Mayor Jordan Hess Okay, so this item is here as an item of committee reports and so the process tonight is that I'll ask staff if we have any clarifying information or any additional information and then I will go to Ms. Jones for a motion and then we'll go to public comment and, and then we'll come back to Council for Council comment and deliberation. So with that, I know we have several staff that are involved in, in this item, agenda item, does anyone have any additional information to add before if we're going to the motion and discussion? Okay, Ms. Jones, for a motion please.
Alderperson Jones Great, I’m happy to make the recommended motion, which is to adopt a resolution of the Missoula City Council to establish a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Joint City-County Advisory Board. And when it is the right time, I'd like to speak to it.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thanks. What I'd like to do is go to public comment first, and so if anyone would like to provide comment, please step on up to the microphone and, and I'll also watch for, for hands online if anyone in our virtual audience would like to provide comment.
Wilena Old Person Good evening, my name is Wilena Old Person, she/her/hers. I am Yakima Blackfeet, and I am staff at the University of Montana, and I am one of the main three individuals in this named JEDI, and I just want to speak to it. I have stuff written but I'm not going to look. I just want to thank…. I come from a family that has done service not only to our tribal community, but to the State of Montana and I try to live that as my own person here in Missoula County and I feel like I am doing that, but one of the things that my grandfather taught me was change begins with you and it's your individual choices that make this change. And so, that's why I always talk about when I think of my leadership to others is the impact of one and the impact of one person can help change a perspective because it is not common sense or common courtesy for BIPOC lived experience in Missoula. It is very different than those of a cis white male and my experience is not like that, that was said a couple weeks ago. That was really disheartening to hear because my lived experience includes racism, systemic racism, and you name it, it's happened not only in the city it's been at my place of work, it's where I serve as the Chair of Missoula County Public Schools. So, BIPOC lived experience needs to come from BIPOC lead initiatives and I feel like that's what this is, and it the two other named individuals are black men and we both, all three of us really feel like we can lay the groundwork for this advisory board including the bylaws and what else is needed to be done because who else knows the BIPOC than those that are BIPOC themselves. And I think that's one of the reasons why I really put in the time; we did put a lot of time into this and there will be a lot more time to be put in and I think we are ready for that challenge, and it does take away from other things, but I think for my impact in this community this is one of the ways I want to do it. So, thank you.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you. Anyone else tonight? I have some folks online. First, I have Reverend Frank Franklin. While the Reverend unmutes, Marty, can you, I know we have, we've had some issues with audio before, can you give the phone numbers again just in case anyone is not able to, to join us with, with computer audio?
Marty Rehbein I’d be happy to. Let me pull those back up and I'll put them on the screen and I'll read them. Okay, if you'd like to call into the meeting, the phone number is (406) 384-6960; the conference ID is 387-736-445#. I'll repeat that phone number, (406) 384-6960 and the phone conference ID again is the conference ID is 387-736-445 and the # sign. So, it’s right here on the agenda.
Mayor Jordan Hess Great, thank you. And, and I apologize, I, I misidentified that's, that's Rabbi Franklin, I apologize. So, I’ll go down next to, to the next speaker and then we can, we can come back to anyone that we miss. We have Susan Hay Patrick next.
Marty Rehbein So folks, #6 on your end will unmute your, your system. The other thing you might want to double check is that you might want to double check is that you haven't disabled audio. If you have a little slash through your mic, it's just muted but if you have an X it is disabled and you might want to enable it, enable your audio.
Mayor Jordan Hess Okay, I'm going to…..So, so, Susan if you're able to unmute, we'll, we'll come back to you. I'm going to go to our next person, which is Rebecca Ramsey.
Rebecca Ramsey Okay great, can you guys hear me?
Mayor Jordan Hess Yes, we can.
