Speakers labeled via automated voice-based diarization + AI name-matching against the city's official roster. Automated transcription can still mis-hear a name during fast speech (e.g. a rapid roll-call vote) -- clear near-misses are auto-corrected, but this is not manually verified line-by-line. Treat names as a strong best guess, not an official record.
[0:05] Katie Brydon: We're live. All right. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the September meeting of the Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights. I'm going to start us off by our roll call. We currently do not have any members yet online, but I do believe we will have a member joining us shortly. Shortly, so in the meantime, we'll just go around the room to introduce ourselves as a matter of role. I'll start. My name is Katie Bryden, and I'm the chair of the committee. Courtney, will you go
[0:41] Teresa Fallon: next, please? Sure. Courtney O'Donnell, the assistant city manager. I'm Teresa Fallon.
[0:47] Rheylan Burke: Raylan Burke, member. Suzette Furrow, member. Mark Roth, member. Adam Baker, member. Michael Beck, City
[0:55] Katie Brydon: City Council. Thank you all. So, Courtney just shared with us, we do have a new appointee who will hopefully be joining us online shortly. I'm excited to have that vacancy filled, and as Katie Robinson moves on, she is no longer on our committee. She's moving to Southern Maine, and she will be missed dearly. And then we have a few open vacancies coming. I know we spoke about it last meeting. Just a gentle reminder that we are grateful for the service of those who are completing their terms in at the end of December, and the invitation is always open, barring any major changes in the city council world, to have your continued service. All right, so I do not see anyone in the room nor online for public comment, so I'm going to skip our invitation for public comment because we do have a speaker with us this evening that I want to give ample time to. I'm going to give a little bit of an overview before I turn it over to Bangor School Department's Director of Civil Rights, Dana Carver Bialer. For when this committee was first started, it was done almost in tandem with the school department and what the school department was doing and creating a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging committee, and it was really designed to tackle both, you know, some inherent bias and, you know, racial tensions that were being seen in the school, but also that were being seen at the city level, and so this really came out of some percolating issues at the high school, but also with the national murder of George Floyd and a lot of racial tensions in 2020. Both of these committees were created simultaneously. And we have had Dana in this position since then, and she has come to our committee meetings many times over the years. But she and I were speaking earlier, and I don't believe she's done a formal presentation to this sitting group of members. And so I'm really excited to have her here just to share a little bit about what it is that the school's focus is. And then as was sort of originally designed for our committee to really talk about ways that we might see the work happening at the school, determine what opportunities there are for overlap, and really learn from each other. Just like our committee has been through several iterations, I feel like the school's diversity, equity, and inclusion group has also been through many iterations and also many names. So I will turn it over. Thank you so much for being with us virtually, Dana, this evening, just to give us a brief overview and to sort of open up the brainstorming with us.
[4:04] Dana Carver-Fiala: Awesome. Can everyone hear me okay? Perfectly. Thank you. My goodness, a technological connection without a technological issue. I'll take it any day of the week. No kidding. Knock on wood. There we go. So, hi, my name's Dana Carver-Fiala Ayushi, her pronouns, and I'm thrilled to be joining. Thank you for the flexibility of me joining virtually. The joy of germs and having small children as well is a whole thing. So thank you for the flexibility. So as Katie mentioned, I jumped into the K-12 realm after a background in higher education administration and teaching. And the nonprofit and public policy sector was This was the previous sort of trajectories my career took. And I joined in this newfangled role, which, interestingly, I think an important notable fact is these standalone roles that take on both the climate, community, curricular support around all things inclusion and belonging, as well as the policy compliance. So overseeing our Title IX and affirmative action complaints when there are instances of targeted discrimination or violence. These roles are new, the standalone roles, and Bangor created the first standalone in the state of Maine. So that's both an exciting thing and for the sake of transparency, because I don't think we can do this work if we're not being transparent. Parent that was, for those of you in the room and watching online, was certainly the result of a fairly high profile, you know, in the area regionally investigation around complaints of discrimination faced by Black female students in Bangor High School. So like many of you, I learned of that investigation and complaint in the Bangor Daily News and the superintendent at the time, the late Dr. Webb, did reference in that news coverage, the creation of the standalone position. And I thought it was a good fit with both my academic interest and public policy training. So it somehow worked out and here we are, November will be six years later. So as is not shocking this role has evolved quite greatly as the needs of the greater Bangor community have evolved so just I guess for a bit of background that the initial DEI committee was created with superintendent Webb before I joined I think I think the committee was four or five meetings in maybe the beginning of that school year before I joined in then I've I've seen it through lots of different permutations since and our practices always to, you know, be in close communication. It's an advisory committee by nature. So I assume similarly to how you all operate, you know, we're advisory to the school committee and to the superintendent's office. So we really want it to be a both way communication of what are the needs and how can we fill the needs with the wisdom in the room. And be really responsive to students and their caregivers and our staff. So it's evolved greatly as the world of DEI has evolved and what I tend to lead with is that there is nothing inherently controversial or political about identities, but these dynamics are easily politicized, not political. So sort of recentering the work and recognizing that students and staff feeling seen and respected and safe is a precursor to any expectations that they can be learning and working as their most optimal selves. That's sort of the back to the basics. So the way I frame this frequently as you know we've been doing this work before DEI was an acronym because it's important work to be done and we certainly learn from different traditions and different movements and seeing how this plays out in the K-12 space is a perpetual growing evolving thing so the committee you're definitely going to hear my very loud first and third are graders in the background so I apologize ahead of time but the committee itself is comprised intentionally of diverse stakeholders and i mean diverse in every way one can define diversity so that looks like students parents and caregivers staff at all levels community leaders and content area experts so we've we've really tried drawing from all of the possible perspectives to inform this kind of work and we've we've shifted gears a few times for what are the things we're focusing on so it's been both responsive to hold on one second I'm gonna mute it while I yell at my kid totally relate there we go thank you for your patience. Oh my word. So anyway, it's evolved in terms of like what projects do we do, so it's been both responsive, and Katie please jump in at any point in time, it's been both responsive to community needs. So we've created like stances or statements that have been incorporated into our district policies, actually like we, it was a really exciting full circle moment where we revamped our equity policy and borrowed the language directly from like quoted the work of this committee. So it's, it's ingrained and embedded within policy within the school district. We've also created, you know, in response to both national and local happenings, we've created a statement that was endorsed by the school committee and the superintendent at the time as a response to targeted violence and hate. And we've done a lot of work in terms of connecting community members with whatever needs arise. So there was a lot of work, a really good example of something that you know sort of grew organically due to, unfortunately I think we're all on the same page that we're not at a loss of realizations of inequity in the world at large and even right here in our community. So when you'll likely recall last fall there was, you know, a halt to snap benefits which, you know, impacted a whole lot of folks right here in our community. So that grew into this, you know, I think the power and the beauty of an advisory committee like this one was saying like we got to do something now, like let's get through the red tape, let's figure it out because families are in need. And certainly while, you know, our social workers, we have social workers at all of our schools, you know, are doing the fabulous work, our principals are, you know, deep in it trying to bridge those gaps, but we're an education entity. So trying to figure out, well, what else can we do? That evolved into this shop at schools event where we had in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, one evening event that was happening simultaneously at four different schools across the city. We really wanted to maintain the dignity of