Social Equity and Racial Justice Committee
AGENDA
May 9, 2024
5:00-6:45 p.m.
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please email ann.seltzer@ashland.or.us . Notification 72 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting (28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title 1).
Remote Meeting via Zoom
Note: This meeting will be recorded and uploaded to the website to accompany the minutes.
1. Call to Order
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge and honor the aboriginal people on whose ancestral homelands we work — the Ikirakutsum Band of the Shasta Nation, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities who make their home here today. We denounce the egregious acts of the colonizers and government and recognize the horrific impacts that still exist today. We honor the first stewards in the Rogue Valley and the lands we love and depend on: Tribes with ancestral lands in and surrounding the geography of the Ashland Watershed include the original past, present and future indigenous inhabitants of the Shasta, Takelma and Athabaskan people. We also recognize and acknowledge the Shasta village of K’wakhakha – “Where the Crow Lights” – that is now the Ashland City Plaza.
Labor Acknowledgment
We also pause to recognize and acknowledge the labor upon which our country, state, and institutions are built.
We remember that our country is built on the labor of enslaved people who were kidnapped and brought to the U.S. from the African continent and recognize the continued contribution of their survivors. We also acknowledge all immigrant labor, including voluntary, involuntary, trafficked, forced, and undocumented peoples who contributed to the building of the country and continue to serve within our labor force. We acknowledge all unpaid care-giving labor.
To the people who contributed this immeasurable work and their descendants, we acknowledge their indelible mark on the space in which we gather today. It is our collective responsibility to critically examine these histories, to repair harm, and to honor, protect, and sustain their contribution to our society.
2.
Approval of minutes of March 7, 2024
3. Public Input (3 minutes)
4. Announcement about the June meeting. (5 minutes)
5.
DEI Assessment Overview (Simon 10 minutes)
6. Social Gathering Update (Yamaguchi 10 minutes)
7. Personnel Changes (Seltzer 5 minutes)
8. Announcement (Yamaguchi 5 minutes)
9. Ashland Voices Update (Yamaguchi 10 minutes)
10. Update on Listening Circle Subcommittee (Tyler/Mendel 5 minutes)
11. Update on History of Racism in Ashland (Houston 5 minutes)
12. Update on Labor Acknowledgement Subcommittee (Simon 5 minutes)
13. Update on Free Speech Pamphlet (Tyler/Mendel 5 minutes)
14. Discussion on outreach tools to recruit new members and review of
Recruiting Guidelines SERJ approved in October of 2023. (20 minutes)
15. Member update and Council Liaison Update (5 minutes)
16. Adjourn
Next meeting dates: May 15 social gathering, June 6 regular meeting, August 8 regular meeting. The first Thursday in July is July 4 so there will not be a SERJ meeting in July