend and put up information and then slowly build it from there. But yeah, that was essentially very much the same thing. And that's where there are some pros and cons to how it's structured. If it's like some towns, like Wakefield or others, where the school department has a liaison, the police department has a liaison, the library has a liaison, that starts to fill it up fairly quickly. but in others where there aren't these official liaisons. It can be you're sort of back to this scenario of really trying to publicize, raise awareness. And depending on how the approval process is, you might have a situation where there's a town manager or a mayor who has appointment authority or nomination authority, and maybe they can do stuff too. And that depends, too, on how much independence exists to sort of do that recruiting and onboarding as a commission yourself or, you know, that mayor or town manager likes to do it themselves. And that's always relationships and what the ordinance says and probably tradition a little bit.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Is there a, are there any common activities that seem to be important or making subtraction or, you know, we're looking for also like how do we really function and what is it that we do beyond meeting and in And I was wondering whether you had seen anything in particular that some commissions might do that have been successful, both in publicizing about equity and diversity within the town. Let's see.
[SPEAKER_05]: There's a bit of a transition, perhaps, for many. Some of the older groups, for a long time, did a lot of events around raising awareness of one thing or another, building relationships with different parts of the community, bringing in speakers or other folks to talk about one issue or another. Those have been very popular components or types of things that a commission can do. I think at the same time, a lot of groups which are essentially sort of an advisory body, are looking to do more than events and event planning.
[SPEAKER_04]: And I think people essentially figure that out in a second. They're trying to figure out how they can take on the role.
[Frances Nwajei]: Adam, I'm sorry. We seem to have lost your sound for a moment there. Yeah.
[SPEAKER_05]: Can you hear me now? OK. So there's nothing too clear yet about that. I think people are still figuring out how best to do that. And in some ways, it can be as there's a lot of room to imagine what could be, you know, probably in conversation with a town or city solicitor. But different boards, other boards or advisory boards as well. What do they do? That might be one place to look. And that's a conversation that we've had among our members as well. Let's take a look at what other bodies are doing, what authorities they have. Could there be other authorities that are granted to this Human Rights Commission to review certain proposed legislation or projects or to either be able to reach in and advise or be approached and asked to review and advise on something. But, sorry, not much more concrete than that, but it is an area of interest, especially as we're trying to consider how do you have a human rights framework in municipal governance? How do you have human rights values and principles at the forefront when evaluating things that are proposed before the city council? things that are before the planning board and zoning, environmental justice and health equity, these things that touch on these different departments. How can you bring those departments in so that they're doing some of this work and it's not always the human rights commission, but maybe the human rights commission is sort of overseeing some of that or keeping everybody on the same page or helping provide resources to some of these different departments so that they can do that and really implement these principles and practices in every department with every employee. So that no matter how residents or guests to the town interface with the town, they're getting that human rights component considered.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you. Any other questions from our commissioners for Adam?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_05]: Hey, Adam, I have one question based on what you were just talking about with the advisory body. Who are your strategic partners or groups that really do want to come in at the coalition at the state level and have those conversations and want to be active participants with you all as well?
[SPEAKER_05]: Who are our partners? Yeah. It's varied and growing. Primarily, it's been other human rights committees. There's been a number of nonprofits that have sort of a similar broad scope to their mission. Excuse me. But we also have relationships with the Department of Justice and folks in the US Attorney's Office. District attorneys participate from time to time or will join some of their anti-bias events that they put on. I think that's primarily it for the most part at this point. But different commissions have different relationships with the stakeholders in their towns. I know Boston is building relationships with DOJ and others. I know Melrose, they're building relationships not only with the departments in the city, but with the hospital and other relevant stakeholders. It kind of depends on where everyone is, but as far as sort of our official relationship. We don't have an official relationship with the state. We are an unincorporated association of members of human rights commissions, who each of us have different relationships with different people at different parts of the state. So for example, we do a lot of work with Senator Lewis, Jason Lewis from Winchester, who is I'm in his district, but he's done a lot of work in this area. And so we've had a lot of overlap with his office. He's been supportive of this and what we do. But I hope that answered the question.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, it did. No, thank you. That was helpful. Thanks.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much, Adam. Chief and Rob, do you have any questions for Adam before I turn it over to public participation?
