[Frances Nwajei]: All right, thank you so much, everyone, and welcome to the June 2023 Commission meeting on human rights. I'm Frances Magie, and I will hand it over to the commissioners present to introduce themselves.
[Munir Jirmanus]: All right, I'll start it off. I'm Munir Germanus. I've been a member of the Human Rights Commission for, I think, about five years. I'm not 100% sure. And I'm a retired physicist, and I have a full-time job watching for grandchildren ages two to four. And looking at the squares, I'll pass it to Diane.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Hi, everyone. I'm Diane McDonald. I would say I'm the newest member of the commission having joined in November. And I'm a resident of West Medford. I work in higher ed. And my main line of work is publishing stories, stories to build community, stories for social change. I'm also a longtime volunteer at Royal House Enslaved Quarters as a tour guide. I'll hand it off to our chair, Chelly.
[Chelli Keshavan]: Hi, everybody. Thank you, Diane. My name is Chelly K. Chavin. I think I might have been on the, I might be in my third year on the commission at this point, which is nuts. Medford mom, very rooted. I am in fact moving on from the HRC. to pursue a master's in public policy. So this is a special night, and I will pass it on.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Say that again, Kelly, you're breaking up.
[Chelli Keshavan]: Yeah, apologies. I was passing it on to Kelly.
[Kelly Cunha]: Hi, I'm Kelly Cunha. I am actually at my office at work, and I will be popping off shortly because it's fifth grade moving on ceremony. I'm a school social worker, Medford mom, and I've been on the committee for about three years. I am also moving on, hopefully temporarily, I hope to pop on and be a you know, a community member. But life with two young children and a new side gig in addition to my full-time job has made that really challenging. So I have so loved working with people and I feel sad and excited about what's to come and I'm excited to be a part of it in a different way. So I will move it on to Chief Buckley.
[Jack Buckley]: Hi everyone, Chief Jack Buckley. I've been with MEDFED coming into my 26th year. I've been Chief of Police four and a half full years now. I've been a member of the Human Rights Commission that entire time. So it's been a very enjoyable four plus years. It's been busy though, and it still remains busy. I don't think it's ever going to slow down. But welcome everybody. I'll turn it over to Rob. I think you're the only one left. Is that it?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Hi everybody, Rob Klein, I'm a South Medford resident, I've been a member of the commission for, I think about three years now as well. I work in a completely unrelated field, but like to give some of my time back to the folks in the community here and make sure that it's a welcoming and accepting space for everybody.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much, Rob. All right, so the next agenda so that Kelly can go, someone has to make a motion for the April meeting minutes.
[Kelly Cunha]: Motion to approve the April meeting minutes.
[Unidentified]: Seconded.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Seconded. Third.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Okay, great. All those in favor of adopting the minutes, raise your hand. Great, that's done.
[Frances Nwajei]: No, you don't get to vote, Immacula.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Frances, is this a good time to introduce the various people as well, or do you want to wait till later?
[Frances Nwajei]: I want to follow the agenda and wait till later.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Okay, very good.
[Frances Nwajei]: Did you second?
[Munir Jirmanus]: Yeah, it was seconded and passed.
[Frances Nwajei]: No, who seconded? I'm helping to take notes.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Oh, I'm sorry, I seconded it.
[Frances Nwajei]: Okay. Thank you. All right, so I'm gonna turn it over to Diane now to discuss the HRC recruitment flyer and calendar.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Great. All right. Thank you, Francis. And so these are actually carry over items from last month and we didn't have forum to be able to meet. And so knowing that we have. you know, a number of our just really wonderful commissioners and our, you know, our two leaders, our chair and our vice chair, rotating off of the commission, I put together a flyer in an effort to try to recruit new people. And Francis has done a great job in keeping us informed of all of the events across the city. So I put together a flyer, and then I attended the Haitian flag raising event, which was truly a joy. I saw Chelly there. Francis was in action, some of her staff were there, so was the mayor. of our state legislators Sean Garibelli, one of our city councilors, and Catherine Clark. It was just a really, really wonderful event and what joy and what a vibrant, beautiful community we have in Medford. So I will show you the Oh, you know what I'm going to do? I'll share my screen first. Oh, could someone enable participant screen sharing? I mean, or you can open the attachment that Francis sent. And, you know, that works too.
[Frances Nwajei]: I just enabled it for you, Diane.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Oh, perfect. Thank you. OK. So here is the flyer, which is a little dense, but I got it printed up at the library. Everybody was so helpful over there when they found out that I was doing this work for the commission. And I really just used the copy that's on our webpage on the city's website. And, and then I just added this in advancing equity inclusion and respect for all members of our community. I use the beautiful logo that Shelley, I believe, did you create this Shelley?
[Munir Jirmanus]: Kelly and Kelly did, I think, yeah.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, Kelly and I. Amazing. So I was able to use this logo. And then I grabbed the mission that's on our web page on the website. And then I just also wanted to share that we embrace diversity, a culture of respect across differences to ensure that everyone who lives, works, or passes through our city has the same opportunities to thrive. You know, in terms of recruiting new people, I felt it was, and this is all up for edits from my fellow esteemed commissioners, but I added this language in to be passionate about creating a safe, equitable, and welcoming community in Medford and have an interest in local, state, national, and international human rights. We meet monthly. And then I added in the link, you know, from the city's website for folks who apply. you know, it's an honor to be on this commission. And so I feel very privileged to be serving on it. And so then I was able to, to share, share the flyer with some folks and, and, you know, including Immacula who is with us today. She, she was at the event. So, so if any of you have any feedback on this copy, I also have the word file open.