people being able to pick out items that they needed. So sort of like a grocery store set up while also destigmatizing the need for help. So it was an incredible, very quick turnaround because the need was timely and was, you know, unexpected in terms of the quick cut off to those benefits. So we were able to stock four schools with an incredible amount of items, ranging from, you know, household cleaning items, dental care, toiletries, up through groceries, snacks, cooking items. Items those events were really great and I think in addition to families getting to walk away being able to exhale even you know temporarily for a bit it I think also did an incredible job of destigmatizing poverty which I think is frequently a less visible aspect socioeconomic status is a less thought of visible aspect around identity and diversity and really reminded families that we're partners with them. We see them and we do everything that we can to support them. So that's just, you know, one example of the sort of spontaneous, timely response events that we do. And then more long-term, we tend to start each year with identifying broad themes of like what's the need and how can we work on them, you know, where members self-select and break off into these sort of subcommittees of an advisory committee, if you will. And frequently those themes they've evolved, but they more than not carry over from one academic year to the next, because we tend to meet November. So after election season is done November through June, though this year we did, we felt like that wasn't enough. So we did start actually, our first meeting was a week ago. So last Tuesday. So that gave us a chance to really hit the ground running. The themes we've consistently worked on are sort of data, collection and synthesizing data, because we, you know, have a lot of survey tools. And of course, no, survey, whether it's about climate or needs or standardized testing, however, we're gathering data. There's no tool that's going to capture all the questions. But we've utilized a few different data sets. So the MIAS survey or Maine Integrated Health Youth Survey, which is used across the state. And I can speak a bit more to that if there are any questions. That data set comes out every other year, so we worked with Dr. Paul Butler, who was the principal of Bangor High School at the time, in terms of sort of analyzing and breaking down that data. Another area of data that we've been really tuned into is mental health data, so supporting, you know, the ever-evolving mental health needs of students, and that looks like everything from, you know, high acuity trauma situations, navigating the pandemic and post-covered reality, which, you know, the measurables of that are, I think, something that will be researched for decades to come, and other exposure to substance use disorder, whether that's specific to students or within their family and home settings, poverty alleviation, helping students that are navigating domestic violence or intimate partner violence, doing work around bias, sort of those types of things are, you know, all under the big mental health umbrella. The other two areas that we've really dug into pretty significantly, one is how do we attract, recruit, hire, and then retain a vibrant, diverse workforce, which is not a Bangor School Department challenge. It's a, you know, north of Cumberland County challenge. I know, you know, every sector's, you know, of constantly grappling with those questions. So as a proud from aware who married into a very large Aroostook County family, trying to figure out that, you know, how do we, you know, attract and retain people that want to call Bangor home and people that don't know that Bangor is a really great community to move to and raise families in and settle into. So that's been sort of an ongoing conversation that sort of veers a bit more into the human resources realm, and then finally we've we've done a lot of work on content and correct use curriculum broadly but education, so how do we create pathways for building administrators and teachers to access, you know, the content area and expertise within the committee, and in a public-facing realm, how are we creating educational opportunities for the public, for whether that's the community at large or, you know, bridging the gap between, you know, parents and caregivers with the schools. So we've done a bunch of different events, everything ranging from, you know, understanding technology and media literacy. We had Officer Jenna Ogo, who was our school resource officer for the past handful of years, join a critical media researcher at the University of Maine and talk through, you know, media literacy and Internet safety with parents. Parents. And that's just sort of, you know, one example of, you know, community-facing events. Another one that we are really excited to roll out this year is, you know, with ever-growing numbers of identified students within the special education umbrella, typically identified through 504 or IEP plans, how to help parents decode and understand what those plans are or the special ed world as a whole. And I say that because as a parent of one child with an IEP, I should be best equipped to understand all of it. And it's a different language to me. So, you know, folks that don't have access to the same resources and language that I do, I can only imagine, let alone a language barrier or a lower literacy level. So having sort of an understanding the process type of event for parents and caregivers. So I feel like I'm doing a lot of talking, but I'm happy to sort of talk through process or questions that folks might have. And I know it's harder to engage in like a conversation with me on a screen, but I would love to do that. So that's what I got.
[19:34] Katie Brydon: Thank you so much, Dana. I really appreciate that sort of historical lens and story, you know that has and really again what the how the committee started and then how it how it's evolved and then especially I think resonant with this group is that forward-facing community lens that you're doing now which is something that we have been talking about at length so I do want this to be an opportunity for us to ask you questions see if there's opportunities for overlap and then maybe brainstorm a bit on our own of how we can sort of bring these two groups together because for the past six years it's been a you report to us we report to you just we make sure we're not operating in silos but there have not been any I guess intentional work that we've done as a city and as a school committee both advisory groups really working to enhance the diversity and unique experiences of the school staff and then also the city staff and community at large. So I wanted to open it up to, does anybody have any questions specific to Dana about the committee?
[20:50] Suzette Holly Furrow: Yes, Suzette. So Dana, I was just wondering, do any other schools, because you said that Bangor was the first one and direct your director of civil rights, do any of the other schools in the state now have a director of civil rights or a DEI committee? That's a great question. Yes, so to
[21:11] Dana Carver-Fiala: my understanding, and I haven't run dug in this school year, but as of last year, I believe there's about between 15 to 20 of some version of a me. Some of them are 0.5 positions that are shared like that, the person assumes a role like mine with another layer to it. So I know one district has me, it's a much smaller district, me for half of their role and then a curriculum coordinator, or is there other sort of chunk or, but there are standalones like myself. They are overwhelmingly in Southern Maine, which isn't shocking. I mean, to my working knowledge, Bangor School Department remains the third largest in the state, Portland Public being first and Lewiston second. And, you know, there's other, you know, districts Portland adjacent that are, getting close, but I think we're still holding strong at third. And those bigger districts, both in terms of larger populations and more diverse populations in terms of specifically racial, ethnic, and nationality diversity tend to have those positions. When I started, I literally Googled my job and found standalone positions and not shockingly, they were in urban, more populated areas. So mostly Boston down through Miami and then up the Pacific Northwest and Los Angeles adjacent area. And I started cold hauling folks and it's led to a really wonderful mentorship network. So that's exciting. And additionally, the DEI piece. So yes, I think there are quite a few districts that have grappled with how to do that type of work. Given the state of the political climate, I think a lot have shifted. I mean, and again, transparency, we grappled with how are we doing this work? How is it resonating? And we can't do the work if we're not here, right? Right. So how do we do the work in a way that is most accessible to people across political ideologies? Because I know this may sound, you know, trite, but I'm a firm believer of this work is for everybody and everyone has different, unique combinations of identities. identities. And this boils down to making sure that kids feel safe and seen to learn and staff feel safe and seen to work and bring their whole selves into every building. So I think when we center that, it becomes less political. That said, you know, we did have tough conversations as a lot of other, you know, school districts and higher ed institutions, University of Maine being one of them, around how do we characterize this work. So there was a shift the beginning of last year or potentially the year before, it's fuzzy now, of changing the title from the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee initially, then it shifted to DEIB, so adding belonging onto there, and then evolved again into this co-back if you will, or Community of Belonging Advisory Committee. The work is the same. I think that for a number of good reasons, you know, the shift in title makes sense. And we sort of go from there with that.