Rebecca Ramsey Perfect. My name is Rebecca Ramsey and I live in Condon, Montana. I am the Executive Director of Swan Valley Connections, we’re a collaborative conservation and education organization up here and we're in Missoula County and we, me personally and other members of my organizations really just want to encourage the city to follow suit with the county on this. We feel like it's super important for all people to be represented and following the last speaker, you know just really think it's important for, for people to be able to see themselves and to hear themselves and to have themselves represented, and so we have worked with Rajiem Seabrook directly but through Empower Montana with our organization. And you know, we are in a, a pretty homogenized part of the county and I will say that the folks in my organization are board members and advisors, we’re all very receptive and have enjoyed really working with Empower Montana and with Rajiem, and we also own and manage a section of, off reservation land with the confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes and have many programs that we work on with them and have deep relationships with them and so, we feel like as an organization we are really looking to expand our own diversity and to be more equitable and be more inclusive and get more voices to the table to be collaborative for good policy. So, I just wanted to speak on behalf of all of us to say that we really encourage the city to support this resolution and adopt it as your own as well. You’ll be better for it by having this advisory committee. Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk to you all today.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you for your comments. I have Rozlyn Haley next.
Rozlyn Haley Thank you Mayor Hess. I don't, I would almost like to defer to others to speak up first, but I am here….My name is Rozlyn Haley she/her/hers and I have been working with the JEDI Planning Committee on behalf of Missoula County to create the resolution that you have before you today. I had a whole thing, but I'll tell you this whole venue is very intimidating to me so I'm going to cut to the chase. I have so much confidence in Rajiem, Wilena, and Dexter to be able to move this effort forward and the other thing is I can't express how much I myself have learned working with this group in the last year and a half. I think this is an ongoing thing and I believe this is what we are all learning, you know trying to do is engage and learn and grow and without taking up too much time, I just want to share with you that that has been my experience working with this group and I'm really excited that other people will also have that experience to grow the way that I have. So, thank you.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you. Thanks for your comments. I have a phone participant next, last two digits of the phone number are 68. If and you should be able to unmute now.
Rabbi Laurie Franklin Hi there, this is Rabbi Laurie Franklin and I'm glad to join you this way, if my computer audio wasn't doing what it was supposed to be doing and just thank you so much for the opportunity to speak in favor of the formation of this Advisory Group. This was not a willy-nilly thing; this has been incubating for quite some time and I was at the very beginning involved and then wasn't able to stay in the loop, but the people who are going to form this panel, Rajiem, Dexter, and Wilena are people of tremendous substance and vision and I think they will guide the work in a, in a way that we can trust. And it's a beautiful evolution that this is happening now, so I'm just speaking in support and thank you so much for the work that all of you do just to do the people's work you know. I'm always moved by you know just seeing the, the people in the room, the people in the zoom rooms, the staff, the Council, the Mayor. Thank you. I’m done bye bye.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Rabbi, I appreciate your comments tonight. Anyone else tonight, online or? I’ve got another phone participant joining. Okay, our other phone participant should be able to unmute.
Marty Rehbein Is that the person with the 68 as the last two members of their number?
Mayor Jordan Hess This is phone number ending in 96.
Marty Rehbein 96, alright great. Last two digits 96, if that’s you, you can press *6 and unmute.
Mayor Jordan Hess I believe we can hear you now.
