HomeMy WebLinkAboutFH Inclusion and Policing Task Force Agenda Packet_1-03-17CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Falcon Heights Task Force
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
AGENDA
January 3, 2017
7:15 P.M. to 9:30 P.M.
I.Call to Order
II. Review Meeting Minutes
III.Review Draft Participation Agreement
IV.Review Work Plan
V.BREAK (5 Minutes)
VI.Community Values
VII. Updates
VIII.Next Meeting – January 10, 2017
IX.Adjourn
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CITY OF FALCON HEIGHTS
Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
City Hall
2077 West Larpenteur Avenue
MINUTES
December 13, 2016 at 7:15 P.M.
1. CALL TO ORDER: 7:15 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
ANDREWS X JOHNSON-POWERS X
BALLENTINE X LEEHY-CO CHAIR X
COLOND X THOMPSON X
DEMERATH X WADE X
JOHNSON X
STAFF PRESENT:
MAYOR LINDSTROM X
CO-CHAIR/COUNCIL MEMBER GUSTAFSON X
CO-FACILITATOR QUICK X
CO-FACILITATOR MORRIS
ADMINISTRATOR THONGVANH X
2. WELCOME from CO-CHAIRS – Co-Chairs Leehy and Gustafson thank the members for
their commitment and involvement on the Task Force.
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: N/A
4. REVIEW OF COUNCIL CHARGE – The Task Force Members reviewed the charge of the
Council
5. INTRODUCTION OF TASK FORCE MEMBERS - Each Member expressed their reasons for
submitting an application to be a part of the task force.
6. PRESENTATION FOR MEETING LAWS AND DATA PRACTICE - Attorney James Monge
of Campbell Knutson, Pa, the City’s Attorney’s office had a presentation of Open Meeting
Laws and the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA). Task Force members
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asked an array of questions that were answered that included, but not limited to quorum,
members communicating with members, and that Administrator Thongvanh will be the
vehicle for mass communication to the members, co-facilitator, co-chairs and will represent
the City and the Task Force as it relates to public affairs for the media.
7. ORIENTATION
A. CITY EMAILS – Administrator Thongvanh explained that all members will be assigned a
city email to be used for communication during their participation on the Task Force and
gave an overview of the importance of using the City of Falcon Heights email for
consistency and to make it easier for data information request.
B. GROUP PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT – Co-Facilitator Quick explained that a draft
copy will be create before the next Task Force meeting for review, but wanted input from
the members to craft a final draft for the next meeting.
C. STEPPING STONES – Co-Facilitator Quick explained and discussed the process of the
stepping stones.
D. MEETING PLAN AND SCHEDULES – Co-Facilitator Quick explained that there will be a
total of thirteen (13) meetings. The last meeting on May 9th will be used for closing
business or work on any follow up from the May 2nd recommendations
8. ADJOURNMENT: 9:45 p.m.
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
Participant Process Agreement
Proposed for Adoption by Task Force January 3, 2017
This Participant Process Agreement is a complement to the charge given by the Falcon Heights City
Council to the Task Force and to the guidance given by the City Attorney and city staff regarding open
meetings laws, communication with the public and media and others on behalf of the task force, and
other policies governing City of Falcon Heights bodies. This agreement documents the mutually agreed
principles that the task force members have adopted for their participation, process, and engagement.
Active participation
The Task Force will have many meetings because we have ambitious goals, and the work requires a high
level of sustained work and commitment. Members are expected to fully participate in all meetings, to
arrive prepared by having reviewed the relevant materials, and to remain at the table to hear the full
discussions in order to make informed judgments when decision making occurs. Should a Task Force
member feel unsafe to express themselves or feel that an unusual burden is being placed on them to
defend or represent a view or group, he or she is welcomed to step out of the meeting and consult with
one of the facilitators.
The expectation is that each member will attend at least 75% of all Task Force meetings. In the event
that illness or another demand occasionally interferes with participation, members are encouraged to
provide their input to a co-chair in advance of any meeting they will be unable to attend, and must
accept that the group will proceed with decision-making in their absence.
Community connections
Participation in Task Force meetings will be restricted to members, unless the co-chairs set aside time
for an invited guest or other input.
In conjunction with the Task Force meetings proper, there will be series of facilitated community
dialogues in which any members of the interested public will be encouraged to provide their
perspectives to inform the work of the Task Force.
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Task Force members speak for themselves, not on behalf of or as representatives of other groups.
Members are very strongly encouraged to communicate actively with their connections in the
community, to keep them informed about the deliberations and to seek their input.
Learning environment
The Task Force has responsibilities to articulate community values, guide well-informed understanding
of issues, and craft meaningful and sustainable solutions. To accomplish those goals, members are
expected to strive to bridge gaps in understanding, to seek creative resolution of differences, and to
engage thoughtfully in sharing their knowledge and learning with one another. Task Force members
agree to be active learners where values and experiences diverge, to view those differences as a source
of strength and opportunity for their own learning. Members will also strive to not overburden some
members with the responsibility to educate, explain, or do most of the emotional labor of the group’s
work on difficult issues.