[Jack Buckley]: I was just fascinated by a little bit of the origins of the Medford Human Rights Commission, because I don't think even I had that depth of knowledge of it. So it was good to hear and kind of reinforce what we're trying to do here. I mean, he may or may not be aware of the struggles we've had over the last couple of years trying to get our own identity. I guess it's probably appropriate for me to ask, as you mentioned earlier, is the relationship with police and was that relationship with police as it relates to Human Rights Commission and their participation on the Human Rights Commissions? Is that a common thing? Because I've sat in that, my predecessor, Chief Sacco, sat on the Human Rights Commission for many years prior to that. I'm just wondering what your thoughts are as it relates to that.
[SPEAKER_05]: It's a little bit of both. And several HRCs do have a role for, it's either the chief who is liaison or someone designated by the chief. Otherwise, it was just a close relationship. We would, Chief Lyle was chief when I was on the commission, and so we would have a pretty close relationship with Chief Lyle and try to coordinate on events. And I think one of the topics we are always trying to address is, how to resolve issues of trust that are experienced in the community and build relationships with law enforcement so that folks can feel more confident in reaching out and comfortable reaching out as needed. And law enforcement can feel more comfortable in doing what they need to do. We had a convening on this about four years ago. And Chief Ryan from Arlington really talked about the role that can be played at this intersection with law enforcement, by law enforcement.
[Jack Buckley]: Yeah, as I said, this is, I'm starting my 60th now, and I think we've really tried to do that in the city here. But, you know, it's a continual effort, because in some sense, you're never going to know where your impact, you know, is and which communities you may not be reaching and which communities may still hold some sort of trust issues. And, you know, especially with our you know, more of a migrant or immigrant community is coming in. So we continue to work on that. And I'm glad the Human Rights Commission can be part of that and have those discussions with us. So thanks.
[SPEAKER_05]: And yet another way to have to build relationships. And if there's someone on the commission, or someone on the commission knows someone who could be a liaison, if there was ever a need, you know, that network exists.
[Jack Buckley]: Yeah. Yeah, valid point. Good.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Chief. Rob, I don't know if you had any questions for Adam.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Yeah, just very quickly. First, thanks very much, Adam, for participating. This has been really enlightening and reinforcing to hear that these types of things are going on all throughout the Commonwealth. You mentioned a little while ago that you spent some time really digging in and compiling quite a bit of information about where there are other committees, commissions, you know, what have you, however they're termed in specific communities. I would love to see any consolidated documentation you have about what those different groups take on or, you know, how they organize themselves, kind of assuming that you put together something formal and consolidated. So, if you have that, it would be great if you're comfortable to share it. Sure.
[SPEAKER_05]: I'll put in the chat right here, if I can find it. Is that an option? There it is. just a link to some of our public facing resources that are available on our website. I don't believe it has that spreadsheet that we put together with the different human rights groups. But let's see. But I would be happy to talk further or talk offline more about that. We do have that. Actually, it probably needs to be updated a little bit because it's been about a year. But I'm aware now that there are a few more groups, including Watertown, that should be updated on there. Great. Thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: All right. Thanks, Adam. I'll email the link to all the commissioners. All right. So at this point, I'm going to turn it to our two guests that I see in case they have any questions for Adam. Steve, do you have any questions for Adam?
[Steve Schnapp]: Yes, thanks, Francis. I'm just curious. I believe you briefly mentioned Boston or another HRC that was dealing with or made a statement about Israel-Palestine. And I just quickly went to your website. I didn't see anything about that on your website. I'm just curious as to what you have heard about HRCs in relation to Israel-Palestine.
[SPEAKER_05]: At this point, it's the statements, some of which are in that folder. You'll see examples of statements that have been issued by different groups publicly. Boston's is not in there yet, though I'm aware that they did publish one. And I've asked if they would like us to include it in that list. I haven't heard back yet. But if they're agreeable, we'll add that to the list as well. How many? I'm just curious. I believe there are five so far that agreed to have theirs shared here. I think there were probably eight or ten that I'm aware of who have issued statements. Not all of them were written. Some were videos that were posted on their social media. So the ones that we have are examples of written statements.
[Steve Schnapp]: Thank you. That's very helpful. How about the issue of anti-Semitism?
[SPEAKER_05]: I believe those are incorporated in the statements. When you take a look at those, they talk about mindful of a number of factors. They talk about anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, a number of different things that are at issue and part of the conversation right now in facilitating the relationships and the conversations that they're doing in their respective towns.
[Steve Schnapp]: Thanks, Adam.
[Frances Nwajei]: All right. Thank you, Steve. Munir, do you have any questions for Adam?