[Munir Jirmanus]: feedback from me. I think that's great. Thank you very much. Sally, Shelley.
[Chelli Keshavan]: I just might add a sentence about what to expect once you submit your application. I think it can feel a little weird to sort of wonder what comes next or feel like you're not hearing from the city. So maybe like an expected timeline might help people know what feels typical. Okay.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: And I can submit this later with some help from Francis.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Okay, Judy, can you wait till public participation?
[Frances Nwajei]: Is that all right? Yeah, can you wait till public participation? Is that all right?
[MCM00001270_SPEAKER_03]: Whatever, I don't think that's necessary. Okay, thank you.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I did ask for the feedback of the commissioners, Judy, respectfully. So thank you. Thank you.
[MCM00001270_SPEAKER_03]: Do not patronize me. Thank you. Thank you to Diana.
[Munir Jirmanus]: All right. Are there any comments? What's the next step?
[Frances Nwajei]: Wait, Shelley, your note is to edit and see, add something about a timeline of what to expect. Correct. Great, OK. Right, fantastic. All right, the next on the agenda, is that it? What about the calendar?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yes, so I put, and this is open for full feedback as well from the commissioners. So I put together, it's just bullet points. It's not a proper calendar yet, and I can put it together in calendar grid form if that's what you all prefer. But I just started with June, just so we have a roadmap. And this is in response to, remember back in April, Rob, put forward a motion for us all to work on a calendar during the next meeting so that we at least have a roadmap and a vision of what we're all working toward together in the year ahead. And also to be able to do some advanced planning if we want to do another event. I know that when we put together the Black History Month event, you know, just to give ourselves a longer lead time. And so I think that right now we're in a place where we are looking to recruit new commissioners. So before I start, I'll just say, Chelly, I didn't realize your hand was raised and I see Chief Buckley's hand is raised as well.
[Chelli Keshavan]: If I'm not mistaken, I believe that West Medford Open Studios takes place June 24th on the Saturday, if folks have interest in attending. And then just from our collective experience, I wonder if head time should look like three months just by default. Thanks. If what time, three months? If sort of leeway, if a planning window for whatever event maybe should look like at least three months.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: You'll see that I've already programmed that in because this actually goes from June down to February. And we'll just walk through this quickly. So I see this in a recruitment of new commissioners phase. I would love to see us all agree collectively that we, we should really actively work on recruiting members of diverse communities onto our commission so that we really have the right level of representation from across Medford. And after attending the charter study meeting, I, you know, I even saw that it came up as a public comment. I think even from Eileen, who often attends our meetings here. That, you know, there's just a need for diversity on all of the boards and commissions and with us being the human rights commission we can really aim to be a model commission in that space. So, you know, now that you pretty much signed off on the, the, Flyer, you know, if anyone wants to, I'm happy to take the lead on printing the copies at the library. And if you all, or you all can also print your own copies after the meeting, we can distribute the flyer and would love to have former commissioners support that as well. But if you want to pick any of these events and just attend them and just get the word on the street at the events that we have open positions, please join us in this work. He's applied.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Sounds good. Chief, I think you had your hand up as well.
[Jack Buckley]: Yeah, real quick. I mean, there was one comment about whether or not we like this bullet format or the calendar comment. I love this bullet point. It's a lot easier for me. When I see them, I just prefer it. So that's point one. But going back to the flyer, I think, I don't know if we saw it yet, but it does say applicants are encouraged to join a June meeting. We should probably just make that a continuous, you know, join all of our meetings.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay. And you know what? I'll just put next meeting. And then that keeps it evergreen. Thank you for that feedback. Frances.
[Frances Nwajei]: Yes, Diane, I quickly wanted to mention that it's West Medford Open Studios. I believe that's the official, that's the name by which it's typically listed.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay, perfect. And what is the event?
[Frances Nwajei]: I'm not. I think it's a culmination of different artists and different art styles.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Oh, wonderful.
[Frances Nwajei]: So please do not hold me to it. Okay. I also wanted to add that 617 is also circle the square.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay. And I can add that as well.
[Jack Buckley]: And Diane, I believe West Bedford refers to it as a community arts event. I think that's the title. Oh, beautiful. Community arts event.
[Chelli Keshavan]: OK. I think it's like PorchFest for artists, kind of. That's where folks are showcasing their work kind of close to home.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Beautiful. Well, I will be attending that. That sounds like a lot of fun. So July we're off, August we're off, September we'll be devoted to onboarding new commissioners and event and calendar planning. We'll have to go through this again. And then I think just community outreach is always a good thing for us seeing that everyone that I've talked to about the openings on our commission had no idea that a human rights commission even existed in Medford. And so if there's an opportunity, I just highlight, I just went to the event schedule on the city's website and I just pulled key events and added them to this document. So perhaps we could, if there are tables that could be set up at the Mystic River Celebration, perhaps we could work the table and do meet and greet with folks in the community. You know, if we're fully staffed as a commission, our meeting is on September 13th. I would love to see us, even if it's just a brief, you know, five question survey and we can come up with those questions at the September 13th meeting, what is important to you and what are your needs in this space so that we can really just at a grassroots level, you know, understand what people are interested in to help guide our work and just get, you know, direct feedback. In December, this gives us a three month lead, on December 10th, it is International Human Rights Day. It is the 75th anniversary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And our work, the very core of what we do is steeped in the work of the United Nations and human rights. And so it would be wonderful if we could have an event for the city, perhaps make it a, there is a lot of diversity in our city and there's been press coverage that even calls out Medford. for its cultural communities and I can, you know, work with Francis to get that link out to you all that's come up in the last couple of months but imagine if we had a celebration of culture. raising human rights awareness, making it a family-friendly program, and then also perhaps having a resource fair. And I was inspired by the resources that were set out at the Haitian flag raising event, you know, resources for health, and there were just a number of resources. How can we expand that? How can we tap into the networks that we have to also understand, to also fill out further resources for folks in the city of Medford, you know, around housing, healthcare, food equity, maybe digital and tech equity. I don't know, but I mean, and we can all really talk about that when we come back together in September, but you know, And if there's a resource fair with some nonprofits representing, that'll also help us with building our networks across the city.
