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Approved 12.4.24
<br />Dolores Bailey: Okay. 603
<br /> 604
<br />Chris Johnston: I'm sorry. Point of clarification, one of the subcontractors was specifically brought on board to do 605
<br />that kind of outreach. It sounds like, are you specifically doing this outreach above and beyond? 606
<br />I'm sorry. We're getting off topic here, and I don't mean to get into the process, but wasn't that 607
<br />part of the process? Sorry. 608
<br /> 609
<br />Tom Altieri: First question. Renee Price has been steering me to the right people. And had a couple of 610
<br />meetings already, and it's gotten beyond phone calls. To build the trust, you have to meet face to 611
<br />face, which I've done a few times. And so, we'll have some success. Let's see, your question 612
<br />again? I'm sorry, Chris. You asked about our DEI consultant, and that's a subcontractor of 613
<br />Clarion. 614
<br /> 615
<br />Chris Johnston: Right. 616
<br /> 617
<br />Tom Altieri: They will be helping with these meetings. However, the mass emails that went out to all of those 618
<br />that were added to the database, which was part of the sub-consultant's work was to develop a 619
<br />database. There's hundreds of emails and phone numbers in it, and they were all notified of our 620
<br />meetings, and it resulted in, well, little to no turnout. What we need is relationships with these 621
<br />organizations. And it's a process. When I tried to call them or email them, I didn't always get a 622
<br />response, so it's about trying to find the right leader to get you connected with an introduction so 623
<br />that I can make a warm call and not a cold call. And then begin from there and why I think this 624
<br />process is important and important to your community and worth your time, and to go from there. 625
<br />Because it's quite a process, you know, to ask somebody, please host us. And to some degree, it 626
<br />would put your reputation out there, invite your community to come. And that's why I said, as we 627
<br />have success, we may go back to some of the same communities, some of the same meeting 628
<br />locations if there's interest in us doing that so we can get additional feedback. 629
<br /> 630
<br />Chris Johnston: Right. And I don't mean to get into the process. I want to draw this back to land use because 631
<br />that's our purpose as this board. Land use is being informed by the community, and who comes 632
<br />to these meetings and provides their input is critical for us to be able to get that community 633
<br />feedback, so I guess what I want to say is thank you, Tom. Right? Like it sounds like you're going 634
<br />above and beyond the process, which was originally, and I apologize if I misunderstood, was the 635
<br />subcontractor's role to be doing these communications and these meetings and then engaging 636
<br />with county in order to dialogue with all the different groups that need to be brought to the table. 637
<br />And so, I guess thank you very much, Tom, for putting yourself out there and making these 638
<br />connections above and beyond. I think I just had a misunderstanding of the process, and I'm glad 639
<br />you're doing that because, again, having everyone at the table is what makes this valuable from a 640
<br />land-use standpoint. 641
<br /> 642
<br />Tom Altieri: Right, and we have had to focus, because there are a lot of different communities in Orange 643
<br />County, and so, primarily, we're starting by trying to get input from the Black community and from 644
<br />our Latino community. There are other languages spoken. I am told that the area around the 645
<br />Efland-Cheeks Community Center, that there's a Burmese population within walking distance 646
<br />there. So, in that particular case, we are going to be doing some advisement in Burmese and 647
<br />encouraging attendance, working with a community leader at the community center who's going to 648
<br />help me engage area communities and get the notification to the right people. 649
<br /> 650
<br />Dolores bailey: And I thank you again, Tom, for what you're doing. Let me just throw out September 19th, Justice 651
<br />United is meeting. 652
<br /> 653
<br />Tom Altieri: Okay. 654
<br /> 655
<br />Dolores Bailey: And there are a lot of the African American leaders, some of them pastors, that go to those 656
<br />meetings. You might be able to reach out to Julia Sendor and help spread the word about some 657
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