Susan Hay Patrick Oh, okay great. Well good evening, sorry about technical difficulties. I'm Susan Hay Patrick, CEO of United Way of Missoula County and thank you all for your service and going through these technical difficulties every week. I think we'd benefit from having a group of diverse citizens advising local government and our community on issues of equity and I have full faith in the ability of the three suggested appointees to help us get there beginning with developing the bylaws and membership of the proposed Council. I, I understand there is a lot going on, on the JEDI front in our community, too much of you asked some people and far from enough if you ask others. So, I see this Council as an entity that can coalesce already existing JEDI efforts into a more cohesive approach county-wide. It's that collective impact model that we champion at United Way that we get more done when we do it together in an organized, collaborative, civil and accountable way with, with diverse voices at the table. Last week, Councilman Contos quoted his daughter saying these matters are or should be just common sense and that's true and we can't legislate common sense unfortunately, but we can define it, amplify it, model it, and set standards [inaudible section]. This isn't about shaming and blaming it's about listening and learning and getting Missoula to a better place a more awakened place one that offers equal opportunity for every citizen to succeed and thrive. We all win when we all win and that's a vision worth working for and I encourage you to vote yes because I think that spirit is what's embodied in this resolution, but regardless of how you vote, thank you all for listening and for your continued hard work and service to our community. Thanks.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you and thanks for, thanks for calling in. I have another phone participant; the last two digits are 19.
John Ulrigg Hello.
Mayor Jordan Hess Hi. Can we get your name for the record please?
John Ulrigg Yes, this is Mr. John Ulrigg. I’m in Ward 1. It humors me to hear this conversation regarding JEDI when the Mayor's secretary Heidi Bakula told me I'll never have a seat at the table. See now this would be the best place you could pick up the JEDI torch and walk with it. You took my rental property illegally; you’ve continued to harass my family for 20 years since two police officers beat me up and I was found not guilty in a court of law. You could address these issues, taking up my rental properties and taking of my car, none of this is being addressed. You call yourself JEDI, you've been touting this JEDI crap for quite some time, and I was told by the Mayor [inaudible], he says everyone will have a seat at the table and in the same exhaling breath he turned to me on the phone and had Heidi and him say I'll never get a seat at the table. How do you correct that Mr. JEDI? I'm done, I, you know, I'm sick of asking for something to do something about what I've asked, and nobody does a damn thing on it. I get muted by Gwen Jones because I attacked how I was approached in an article in the Missoulian slander, defamation, and libel. Well, the editor of the museum got all panicked because she just left Virginia where someone killed people for libel, slander and defamation by a news agency done in the name of the city…..
Alderperson Anderson Point of order, Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Jordan Hess Yeah, we're gonna have you wrap it up Mr. Ulrigg.
John Ulrigg All right….
Mayor Jordan Hess We don't do personal attacks….
John Ulrigg Point of order myself……ha, ha, you guys don't even know Robert Rules of Order….
Mayor Jordan Hess Anyone else tonight? Okay, I don't see anyone else in the virtual audience, anyone else in person tonight? All right, seeing none, we will come back. So, we have a motion, we have a motion on the floor. Ms. Jones, do you want to make any comments on your motion before we open it to general Council discussion?
Alderperson Jones Yes, I do have some comments thank you. We heard this in Committee of the Whole about a week and a half ago, and frankly, I take issue with some of the comments that were made that were not in support of this when we heard it in committee, so I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say today. And first of all, I want to acknowledge and thank the three community members who have agreed to serve and use their time and share their life experience to make Missoula a better place by being on this advisory board, so thank you very much. As I have thought about the themes of the comments that I really disagreed with, there were things along the lines of this is not needed in Montana and Missoula, we're fine, we don't have these issues, this is a waste of time, waste of energy, a waste of money and first of all, I want to say that I think it's very important to acknowledge sometimes that we don't know what we don't know and that is what to me goes to the essence of the JEDI initiative. To me, the goal is to come closer to understanding and appreciating others in this community and as Donna Gaukler, who with the city has headed this up, she has reiterated often that the work is towards ensuring that all in our community are welcome in all places, that's the goal