HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Cultural Communities Board - 08/22/2017KENT CULTURAL COMMUNITIES BOARD MEETING
August 22, 2017, 6:30 pm
Greater Kent Historical Society Museum
855 East Smith St
Kent, WA
Attending: Yusuf Bashir, Marvin Eckfeldt, Rand Al Hammadi, Mizanur Rahman,
Ted Schwarz, Cesar Rangel, Vaivao Semisi-Tupou, Satwinder Kaur, Hussein Al
Kinani, Marwa Almusawi, Davies Chirwa, Samiha Bhuiyan, Sara Franklin-Phillips,
and Guystave Sebatware.
Absent: Norma Maldonado, Sonia Morales, Sharndeep Kaur, Herbert Carey and Ta
Say.
Elected Officials, Staff & Guests: Mayor Suzette Cooke, Dinah Wilson, Patrick
Briggs, Marty Fisher, Johnetta Rowsey and Natalie Winecka.
Vice-Chair Kaur called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Satwinder welcomed
everyone to the Bereiter House, home of the Greater Kent Historical Museum.
Satwinder offered tours of the museum following the meeting for anyone
interested.
Roll call – attendees listed above.
Changes to the Agenda
Added for discussion-
a. Candidates forum (Mayor & Council Candidates)
b. Community Engagement Coordinator
c. Mayor’s Statement on Hate Crimes
Approval Minutes
Mizanur moved to accept the May and July minutes as written, seconded by Ted.
Minutes for May and July approved unanimously.
Announcements
Sara Phillips-Franklin announced on September 30 there will be a Back to School
Rally at Mill Creek Middle School for anyone wanting to attend.
Marvin Eckfeldt mentioned the KBAC rally scheduled for August 26 at 10:00 am at
Burlingame Park (the Gazebo east of the railroad tracks on 1st avenue between
Smith and Meeker. The rally, “Our Place in the March”, is a tribute to the 54th
Anniversary of the Historic March on Washington, D.C. when Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. gave his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.
Yusuf Bashir announced he has leased space and is starting a nonprofit where he
will assist Somali and E. African refugees, however all are welcome. The facility is
located at 1621 Central Avenue, Ste. G, and he welcomes everyone to stop by. He
is also looking for donations to assist in operating this facility, furniture, computers,
laptops, printers, etc. Please let Yusuf know if you have any items to donate.
Rand Al Hammadi invited everyone to the Iraqi Annual Festival coming up the
middle of September on a Saturday. Once the flyer is completed, Rand will forward
an invite to everyone. The event will be held at the Iraqi Community Center of
Washington off of Kent-Kangley.
Dinah Wilson reminded everyone that Journey to Peace sponsored by Project Feast,
the King County Library System and Interfaith Community Sanctuary is coming up
September 23 at the Kent Senior Activity Center. Those wishing to attend must
register for a limited amount of spaces at the event. Dinah will resend registration
information.
Satwinder Kaur noted that the Living Well Kent Housing Forum is this Thursday
evening at 6:00 pm. Kent Parks & Deli will be holding a fundraiser that evening by
selling food to raise money for the senior lunch program at the center.
Introduction of New CCB Members
New CCB members, Sara Franklin-Pierce, Guystave Sebatware and Samiha Bhuiyan
each introduced themselves to the committee and were welcomed.
Discussion with Marty Fisher, Kent’s Human Resources Director
Marty Fisher introduced himself and discussed his heritage. Marty is a Jewish
American New Yorker. His wife is first generation Polish. His wife’s parent’s
survived concentration camps, his father-in-law was very resourceful in his quest to
survive and became a photographer documenting the concentration camp horrors
of which the family are donating to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
Marty witnessed 911 in New York and was very proud of the New Yorkers and their
devotion to one another throughout that horrific tragedy. Marty was Manager of
Customer services for Starbucks and stayed in New York as the other managers in
the organization flew to Seattle for leadership meetings. Starbucks closed, only to
reopen to provide food and drinks to those responding to 911.