[Kelly Cunha]: Diane, I'm so sorry to interrupt. I just, I have to go to the ceremony right now. If it's over, you guys might still be on when I'm done. It's like a 45 minute thing. So I'll pop back on if you guys are still here, I'll pop back on. I'm so sorry. Oh, it's fine.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Congratulations. Okay, bye. So any thoughts on that? And obviously we'll really be working through it in September as a commission.
[Munir Jirmanus]: So the idea, Diane, is to print this out and try and distribute it at various events so that people become more aware of the Human Rights Commission?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Well, that would be the flyer, not the calendar. And then hopefully we'll come up with some questions in September for a short survey that's actionable, where we can also get data from the Medford community directly on what they want and what they envision Medford needs.
[Munir Jirmanus]: because we haven't done that yet, surveyed the actual members of the... Yeah, we've done that in the past, but that's way in the past. So we have some old responses. We haven't done that recently. Shelley, please go ahead.
[Chelli Keshavan]: Dan, I hear you, but I also wonder if an infographic with some of these proposed events might generate some excitement amongst new folks and kind of a desire to contribute and jump in.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I love that comment. And maybe if we all agree this is a really good event, and then maybe we can get, you know, to save the date on the city's calendar, you know, and so we can really track toward hosting it.
[Unidentified]: Any other thoughts or feedback?
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Diane. If you're talking about the Human Rights Day, that sounds great. Are you planning on going through the sharing the rest of the calendar?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Yep. So that will probably be our major event for the rest of the year, because we're a small commission. So we get to October, and I was thinking, you know, Indigenous Peoples Day, also, you know, many people call it Columbus Day. Maybe there's an opportunity to work on a land acknowledgement. More and more organizations offer up a land acknowledgement before particular events. Maybe we could partner with Tufts on that for the city of Medford so that we have it and folks can use it as they choose. Yes, Frances.
[Frances Nwajei]: So for October, you can add October 8th, I believe. Saturday, October 8th is the Commission on Persons with Disabilities Resource Fair. Beautiful. If you're thinking about sharing materials. And I believe sometime in October, that's when the city also hosts the Harvest Your Energy I just can't remember. Do any of the other commissioners recall the Harvest Your Energy Fair that's put on by the Office of Planning and Sustainability? I believe it's in October.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay, so I'll just put a placeholder in there for that. And thank you for the Commission on Persons with Disabilities event. Everyone, I attended their meeting last month, and they're such a model commission, and it was really great to see them talk about this upcoming event, as well as attend the Open Laws presentation, which was super helpful. Okay, so, so this anyone anything else to add to October. I'm following that three month advanced planning Kelly you'll see, you know, that'll also during that meeting on October 11, you know, We should also start discussion on event planning for MLK Day, because that's going to come quick when we have holidays to think about towards the end of the year. And if we want to do anything for Black History Month. I will say, I remember when we were planning for the MLK event, I was hoping we'd be able to, you know, it's known as a National Day of Service. So I do hope that with some of the work that we do, for the resource fair and understanding what nonprofits will be really helpful in Medford and establishing those connections. Perhaps that could be also seeding service events for when we get to January. So it's possible. Any other feedback on October? So we get to November, and I remember from past communications within the last month or so, that would most likely be the time that our commission will be hosting elections for chair, vice chair, and secretary. So I have that listed out. We will also work on upcoming events and then Veterans Day is November 10th. Maybe there's something we can do around gratitude, around Thanksgiving, maybe a social media event, but we can think about that when we reconvene in September. All right, and then December, International Human Rights Day, it falls on a Sunday. The year long theme this year has been dignity, freedom and justice for all, which I really think speaks to the work of our commission. And when you think, and so, yeah, that'll be our capstone event of the year. And I have links here and we can send this out following the meeting. And then the planning ahead, January and February, MLK Day in January, maybe we can try to pull off a day of service or weekend of service. And then in February, Black History Month. And then Lunar New Year is February 10th. That represents my culture. I'm half Taiwanese. My family and I celebrate Lunar New Year. It will be the year of the dragon. So I might wanna help spearhead something around that. Those are my thoughts. Obviously I want as much feedback as possible for all of us and I'm happy to maintain the calendar and keep it current for all of us. And I am absolutely interested in understanding, you know, getting feedback from our, you know, our members of the public, one of whom Judy is a former commissioner and your input and feedback is very valuable, Judy. So that's it for me. with the calendar.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much, Diane. Do any of the commissioners have any questions, anything to add, any suggestions? March 8th, International Women's Day. Not sure if you can see that, Diane. Suggested by Shelley.
[Unidentified]: Great. I'll reformat everything later.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I'll stop this so I can see the chat now better.