and I think that's very worthy and something we need to think long and hard about. This program is from the National League of Cities; this is not just something done lightly. This is something that is being done across America, big cities and small cities, and it has been well vetted. It is a really solid quality program, and I am grateful that we as a small city were accepted into this by the National League of Cities and that we are participating. I think it's going to make a big difference here, but as I heard the comments in committee I thought to myself you know sometimes we need to look in the mirror and remember some of our history here in Missoula, so, I jotted down a few things to talk about tonight. First of all, there's a long history of interaction with the indigenous people who were here long before any settlers came in, in the last couple hundred years and a lot of those actions were less than exemplary and I'm not going to go into a lot of detail. We have others in the in the audience who can speak far more to it than I, but go no further than Bear Tracks bridge and look at the history of that. In the 1920s, the Saint Paul's AME Church a black church was located on the north side because it had to be located there and couldn't be located anywhere else in Missoula. We had the Ku Klux Klan here in Missoula; we had a lovely chapter of the KKK living here in Missoula. The South Hills were redlined decades ago so that certain people couldn't live there. When I was growing up in the 1970s, in the late 70s, a big topic of discussion was the Equal Rights Amendment and although there's all sorts of arguments one can make about should it be state or federal, is it already encapsulated in the Constitution, one of the biggest things that was discussed when I was in high school and we were debating this was what women should and shouldn't do, which is frankly incredibly insulting and folks that was in my lifetime and it's lovely that we have a majority of women on Council, but I don't think our work is done and we need to keep that in mind. Hate crimes occur on a regular basis in Montana and in Missoula. The State of Montana has a hate crime statute and if we don't have a problem, why do we actually have a hate crime statute on the books? I think we should ask ourselves that. If you look at the most recent FBI report on hate crimes in Montana, they greatly escalated in 2020. It's an ongoing problem, Missoula has hate crimes. It's getting worse and frankly it's a matter of time before we have some god-awful mass shooting here in Missoula or in Montana; I hope it doesn't happen but that's what we're doing in my in America these days. In 2022, Missoula had hate speech graffiti on the Milwaukee Trail, so these are just some specific examples, but I also want to talk about the horrific murder of Matthew Shepard; it was 25 years ago in Wyoming and in my mind Wyoming's pretty similar to Montana. So, these are ugly incidences, hate crimes, Matthew Shepard's murder, all sorts of horrible things, but I think of the spectrum from a hate crime all the way to people feeling comfortable and welcome at the table, and I think there's a lot of work we need to do and that's what this gets to. So, I am happy to support it with our multi-million dollar budget to put some thousands of dollars towards this is definitely well worth it and again I want to thank the three community members and remind Missoula of some of our history and why we need to keep working on things. So, I’m very much in support of it. Thank you.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Jones. Ms. Sherrill.
Alderperson Sherrill Yeah thanks and thank you everyone for your comments tonight, I appreciate you coming out. You know, the last few years has really brought this issue to the forefront of you know the public discussion but as any BIPOC or LBGTQ person will tell you, this is not a new issue, it's just something that we are talking about more openly and you know that there are more people that that are coming to the table wanting to improve it. So, to me, this is a really small but important thing that we can do in hopes of addressing a systemic issue. And I agree with Ms. Jones, you know I'm a I'm a, a white middle-aged straight woman who has lived with more privilege than a lot of people in the world and there is no way I can, I mean it seems absurd to me honestly to try to say that I can understand what someone in either of those communities has what their lived experiences. So, I completely agree with you on that, and I appreciate Ms. Patrick's comments that this is not about shaming or blaming, it's about listening, learning and I would add to that improving and changing. So, it, it's a very small thing. We do need those voices at the table. I am very appreciative that they're, they're willing to be there and if it's an advisory committee, which I think you know, no offense to anyone, but looking around this table I think that we, we, we need more of those voices and so I'm, I'm really happy to support it. I'm happy that it's brought been brought forward and I feel thankful to live in a time that we are starting to address these issues and take them seriously and it's, it's really far past time that we do it in my opinion.
Mayor Jordan Hess Mr. Carlino.