[Munir Jirmanus]: No, I don't have any questions. But it was good to see Adam again, on Zoom as it may be. And it's good to get a refresher's course, so to speak, on the Basque Human Rights Commission since just the time that they've been meeting is conflicting with my other in-home responsibilities, so to speak. But yeah, other than that, I don't have any questions. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_05]: OK. Thank you, Munir. On that, I do appreciate it's a difficult time for many. And to meet, what we try to do is, after every meeting, circulate the notes from the meeting. to attendees who are part of the Google group for their review, and for those who are attending, any edits or mistakes, but otherwise, to share that information with everyone so everyone gets that, including any notes or links or attachments or flyers that were shared.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much, Adam. Definitely appreciate your time, appreciate the one-to-one with me and then coming back the following month to meet with the commissioners. It's, you know, it was, for me, it was pretty profound to hear that Medford was one of the founding, or one of the founders, right? So it's, there's a little bit of pressure to make sure that Not only do we remain active, but we are exemplary in how we view human rights, how we react, how we respond, and how we affect change. And that incorporates Taking everything into account because as a, as a founder, you also, you're a forerunner and you always want to stay ahead. So I hope that not only will we come to. the full member body of nine, but we will find our own identity or an identity that is realistic for this day and age and in alignment with the ordinance that established a human rights coalition so that we can be better partners and continue to do the work on behalf of all people in the city of Medford and beyond. And who knows, maybe 2024 is the year that we end up at the State House. I don't know. But you know, you know people, I know people, we all know people. So let's get our people in one room. And let's, you know, use that networking power to create something big and something important. So I thank you so much for your time and everyone again, the group meets. Is it first Monday?
[SPEAKER_05]: Second Friday.
[Frances Nwajei]: Oh, I'm sorry, the second Friday of the month at nine o'clock. So that's tomorrow. No, that was last week. Sorry. I'm all off in my day. Yeah, that was last week, Friday. So if anybody's available, I think it would be great if you pop on and if you want some time, because that's before our HRC meeting. But if you think that there's something really important that you'd like to share, at the upcoming HRC meeting, then that would be more than appropriate. So if, Adam, you're more than welcome to stay on if you would like to.
[SPEAKER_05]: I do have to go. I apologize. I want to thank you for inviting me. And if there are questions that come up later, please feel free to reach out. We can chat further either one-on-one or through the Google group. For those who are added, I believe everyone's added. But if not, I can add you to the Google group. And then I think the only other point I wanted to make was the group is largely what folks want to make it. So if there's interest in speakers or focusing on a certain topic or raising discussion about something, it's very adaptable and amenable to that. It's really trying to meet folks where they are and cover what everyone wants to cover. So you're welcome. I look forward to anyone who can join us at our upcoming meetings. But until then, thank you. Thank you for having me. My colleague, Linda from Reading, was supposed to join. Unfortunately, she couldn't, so she extends her apologies. But thank you again, and we look forward to seeing you soon.
[Unidentified]: Thank you, Adam. Thank you so much. Thank you, Adam.
[Frances Nwajei]: So I see I couldn't do the meeting that I had with Adam Justice, so I'm happy that Adam was able to make it here today and that you were able to hear from Adam directly. Moving right along in the HRC agenda, someone needs to make a motion. If you have all read the November 2023 HRC meeting minutes, somebody needs to make a motion. Someone needs to approve. Motion to approve the minutes. Thank you. Thank you both. All right, so that's off the press. It's already the middle of December in less than a month and a week almost. It's Martin Luther King Day. My gosh, I feel like it's just been go, go, go, go, go. This section replaces what is formerly our calendar section, because typically we would be updating the calendar. But right now there is some meats and bones to plug into the calendar. So our calendar is actually going to have a body. So I wanted to talk about MLK Day, which is historically being done in partnership with the West Medford Community Center. I spoke with Lisa Crossman as I said that I would, and the West Medford Community Center is hosting an MLK event on Monday, January 15th. They are returning to the original location where they host the event, which is St. Raphael's Parish Center. The event is from 11 AM to 1 PM. So, I expressed that the human rights commission was interested in partnering. And supporting in a manner that. You know, they deemed would be helpful. So that was accepted. Lisa is open to assistance to help with setup, to help with breakdown, and even more importantly, to help with the creation of a PowerPoint slide that can be shown as people enter into the event prior to the event getting started. There is a PowerPoint slide that was created for Black History Month. And that slide, I just have to review it. I showed it in February. It focuses on the Black heroes in West Medford, I believe. But we could also expand on it and create a much broader one, maybe bringing to life some, you know, other heroes that may not necessarily be well-known like Henrietta Lack. But I wanted to throw that out there. I don't think that that's too big a lift. If that's what they have determined is meaningful support, I felt that I would bring it to the commission and share that. Any thoughts on that? Do people want time to think on that? Are people excited for that? Are people like, Francis, what on earth are you thinking? Leave me alone. Speak now.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I'm happy to help with the setup and the breakdown. But I, you know, I think I'll let someone else who's more of an expert with PowerPoint work their magic. Okay. So and I love the idea of using the event as an opportunity to recruit for our open seats. So I'll definitely be there doing that as well. Wonderful. Thank you, Diane.