[24:52] Suzette Holly Furrow: Sure. Yes. Another question. So I wanted to ask you, too, because you said you deal with learning disabilities as well. I know. Yeah. So do you deal with dyslexia? I don't know what the school department, do they, because it used to be language learning disability. I don't know what do they classify it as now, dyslexia, because I didn't know if they were going to recognize October as Dyslexia Awareness Month or not. I don't know if you, if they do, that's a great question. I can definitely run that
[25:25] Dana Carver-Fiala: through ray finney as our director of communication and community outreach he does a fabulous job spotlighting different campaigns different initiatives in our schools I'll check with him if that's something that he works on because I don't mind sharing in this very public forum dyslexia is something that's very near and dear to my heart and it's been a learning curve recognizing that dyslexia is not a independently autonomously identified disability within IEP P qualification. And I'm saying that as a parent, special education is not my wheelhouse. I've done a lot of learning around special ed law. But as a parent, that's also been something I've navigated. And I'm happy to say, we have a fabulous special ed department who personally, I've been able to lean on and navigating all the things for one of my own small humans as well. But I will absolutely look into that because I think that's really important, and you know, if nothing else, being able to highlight the fabulous work within our own classrooms for, you know, inclusive different modalities of reading and learning, and, you know, a fabulous community partner I think for all of the area, you know, the districts is the Dyslexia Center, right, you know, off of Mount Hope. So yeah, I think that's a really good opportunity. Yeah, I used to work there, so
[26:57] Suzette Holly Furrow: That's why I was bringing it and there's there's a really good book for everybody just to know out there. It's called The Legacy of the Blue Heron and it's written by Harry Sylvester. I don't know if Harry Sylvester who was the he's from Maine, he's he's passed away but he's from Maine. Okay first the first president of the Learning Disabilities Association who actually have a learning disability. So but it's also dyslexia and growing up in Maine actually Aroostook County. So it's a really good book. I can't recommend it enough anyway I will.
[27:27] Dana Carver-Fiala: Have to track that one down. I did get a really good recommendation that's sort of a history and parent guide from the Conley Center of Speech and Language at the University of Maine and they've been really good Community Partners both within the district and my own family as well I think.
[27:43] Adam Douglas Baker: I could probably answer that question that if the dyslexia is based primarily on reading then it would be identified as a learning disability in affecting reading. If it were based in either spoken understood or written language it probably would be identified as a the speech language disability.
[28:09] Suzette Holly Furrow: It's always spelling. I mean, that's the central, yeah, but good, thanks.
[28:15] Katie Brydon: Any other questions for Dana?
[28:20] Adam Douglas Baker: Yes, Adam. Not so much a question, just statement, I guess. I was part of special ed during my school years and just hearing all what you were saying about it, I just thank you and appreciate it for all your work. I also really love the idea of the shop at schools,, like community kind of like centers, I think like very food diversity is a very thing that we struggle with here in Maine. And I think bringing community and food together is a really important thing. So just thank you for all your work.
[28:53] Dana Carver-Fiala: My goodness, of course. And I mean, just broadly speaking, I mean, I do I've sort of looked at whether Katie's realized it or not. I've looked at Katie sort of this connector between this committee and the school-based committee, but I think that speaks to the need to be more intentional with making those links. And I'm happy to join more. I think us joining forces, it's, you know, the together we're stronger piece is real, you know, so working smarter, not harder is a thing these days, especially in connecting over, you know, the share, because I have no doubt, you know,, the schools are a microposm of the society in which they exist. So, you know, the things that we're grappling with, like when I, mean, I've called Bangor area home since, my goodness, 2009. So I've seen, good evolution, you know, of all the things, you know, but it's, it's still, it's, it's a lot to navigate in terms of like the, East West side conversations and the history of the city and certainly you know for any of you that are you know keyed into the happenings in the school districts news you know grappling with older buildings and you know the ever-growing and changing needs. I mean, I think the biggest piece that we see and we know is a thing is you know wealth and wage disparity. So how do we navigate that and prior to the pandemic and through the pandemic, this area being a designated refugee resettlement area. So we've had an influx of families from all over the world, which is a beautiful and very complicated addition for everyone from our littlest learners through adult ed to navigate. Brigade. And so partnering with, you know, formerly, you know, the what were they called Sarah Marks organization out of Orono, I'm drawing a blank. But welcoming when welcoming immigrant neighbors, there we go. So you know, when and main multicultural center and, you know, making sure that we're accessible to our students and their families. And I mean, it's, I'm a firm believer the work's never going to be done because the needs are going to change and they should change so whether that's you know navigating verbiage for having a multi-faith space for students of every and all faith backgrounds to have you know quiet contemplation or prayer areas we have one of those in the Bangor High School library and it's a fabulous easy space that has existed for years now and sending out information to staff about what to anticipate for upcoming holidays that aren't reflected in our academic calendar or how to support students that are impacted disproportionately by different big events, because some of our students may not be able to identify, whether it's, I'm thinking of common ones, Ukraine on a map and other students and their families are deeply, impacted by national or local events. So it's, you know, I would be happy to connect and be part of ongoing conversations. And if you all think of any ideas or recommendations or, you know, other folks to, you know, connect in for this work, please, reach out. Out and the most obvious reach out for me is with that Shop at Schools event we have already landed in this early stage of planning for the school year, replicating that. We're going to shift that to the week before February break because we know that right before, you know, when school is not in session tends to be a really tough time for families for a number of different reasons. So having, you know, a Shop at School event leading into that February break, which is the week of February 14th, again, at multiple sites and having that be at a time where, you know, the beautiful, wonderful generosity of the holiday season has tapered out. You know, being able to have another event to really connect with families and, you know, help meet needs, that makes sense. So I would love to collaborate with you all around that. As I just tried, like, virtually hugging the screen, thank you. And I think that one of the things that
[33:43] Katie Brydon: I think that we should continue to think on is the last, on our last meeting we talked about a new group that had bubbled up at John Bass, a civil discourse group that was really focused on teaching others how to engage in civil discourse. And they have tea parties called Civilities. And I think that it started to get us thinking about ways that we could provide opportunities for people in the community to really talk about what is the expectation of a shared community when we're engaging in really tough conversations about our political landscape, our shared limited resources, you know, all of these really sort of hot topics that we sometimes feel like has lost the listening and civil aspect of. So I know that the schools community of belonging group does work on a regular basis to have some forward facing community events where parents can come and learn about different topics like you were saying, even just sort of that alphabet soup of special education. I do think as we continue to brainstorm ways that we might also provide opportunities to engage the larger Bangor community overlap because obviously there are a lot of the same people that are parents and also community members, what that looks like and how we might best work together is something I really think that we should probably put. But either on our calendar so that we sort of even have a reminder to like, oh, Dana's coming back, you know, what do we want to talk about, you know, maybe In the next quarter, to sort of look at as an opportunity that we could share more and more sort of forward-facing community events. All right. Anything else? Okay. Thank you so much, Dana. Historical journey with you. Appreciate it.