[Frances Nwajei]: You have the placeholder for the Harvest Your Energy Fest. It is in October. Let me just quickly look on the city calendar if you don't mind to see if there's a placeholder date. If anybody finds it before me, please go ahead.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Sorry, I lost connection for a little while. Where are we proposing this calendar to be advertised? It will be on the city website or what is the plan?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So right now we don't have a plan for it. It's internal to us. I almost put in September, but I didn't know if it would be overwhelming. It wouldn't be a bad time for us to think about our web presence on the city's website and just draft some content. And so maybe we can just have a little content on our page to say, these are the events that you can look forward to or something. So probably there is what I would imagine. What does everybody else think?
[Munir Jirmanus]: Yeah, I mean, if we can coordinate this with the city website, that will be great. I know we have our own Facebook page and stuff like that set up by Shelly and Kelly, but I don't know how many people keep track of that. That would be another place where one could add this.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Sure, and perhaps Shelly and Kelly, you can download your communication channels to us so that we can just keep maintaining them for the commission and just share them and share admin access.
[Chelli Keshavan]: Yeah, absolutely. I was just going to say, I wonder if a summation might be shared with Medford Patch or maybe an event by event kind of way of communicating.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I love that idea, a little public relations via Medford patch, which will also help us recruit new commissioners. So do we have a contact there?
[Munir Jirmanus]: I don't have a contact, but there is a way you can post things on the patch, but not everybody can see them. I've done that once before, but it's not real contact.
[Unidentified]: Okay. Another option.
[Frances Nwajei]: October 14th from 12 to three is the Harvest Your Energy Festival this year at the Andrew School. It was already posted on the city calendar.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Beautiful, thank you. Oh, so it's on the same day as Oktoberfest.
[Chelli Keshavan]: Dane, I was also gonna say no one does more marketing than young children. And so I wonder if you send things out by way of the public schools that little ones will do a lot of the work for you slash us and tell grownups about the things they wanna do.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Okay, that's great. I love that marketing strategy. And I'll keep the sticker in mind as well from Medford Human Rights Commission. Thank you.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Okay, thank you. So do we move on? Are we ready to move on to the next item?
[Frances Nwajei]: Yep, so the next is recruitment update with Diane and myself. As you know, we have been steadily recruiting, looking for a more equitable base for the Human Rights Commission. A few people who responded and said not just one call but all of the calls and they are currently on here you have immaculate the loose you have Matthew page Lieberman, and you have Stephanie who's currently connecting by phone. and Maureen Curley. We did not go back to previous applicants who had applied. Again, Mayor maintains that she would like to see as many people from the community as possible on the boards and commissions versus people on more than one board and commission. So, staying in line with that, we are currently moving forward. The city is also going to be undergoing a SWOT analysis of its boards and commissions to assess where the strengths are, where the challenges are, where the weaknesses are and where there are opportunities for change. Recognizing that some way, somehow communication is still not reachable. So that is not something that happens overnight. That's something that will take time. But we will be moving forward as is with our three remaining commissioners. Go ahead, Shelley.
[Chelli Keshavan]: Sorry, just wondering if the SWOT analysis will include sort of recent commissioners, I mean, will folks be asked about what experiences have felt like?
[Frances Nwajei]: I have no idea. It is being done by a consulting firm through a grant. It's actually been woven in through something else that I am working with, with another department. So it's not a city acquired consultation, but it's a great place for them to stop. So, on that note, I'm now going to turn it over to the applicants that are joining us today to tell us a little bit about themselves. I'm going to start with Stephanie because Stephanie's on the phone and Stephanie can't see all of us. just like Kelly, Stephanie had to remain in a specific space today. So over to you, Stephanie.
[MCM00001268_SPEAKER_03]: Thanks, Frances. Hi, everyone. Nice to meet you virtually. My name is Steph and I have been a resident of Medford for about a year now. My wife and I recently bought a condo just on the other side of Medford Square. I think one thing that is important to me and why I've expressed interest in this mission is I think everybody wants to feel safe in their communities and wants to interact, be themselves, share their experiences, learn from others. And for me, that's important of how I want to be a neighbor, be a friend, be a community member. And so because of that, I want to be involved in whatever capacity that is and learn about the city of Medford and learn about the place that now I call home. I'm originally from California, the San Francisco Bay Area, but have made the choice, my wife and I, to settle here and place our roots in the Boston area and specifically Medford. For me, I'm excited about whatever it holds and ready to be an active participant, listener in the communities that are the place that I live.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much for that, Stephanie. Thank you. Moving on, next is Matt. Could you please introduce yourself and your reason for applying for the commission?
[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: I just have a question. Has my application been distributed to all the members? It's not copies and nothing distributed?
[Frances Nwajei]: Your application is not being distributed. All members received an email acknowledging that their application had been received. As to prepare to speak to their interests, to the broader group, some people are better at speaking to their interests as to why they want to be a human rights commissioner.