[Frances Nwajei]: Anyone else? I would second what Diane said.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_05]: I'm happy on the setup or the takedown, but then also, you know, open to learning more about the PowerPoint if I, you know, could help in any way, but happy to participate and volunteer with them as, you know, most impactful.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay, wonderful. Thank you, staff. Maureen.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I was just going to say, I would definitely plan to attend. I did last year. It was really, it's really a great event. It would be, maybe thinking about next year, it would be great if someone could, the commission could actually be part of the planning of it since we are, if we are really a co-sponsor. I don't know. I mean, it just seems that it would be good to sort of be involved in how it's developed. I mean, that would be for next year. Obviously, it's too late for this year, but... I wouldn't refer to us as a co-sponsor.
[Frances Nwajei]: Oh, okay. The Human Rights, yeah. I mean, we are the Human Rights Commission and the West Medford Community Center is hosting an event in honor of Martin Luther King. I said it would not be appropriate for us to insert, but it would be appropriate for us to offer support. If needed West Medford is historically. The black part of Medford, we shouldn't forget that and the West Medford community center is really the. the only final standing connection for that history because that area has changed. We have not been approached to sponsor an event, but it's my understanding that we have historically supported the event. I feel that you can always find ways to support without necessarily being at the forefront having input. Right. So if somebody says, can you help me do this? It's a simple yes or no, because we have other events that come up very shortly afterwards that we have to lift up very, very quickly.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Now, I was I wasn't implying that we were on the forefront. I was just saying that it might build a close relationship. But if that's if we are just sort of like helping set up and everything, that's appropriate. I was looking for maybe more of a connection with them in order, but I must have misunderstood that we were just helpers, so that's fine.
[Frances Nwajei]: Well, relationships take time, right? And in order to build a relationship, you have to form that trust, right? And in order to form that trust, you have to have an exchange or a foundation of you know, what is meaningful to both parties. And we're really in our infancy, if you look at the fact that, you know, we're not even fully, we're not even a full body yet. And most of the commissioners are new. So I think that as our partnership grows, then the relationship gets stronger. And we, you know, we strengthen that collaboration. Um, but I, you know, again, I don't I don't think that when I don't see us as helpers, Martin Luther King is an extremely. Important hero to many people. This is an extremely important event to the West Medford community center and. whatever valuable contribution that we can make that they have suggested, I think is what is important. I will share the current PowerPoint. I don't promise to expand on it and add additional slides. It just depends on how much time I have. But I will share what was used and what was created for Black History Month here. Just say that you have a copy. of it, and I will ask Lisa if she wants to use that as well. All right, so Maureen, Steph, and Diane, I have you for setup and or breakdown. And I have me for the PowerPoint slide. All right, so now, Diane, I think this is I'll turn it over to you.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I'm sorry, but I had another I thought we also talked about the possibility of. I think it was collaborating with someone on a service project since Martin Luther King Day or that month is usually a day of service. And we had talked about whether any ideas for us to either become involved with, again, as a way to publicize what we do. I don't know if anybody was able to find any ideas. I know the chief talked about maybe there was something you all were doing at the police I don't know, I just wanted, I just, I know we just touched on it last time.
[Jack Buckley]: Yeah, we're constantly engaged in those community engagement unit events. We're just trying to get through the holiday seasons because we just got through Thanksgiving and Christmas with the COTRA. So we're getting through this weekend's annual toy drive, which will be done by Wegmans and disperse them over the weekend. And after that, it is planning time for the beginning of the new year. And part of the concept, at least for the community engagement unit. It's not like I sit up here and plan events for them. I have my offices, so I really have to rely on them, get together. I'm trying to get it to be more organic from the police officers to say what they want to contribute to the unit, what they want to do in the community. So we have meetings and we talk with both unions and they come up with all these ideas and events and it's pretty good. And so I kind of have to, I want to see what they develop and where they push. I'll have a better understanding after we get through this weekend of what we might be doing. But yeah, I think it's a great opportunity to kind of interact and do that.