[35:47] Dana Carver-Fiala: Awesome. So thanks so much, have a good one. Okay, bye.
[35:53] Katie Brydon: We have Annie joining us. Annie, welcome. Annie is our newest member of our Advisory Committee for Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights. Welcome, Annie.
[36:06] Annie Tompkins: Hi, thank you very much.
[36:10] Katie Brydon: Yeah,, we can hear you great. Awesome. Well, I just want to, oh, hello. Hello. Now we can see you. Hi. Glad you're here. I'm Katie Biden. I'm the chair of our committee.
[36:26] Michael Beck: And I'll just maybe
[36:27] Katie Brydon: we could just quickly go around for the members to give an update or just an introduction rather of who's here at the table for you. Okay, thanks.
[36:36] Teresa Fallon: I don't know where to look. Hey, I'm Teresa Fallon. I've been a member since the beginning of the year. So I just started as well. Welcome. Thanks.
[36:46] Rheylan Burke: Hi, Annie. My name is Ray. I've been a member for about a year. All right.
[36:52] Suzette Holly Furrow: Hi Annie, Suzette Furrow. I've been a member since the beginning of the year.
[36:57] Adam Douglas Baker: Hi any marker I've been remember since January of 25 okay Adam Baker I've been
[37:09] Michael Beck: here for a year hey Michael back I'm the City Council liaison to the committee
[37:16] Katie Brydon: Hi. And then controlling the camera so you can see our beautiful faces in real time is our assistant city manager, Courtney. Hi again, Courtney. Yeah, so do you want to take a second to introduce yourself? I don't want to put you on the spot, but I want to give you the opportunity if there's anything you'd like to share.
[37:33] Annie Tompkins: Sure, well my name is Annie Tompkins. I've lived in Bangor since 2019. My husband and I bought a house, we're landlords. I work at the hospital and I just I want to be more involved and want to be part of this. So wonderful, we're glad you're here.
[37:55] Katie Brydon: Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. So we just had our director of civil rights from the school department give an update on what the school department is working on in a similar space faces us and some opportunities that we have to reconnect with that committee in the future. Our next item of business, we received a referral from City Council. It is a request for training recommendations for the Code of Ethics. So Assistant City Manager O'Donnell was kind enough to really give an overview of what and why we are being asked to provide training recommendations for a counselor that violated particular sections of the Code of Ethics. And this is specifically in relation to comments that were made about, against, rather, a group of individuals based on race, national origin, or cultural group. And so when that behavior was sent to the ethics commission, what they determined was that training would be the best way to hopefully ensure that future comments are made from sitting counselors. And so it was requested that our committee look at opportunities that exist that provide training on cultural sensitivity, implicit bias, multilingual learners, and really even state law and what law allows multilingual learners the right to participate in education regardless of their immigration status. And so we were tasked with the idea of going through, seeing what trainings exist, and making a formal recommendation to City Council. We have a shared G drive, Annie, that we sort of collect all of our work in one space. We'll make sure that you have access to that. Courtney, are you able to pull up the share drive? If not, I can send you a direct link right now. Is that more helpful? Yeah. Yes. All right. Give me one second. And so I sent an email to the group that sort of reminded folks that this, you know, link is here, and in that link you'll see a spreadsheet that Courtney is going to pull up now that opens up the unbiased conduct and training recommendations, and then we can look through it and see if there's anything we might want to add. Member Mark Roth also printed it off, some ideas as well, and we can send that. Thank you so much, Mark, for printing this off. I'm sorry, I mean, we have the hard copies here, but we'll we'll talk about it together so that you are aware of what we're going for looking at in real time and we're going to share the screen so we can look at the spreadsheet as well hopefully it and maybe while we're waiting for that counselor can you share a little bit more about what the expectation looks like in terms of the training do you want like a whole slew of options and then the council decides what's best do you want one training that we say this is what we think is best how would what do you think the recommended sort of view of that should be?
[41:58] Michael Beck: Well my understanding that the recommendation would be that this is the training that speaks speech directly to 33.5.1 of the Court of Ethics. Okay.
[42:09] Rheylan Burke: And do you want to make a recommendation by the end of today's meeting?
[42:16] Teresa Fallon: My recommendation, I didn't actually expect that would be likely, but I think obviously time is sort of the essence in that the council's going to turn over soon and whatnot, so I think the sooner the better sort of idea. Oh, there we go. I
[42:43] Rheylan Burke: did not add my ideas to the drive, but I'll be sure to use that more going forward.
[42:49] Katie Brydon: Yeah, no worries. And then you can just share too like whatever you have. Sure. No worries. So many one moments. Okay, so if you scroll down, it's called the Unbiased Conduct Training Recommendation spreadsheet right there. Oh, right here. Okay.
[43:24] Teresa Fallon: Of that a little bit I can probably here we go
[43:28] Katie Brydon: Okay so here are some ideas right of some different trainings that are offered and maybe just I'll go first and so right here and then Mark you can talk through your ideas I want everyone to be able to look through these and really sort of understand what they're offering and I think to be honest the hardest thing I think that any of us that looked for some ideas will probably agree with this is just there's no like there's actually very few I only found one sort of training for municipal Public servants that are specific to cultural bias and really understanding you know the pieces of the code of ethics that are considered, that were considered violated, right? So what this specifically says and what we need to make sure that this training that we recommend covers is how do we ensure that sitting counselors understand how to conduct themselves in a manner that does not discriminate unlawfully against any person because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability,, genetic information, gender, identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, cultural group, or political status. So that's a lot, a lot of pieces there. And the trainings, like I said before, are recommended because there was discriminative language used against individuals because of race, national origin, or cultural group. group. So in a broad search, there's a few different trainings that are listed here. Most of them do come from colleges and a lot of them are offered based on workplace. Like this is, these are the trainings that you have to take similar. If you start a new job, you have to do your teacher training for sexual harassment that you do this cultural bias training. There's a ton of those online, whether or not they actually meet the cultural competence competency that is asked of this specific part of the code of ethics, that's going to be the part, piece of the meat that we sort of have to dig into. Yes, Mark.