He went on to discuss the importance HR plays in any organization – they are the
front door to any business. He discussed the recent updating of city policies and
distributed the city’s hiring philosophy. He noted that in 2010, the city had 10%
minority and 28% women working for the organization. In 2015, 16% minority and
35% women – definitely a step in the right direction. The Information Technology
department at the city has the highest diversity of any department within the
organization.
The city was selected by the President to participate in the White House convening
on new Americans – Kent was one of 18 cities invited.
The city recently employed three Iraqi engineers – hired by our Public Works
department.
Marty paid tribute to Natalie Winecka and Johnetta Rowsey for their good work.
Natalie Winecka introduced herself – a Kent native. She has been employed with
the city for 19 years and worked her way up from Utility Billing/Customer Service to
Human Resources where she serves as the Civil Service Examiner. Natalie
distributed a listing of current job openings at the city. She stressed the conditions
for employment at the city – the most important requirement is a COMPLETE
application. If the position requires a cover letter, make sure it is attached to the
application and resume. The letter should be tailored to the city’s position of
interest. Marty offered either he or one of his staff would be glad to come and talk
with groups of people related to employment with the city.
Natalie mentioned the Community Engagement Coordinator position received 151
applications which were narrowed to 29. Staff then conducted two days of
telephone interviews followed by narrowing the field of finalists to three before a
selection was made.
Johnetta Rowsey introduced herself and gave a brief history of work experience at
the city of Kent. Johnetta was laid off twice during the economic downturn before
she was hired back into her current position as Community Outreach Analyst.
Johnetta works with the many communities in Kent on employment and attends
multiple employment events throughout the year. Johnetta is also available to
meet with your community to discuss employment opportunities at the city and
offer assistance.
A CCB member said that the CCB needs to communicate with five different agencies
that he did not list, but who are responsible for bringing refugees into this area.
The procedures used by resettlement agencies are not working and refugees are
often left to fend for themselves without ongoing assistance.
Several CCB members commented and made additional suggestions to Marty and
his staff about how to increase hiring within multicultural communities.
Jason Appelgate, member of the Kent Historical Society Board, introduced himself
and talked about the museum and the importance of a historical society in the
community. Jason has been working with many ethnic cultures encouraging them
to host exhibits at the museum to record their heritage. He serves on the Ethnic
Heritage Council, which is partnering with the Greater Kent Historical Society, to
host a free workshop entitled We Are History Keepers. The workshop is on October
7 at 9:30 am to 3:30 pm at the Kent Senior Center. Jason encouraged everyone to
attend and bring members from their respective community. He passed out a flyer
and noted that those wishing to attend should RSVP by 9/25 at
rsvp@ethnicheritagecouncil.org.
Nancy Simpson, Vice President of the Greater Kent Historical Board, introduced
herself and reiterated the importance of the Historical Society and Museum in
preserving the community’s history. Nancy encouraged all diverse communities in
Kent to assist the museum historians in preserving their cultures’ history so every
generation to come will have that information available to them.
Candidates Forum
The CCB will host another candidate’s forum next month replacing their September
meeting. The forum will take place on Tuesday, September 26 at 7:00 pm –
location to be determined. A subcommittee was formed: Ted, Marvin, Mizanur,
Sara, Marwa, Cesar, Rand and Hussein.
Mayor’s Statement against Hate
Mayor Cooke inquired whether the committee felt she should publicly make a
statement against hate. The CCB unanimously felt a statement from the Mayor
would be timely and welcomed.
Community Engagement Coordinator
Mayor Cooke announced that Uriel Varela has been hired as the city’s new
Community Engagement Coordinator and starts work on Friday, September 1. Uriel
will officially meet the CCB at their next meeting in September. Mayor Cooke
thanked Dinah Wilson for helping organize and staff the CCB until the CEC could be
hired. Dinah will attend future meetings on occasion, but Uriel will staff the CCB
going forward.
Meeting adjourned at 8:12 pm.