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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.