[45:58] Adam Douglas Baker: In thinking this through, it appears to me that the recommendation from us should focus on the way in which communications impact other individuals because that's apparently what was where it came from communications and also within that the impact of bias yeah racial bias so perhaps if we were to narrow it down. Yes. That might be a way of proceeding. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I think that
[46:39] Katie Brydon: is critical. So if you look on this spreadsheet, it has the training listed. It sort of talks about what, like how much time each training, thank you, how much time each training would take. And then obviously the cost. And then if we scroll over here, there are some notes that I have like this is designed for a learning group and I'm not sure how it's gonna work if only one counselor is expected to participate this is like very health and human service oriented though it is about like how do you communicate with this specifically is like patients you know that are from different culturally diverse communities there are some strong options to your point that I narrowed down it was the this training the cross cultural community services unfortunately it's like the ones didn't have a price that I could find but this training specifically is a supportive training for equity in practice it's a five-part interactive learning series and it is built for individuals really designed around cultural humility that kept coming up a lot when i was doing research which is to be honest something that i'm i haven't heard those words sort of used as like a training aspect but i think speak volumes right really understanding racial and cultural differences examining personal privilege exploring immigration experiences we would just have to figure out for this one and something that I want to be mindful of when making this recommendation this mouse has the mining sound on sorry okay there we go all right sorry about that guys here is the training services right so it these are all of the different trainings that this group offers are based in portland but this one specifically is about building racial Literacy understanding systemic racism, immigration and resettlement systems of advantage, and then moving from learning to action. Again, I'm a little annoyed because this is the one that's like, do you want to know more, let's get ready for a consult, and I'm like, no, just tell me how to sign up. But I think that this one spoke to me if just in the essence of time, if I'm being honest, like it, there's a lot on here, but that one spoke to me. I think it's most in line that I found that goes along with the cultural communication piece, Teresa. I did find a number on the bottom.
[49:29] Teresa Fallon: I tried calling it, but it was after work, so thank you. Yeah, because I also loved that one. I love a lot about it, but one thing, it was like created by three women, of color. So like two powerful perspectives in one or three. And it was designed for municipalities. And then I also, I don't know if it was related. I'm a nerd for the ACEs study. I don't know if anybody else is. Where did I go? Right here. Here and it mentioned that at the top of the page. I'd love to get back to where I was so I can explain a little bit more. I think I'm, I think I got lost. Let me go back and click, but anyways, it's like adverse childhood experiences and which could be discrimination like that young children are facing. It also highlights, I'm not even looking at it, the experience of immigration, immigrants. [Rheylan Burke: Yes,.] Yeah, I can't imagine it being astronomical in price, but it does seem like a really great option that I kind of wish-
[50:47] Katie Brydon: That's an additional, that's, what is it? Is there a link for that one? What? The ACES, is that what you're-
[50:53] Teresa Fallon: Let me go back and click on this link because it was right when I clicked on it so couldn't find pricing. It mentioned it at the top where we design our train to be flexible, courageous conversations, adverse childhood experiences and racism. I don't know if anyone knows much about aces. I'm no expert, but basically there's a lot of adverse childhood experiences that there's like a test you can take. And the more you have, the more likely you have at having higher risk of things like even obesity, heart disease, diabetes, but also depression, anxiety, mental illness, physical illnesses, just from having adverse childhood experiences. I think that's really important because maybe just personally, I'm not sure if anyone else can relate, but I'm seeing these experiences and racism in younger children now. I just, so I really liked this training, yeah, and I did, yeah, at the way bottom there's an email and a phone number. I'd be happy to email them and or call, but then unfortunately we'd have to like, I don't know, come back in it more sooner than a month because I think this is really important that specific counselor, yeah, does this as soon as possible or quite honestly maybe shouldn't really be in the chambers
[52:18] Annie Tompkins: until this is done, but that's my opinion. I can, you hear me? Yeah, hi, thank you. So do any other cities already have training in place developed? Great question. I didn't see anything, I didn't see any, but that doesn't mean that they don't. I feel like that's a lot of reinventing the wheel if every town had to do their own training for their own city councils, yeah, in the whole
[52:52] Katie Brydon: state. I don't think that training is typically expected of sitting counselors in terms of like racial bias and some this specific topic. I don't, I don't think it should be, and Adam, I know that your comment says that as well, like all counselors should, anyone in public service
[53:15] Annie Tompkins: yeah, I'm surprised there hasn't been anything already developed. I know, I know, but again
[53:26] Katie Brydon: And that was just my, that was my Google ability.
[53:31] Annie Tompkins: Is there a way for a contact person to find out? I guess, I don't know.
[53:41] Katie Brydon: Yeah, I don't know. I think that it's like, I didn't look at the, I know that the sort of shared municipalities have like a board, right?
[53:53] Teresa Fallon: like the MM, MMA, it's the main municipal association, it's a membership organization made up of municipalities of Maine. I can tell you that probably larger communities might have some sort of training that they do that touches on some of these subjects. It's not mandatory, it's not required, and a lot of the smaller ones would not see a need for it, and my basic understanding is that those larger communities often will bring in a third party to tailor training for a specific need, and then they you know may be recurring or not and things of that nature, but really they would go through kind of a similar process to what we are right now, and I know there
[54:40] Katie Brydon: Are definitely people in this area I reached out to a couple of different organizations, women that I know that lead different consulting organizations, but they're very specific to like oh we do this for university staff, we do this for health care staff, so trying to find something that top speaks to an individual that maybe is just either trying to better themselves, I'm not really like you know where these assignments exist for you know one-offs. Suzette I saw your hand and then I was still a question go
[55:13] Adam Douglas Baker: ahead is the training going to be mandatory it's my understanding from the discussion that
[55:21] Michael Beck: that was the recommendation of the findings of the ethics board this is what council decided
[55:25] Adam Douglas Baker: to impose but just a matter of what training do we require and the cost is wasn't discussed
[55:34] Rheylan Burke: The sky's the limit, I'm sure.
