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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes July 13, 2021 Page 3 2 A. GARE Team Update. 3 4 City Manager Charlie Yunker reviewed a PowerPoint presentation for the GARE Team Update. 5 This is an overview of the Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE) efforts and next 6 steps. This was made available to St. Anthony through a partnership with the League of 7 Minnesota Cities in 2017. Twenty-three cities participated in this year -long GARE curriculum. A 8 map of the participating jurisdictions was provided for the City Council. GARE is a national 9 network of governments working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all. 10 GARE uses a three -prong approach: 11 1. Supporting Jurisdictions that are at the forefront of work to advance racial equity. 12 2. Building pathways for new jurisdictions to begin doing racial equity work, including 13 cohorts of new jurisdictions. 14 3. Expanding and strengthening local and regional collaborations that are broadly inclusive 15 and focused on achieving racial equity. 16 17 Mr. Yunker reviewed the Cohorts and Race & Equity Plan. The objectives of GARE are to create 18 a shared understanding of racial equity, build capacity and skills to advance racial equity and 19 assure St. Anthony is a Welcoming Village for everyone. The progress was reviewed including 20 all -staff training, personnel practices, and code compliance citing examples. The St. Anthony 21 Police Department is accountable and transparent. Other work is being done in Administration 22 & Finance — Virtual City Hall, Public Works Internship Program and Liquor Department 23 Customer Service Training. 24 25 The next steps include keep working and asking questions and also include: 26 1. Next Iteration of the Action Plan 27 2. Continuous Review of Policies and Practices 28 3. Resume all Staff Trainings 29 4. Welcome Initiative 30 5. Revise Staffs Core Values? 31 6. Time to Rotate Team Members? 32 7. Join Just Deeds Project? 33 8. Utilize Community Survey Results. 34 35 Mr. Yunker stated the newest GARE Team Member will be Jennifer Doyle. 36 37 Councilmember Walker thanked Mr. Yunker for his presentation and asked about the personnel 38 practices and there not being much for redaction. Councilmember Walker asked what some of 39 the things that were redacted are. Mr. Yunker stated many positions had the requirement for a 40 Minnesota Driver's License and since positions require a driver's license it could be from 41 another state. Another example would be high school diploma or GED. Higher degrees were not 42 included as requirements if not actually needed. 43 44 Councilmember Walker asked about virtual City Hall. Mr. Yunker stated the idea was to be able 45 to access services online instead of having to come to City Hall. Councilmember Walker stated 46 zoom may be an option for residents to be present in real time at Council Meetings if they wish.