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during business hours, Bouma said he would create a poll for those two dates that include <br /> evening times. <br /> IV. Discussion of Climate Council Diversity—Weaver then led a discussion of the diversity of <br /> the Climate Council. She made it clear that her intent was not to disparage anyone who has <br /> volunteered their time to join the Climate Council, but there are long-standing forces that <br /> have limited the diversity in our group. She feels that the work of the Council needs to be <br /> grounded in benefitting underserved communities who will be most impacted by climate <br /> change. She added that one thing that would help us is to have a clear mission and values, <br /> so that equity is not an add-on after the fact. <br /> Slade agreed and added that representation is also important. Diversity was a component of <br /> the way Carrboro tried to make their At-Large position decision. <br /> McCullough offered that a lack of diversity is a long-standing problem in the environmental <br /> protection field. She said the Council needs to make strides on diversity while not limiting <br /> someone's credentials to only their minority status. <br /> Kaufman said that people of color are better represented in the environmental justice field, <br /> and recommended reaching out to the Rogers Eubanks Neighborhood Alliance and other <br /> such groups. Richards said that she had already reached out to Rev. Campbell from RENA <br /> when she saw this on the agenda,to see if he could recommend someone if the Council <br /> decided to open up the a space for them to participate. Richards also pointed out that the <br /> time of the meeting is problematic for their student representative who is a person of color. <br /> Rubinoff said that we should work to diversify, and we should keep diversity in our mission <br /> and process we use to make each decision.The Council's processes might be excluding the <br /> people we aim to benefit, and this goes beyond who is represented on the Council. <br /> Hansley-Mace said that there seems to be a good amount of agreement on this being part of <br /> our mission, and thought it might be good to lay out our mission. She offered to be on a <br /> committee to draft a mission statement if others would like to join. <br /> Marcoplos gave the history of how the initial list of organizations and positions was created <br /> for the Climate Council. Racial and age diversity were both considered and spaces were <br /> created for both racial minorities and students. It seems the Council was relatively successful <br /> in bringing in youth. Marcoplos and Weaver have both been talking to the Northern Orange <br /> Chapter of the NAACP to continue to encourage them to fill their reserved positions. <br /> Weaver offered to join Hansley-Mace on the mission and visioning committee. <br /> Gu reinforced the importance of income diversity as well since poor communities might be <br /> most impacted by climate change and have fewest alternatives. She also highlighted that <br /> they might not have time to attend meetings. Another key group to Gu is small business, and <br /> this depends on good communication because they are also time-limited. In Gu's opinion, <br /> they should be invited to be part of our team, perhaps through representatives from the <br /> Chambers of Commerce. <br />