[Frances Nwajei]: Right. Thanks, Chief. Thanks, Maureen. Turning it over to Diane to talk about Lunar New Year.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay, great. And I'll just full disclosure that I didn't do as much as I probably should have or could have with researching those opportunities for service, Maureen, because I got fixated on Lunar New Year. and then the February Belinda event and just ran out of time. So I met with Councilor Justin Steng on Zoom and we had a really good hour long brainstorming session of what this could be. And then I went to the public library and I talked to the children's room librarian, Nicole Perreault. I also met the assistant director, Sam Sednick. They love the idea of us hosting an easy Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year event for the city and they're on board. So Sam advised that we reserve the Bonsignor room ASAP on the actual day of the event, February 10th. So we have the Bonsignor room, which is a beautiful room on the second floor reserved from 12 to 2.30. on February 10th. And then Justin, Councilor Justin, has some contacts to reach out to about helping to coordinate a lion dance. And so in talking to him and then also Sam and Nicole, depending on how cold it is outside, we could probably have lion dances and a little parade in front of the library that can enter the library and wind its way around the library, which could be fun. Then Nicole, the children's room librarian, she was on vacation last week, so I'm working to set up a meeting with her to help figure out some children's activities. She has all kinds of crafts and supplies, so we actually will be hosting the event. I met with Frances and gave her the updates, so super excited. Do you have anything else to add, Frances?
[Frances Nwajei]: Just working on an Asian bakery that could specialize in small size Asian quick bites. And what was the other thing that we were looking at? Because I kind of went down the rabbit hole of the people that deliver goods to your house overnight. I found lots of wonderful, meaningful, swag things, given that this would be the first Lunar New Year celebration that the Human Rights Coalition has hosted. That was pretty much the pace that I was taking on. But so far, so far, so good. Anybody have any thoughts? Anybody have any oppositions? Anybody have any concerns?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I think it sounds great, Diane. I mean, I think it sounds like a really positive, fun thing to do.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, and then I'm in the middle of reaching out to the Asian Cultural Association student group at the high school to see if they'd like to partner with us and Justin shared who the advisor is for that. So there's a great opportunity. to get some young people involved. So if any of you are interested in joining me and helping to finish planning this out, just let me know. And that could be joining me to meet with Nicole at the library or also the high school students. So just let me know.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Did you say that time or just we're just looking at the 10th at the moment?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So it's definitely the 10th, February 10th, which is a Saturday. We have the Bonsignor room reserved from 12 to 2.30. And then in talking to Francis, because we need to be able to set up the room. And there's a, I think a Spanish class taking place from 10 to 12. So we'll host the event, we'll publicize the event for the city from 12.30 to 2.30. Yeah. So, definitely, we'll need everybody's assistance and set up and breakdown, but because it's the 1st time we're hosting this, we're going to keep it as easy as possible and we'll be leaning on a lot of the resources at the library and then and then. Obviously, the vision is imagine if it goes really well, then in talking to Francis, then maybe next year we can host it at a larger venue. Because Justin had the great idea of, we should get a ping pong table and have ping pong tournaments. So imagine if we, it's huge Asian thing. So we're starting small with already having grand ideas for the future.
[Frances Nwajei]: I think that's wonderful. Chief, just a very quick question. You know what I'm going to ask, don't you? Chief knows where I'm going with this.
[Unidentified]: No.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. All right. Good. I'm glad you don't know. How much notice do I need to give you if I want to block off a certain quadrant for no more than 10 minutes? Five minutes max.
[Jack Buckley]: Oh, we can do it almost immediately.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. All right. Not a problem. All right. Thank you. I think it just, I think it just, you know, just be a lovely, just a lovely thing as a first, especially for many people who don't get to get out. So, all right.
[Jack Buckley]: We've done it in the past. We can easily do this.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. Lovely. Lovely.
[Jack Buckley]: Thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: You know, commissioners, I don't know about you, but I'm very, very excited about this 1. I, you know, I'm really looking forward to learning more about the culture and. You know, tapping into 1 of our former connectors and. You know, honoring 1 of my besties as well, who. was completely useless when I asked about, you know, small pastries. I mean, completely shamed me. So I'm just going to go with our Medford connector instead. Sometimes it's best to stay away from friends. But any ideas that you have, I mean, I'm still trying to figure out how we can do the ping pong, but that's me.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I think it'll be the inaugural Lunar New Year celebration we have in the city, right?