To facilitate an open and collaborative discussion, members agree to: speak to their interests and
concerns; ask questions and promote group learning; actively listen and be open to changing their mind;
contribute to discussion without simply re-stating positions; and be mindful of how long they speak and
ensure that all voices are heard. Members are asked to speak their own truth, keep an open mind, and
not make assumptions about others’ views or what groups or views do and do not represent. Members
are expected to communicate concerns, interests, and ideas openly and to make the reasons for their
statements and any disagreements clear. Where there are conflicts, members are asked to address
their concerns directly to the person(s) with whom they have concerns, in the meeting or soon
afterwards. Alternatively, they may request the assistance of the facilitators.
Trust and risk-taking are essential to discovering opportunities to affirm inclusion in the community,
strengthen connections, and to promote and sustain reform. Task force members request and grant
permission of one another to try on ideas, to ask questions, and to have misunderstandings. Members
agree to assume the best of one another, to give credit where it is due, to take risks by sharing what is
really important to them, to be ready to change their minds, to admit mistakes, and to attempt to
remedy misunderstandings. Trust will be strengthened by a combination of genuine caring, open
communication, consistency between word and deed and over time, and competence in speaking from
a well-informed place.
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Consensus orientation
Task Force members are diverse in terms of identities, life experiences, and interests. This is a rich asset
for creative problem solving and for the legitimacy of the Task Force, provided that members listen
actively and openly, speak for their own views, and sustain a commitment to exploration, learning, and
finding solutions.
If members have serious reservations with a proposed outcome or approach to decision-making, they
should express and explain their reservations and make every effort to craft an alternative that is
mutually agreeable. The group will reach consensus on an issue when it agrees upon a proposal and
each member can honestly say all of the following: I believe that other members understand my point of
view; I believe I understand other members’ points of view; and whether or not I prefer this decision, I
support it because it was arrived at openly and fairly and it is the best solution for us at this time.
The group will strive for consensus, on the principle that engaging different views and perspectives
produces better informed, more transformative solutions with greater legitimacy and staying power. To
the extent that the Task Force generates consensus, members agree to support and advocate for those
decisions.
Information
Task force members may want additional information to guide their deliberations, for example in the
forms of data, an issues brief, a consultation with a content matter expert, or a consultation with a
person who can provide a missing and crucial perspective on the problem or implementation of
solutions. Members will convey those requests to the city administrator, preferably as soon as they
recognize the need. The city administrator will work with the design team to try to find resources to
address the need.
Facilitation
Facilitation will be provided by Ken Morris and Kathy Quick, who are part of a larger design team which
includes skilled individuals who are helping with overall process organization, finding resources, and
facilitating the community dialogues. The purpose of facilitation is to support the Task Force to engage
in creative, courageous deliberation that generates meaningful and sustainable progress on high-stakes
issues. The facilitators will advocate for a fair, effective, and credible process, but remain neutral with
respect to the specific substantive outcomes of the deliberations. The facilitators will work with the co-
chairs to create an overall process design and agendas for each meeting; facilitate meetings (or parts of
meetings) as requested by the co-chairs; provide support for members; identify and synthesize points of
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agreement and disagreement and provide guidance to discover creative, sustainable problem-solving;
and monitor and support compliance with this participant process agreement.
We the undersigned agree to abide by this participant process agreement for the Falcon Heights
Inclusion and Policing Task Force.
_______________________ _____________ _______________________ _____________
Name Date Name Date
_______________________ _____________ _______________________ _____________
Name Date Name Date
_______________________ _____________ _______________________ _____________
Name Date Name Date
_______________________ _____________ _______________________ _____________
Name Date Name Date
_______________________ _____________ _______________________ _____________
Name Date Name Date
_______________________ _____________
Name Date
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
PROPOSED Work Plan
For discussion at January 3 task force meeting. This schedule is subject to change. Please
consult Task Force website for meeting agendas.
1
1. December 13:
Orientation and
launch
√Overview of charge
√Orientation to open meeting laws, data practices, and
√Introductions. Discussion of Task Force members’ aspirations,
concerns, and pictures of success for the Task Force.
√Orientation to overall process plan
√Discussion of desired process / participation plan elements
2. January 3:
Articulating
community
values for
inclusion, equity,
safety, and
healing
Adoption of process / participation agreement
Start articulation of community values around inclusion, equity, safety,
and healing. → Create draft statement for additional discussion and
elaboration through community meetings.
Discussion of process for gathering community input (what, when, how)
3. January 10:
Policing contest
Policing foundational context: elements of the current policing contract
(service provision guidelines, timelines, etc.)
Start discussion of general principles for policing, grounded in
community values
Setting agenda for additional discussion and work (not yet at
recommendation / decision point)
Date TBD 2 community meetings, open to all interested members of the
public. The first community discussion will respond to and elaborate
the Task Force draft statement on community values. The second will
begin articulating how community members would like to see the
community values be implemented, in policing and other areas of
governance and community life. Both meetings will be facilitated by
volunteers trained by the design team. All Task Force members are
very strongly encouraged to participate.