[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: Oh, I see. Well, um, yeah, I'm, well, I was in, I was in SAFE Medford for about a year and SAFE Medford had interest in, in changing the Human Rights Commission and through Through that, I was given some kind of information, some information was spread and then I kind of researched and I found out that some of the things that were said about the Human Rights Commission, I don't think were factual. And through this process, kind of researching this group, I found it really exciting how enthusiastic people were. And I also, I feel like that there's a really nice opening for this group to really change. My understanding is that this does make it a little bit strange is that There's a lot of planning being done for September, October, November, December, everything like this. What seems to me to be a challenge though is that the commission is going to be without quorum as of the end of this month when three members' terms end. I know that when I was previously, about a decade ago, I was interested in the Disability Commission. And during the time in which there were not enough members, the meetings just weren't happening. And then the liaison was, I think, trying to recruit people. Because there's no way for anybody to deliberate, right? There's no way to do any recruiting when members aren't allowed to meet. So anyway, I think that I think that, yeah, there's a lot of great possibility through this commission to expand the definition in human rights. One particular interest of mine is the right of movement. And I find it lamentable that that's never kind of really conceived as being a foundational right, the way that we can say that there are such things as borders that prevent people from moving wherever they want to. And I would hope that this commission would take a position on that, that borders are a violation of human rights. Anyway, I don't really have that much to say. I don't like to talk about myself. I put a lot in the application. And I hope that the commission chooses the best people necessary for what the members decide is appropriate for this body.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Matthew. And just to clarify the information that Diane shared on the calendar is suggestions recommendation. It's not a live working document. It is something to help us stay focused and move forward. And it's all it's all within the periphery of what the Human Rights Commission can do as determined by the ordinance. And, you know, the ordinance does allow for the Human Rights Commission to work in a much broader manner. So, again, just a reminder that it's a calendar that allows us to be aware of upcoming events. Recruitment is ongoing. On days when people are in their homes. Francis is getting dressed up and going to a place of worship in, you know, to recruit in a space where Francis doesn't speak the language so just because the commission is on holiday doesn't mean that the work stops. All right at this time I would like to pass it over to Immacula please.
[Unidentified]: You're muted Immacula.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Can you unmute yourself please?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_06]: I'm sorry, my name is Dimakula Deleuze. I was living on Medford for 19 years. I was working for Family Network Benevola. I know Mary Cassady, Mary Cassady know me very well. And I'm a president of Day Wellness Foundation on Medford. And I was working for human rights in Haiti, and mission civilian in Haiti, and office avocado in Haiti from Brian Concano. I like and I... This is my pleasure to work for human rights, because I'm so happy if we take me to work with them, you know, because I'm so happy to inside a family in Medford. I say thank you for Diane to ask me to join us. And thank you for Frances to ask me to join us. I'm so happy I'm with us. Thank you so much.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Immacula. Thank you. All right. And finally, and definitely not least, we have Maureen.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: Thank you, Francis, and thank you to everyone for inviting me here tonight. My name is Maureen Curley, and I've been living in Medford. It'll be next month, it'll be 24 years. I had a career in the nonprofit field. I'm now retired. I started working with the older adults in various capacities and ended up working with college students and college presidents on democracy and service on campuses. There are really, I think, what I've been trying to do since I've retired is become much more involved in the Medford community. So I'm now proud to say I am the volunteer coordinator for the Royal House and Slave Quarters. Now, I guess you didn't know that there was a volunteer coordinator. And as a result, I've met some fabulous people and really have learned a lot more about the history of Medford. So why, why do I want to be on this well first of all I really just, I really like Medford, we moved here, my husband and I and our family, because we felt it was a down to earth community where there was great diversity and it was friendly, and I have enjoyed living here and I want to I guess I want to work towards with other people, making sure that that stays the way it is and even that we'll be able to explore ways that we can be even better. Which leads me, I guess, to my second reason. And that is I firmly believe that the only way to really have a democracy is by people being involved. And it means everybody can come to the table And to try to work on communities problem solving none of us have the answer and maybe collectively, we can do something along those lines. There's great new ideas out there and we just need to find them, talk and listen, listen deeply to each other and be able to hopefully move things forward. So I have a keen interest in this particular topic, as well as, as I say, sort of, you know, nervous about the world in some ways that we live in now, and hopefully that people become involved on a local level, and then we can change the world on a broader level. Maybe that's really polyamorous, but I don't know. That's sort of the way I roll. I have a little bit of experience just as a final, and that is I was on the mass commission on the status of women under Deval Patrick and really worked really had a really interesting time there. We considered the equal pay legislation and that went through at that time and through my work as well. So I have some experience, but certainly have a lot to learn and would love to serve.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you so much, Maureen, and thank you all for joining. Do any of our current commissioners have any questions that they would like to pose to the applicants?
[Munir Jirmanus]: Well, first of all, can I ask you, Francis, to forward us the applications of the various folks who have joined us today? It sounds very exciting and interesting, like you did for the past applicants?
[Frances Nwajei]: I didn't receive applications this time. I asked for a spreadsheet, so you'll have to wait for me to get the actual hard copies.
[Unidentified]: Oh, OK.
[Frances Nwajei]: Like I did the last time, because those require the needs to be scanned. As I've said before, I do not control the Smartsheets. They don't come to me. So I asked for just an Excel spreadsheet.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Okay, so one other comment. As some of you may have seen, and Frances initially, I communicated with you that a previous applicant from last year, upon my reaching out, expressed interest in joining the commission. Her name is Marilyn Paul. I believe that she did come to one of our meetings. She was planning to attend this meeting, but at the last minute, looks like she had some work requirements and she couldn't be part of it, which may be actually something for us to consider in the future. The traditional time has always been 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday, the second Wednesday of the month. Maybe we can discuss a more It may be a slightly different timeframe for the meetings where working folks can join in and not be restricted by other requirements. But that's for something in the future. So my question is that, are you now taking her application to the mayor, Frances?
[Frances Nwajei]: The mayor, again, repeating what the mayor has told me and repeating what I had stated when Milan first applied. The mayor really doesn't want more than one community member on more than one board. If you recall when Milan initially applied, she was already, this would have made it her third board slash commission that she would be on. Maryland also what you're not aware of resigned from one of the current commissions that she was on that only meets at a specific time, citing an increased workload. So, unfortunately, I'm going to have to stand by what the mayor wants and I'm not going to be able to go back. I have to move forward, I have to continue to look for a much broader pool. And in regards to the timeframe. I think that that's going to be up to the incoming commissioners and the other commissioners that are on here to discuss and settle upon a time that's going to work for them and also work within the city calendar. Remember, we have like Medford Community Media who we want to make sure can be available. So, but I mean, definitely.