Alderperson Carlino Thanks. Yeah, I just wanted to show support for creating the JEDI Advisory Board too and also show support for the local government us following along, along with what The Advisory Board wants and put it in those words to action best we can. And I just think we're really far away from creating, from having is just a society and government and as equal in building as equitable society as we can. So, I see this as a step forward; I know it won't solve all the inequities and injustices that we have embedded in our government, but I do see it as a positive step forward and I think if we listen and follow through with, with the advisory board different things that they come up with throughout the years, I think we'll find ourselves in a more equitable and more just place.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thanks. Ms. Becerra.
Alderperson Becerra Thank you. I’m going to read again the comments that I provided at the last committee meeting, so apologies if you have to listen to them again, but there's a lot more that I could add to this topic but I'm going to limit myself to what I said on Wednesday, and that is that I would, I would like to thank those who are willing to serve on this advisory board. I believe that JEDI is a way and a process that works towards removing structural biases. It has been argued that opportunities are available to anyone who seeks them; however, we have heard from members of their community that access to those opportunities is sometimes blocked by those structural and sometimes individual biases. If we know that that is a problem, why should we not work, work towards fixing it. We do this in many other aspects of our public service and provision of infrastructure for our residents. We fix roads and streets, we look for ways to improve the way we review projects, we look for ways to provide more access to information regarding city businesses, etc. We problem solve, we fix so that we can provide better services. We create boards that advise us on things like climate change, food and agriculture, public art, transportation, growth and development, why do we do that? Because we need people with experience, with lived experience and knowledge about those issues to advise us on how to invest and improve in those areas. JEDI is no different and by saying we don't need this work because there is no problem, we continue to perpetuate that problem. JEDI is not about taking from one group of individuals to give more to another, JEDI is to ensure everyone regardless of the color of their skin, gender, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, religion, etc., has equal access to opportunities. This is not about pointing fingers at each other but rather about working about improving this great community by working together, by listening with an open heart and mind to those with lived experience, and then be willing to do the work that's required to change the way we do things. This advisory board and task force will guide that work. I think it's important and necessary work and I'm fully supportive of its creation and again thank you to those who are willing to serve.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Becerra. Ms. West.
Alderperson West I’m also going to mostly repeat what I said on Wednesday. So, I've been struggling with how to articulate my thoughts for days, weeks and even months at this point. There's one line from the learn report that keeps echoing in my head, in Missoula, justice looks like putting a poster in your front window. It is one of the many reflections of what justice is. Justice is selective in Missoula. If you know somebody or you are somebody, it can be fair. I ponder what that means if someone is well connected and thus gets away with something, is that fair or is it the opposite of justice but instead a desired but unjust privilege. Justice is fairness hopefully most of the time, but does it feel fair when you are the subject of justice, probably not. I keep coming back to Justice looks like putting a poster in your front window. I see the posters a slew of them went up in 2016; I hung one too. 2020 but brought a refined focus and they proliferated many of them are still there and faded. I had one too, the one that says in this house we believe black lives matter, women's rights are humans rights, no human is illegal, science is real, love is love, kindness is everything. I still believe all those things I try to practice what I believe, but one day I realized that as a society we no longer agree on what basic words and those statements mean. What is a woman? Is science only valid if it tells us the thing we want to hear, or it comes out of the mouth of a person allied to our political party? I took it down. A poster in a window does a few things, but creating justice isn't one of them. Of all the things in the report, I found deeply sad and troubling I think this one lingers because if we as a community, as a society have no basic agreement on what these fundamental principles like justice are, something is failing. During the same committee meeting where we discussed the learn report, we heard the most recent JEDI update, a new to me and new to this discussion definition of equity was mentioned. It was equity is shared ownership, which is a departure from our adopted definition of equity in the city's first JEDI resolution. That definition is equity is the full and equal access to opportunities, power, and resources, so that all people achieve their full potential and thrive. This also differs from Missoula County's definition of equity, which is the process of identifying and removing barriers that create disparities in the access to resources and means, and the achievement of fair treatment and equal opportunities to thrive. Within the span of a year, the meaning of equity has shifted and even between two, between local government, there is no agreement and the broader context, the