[Frances Nwajei]: It will be. In order to make sure that we don't run into a situation where we try to order stuff, I just want to make sure that no commissioners are opposed to hosting this event. Any opposition? Okay, good. So what I will do, one of the things that Diane and I had discussed was giving people something that they could take with them when they leave the event. And came across some really nice 2024 Year of the Dragon handheld flags, because it is the Year of the Dragon. So looking at getting those, and then some paper shopping bags that we might end up putting a package of noodles in, because noodles signify bringing in wealth, abundance and prosperity. in the culture and we were thinking about some boba tea kits but we're not sure yet what would go in this little swag bag so it might just end up being the handheld fan. Does anybody have any ideas of what they think could go in the little bags?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I have a lot of leftover red envelopes that are more geared toward children. It's like that good luck cat with the one hand that always goes up and down, that I'm happy. I don't do all of these children's things with my kids anymore in their schools, that I'm happy to Pass along to you, Francis, I mean, I would, I would help stuff them with things, but maybe we can ask some of the local businesses to if they want to promote their businesses, the Asian businesses with coupons and things to bring in more business, you know, the 2 bubble tea shops. some of the Asian restaurants, then we can put those in those envelopes. I can take a picture and email what they look like.
[Frances Nwajei]: That would be great, but I want to make sure that you know that you only have a month in which to get this done. So you would be asking the businesses to print, but before we can get to the businesses to ask them to print, you would need People dedicated to go and identify these businesses. Yeah, so I'm wondering, you know, is this a. This year situation, or is this a next year plan where we sort of put the ping pong tables. and then maybe seeing if maybe Nicole could use the envelopes or maybe the envelopes could be used to put stickers in if we can find stickers that are relevant to the event so that the bag has something for like an adult and maybe a child. I'm just, I'm throwing out like all these ideas at the same time. I just don't feel that we have enough time to approach individual businesses for coupons because that not many places aren't even printing anymore. Right, right.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, no, I appreciate that gut check to be more sustainable. And I like the idea of talking to Nicole, and just I'll bring some samples in to her for her feedback.
[Frances Nwajei]: Yeah, if you bring some samples into her for her feedback, that would be great. But this is good to also think about this for the next, the 2025 one. So we would have to start earlier. We would have to find our location to make sure that we can put the ping pong tables in. It would have to be a location that we could move indoors should we have inclement weather, space for the lion dance and all that stuff. Anybody have any other suggestions or ideas of what they think should go in the bags? All right, so I guess Diane and I will get together in January and we'll make a trip to go and buy cases of the noodles. And I will investigate the quick What do you call, not dessert, but just like something very small and very quick. We're not feeding people because it's not like a three-course meal. We're only there for like an hour and a half, two hours. So what would you call those little snack bites?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, just the little Chinese bakery pastries and the Chinese donuts, you know, maybe some moon cakes. I know like when we get closer to January, I think because there's such a big Asian community in Malden, Costco will sell all kinds of great stuff like the Taiwanese pineapple cakes and the moon cakes. I already checked it out. They don't have it all out yet. But I think as soon as the holidays are over, they flip the merchandise. And we'll soon be seeing more Chinese New Year products. I just want to make a disclaimer.
[Frances Nwajei]: Costco is not paying or sponsoring the Human Rights Commission. Just want to make sure that that's clear. We shouldn't be mentioning the business names.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Oh, OK. I'm just thinking discounts. I know. I know. OK?
[Frances Nwajei]: Oh, I know. All right, so and right after Lunar New Year, you don't even get a week off because guess what? It's the annual reading of the Belinda Sutton petition. Maureen and Steph, I don't think that you were a part of this last year, but this is something that the Human Rights Commission had put together, and it took place at the Royal House and Slave Quarters. And when I say there was standing room only, there literally was just standing room only. I think we ran out of chairs. And there was no space to put the chairs. So people really enjoyed it. We had the group Tufts S Factor from Tufts University perform in the Africana style of a cappella music, which is very moving. Very, very different to like gospel sounds. If you've heard the original like Mahalia Jackson style of Wade in the Water. It's almost like the cry of the soul. I don't know if anybody else has a different way of explaining that sound of music. But it was great. I mean, it ended up snowing and people still came out and I didn't hear anything negative. about the event and people enjoyed a tour after the event. It's been proposed that we keep this up because the first one was just so moving and so well attended. But why deviate from this if we can continue to expand and expose Belinda Sutton, the meaning behind Belinda Sutton's writings, the meaning behind Belinda Sutton's work. So sharing that with you, both Maureen and Diane work at the Royal House, so we sort of have an in. Kiera is excited and supportive of this event, so that's like a triple in right there. Diane, I don't, you know, do you want to add anything else?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, so I haven't closed the loop with Kiara yet, but she had said that the three dates that she's available to host the event there are Sunday, February 11th, which feels like a tall order if we're doing Lunar New Year on the 10th, which is Saturday. But she proposed Sunday the 11th, Saturday the 17th, or Sunday the 18th. So Francis, did you already reach out to the mayor to see if her schedule was clear on Saturday the 17th?