[55:39] Teresa Fallon: I think if we're talking about a human rights violation, maybe that's a little excessive. I think that, yeah, I'm not too worried about the cost. I mean, I don't see it being astronomical. If it was, obviously, there's some other really low-cost, great options. Yes. I can share too that just based off of the numbers that I'm seeing on the spreadsheet, sheet we there's always like a little bit of training budget and whatnot for council as well oh awesome because they're they're also able to attend different trainings and conferences and stuff great we don't budget a lot but there's definitely some there oh that's good
[56:15] Katie Brydon: to know thank you that's good to know and I'm with you Teresa none of them seemed I was kind of surprised I know none of them seemed astronomical yes you said thank you for
[56:24] Suzette Holly Furrow: be over I'm sorry oh okay so a few things so does the city have like an employee do they do like something with employees coordinating training no not specific to this though and then I just didn't know because this is kind of like I did speak about first amendment right because it seems like it's kind of like more of an I know he didn't know what spirit for so it wasn't like he you know that disclaimer we're all supposed to say that some people don't say I know Adam says it I say it some People say it, but like the fact that he didn't know he was being recorded, and then this is like about, you know, he's worried about the financing, and then, you know, so, you know, the First Amendment right, and then how some counselors have different opinions, and so I think it's just kind of a slippery slope in general, and I didn't know if they could, because at first I was saying, well, why doesn't the just the legal department, because, you know, the legal department comes to your like, I think Grace came here and then tell, right, did you like, you know, like just to reiterate the like, you don't know if you're being recorded as your feet, yeah, you know, none of us know when we're being reported, right, they were recorded a lot, you know, and now then you got the whole plot, yeah, so it's just like it's hard to know, so he didn't say this disclaimer because you didn't know he was picked up on the mic microphone, and I don't, I don't know, it's just it's a tough call, because like should it just be the legal
[58:01] Katie Brydon: department, yeah, I think that it's, it's honestly not up to us to decide, like it was determined by the ethics commission, and then we were asked to identify the training, so like re-litigating what the ethics committee already found, I feel like it would be undermining their work and what they've done, and so I think this is a really great opportunity personally to talk about training for everyone, like it's such a great opportunity that everybody should have awareness of the citizens that they're serving and what that engagement looks like. So I don't wanna really give you whether or not we should be doing it, because I don't wanna undermine what the ethics committee determined. But I do think that if anything, I hope that our goal would be let's find something that potentially could work for everybody in the future.
[58:55] Adam Douglas Baker: Adam. Kind of going back to my point of comment that was, I think it's important to also give current counselors have been also future counselors in my, in my own opinion, the training that having the sensitivity training while they're in new position or in their current position, just either re-brushing up author skills or learning new skills as well, I think that's, I know it's a little separate part of that, but I would like to have that, yeah, like a recommendation or something, yeah, and I think
[59:25] Katie Brydon: you made a comment on it, is it on, which is it on this cross-cultural comment, I can't tell where
[59:32] Adam Douglas Baker: It was the course of board diversity. I think that one was because it's kind of similar to like the workplace. I work in retail and I know like I've gone through all those trainings and I know how those go. And I think it's when you get a new job or like when you're in a new position, I think for like at least new counselors, I think that's valuable.
[59:55] Katie Brydon: Absolutely, and this one covers so many things, and it does have the legal overview.
[1:00:01] Annie Tompkins: Here about like, god, they're so, to your, to your point, Adam, if the, if the point is to educate this person and not necessarily to punish or shame him, then I do think that a policy should be implemented for everybody across the board. And I think that if you're going to recommend a policy or a training that somebody within this group should go through it to see if it really applies, rather than just reading, because words on paper are informative, but it's not everything. It's important to make sure. Something's chosen that would represent most people, and I do, and I always just, I'm always thinking about a budget in the most effective, efficient way, like a conscious way to do something, always, again, to Adam's point, I work at the hospital, I work at Eastern Maine, as new hires we have to do health streams, everybody has to do them. There's some that are specific to your, to you know, to general employee, and there's some that are specific to your, to your role, and then we have to do them either. Quarterly or annually, every single year, and they do include all of those trainings. So again, there are things that exist. But I think it would be important that somebody actually go through the training so they can see what we're recommending, really.
[1:01:49] Katie Brydon: Yeah, that is definitely ideal. I don't know for this particular training that we would have the time to go through before, you know, that recommendation goes through. And again, I also want to be very clear that this is an advisory committee. So we're just recommending. It technically isn't our responsibility to, like I said before, look at the findings, even while we want to be mindful of the cost and time, that's not also in our purview, that's a council decision. So if we can find a training that truly does talk about the ways in which we speak about the humans that we share space with, that is the most important thing. Every single person that ever sits in this room, whether at the dais or in the gallery, is a part of a shared community, and being able to speak about each other with compassion and grace, I think, should be something that, yes, we all deserve and should go through training on, but something that we have to be specifically mindful of if we're ever in an elected or an appointed role, which is why this is being asked of a counselor and not of somebody that's in a volunteer position to go through. Adam, I see your hand, but I saw Teresa's first.
[1:03:09] Teresa Fallon: Yeah, I've kind of thought, I've kind of changed what I was going to say a few times. But I really agree with what you're saying. I hope I don't get like off topic. Sometimes I just ramble for a second, but I feel like this has become almost an unsafe space for a lot of people. I speaking for myself, I can speak for myself but nobody else. I even have a difficult time coming in here for council meetings and I'm a white straight woman, so I'm just saying I understand the budget's really important, but I think there is, I think I've already said this, but there's no price on our ethical code and those of the city counselors, and I also wanted to mention, yeah, I think everybody in the world should take this training, I really do, but I also mentioned like when I started my case management job the trainings took days, great knowledgeable information, but counselors also mostly have full-time jobs as well. I don't think it would be necessary or fair to have them sit through this, what is it like five interactive trainings, which I love that it's interactive, I think that's key because a lot of trainings you could click through, and I really think there's even another one that had like 10 assignments, I really like that idea, but I just want to bring it back to, I don't know, is it section 33 dash 5.1 unbiased conduct that was broken, and whether or not, yeah, everybody's recording at any moment, sometimes we learn that the hard way, but beside that, what I'm seeing in this is that we need, not we, but also we're board members, must conduct ourselves in a manner that does not discriminate unlawfully against any person, and there's a, there's numerous reasons including I Would say race, color, genetic information, and that was specifically broken. I think for the sake of time, we really need to focus on choosing a training for this individual. If we want to discuss down the road something for everybody to take, but again, I don't really think that they have the time, and I think that when you read this code of conduct, these things should be obvious. You shouldn't say those things. You shouldn't say those things in a microphone, or next, you know, even without a microphone. I'm, I'm just glad that it was brought to our attention so that we can do something about it. Thank you.
[1:05:59] Adam Douglas Baker: Just real quick, if I remember, because I was at that meeting or listening out on council, I think if we can time bearing, I think giving two or three options to them just to make sure that they're not stuck in just one thing and where, oh, it doesn't work out for that individual.
[1:06:19] Rheylan Burke: Work by individual, so just putting that in mind. Yeah, I think that I know that, you know.
[1:06:25] Katie Brydon: So the council does expect a formal recommendation, but I don't see anything wrong with them here. It's a catalog of the three top choices and what they cover to ensure that they are the most intentional based on the need.
[1:06:48] Adam Douglas Baker: And equitable. Yes. That works as well. Yeah. Mark. Just from a logistical standpoint, I think that while it would be great for present and future counselors to have this kind of training, that's not what we were asked to do.
[1:07:10] Katie Brydon: You're so good at being nice.
[1:07:13] Adam Douglas Baker: I think we have to be responsive to the council. Council. Just like a few months ago when we were, the Council requested that we look at the issue of people on sidewalks on the street. We addressed that, and I think in this case we need to just address what we were asked to look at.