[Munir Jirmanus]: So, let me understand. Are you saying that Maryland is currently on another commission?
[Frances Nwajei]: I believe she is on another commission, if not to other commissions. That is something I see.
[Unidentified]: Okay.
[Frances Nwajei]: Anyone have any questions to our new applicants?
[Unidentified]: All right.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Can I just ask one, just a fast one? Yes, go ahead. What is your best strength or what is your best gift that you will bring to the commission? And I'll just start with Stephanie.
[MCM00001268_SPEAKER_03]: Hi there. I think for me, I would describe myself as someone who I like to build relationships I like to be a bridge in connecting people and I like to solve problems. I grew up playing sports and I would consider myself an athlete. So always being part of a team is something that I've identified with. And I think I carry that with me, um, in my day to day life, whether that's my personal, my professional, or my relationships with people, um, that I just pass by. on the street or people that I see continuously at the same bus stop or on the same bus as me. So I think for me, the things that I like to say about myself are that I like to build relationships and I like people. I like meeting people. I like to connect people in hopes to solve problems or find solutions and ultimately be a good teammate so that we can all kind of reach that you know, commonality and common goal together.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Thank you. So I'll just go in the order that we were in. Matthew.
[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: Yeah, I don't really like to answer questions like that. It's no offense about them. I just always have these kind of, it seems kind of self-indulgent, like complimenting oneself. But I could kind of say rather, is that okay if I feel- Oh, I'm just looking to understand strengths.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So, you know, cause I just see us all bringing complimentary skill sets together like puzzle pieces.
[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: I could say, is it okay if I answer rather what I would try to bring?
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Sure, whatever you're comfortable with.
[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: Yeah, well, I would like that if I run the commission to be driving. for us to have forums, a lot of public forums to discuss, to kind of get from many people in the communities, conceptions of what human rights means. That's something I've put in my application. And I'd also want us to be doing a lot of research as far as, you know, academic stuff of what, you know, many specialists have conceived of it and what common people have kind of conceived of what are human rights. One thing though, I kind of, impulsively do is try to make sure that we're very focused on, any group I'm in is very focused on understanding, having a clear understanding of what we have decided on and what, during each meeting, what are the action items and what all the members understand what happened in the meeting, what exactly our roles are, because I think there can, I've been on a lot of organizations over the past, I guess, 30 years, And I think a lot of times members of groups can't really articulate what exactly the group is working on. And I kind of try to push away from that. And I always try to make sure that, you know, I think it's extremely important that we make sure that everybody's contributions are acknowledged. One thing, for instance, I don't really like a stack that we call on people. I mean, you say it depends on who has like the confidence, who is kind of feels entitled to speak. There are different models of deliberation I prefer. One is called sociocracy in which you kind of do around Robin and people wouldn't have to raise their hand. They would just, you go around and around and say, you would ask people automatically, What is your take? And if people could just simply sit past, but I'd be pushing for like alternative models, forums, and that we really kind of get in deep to the text and really understand that having more comprehensive, more expansive conversations. Sorry, I couldn't answer directly what my strengths are.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: This is helpful to know. Thank you. Immaculate.
[Unidentified]: Oh, you're on mute.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_06]: Too many kids down here making noise because I'm on mute. My head. Yes, I like to work with us because I was working with a human organization in Haiti since 1994 to present. This is a human right, you know? When Diana meet me with the other woman, I'm so happy to say yes. Diana said to me, fill the application. I'm so happy to fill it up. I fill it up. And I said, Diana, yes, I want to work with us. I'm so happy I'm open.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Thank you. And last but not least, Maureen.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_10]: So I think for me, I am more of a door, I, I really like to work on projects that the group decides that I guess what I'm saying is that I would work behind the scenes and really work to be focused and to have accomplishments. That's what makes me feel good. And it also, I think, sort of pushes everyone because then we can celebrate when we do maybe small steps forward, but it makes a difference in how we're perceived and what we accomplish. So I am someone that would be willing to put in the work. And I also happen to have more time because I'm not working at the moment because I'm retired. So I'd like to think that I can bring some hard work.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, thank you everyone, I appreciate it. Okay, back to you, Francis.
[Frances Nwajei]: Well, that's really great insight. Anybody else have anything? All right, so moving to next on the agenda, old business. Muneer, do you want to lead that, but remember that there'll be only three commissioners left, so keep that in mind.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Say it again, there will be only what?