[Frances Nwajei]: There's no clarity for any of, there's just the alternatives both for Luna and the weekend of that one. So I think that with that being said, I think we will be looking at the 17th.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So is everybody on board with that?
[Frances Nwajei]: And the time frame would be 1 to 3.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I think it was 1 to 3.30 last time because we also did the tour. Oh, thank you. And it will be available for setup and breakdown as well, same as last year. And we have a template, which worked very well last year, that I can share.
[Frances Nwajei]: Diane, after we talk about Belinda Sutton, we need to revert back to Lunar New Year. I completely messed the chat.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Oh. Yeah, I'm going to mention the same. Just quickly on the Belinda Sutton, I think the 17th works well. It's the weekend after we have a meeting, so we'll be together that Wednesday to kind of round out any final points. And the 11th, not that there's any need to dissuade further from that weekend. I think the reason we didn't do it that weekend last year is that's Super Bowl Sunday, so don't want to impact attendance at all. I think the 17th sounds great.
[Frances Nwajei]: Great. Perfect. All right. So Diane, can I leave it in your hands to confirm the 17th with Ciara? Yes. All right. Fantastic. So I do believe that that is our informational update on Black History Month. So I'm going to turn it over back now to Steve, who, I apologize, I don't know why I didn't see the chat come through, but Steve had some very important comments in regards to Lunar New Year.
[Steve Schnapp]: I think the chat speaks for itself, so nothing to add, just some information, that's all.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, that's very helpful information. And thank you, Steve. And with Asians making up 10% of the population, this made Justin, Councilor Tseng, particularly excited because we don't believe that any event like this has been hosted in the city before. So we definitely want to get the word out to the Asian community as well. And yeah, so I'll reach out to the high school, but maybe I'll also, I'll check in with Justin and see if he knows anyone at Tufts who are part of the Asian American Center. Maybe we have an in there too to get the word out. So thanks.
[Frances Nwajei]: All right, fantastic. So those are all opportunities to continue with the recruitment and to continue to build interest. So now we're on the public. I mean, does anybody else have anything else to add in regards to our January and February list of HRC forward facing events?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_05]: I was just going to add that I'm happy to the 17th and the 10th work for me. So I, you know, first set up and take down or Diane, if there's other, you know, items that maybe would be helpful to task me with, like, I am available and happy to contribute where I can.
[SPEAKER_06]: That's awesome. Thank you, Stephanie. And same with me too, and I can work with you with care as well. Excellent. Thanks. Perfect.
[Frances Nwajei]: Oh, all right. Anybody have anything to add? Steve, you're still on human. You're still on here. This is the public participation part in regards to the agenda items. Or things that we've discussed.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Go ahead, Muneer. All right, thanks, Steve. So I had emailed a copy of the Boston Human Rights Commission statement about the conflict in Gaza and Israel. And I was thinking, I know that probably I don't know, I mean, Adam made reference to it as well. I was wondering if there was interest in discussing or trying to endorse a similar statement from the Medford Human Rights Commission regarding this conflict. I can I can either email or I'm not sure I can cut and paste the statement into the chat. But that was my suggestion and I don't know what commissioners think of that idea.
[Frances Nwajei]: So, Muneer, on our agenda, the writing of statements in support of or to denounce actions and situations, that's in the parking lot for January 2024. That has to be discussed, yeah, with legal counsel present, because as a body that represents a city, we need to make sure that we understand all the parameters associated with that. It's not the first time that it's come up. It's not in regards to Israel Gaza. It's just in general. And I think that folks need to have the understanding before moving forward. When we write these things we have to make sure that we're writing them from a place that is as non personalize as possible on behalf of the city. This is a human rights commission on behalf of the city enacted by ordinance. That is the explanation that I received from legal. So in January 2024, when legal is here, then I think that that would be the best time to have this conversation. People, as individuals, you can write your own statements, you can do whatever you want. But as a member of the Human Rights Commission enacted by ordinance, we have to follow what is in law. So in January, when legal is here, they can explain further.