word has become almost devoid of any shared meaning and how it is used sometimes by the same community advocates is opposite from one day and one comment to the other. Over the past two years, I've become concerned about the actual outcomes of this JEDI effort are and it isn't because I don't support the values of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion or I should say support what I thought those meant but what I've witnessed and have experienced is that diversity and inclusion only applies to some and that there's usually someone in the room who has the authority to determine who checks the right form of diversity and that inclusion also means that we are expected to participate in compelled speech. Compelled speech imposed by government is something each and every one of us is protected from by the First Amendment of the Constitution. If we are creating spaces that I as both as a little L and big L liberal feel uncomfortable in, surrounded by people whose ideologies largely overlap with mine, then we are alienating many, many more people with diverse backgrounds. I feel fortunate to be surrounded by colleagues that are honest and well-intentioned and that we have a staff effort led by Donna Gaukler, who I trust and respect. The reality is though that none of us are going to be in the positions we are forever and neither will the board that is appointed in conjunction with this resolution. I think setting up a system that will likely function well in the short term because of the intentions and values of the current people involved isn't good enough for the long term. Along with justice, equity and diversity and inclusion, there is a topic that seems to be an extra inextric, I can't say that word, [inaudible] power. At least the City of Missoula definition of equity is transparent and including that equal access to power is part of the goal. Who has power and who does not? I've been told I'm in a position of power. When I ran for office, I was a mom of two small children on food stamps and my only childcare was 12 hours a week at the Head Start and my older child finally starting school. These days I'm on my I think it's my eighth week now of temporary single parenting, I work two, three, four jobs depending on how I count them, and operate on too little sleep, too much coffee, and never feel like I'm never not failing. I do not feel powerful. Rather than attributing this feeling to a constant case of imposter syndrome, I think it's simply that I have a different world view. I think that simplifying the world into opposites like who has power and who doesn't to define everything by the other is shallow and makes for nothing but unhappy people. If this position is about power then it's not for me. I know that I'm the same person even when I'm not in this room. I don't think any of us have ever showed up with the goal of providing less to any of our constituents. I think every day we show up, city staff shows up with the goal of helping more people, enrolling more kids, offering more programs, filling more potholes and always being asked to do a little more with a little less. The conversation is always how to reach more people and how to serve more people. That is to say for my entire time on Council, long before that, city policy and budget actions, as well as a million little daily things our staff do, but JEDI align principles into action without adding using those keywords. I fundamentally believe that we have a system of government that was set up in a way that has allowed for adjustment and growth and checks and balances along the way. It wasn't perfect, it isn't perfect, and probably will never be perfect. It's a system I took an oath to uphold. What I see this resolution implementing is a system that's corruptible and under the guise of enacting JEDI principles, this could result in creating the exact opposite environment of the stated goals. In some spaces, I think it already is. While I have no way of knowing what scenarios will come to fruition or what form it will take, the constantly redefining of language to undermine shared understanding, the calling out of staff and elected officials through the use of race or gender as a position of power to silence, shutdown discussion, or take advantage and the divisiveness that results from the increased use of viewing all interactions through a dialectical lens are just a few things that are already happening. To be clear, I don't think it would take a further action from Council or Commissioners or the administration or even a JEDI board to create such an environment. All it takes is a level of peer-to-peer scrutiny to make sure that we are using the right words, to signal the right allegiance, training to make sure we all conform in methodology and ideology, and we undermine our very basic constitutional rights that support a functioning and evolving society. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I believe in. I believe in civil rights, human rights, political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion and equality before law, but also that not everything is subjective and that feelings do not equal truth. Definition differences aside, I think these already include the values of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Setting up a three-person appointed board does not get us closer to those goals. I think the effect of what this establishes is counter-intuitive because so much of this resolution sounds so good. I've spent an immense amount of time considering if I could just vote yes, it would certainly be the easy thing to do, but I, I think a yes votes sole motivation would be to protect myself and not the foundational rights, values, and principles I believe in that I think all people deserve and that I'm ultimately elected to uphold. So, I'm not going to support the creation of this board.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. West. Ms. Anderson.