[Frances Nwajei]: There will just be three remaining commissioners after June, so keep that in mind. So you're really speaking to Diane, Rob and Chief, because I don't count.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Okay, well, I mean, over the past few meetings, we have considered a proposal from SAFE Medford to reinvigorate the Human Rights Commission. And I know that Rob and Diane also started working on the current ordinance from the City Council. So I just wanted to keep that in sight. And if we get new, hopefully we'll be getting new commissioners to join in the Human Rights Commission. We will be happy to forward those recommendations. And I will also mention that the human rights, excuse me, that Safe Medford is currently in contact with members of the city council. in an effort to, you know, pursue this process of enhancing and maybe updating the ordinance to make it, you know, just more effective. So that's all I wanted to say. I don't know if anybody else wants to comment on this or not.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: I'm happy to make a comment. And I just, you know, I just want to thank you for all of the work that you have done over the years. And I've learned so much over the last several months. I'm feeling excited that we're about to have six new members on the Human Rights Commission at some point in the fall. And I really believe, Manir, that the work of the Human Rights Commission should be done by the members of the Human Rights Commission. And so, I'm very appreciative of that very long and dense report from Safe Medford, but I feel like the framework that we really should be operating toward is the ordinance. And I go back to that work that Rob did in April, where he really distilled the ordinance and he broke it down and we all reviewed it together in the Word file. he shared that it does give us a lot of latitude, it was written in such a high level way that we have a lot more latitude than we realize. And, and so, and I'm only speaking from a place of since November, I've just been sitting and listening and understanding and observing during all of these meetings. I really paid attention in April. And Then last month, I attended the presentation that Janelle from, is it KP Law, Frances? She gave an excellent presentation to the Persons with Disabilities Commission. And just from my observation and from listening and learning all these months since November, I believe that the concern over the ordinance is not actually with the ordinance. It's written in such a high level way. We have so much latitude and I'm happy to have Rob say something when I'm done. And I think the issue is more with the open meeting laws. And then after I attended that presentation and really understood because the disabilities commission is planning a big event in October and they were trying to get clear on well, how can we work together in between meetings still under the open meeting laws? And Janelle gave great, great suggestions and feedback that I think that we can use. So I feel very, very confident that we will be working very well together to make a lot of progress when we all reconvene as a new, almost a new commission with six new members. in September. And so we'll have to have a homework assignment of looking at the the presentation that was recorded on zoom. But you know, my is the ordinance is fine if the city council doesn't think so. I'm, you know, of course, I mean, there are elected leaders, but I just, I don't think it needs to be rewritten. There's a reason why things are written in a more open ways so that they're more evergreen over the years and we can work toward them. But as long as we're following open meeting laws and getting ahead of scheduling extra meetings in between our monthly meetings, we can all get really great work done together. And as a public body, following the Sunshine Law so that the public always has access. So I don't know if you have anything that you'd like to add, Rob.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_08]: Yeah, I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head there. I think that it's a lot of work and it would take a lot of effort and campaigning and likely could potentially yield no results to change the ordinance. But to your point, it's written in a manner that we can, in all likelihood, use the fact that it is fairly broad and open to our benefit and really just focus more intently on how best to make progress during the time that we're afforded to do so. I do think that the open meeting laws can be a little bit of a challenge, but to your point, those are also in place for a reason as a public body and anybody who's has interest to should have access to the conversations that are going on here. So I understand certainly the necessity for keeping conversations to these events that are accessible. And I think that the work that you've done to establish a calendar and take a more formal approach to the activities that the board should undertake or the commission should undertake is certainly a step in the right direction. So I would double click on everything that you said and add those comments as well.
[Frances Nwajei]: Thank you, Ron.
[Unidentified]: Thank you so much.
[Munir Jirmanus]: Well, the only thing I see, I guess I will add is that, you know, two folks, two commissioners were actually part of this process. Sorry, three commissioners were actually part of this process to look at the ordinance very critically and see whether there are certain things that the ordinance asks the commission to perform that we considered were not actually very reasonable things to do. I know it's open-ended, but on the other hand, It adds other things that we're supposed to be handling, which historically, actually, we found out that it's very difficult to handle. And the open meeting law is not relevant to this discussion. all bound by the open readings law. And throughout the period that I've been involved, we are very careful, you know, to adhere to that law and to keep the discussions open to the public, obviously, and only discuss things openly when there's a quorum and so on and so forth. So again, I guess it's a matter of, I guess, opinion as to whether the ordinance should be updated or not. It hasn't been updated for many, many years. Again, I repeat myself by saying it asks us to do certain things that we don't actually do. For instance, the ordinance does not call for involvement, for instance, from the chief of police, which we historically have been always involved, you know, always thought it was useful. And, you know, Chief Buckley has become basically a permanent member of this commission, much the same as the previous chief of police. So that's the main idea. It's not the question of, does the Human Rights Commission have enough ideas to work with? That's not the point. The point is that the ordinance is outdated, and the hope is that we also bring in new ideas like, for instance, the possibility of maybe contacting the city and having reimbursement or some payments for members of the commission, especially for those members who have small children that need taking care of. So there are a lot of other ideas that are involved. Again, it's clearly the commission is as effective as the members who are working on it. And, you know, and your involvement in it is a good indication of that. But it doesn't mean necessarily that the current ordinance is, you know, very relevant to the work that the commission is doing.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: So I appreciate all of that. So thank you for sharing that. You know, I did, you know, in the last week, I did take another look at it and I believe, you know, one word like the mediate between the community, that might be something that you were highlighting about, you know, a role that you question us having. And as I thought about that, you know, and I work in the world of words as a writer and an editor, You know, immediate also means serves as an intermediary. So I had a moment where I thought, we can look at this in a broader sense where it's not just remediating conflict situations. We're also serving as an intermediary in the space of human rights between the city and the Medford community. And I thought, well, isn't that what I just did when I went to the, the Haitian flag raising event and shared that we have positions open I was an intermediary, on behalf of the commission in the city so I just. You know, and obviously if the city council is taking this up, you know, and I would hope they're doing it on behalf of all commissions. And I know that good work is being done on the charter study commission. Now there's a lot of antiquated language, but you know, I think that it's written broadly enough where we can see ourselves as intermediaries and I just don't want us to be disabled and going down a wrong, not a wrong path, just going down a path where We're not getting, you know, we're not taking action in the community and we just continue to be existential, you know, just reading and, you know, splitting hairs over some of the words. I think that I just like to step forward in action and I think it's written broadly enough so that we can, but I absolutely take everything you said seriously. And it'll be interesting to see what the city council comes up with. So thank you, Muneer.
