Agenda

1.

Call to Order

Co-chair Toya called the meeting to order at 12:02 PM.

2.

Roll Call

NOTE: One or more Commission Members may be in attendance telephonically or by other technological means.

Diana Cudeii, Ex-Officio; Present
Seat Vacant, Ex-Officio
Seat Vacant, Ex-Officio
Cora M. Phillips; Excused Absence
Joe W. Washington, Co-Chair; Present
Darrell Marks; Present
Fawn Toya, Co-chair; Present
Kiara Weathersby; Present
Shawna Whitehat; Present
Jonathan Yellowhair; Present

Others present: Staff Liaison Rose Toehe; Council Liaison Councilmember Lori Matthews; City Manger Greg Clifton; Mayor Becky Daggett; Presenters: Kim Robinson and Bethany Camp of Commission on Diversity Awareness (CODA); Presenters: Jenna Ortega and Jenny Niemann of City of Flagstaff Sustainability Division.

A.

Land Acknowledgment

The Flagstaff City Council humbly acknowledges the ancestral homelands of this area’s Indigenous nations and original stewards. These lands, still inhabited by Native descendants, border mountains sacred to Indigenous peoples. We honor them, their legacies, their traditions, and their continued contributions. We celebrate their past, present, and future generations who will forever know this place as home.

3.

Public Comment
At this time, any member of the public may address the Commission on any subject within their jurisdiction that is not scheduled before the Commission on that day. Due to Open Meeting Laws, the Commission cannot discuss or act on items presented during this portion of the agenda. To address the Commission on an item that is on the agenda, please wait for the Chair to call for Public Comment at the time the item is heard. (Five minutes maximum per person)

None at this time.

4.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
February 1, 2023 Minutes will be available at the April 5, 2023 Regular Meeting.

5.

GENERAL BUSINESS

A.

Establish Local-Designated for Two Holidays Which Have Federal Recognition/Designation
The Commission of Diversity Awareness (CODA) would like to provide a presentation and discuss support of local-designation of two holidays which have federal recognition or designation. President Obama designated the day after Thanksgiving as “The Native American Heritage Day", Resolution of 2009. In 2021, Juneteenth National Independence Day was designated as a federal holiday. CODA wants to submit a FAIR request for the designation of these holidays by the City and explore possible partnership with the Indigenous Commission.

Kim Robinson and Bethany Camp of CODA shared the conversations to submit a FAIR request for the designation of the two holidays expressed above. The discussion also requested a collaborative effort between CODA and the Indigenous Commission (IC) to make these recommendations to City Council.

There was discussion back and forth regarding the view points, pros & cons of the two holidays. It was also recognized that Juneteenth was a federal holiday while Native American Heritage Day was a designation not a federal holiday. While there is support for both of these days, the Native American Heritage Day may prove to need more research and possibly to find a more appropriate day for recognition and propose City designation as a paid holiday.

Given additional information, some Commissioners felt that the day after Thanksgiving may not be appropriate due to it being proceeded by Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving is also known as Black Friday and lends to further endorsement of capitalism. Some Indigenous nations regard Thanksgiving as a National Day of Mourning for Indigenous relatives lost due to colonization. On the other hand, it was also pointed out that is important to reclaim dates that were meant to honor Indigenous people. There was also recommendation to consider a different day.

The request from CODA was to find out if there could be a possible partnership with the IC to go forward with these two dates. The process in having a designated day recognized as an official paid holiday will need additional information. The commissions can also check with the Tri-Diversity Councils to ascertain if they will have buy-in. The county process will also be researched.

It was decided more research and planning was needed and for the topic to be brought back to the IC. A workgroup was requested with two Commissioners interested and an Indigenous community member will be invited to participate. The workgroup will consist of members from CODA and IC. In the meantime, CODA will move forward with Juneteenth. IC will support in assisting CODA with this endeavor as well as a partnership on this topic.

6.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

A.

Federal EPA Grant Opportunity on Resilience Hub Concept
Jenna Ortega with the Sustainability Office will discuss a federal grant opportunity from the EPA. The City is applying for a grant to create Resilience Hubs, which are community-serving facilities that support residents in times of crisis while also providing year-round services. Ms. Ortega will describe the Resilience Hub concept and will seek feedback from Commissioners on how they think these hubs can best serve Flagstaff residents. If interested, Commissioners can learn more about resilience hubs here: http://resilience-hub.org/

Jenna Ortega started with the explanation of the EPA grant opportunity and Jenny Nieman was in attendance with any additional or supportive information. The request was to obtain input, feedback, and any direction to share from the IC. The grant is worth $1,000,000 and will be able to support a resilience hub in Flagstaff. It is part of EPA's environmental justice government to government programs. It is specifically for local governments. Sustainability is working on identifying community partners. It is in exploratory phase. The resilience hubs could be enhanced community centers and can be many things. The best place for them to exist is where there's already established organizations and are trusted in the community, and where residents can access resources, materials and have support year round. The purpose is to serve the community, support people, coordinate/distribute resources/services. They can act as centers for preparedness, response, and recovery during any sort of disasters or crisis; might be basic health & medical supplies; training programs; and health services places to grow food or process food. The community would have control and local government as the recipient of the grant.

There were questions regarding duplication of services and how does that work with this grant? Some examples of hubs were: job training; healthcare workers to come to a site and provide services; commercial kitchens; classes to be open to the public. City Manager Clifton added that there has been a conversation about duplicating services that already exist and there should be caution about those service providers who may take this as such again. This is specific to a facility that was attached to the mobile CARE unit which did not occur due to some of these duplicative service discussion.

As a result of time constraints, further discussion did not occur. Sustainability staff invited the commissioners to attend and provide input at a meeting occurring the following day.

7.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS TO/FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS, STAFF, AND FUTURE AGENDA ITEM REQUESTS

There was a request for the Indigenous Market update.

8.

ADJOURNMENT

Co-chair Toya adjourned at 1:03 PM.