Alderperson Anderson Thank you so much Mr. Mayor. Thank you to the comments from my fellow colleagues and for those in the audience today and during the committee meeting and for all the work that has gone on behind the scenes to get us to this point. As Ms. Jones thought about Missoula’s history, I have given some thought to my own history, my own part I play in systemic, perpetuating systemic racism. I think that that is something that all of us who have been in a position of service or been at, at all paying attention to what has been going on in our community or our country, our world at any point in history that we've been alive should be asking those questions. I am very proud of my family. If you think any depending on what branch of the tree you go up, you can trace it back to the Mayflower or Norwegian Lutherans coming over to America on their of their own choosing and on their you know basically because they chose to immigrate. And I realize that the privilege that I have is generational and systemic. And our job here at the City of Missoula is one of service. The City of Missoula is a service organization. We serve the people who live here, the people who visit or just passing through, and we serve with the employees of who you know choose to give their time, talents and treasure to the service of others. And so, I think at the very fundamental point of this creation of this commission and these conversations that we have is to finally recognize that for us to ask the question. Is Missoula working for everybody? Are the systems that we have in place working for everybody? We have to quit asking people who look like me, who worship like me, who come from the family backgrounds like me, whether or not it's working because I am not the one who the system has systemically, generationally been oppressing. I am the person who has systemically, generationally been taking advantage of the system. And so, this is an, a recognition that we need to have other people advising and asking these questions and looking at it and bringing their different life and lived and family generational experience to the table to ask and solve these tough questions. And so, that is why I'm in support of JEDI creation and the work that we're doing and allocating funds to this because I think it is the first real step of understanding that you, who the people we are trying to better serve need to be the ones making the decisions. So, I will be in support. Thank you so much.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Anderson. Ms. Vasecka.
Alderperson Vasecka Thank you Mr. Mayor. I also did want to thank those who are willing to serve on this board and honestly to all of my Council colleagues and everyone that is in public service. You know it really is a thankless job, but I mean some people do say thank you. I, I do understand that everyone has lived experiences. My experiences are different than everybody around me. Everyone has their own individual take on life. Everyone has their own actions and reactions and everything that has actually happened to them in their own life. Everything is different and I'm not saying that the problems that my colleagues have said tonight don't exist. I, I know that they exist even though I have not experienced them myself. I have friends who have had horrible experiences. I just think that the current non-discrimination laws are there for a reason and if anybody wanted to serve on Council or any other public office, there already are non-discrimination laws that prevent those type of I guess that prevent discrimination for you to be able to participate on boards or on Council or in the state legislature, it just is a geographical thing. And I know that we can go dive deep into that as well, but there are mean and evil people in this world, and I think that that is that is why this problem has existed and I don't think that we can legislate the mean and evil people off of this earth. And so, yes, we do need to listen and we do need to learn, everyone on an individual level needs to listen and learn, but I don't think that we need to, a board paid for by property tax dollars to do so. So, I will not be in support.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you. Mr. Nugent.