[Frances Nwajei]: Matthew, I'm gonna give it to you. I've seen your hand go up and come down a few times.
[Matthew Page-Lieberman]: Yeah, I mean, I looked at this months ago and it was, you know, it was reassuring when Rob did the work and reported on April. That's something I was trying to communicate to City of Medford is that, I mean, there are just, there are a series of kind of self-contradicting claims about this ordinance. But when I looked at it, A while back, I saw that as well. It can be interpreted expansively. Another thing that's been realized is that the commission doesn't play by the word of what's actually in the ordinance. The commission is just doing whatever. Commission is just doing what people are interested in, not looking at the ordinance for guidance. There's a group saying that the ordinance has to be changed so that the commissioners can do certain actions. it's not sustainable, these arguments about why it should be changed. I think that the most important thing is the priorities of people that are on the body and what do they want to do. If nobody's being penalized for not following the letter of the law, the ordinance, then I don't really see why, because then you have to change the ordinance, then you have to convince people to follow the new ordinance. It's just kind of not the culture that's been followed. Most important thing is building up capacity, people that really, really want to do the work. And as far as the open meeting law, I know that has been claimed previously months ago by a chair that the chair of this body, that the open meeting law is kind of preventing the body, this body from doing work. It may have been like in November, December, something like this. I think, you know, you can set up subcommittees, and as long as you put up the notices, what, 48, 72 hours ahead, I think this commission can do as much work as people feel committed to. I mean, open meeting law just says that, something like, you know, it's like 48 or 72 hours. There's nothing preventing this committee from forming subcommittees for all kinds of stuff to do more work.
[Unidentified]: Judy, you have your hands raised.
[Frances Nwajei]: Can you hold on, Muneer, until all the commissioners are done so that then we can make sure we finish and then fully open it up to public participation?
[SPEAKER_15]: Oh, all right, yeah. I'm sorry, but I need to clarify something that Muneer said. Do I have the right?
[Frances Nwajei]: Yes, you can definitely do that during public participation. Has everybody responded to commissioners? Anything else to say? You all received the information with all the upcoming events this month, hoping to see as many of you as possible at the flag raising ceremony for Juneteenth on Thursday the 15th, that's tomorrow. West Medford Community Centre is hosting a full ceremony eat with drums and vendors and that is happening on the 17th and it starts at 12 o'clock and the city's hosting its big pride festival and that is happening on the 25th and that will include bands, DJ, vendors, A whole slew of things. So just wanted to make sure you received that. And that concludes everything that we have thus far on the agenda. So I'm going to turn it over for public participation because it's now 6.50. Go ahead, please, Judy.
[MCM00001270_SPEAKER_03]: Yes, I want to apologize for momentarily losing my temper, but, you know, I think it's extremely disrespectful that, you know, I am the only public person here and that I have not had an opportunity to introduce myself. And I also think it was very inappropriate not to introduce the candidates at the beginning. When you're on a Zoom, you want to know who's on and who you're talking to. Okay, that's point number one. Number two, really, Diane, you patronized me, not once, but twice. I think you really need to start thinking about your tone of voice. That's number two. Number three, Munir, I just, you know, what you said is technically correct, that Safe Medford has been in conversation with some one or more city Councilors about the ordinance, but Safe Medford has not committed to rewriting the ordinance. And obviously, the conversation here tonight will have a bearing on what Safe Benford decides to do. Does that make sense, Muneer? Sure. Okay. And then number four is I do have some feedback on that flyer, but since, you know, obviously, okay, I don't wanna be sarcastic, but basically I had feedback at the time that the flyer was introduced That opening paragraph about the mission statement, I've been in several conversations about that paragraph. That paragraph, it just has some real issues. And also, I think if you want the commission to be taken seriously and to take yourself seriously, you should capitalize commission and commissioners. You also have a typo. that was just introduced tonight. And I do think the second and third paragraphs are quite good. I think they're excellent. So I've saved all my comments and that's all I have to say.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_04]: Thank you very much for your feedback, Judy. I'll take another look at the flyer.
[Frances Nwajei]: All right, thank you, everyone. Does anyone have anything else to add as we get ready to close the meeting?
[Unidentified]: Go ahead, Immacula.
[MCM00001269_SPEAKER_06]: I'm sorry, on 15, I'm not tomorrow. I'm in Georgia right now. No worries.
[Frances Nwajei]: No worries, Immacula. Yeah, we just like to share the information just to make sure that people are aware I mean sometimes people get information sometimes people don't just started to make it a habit of anything that I know of there's a slight involvement from my angle. I'm sharing it as broadly as possible. All right, so that concludes the meeting. Mayor was going to come on and issue thanks, but it seems as though... I'm here.
[Breanna Lungo-Koehn]: I made it. I made it. I had a double committee meeting. My apologies, I would have liked to have been on at the beginning. especially since Francis told me what time it started. So my apologies that I'm a little bit late and I'm glad I caught you before y'all got off. I wanted to, I know there's a few members that are moving on and I wanted to specifically just thank you so much for your service to the HRC and all that you've done for the community. I know you're not going away. Your jobs and everything are busy and I know the terms are expiring, but We appreciate everything you've done and please stay in touch, stay involved. And we have more work to do, but we've come a long way. So thank you.
[Frances Nwajei]: There you go. Thank you, Mayor. So that concludes our meeting for June 14th, 2023. It's approximately 6.55 p.m.
|
total time: 0.77 minutes total words: 92 |
|||