Date TBD
4. January 31:
Statement on
community
values for
inclusion, equity,
Processing of input from community into TF statement of community
values on equity, diversity, and inclusion (general, not exclusive to
policing)
Adoption of a provisional statement on community values, to help guide
upcoming work
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
PROPOSED Work Plan
For discussion at January 3 task force meeting. This schedule is subject to change. Please
consult Task Force website for meeting agendas.
2
safety, and
healing
5. February 7:
Becoming
familiar with
different
approaches to
policing
Informational presentations and discussion of how the community
values might be operationalized in different approaches to policing,
with a few illustrative examples
Discussion of pros & cons of different policing models
Check-in week No regular Task Force meeting. Key time for Task Force members to
check in w/their community connections.
6. February 21:
Current policing
in FH: what is
working well,
what is not?
Review of data about and contracting arrangement for the current
policing arrangement and performance in Falcon Heights
Discussion: What is working well and should be sustained? What are key
problems to fix? What improvements could be made?
Check-in week No regular Task Force meeting. Key time for Task Force members to
check in w/their community connections.
7. March 7:
Exploring models
of policing
approaches and
best practices
Best practices for anti-racist, equity-oriented community policing
Pros, cons, lessons learned from recent innovations in community
policing
Discussion
8. March 14:
Exploring
measures &
accountability
instruments for
desired policing
Performance standard statements and measures for desired policing
outcomes
9. March 21:
Policing
performance
standards
Discussion of desired components of policing performance standards for
FH. Include discussion of what to sustain as well as what to change in
current model.
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
PROPOSED Work Plan
For discussion at January 3 task force meeting. This schedule is subject to change. Please
consult Task Force website for meeting agendas.
3
Date TBD 2 Community meetings, open to all interested members of the
public. The first meeting will gather input to inform the Task Force’s
forthcoming recommendations on policing. The second will provide
input to the Task Force’s forthcoming recommendations on policies or
programming to promote inclusion, equity, safety, and healing in
other areas of community work and governance. Meetings will be
facilitated by volunteers trained by the design team. All Task Force
members are very strongly encouraged to participate.
Date TBD
10. April 11:
Processing
community input
on policing
standards
Processing of input from community meetings into draft TF statement of
community values in policing
11. April 18:
Finalizing
recommendation
to council on
policing
performance
standards
Finalizing recommendations to council on the community’s desired
policing approaches, policies, standards, or resources.
Report finalization
week
The charge to the Task Force requires a report and recommendations
regarding policing from the Task Force in time for the first City Council
meeting of May (May 3).
12. May 2:
Accomplishing
community
culture of
inclusion, equity
Creation of recommendations on programming and policies to sustain,
in an ongoing way, work on the inclusion, equity, safety, and healing
goals for governance and other areas of community life. This is to be
Informed by prior community meeting.
Final preparation for presentation of Task Force recommendations at
May 3 city council meeting.
May 3 City Council
meeting City Council will receive and deliberate about the Task Force’s
recommendations about policing standards and policies. It is the
Council’s decision as to how to translate that into choices regarding
the policing contract.
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
PROPOSED Work Plan
For discussion at January 3 task force meeting. This schedule is subject to change. Please
consult Task Force website for meeting agendas.
4
13. May 9: Response
to council,
closure
Take up any final requests from the City Council to the Task Force
Finalize recommendations for ongoing inclusion and equity activities
Close
Date TBD City Council will receive and deliberate about the Task Force’s
final recommendations regarding ongoing support for community and
governance work on inclusion, equity, safety, and healing.
Date TBD Community meeting, open to all interested members of the
public, to recognize successes and renew commitment to the ongoing
work. Meeting will be facilitated by volunteers trained by the design
team. All Task Force members are very strongly encouraged to
participate.
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force
Process Plan: Over-arching Goals and Sequencing of Activities
Ongoing community
healing & relationship
building
Discern & affirm
community values
around inclusion,
diversity, and equity
Discern community
values around policing
Operable plans for
implicit bias training,
community relationship
building, ongoing
diversity or inclusion
work & leadership
Recommendations /
best practice guidlines
on policing procedures
and policies, data
collection, training /
capacity building
[Decision by City
Council, not Task Force,
regarding arrangements
for policing contract]
Specific plans and
resources (strucures,
leadership, activities)
for ongoing inclusion
and diversity work
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Falcon Heights Inclusion and Policing Task Force Meeting Dates
Note: Meeting are scheduled from 7:15 P.M. to 9:30 P.M. at City Hall – Council Chambers, 2077 W.
Larpenteur Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113
MEETING DATES
1.December 13, 2016
2.January 3
3.January 10
4.January 31
5.February 7
6.February 21
7.March 7
8.March 14
9.March 21
10.April 11
11.April 18
12.May 2
13.May 9 (Last Meeting –Closing Business)
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