[Munir Jirmanus]: So are you saying that the Human Rights Commission cannot issue statements without checking?
[Frances Nwajei]: What I am saying is that in January, when legal is here, they can explain further. I have given you what I was told. That is why this is in the parking lot. for January, but as individuals, as a person operating as an individual, you have the freedom to write whatever you want and say whatever you want. But when we come together, we are together as a body representing a city.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Representing whom?
[Frances Nwajei]: Sorry. Representing the city of Medford. We're the Human Rights Commission for the city of Medford.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: So we're so this is yeah, this is a little confusing to me too. So we're. We're issuing something on behalf of the city, but wouldn't the mayor or somebody do that?
[Frances Nwajei]: We're not issuing anything on behalf of the city, and that is why I'm asking legal to come in in January to discuss this. If you remember, you asked about wanting to write statements in support of certain situations or against certain situations as the Human Rights Commission.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Actually, I brought that up, and that was not what I was trying. I was trying to say, how do we discuss when people come to us and make a request? Not so much how to. So it got a little confused, I think. They're kind of two separate things at the moment. When the gentleman came last week, I'm sorry, Manur. He was asking about a different topic. And what I brought up was, how do we have that conversation? Because I had, for example, questions from him about what we should consider or And so somehow that got turned into just statements, which I think is- Please refer to the October meeting.
[Frances Nwajei]: It was brought up in October. If you remember, this is why we came up with the statement for, the broad statement for International Human Rights Day. It was brought up in October about wanting to write statements in support of. It was also discussed. Again, when legal is here, I'm not going to define for you the parameters of what we can or what we can do. I'm only gonna share the information that I have received. When legal is here in January, you will have the opportunity to ask legal all the nuances that you can think of, and they will be the ones to advise on what we can or we cannot do.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Well, I okay, I will express my own personal opinion on that. I think it is a shame that the Human Rights Commission cannot come up with a statement without checking with legal in the city. If it's a human rights issue, I don't think legal has anything to do with it. But that's my own personal opinion. And I'm extremely disappointed that the Human Rights Commission cannot even discuss making such a statement in a matter that is very urgent, because it involves mass killings of people in that conflict. And it is urgent that I think people have a chance to express their opinion, especially human rights commissions. So that is my own personal opinion about that. I'm happy also, if you'd like me to, I can contact the mayor and see what her opinion on the subject is. But I somehow, as someone who has participated in the Human Rights Commission for several years in the past, we have never had this problem before. We were able to make statements that were related to human rights issues without discussing it either with the mayor or with legal counsel.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: I have to agree, even though I don't understand.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you for your opinion. And I'm sorry, Maureen, but at this time, I'm actually going to close the subject and I'm going to explain why. My understanding on Friday when I spoke to Attorney Austin about a variety of different things, not just this, is that we are tied into the ordinance for which we are created. It just so happened to be that I mentioned what are our parameters and how can we write statements to show support of situations because people are asking. So once again, I ask that you respect the fact that I'm barely bringing forward information and you wait until January. when the attorney is here so that you can ask your questions directly to the attorney and you can get the clarification that you need from the attorney instead of taking what I say and determining that I have said that we can't write statements. We must have clarity. And in order to have clarity, we must have facts. We must know what is our foundation of operation. What are we doing? This is not the first meeting that I've had. I mean, there are many meetings that take place, not just on our commission, but even on the council floor, where open meeting laws and things of that nature are not respected. I, for one, am somebody that does like to walk within the parameters of the law and to respect them. So I ask for this clarity so that that way we don't find ourselves in a situation three or four months down the line because we wrote a statement and it was taken and it was used and we weren't legally entitled to. So Munir, I welcome you to reach out to the mayor and to have a conversation with the mayor. But you know, I defer to KP Law, who is currently in place of our legal counsel.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Okay, I completely disagree with this procedure. I think it's passing the buck. But so be it. Thank you for even discussing it.
[Frances Nwajei]: And we're at 656. Go ahead, Steve. Steve, you're on mute.
[Steve Schnapp]: Sorry. Just curious, does the legal department need to review any event and all the speeches that are going to be made in an event that the HRC is co-sponsoring?
[Frances Nwajei]: Steve, I don't know. That is a question that you can ask Janelle Austin when Janelle attends our meeting next month. I will, thank you. Okay, so it's 6.56, there needs to be a motion made by someone if you want four minutes back of your time. Otherwise, we're going to stay. Okay, and it needs to be seconded by someone. Second, yeah. Everybody have a good night. You too.