[1:07:37] Katie Brydon: Yeah. Is there any of these that you have offered and found that they do all very specifically speak to anti-racism, unconscious bias, implicit bias, which I think aligns with the code? Is there one that specifically spoke to you that you were like,
[1:08:02] Adam Douglas Baker: Up this is, you know, I think that the number one diversity builder focuses on the impact of communications at work, and I think that could be generalized to, you know, a council setting, and then the thank you. And then the last one, the National Equity Project, that looks at bias, which certainly is involved in the situation. I'm not wedded to either one of those, but both of you kind of spoke to me as I was looking
[1:08:45] Rheylan Burke: through them. Number five caught my eye as well, the National Equity Project.
[1:08:50] Adam Douglas Baker: I'm sorry, could you repeat that?
[1:08:52] Rheylan Burke: Number five caught my eye as well, the National Equity Project.
[1:08:57] Katie Brydon: So, Mark, this is the racial sensitivity training that you were talking about. Do you see the screen?
[1:09:05] Adam Douglas Baker: Does this look familiar? Could you go back to the top? Sorry. Yep. Yes. That was the first one. Okay. Yeah.
[1:09:26] Katie Brydon: That and then let me look up the other one. [Annie Tompkins: So] this is either a Courtney or a Mike question, but do you foresee our committee either like what would be appropriate? Is it let's go through all of these and highlight or tally which ones we think are most important on Google in our own time and then we can use that as a final determination? Is it something that needs to be done in person with a formal
[1:10:05] Teresa Fallon: oh I think yes I think the recommendation should be made by and mark just quickly this is the other
[1:10:17] Katie Brydon: this is the other one correct the national equity project okay and then it looks like they've got a lot of virtual trainings which are fantastic I don't know if they have like a catalog of trainings what do folks think in the essence of my might we have another important item that I want to get to on the agenda so I do want to wrap this up would it be art may I ask if folks are amenable to either looking through all of these and coming back to a meeting, is that more or less palatable than voting now? While you think on that, Suzette, what's your question?
[1:11:18] Suzette Holly Furrow: Well, can I just ask like maybe Courtney, that if a way it could be done in-house and not expensive and not violate a first amendment right, potentially by making them do some other training outside of the city, that the legal department just say well we could just do it here within the legal department here like it I would think that's within their scope of not violating first amendment right yet having some type of so some type of train they must have something the legal department asked like if they have some kind of training within house, like not that, you know what I'm saying? That way it wouldn't be required too much time and money. And you know what I'm saying?
[1:12:10] Michael Beck: Well, I can speak to that. We had the city solicitor at the table when the recommendation was made and that was brought up. And he said, they don't have anything for that. And then he, you know, and that was one of the options was training as recommended by a legal. So that's how we got it.
[1:12:24] Suzette Holly Furrow: some of it is i mean it's like kind of like but a lot of it is just that whole thing about the disclosure you know like saying you know i'm speaking it's like we're supposed to say
[1:12:38] Adam Douglas Baker: Adam, and then Ray. So just a correction, this is not about the individual incident, this is just for future trainings, or just like in general, just like clarification. Oh no, the recommendation was
[1:12:52] Michael Beck: ethics came back, this was the findings, and council said part of the findings this individual will go through training, but however, what training? Okay, and so that's how this recommendation came. Here is what is the training that council should consider for the individual. Thank you. Thanks
[1:13:09] Rheylan Burke: for that clarification. Right, like you already said, if this was a decision already made by the ethics committee, then we should move forward and just present, I think, a top three flexible and applicable trainings, and yeah, leave it at that. Teresa, I can see why
[1:13:37] Teresa Fallon: having three options is a good idea. I personally just think we should choose one, but it's unfortunate that we don't have much information on this cross-cultural community services one. So I wonder, I think there's really great options that we could choose tonight, but I just, this one, it goes all around Maine, it works with many different groups, faith-based community groups, municipalities, schools. I just would love to get the price and more information from them. Yeah, and then I just, I think for ease maybe presenting one, but if most of us think we could present more than one, I, that's of course fine. I just
[1:14:26] Katie Brydon: I agree with what you're saying. Okay, but the expectation is what training we present, the training, of course, if counselors are in disagreement, all of this stuff exists and is available to them should they want to look at other options. I agree, I'm happy to fill out the paperwork for a consult to try to just get some information as to like what the timing and price would be on that one. In the meantime, because it does not appear that we are prepared to vote on this tonight, I would like us to set a date that we could reconvene shortly. I do anticipate it being a very short meeting again. We do not need to relitigate what happened, why we're being accessed, what the fairness is. The expectation is that we come together and vote on what we determine is a, an appropriate training to meet the needs of this violation. Are you, so with that, I'm gonna stop to share. So yeah, so then shall we put a date on the calendar now that would be, that would work for folks? Might
[1:15:52] Suzette Holly Furrow: I suggest potentially the sixth or the seventh
[1:15:56] Teresa Fallon: If possible, if it was the sticks, well, either one would probably end up in the fault button in room, which should be just fine, I think. The seven foot work all right, that's the candidates.
[1:16:08] Katie Brydon: This room is being used that evening.
[1:16:16] Adam Douglas Baker: What would be the expectation for the October 6th or 7th meeting?
[1:16:25] Katie Brydon: To come with your top choice of training. Once I get the information on that one training that we're waiting on, the timing and cost of, I will make that available as soon as possible and send you all an email so that you can have that information. And then when we come together, we will vote on anything that is continually added to that spreadsheet in the meantime that you have all found that might be of service. And Mark, I'm happy to just type in what you put into there as well so that we have a full list in one space, and then we'll come together and vote.
[1:16:57] Adam Douglas Baker: Are we going to vote on, are we going to present three alternatives or just one? Just one, just one, okay, top
[1:17:08] Katie Brydon: choice, okay, the rose too, the sixth, is that favorable to individual?