Alderperson Mike Nugent Thanks Mr. Mayor. I, I would echo a lot of what all my colleagues have already said and I'm, I guess to, to borrow from Ms. Anderson, if, if she's not the one to be speaking on this, I'm definitely not the one to be speaking on this. I, I recognize the opportunities I've had growing up and, and all the above. You know, two things stand out to me and I, I don't know the answers I don't know that any one committee is going to, to solve things and I think that that's the argument people are making but my argument back would be, it doesn't hurt anything and it helps the conversation to, to let people have an opportunity to be heard. The money that that the City of Missoula is spending on this has already been spent. This committee is not, it is a fairly insignificant cost versus the potential opportunity for the conversation we can have as a community. One of the things I've noticed being on Council is that when we talk about equity, nobody seems to have a problem with it, but if we use the word JEDI, people have a problem with it we're talking about the same stuff and that to me I cannot come up with an answer for why that is except that it seems like sometimes when people are worried about what, what an initiative or an issue means to them, they start to fear it and fear is, is a bad thing in public discourse because if you look back through history, fear has prevented us from making a lot of progress quickly and it's, it's really stunted a lot of that growth. You know, I had the opportunity to attend the Martin Luther King Day celebration that Empower Montana put on this past Monday, and the youth keynote speaker was a young woman who attended, who attends high school in Missoula, and she talked about what it's like being BIPOC in high school in Missoula right now, and to me that continued to be an eye-opening experience. I also know a, know a, a couple, two males, who adopted a child last year and they went through all the, the process and you know exemplary wonderful family had been fostering and did all that well. And, and as they went through the process, they got to the very end and the state told their adoption lawyer that they were approved but that the state couldn't fill out the filing because the statute doesn't allow for same-sex parents. That's not enforced, it's obvious that society has gone past that, but it still exists. So, in every other adoption, this lawyer told them the state always filled this out but in theirs she actually had to take the time to fill it out because they wouldn't and that was last year. So, to me, those are two examples of things going on in the world right now that kind of illustrate that we do need to keep having this conversation and yes conversations make people uncomfortable, but I think that that's okay and I think that as a society when we talk about uncomfortable things in safe places, we actually tend to make progress. To me, this committee harms absolutely no one, but it gives people the opportunity to be heard. It gives a voice to those who we've historically silenced. I think one of the reasons I think people fear the term JEDI is for some reason they associate it with the government or groups picking winners, and I don't see that at all. I see it as something that's definitely not out to threaten anyone's way of life; it's to step towards assuring true equity in what we do to create an even better community and I will be in support of this.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Mr. Nugent. I don't see any other Council hands. I am grateful for the effort and I'm, one of the things that, that I like to say about our community is that we routinely make and, and reiterate a collective commitment to one another. We have said over and over and over again what kind of community we want to be and that's a community that is welcoming, that's a community that honors its residents, that's a community that supports and celebrates our individualities, that's a community that lifts each other up that's a community that cares about itself and about one and about one another. And it's one of the reasons why I love to live here, it's one of the reasons why I love to get up and go to work every day, it's one of the reasons that I love serving with all of you, and it's, it's one of the reasons that that we're doing this effort. We are, by adopting this, this advisory board that will, that we will co-create over a process, over a number of months, we are reiterating our collective commitment to one another and we're reiterating that all people are valued and welcomed in our community and that everyone should have the opportunity to thrive and that everyone should have the opportunity to have their needs met, be those physical or spiritual or mental or social. And I really like the language that that Ms. Anderson used about, about asking the right questions and I don't think we are asking the right questions and this this board will advise us on, on what those questions are and how to come up with answers to those questions that are just. We have been through a litany of, of some of the past injustices in our community, one that doesn't get a lot of traction is, is the Chinese Exclusion Act and, and the work the, the systematic eradication of, of an entire culture in Montana that was, that was very….. You know, it's just, it's another example of, of, of something that has gone terribly wrong in history. And what I believe is that by, by our work, by our JEDI work in the City of Missoula, Montana, we can decide what kind of community we want to be and in, in some decades, someone might be talking about us. This place got it right. This place came together as a community. This place asked and answered the right questions. This place decided how to be a community where everyone could, could thrive, and they got it right. And I sure hope, we get it right and I think that this process helps us, helps us on that path. So, thank you for indulging my comments and thank you for your support tonight. We can, we have no further comments from Council, so we can have a roll call vote Ms. Rehbein.
Mayor Jordan Hess And the motion passes. And we'll be back in order at item 8.1 our final consideration items.
Mayor Jordan Hess We have no additional committee reports other than the one we already took care of.