Agenda 02-01-22; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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19 1 community members have about government but also shows the frustrations that people feel 2 that government talks about a lot of things but doesn't always move those forward. She said 3 community members at the Department of Social Services who gave responses do not usually 4 share much feedback with government entities and said it was telling that they expressed 5 distrust in government agencies. She said that they will try to increase trust in government. 6 Commissioner Greene said that is obviously tapping into broader distrust of government 7 on all levels. She encouraged the team to think about how they can respond and gain trust. 8 Erica Bryant said the community outreach strategy will begin to address this distrust. 9 She said that this strategy will be used by all departments going forward and they will go to 10 community members that government agencies don't usually hear from to seek their input in 11 government. She said it is important to go where people are that usually don't have a voice, and 12 this will help break down the systems of oppression. 13 Commissioner Fowler asked how the other types of inequities Erica Bryant mentioned 14 will be addressed. She asked if they will automatically be addressed by focusing first on racial 15 inequity or if the process will need to be repeated for each one. 16 Erica Bryant said that the system isn't working for any of us and is working even less 17 great for people of color. She said that by remaking our systems all areas of marginalization can 18 be addressed. She said race must first be addressed and then others. 19 Nancy Coston said the GARE philosophy is that systemic issues of race are so 20 institutional that they need to be addressed intentionally and focused on first, and that the 21 framework can then be repeated as a philosophy with all populations. She said that people in 22 the community don't come with one attribute anyway, so if we are better with our community 23 engagement and outreach all inequities can be addressed in a better way. 24 Sharron Hinton said that most responses came through the toy chest event and those 25 respondents did not get to hear the presentation about why the county is doing this work. She 26 said that moving forward, it is imperative to continue the community engagement and get 27 additional feedback and to tell them the "why." She said when the presentation was at the 28 Senior Center, it focused on members of the Mandarin community, and they were extremely 29 involved and participatory. She stated that they want to return to the communities previously 30 engaged to give them updates and to continue to get feedback from them, moving forward. 31 Commissioner Richards asked if each jurisdiction is in a similar place and if being in 32 lockstep is a goal. She asked if there is a timeline to completing initial training and data 33 gathering and creating the history. 34 Erica Bryant said that the jurisdictions are at different places in the process because 35 they are moving at different paces. She said that Carrboro is ahead of the county, but the 36 county's training is different and that is part of the flexibility that the framework provides. She 37 said that the timeline is to normalize the conversation about race. She said the department 38 directors and budget team will be trained first, and that is a strategic decision because they 39 want to make the most impact by ensuring a racial equity lens is used when discussing the 40 budget items. She said it is not a quick process but there is an expectation of seeing changes. 41 Nancy Coston said this work isn't like a project, it is about imbedding a 42 philosophy/process in how Orange County responds to issues. She said this will become how 43 Orange County thinks differently about everything. 44 Commissioner Richards asked if the staff would be completed with training before the 45 next budget cycle. 46 Erica Bryant said that she would need to defer to the County Manager, but the training 47 staff does have the capacity to complete the training. 48 Commissioner Richards said that she is trying to understand if there is any 49 understanding of a timeline for training whether that be next year, or before next budget, or six 50 months. She asked how long until the basic things are in place.