[1:17:18] Rheylan Burke: That is maybe from today, 6 p.m., 6 p.m. It
[1:17:25] Teresa Fallon: was six, yeah, okay, and that will be in the 12 onion room, but that's also good timing because that occurs before the council meeting the following week. Great, so it could go to the workshop before the next council meeting. Wonderful, so October
[1:17:43] Katie Brydon: 6 p.m. in the Paul Bunyan. I will send out any updates on timing, excuse me, costs and timing for that training, and come with your top choice. Thank you all very much. Sorry to rush us, but I'm excited about this next piece on our agenda, which is the council Chambers wall display. I'm going to hand it over to assistant city manager O'Donnell. All right, so I'm
[1:18:14] Teresa Fallon: going to pull up the, rough draft, if you will, of what I'm talking about, but so the, it's been in the works since the renovations in terms of taking advantage of the back wall here in council chambers with a historical timeline of Bangor. And so staff have been working with the Bangor Historical Society pretty extensively on and off about this for quite some time. And our goal is to actually have it up and functional by early next year with any hope. And so as part of that, I must tell you that we've actually already determined that this layout will need to be amended a bit because actually, last week, we had cutouts of all the size panels and just put it up there to see how it actually worked, and immediately realize that we would need to make some adjustments. However, that being said, I think that's normal, especially because as you can see in this design, there's going to be informational panels, photos, and also artifacts. So like the saw blade, for example, it's very historic, it's very large and heavy, and it will need to be mounted with plexiglass around to make sure that. Why is this all going on? Yes, and so there's also a PB, and it's a, yes, I know that is the real name used, you know, for lumber moving big. And so in any event, it starts with, you know, this land, of course, originally belonged to Native Americans, so that's where the timeline line starts, and it goes all the way through being the lumber capital of Maine, and then the industries that came through the 1800s, up through the fire of 1911, and then photos that are kind of more current day, and we, you know, want to highlight, you know, Paul Bunyan, the Kanduska extreme race, and all those lovely things. And actually as we were chatting this through, one of the things we wanted to ask this committee was for your input, in case we missed anything, if there's any sensitivities that we're missing and need to take into account. We also realized when we were kind of doing our thing that we missed including the schools, for example, and even like hospitals and things, and so we are working to kind of rework some of those items in, and so we are working with Penobscot Nation, as well as the Bangor Chinese school also has given us some photos and information and so we want to make sure that it's not overwhelming, but at the same time it's cool, look at an educational, and so we do anticipate having QR codes in which people can go to web pages and get more information about the various items on the wall and the history behind it. And so yeah, that's sort of the overview, that this little thing here, just in case you're curious, that's called a foundry form, and we're not quite sure if we will get our hands on that or not, but that is part of the, I want to say pottery boundaries. It was part of the industrial timeframe in the early 1800s, in any event. And so there's also a couple other artifacts that we were trying to get our hands on as well, such as we thought, for example, there's a bucket here that's original from the fire of 1911. We'd also, we wanted to see about maybe getting like a paddle because the Kanduska stream race just had its 50th anniversary and things like that, but the things will be mounted in a way that we'll be able to like swap some photos out and make sure that it stays current as well. And so yeah, we just wanted to make sure that we weren't again missing anything big or that we should be taking certain things into consideration or what have you. But just so you know, this is just a draft. We already know that it will need to be amended it a bit, but the content largely, with some of those exceptions where I said we've already kind of discovered we've missed some things. So who is the individual above the standpipe? That is the first council chair of Bangor. His name is escaping me, but we realized too that when we were looking at that section in particular that the, it's not exactly a timeline there, and so we want to rework the end a little bit to be to make more sense, but also make best use of the space because as you can tell it's fairly limited. So is that the airport at the bottom? Yes it is, and in fact there's a photo of Amelia Earhart when she visited the airport. So nice, I was going to mention the airport. Yep, yeah, there's several photos down here of the airport. That's the Bangor Chinese school, waterfront concert, Stephen King house, the race, Paul Bunyan. This is of Gerald E. Talbot, and when we renamed Talbot Park from Second Street Park, water district, the, oh the name's escaping me, it was the like railroad station down over, yes, Union Station, thank you. Yeah, and that's Hannibal Hamlin, downtown, and yeah, so I'm not sure if I can remember which one's those.
[1:24:05] Rheylan Burke: Yeah, it's very cool. I love that it starts with the cannot spot agency. I know, I just do this.
[1:24:15] Katie Brydon: Me too. Sorry counselor, before I saw your hand I saw Adam. Sure. No, I was just gonna
[1:24:24] Adam Douglas Baker: So just because my mind was there, anything included? I didn't say anything including like LGBTQ plus community at all, just like just to throw it out there, because if there's nothing for it and that's fine. I just want to advocate for that group as well right now. I mean, I mean, yeah, actually, I know you are kind of thing and whatnot. Yeah,
[1:24:46] Rheylan Burke: everything on there, but just I think we could definitely probably incorporate something
[1:24:50] Teresa Fallon: thing into that collage for sure, you know, especially in light of you know Charlie. Yeah, I think that would be really powerful. Also that also reminded me too of the bank robber.
[1:25:02] Katie Brydon: Thing that was a big thing. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, sorry, counselor, you were next. Oh no.
[1:25:15] Michael Beck: No, my word is gonna say something totally selfish and self-serving, but the NFL played a game here in 1959. We'll have a picture of the Packers and the Giants.
[1:25:27] Suzette Holly Furrow: I feel like that is a- When they were here.
[1:25:29] Katie Brydon: Uniquel to Vancouver, San Diego K-1, you let me know.
[1:25:35] Teresa Fallon: Also, I forgot to mention too that this section here also talks about immigrants to our area. And, of course, the early 1900s is when we got the Chinese population, actually. And so the Bangor Chinese School has a lot of cool history around that because we do have a population of a few thousand Chinese Americans here, or American Chinese, here in Bangor. And so we wanted to make sure that they were included as well. But that's also the sort of thing that if we're missing a group like that we
[1:26:12] Katie Brydon: Want absolutely would it be appropriate then instead of it being earlier cancellers to be like you know I think the updated version does have an
[1:26:27] Teresa Fallon: Additional section about that but that's a great flag I will double check that
[1:26:31] Katie Brydon: Thank you. Teresa and then Suzette and then Adam. Did you have to answer? Oh my god, I'm sorry.
[1:26:38] Teresa Fallon: I liked Adam's point. I really, I want to just say again, I really love that the Penobscot Nation is being included. I think that's very important. Might I suggest for like the LGBTQ, I, because of Charlie, even just like a picture of the crosswalk that is painted, although this year didn't go very well due to hate, I still think that it's something like that the city continues to do I don't know how long they've done that actually we've Been doing it I think like 10 years I think that's just something beautiful about Bangor or Even something with Bangor beautiful because I just love going around downtown right now my kids are like oh my gosh like even me and my fiance are like wow it's so beautiful maybe something big or beautiful, but even just a photo of that crosswalk, I think would be telling that we're remembering Charlie, what happened, don't want to go back to that, despite what happened at the crosswalk this year, but yeah.
[1:27:38] Katie Brydon: I agree. I think it's important. I was like nervous about like, you want, obviously you don't want to paint it like all positive, but also, you know, being mindful of where the hard things that, you know, we've done and come hopefully beyond. On really quick before I forget, to your point, murals that might be a really great way to integrate the schools, because all the schools have murals on them. Though that's cool. Yeah, the Down East one is really nice. They all are. Fruit has a new one. They're beautiful, Suzette.
[1:28:12] Suzette Holly Furrow: So I was just also, I don't know if it's on here, I can't read the part, but the Irish and the French and the Catholics, because there was like the Saint John's and the Saint Mary's and different side. There's a book, Hard Times, Hard Man, about that. But yeah, actually that's a big part of the history here. And then also the burning of the Saint Mary's Church, which was horrible. Saint Mary's Church was where the, you know, behind the homeless shelter and that empty lot there, that was a Saint Mary's Church. that burned in 1978 burned to the ground it was horrible and then i got a few things here i don't know the ice harvesting i know that was more in brewer but i don't know if there's anything in there because i think it was done by both but gatchel ice was in you know brewer and then the bakewell cream the guy was byron h smith from bangor he was a chemist he invented bakewell cream which they still make which is made in herman now but it wasn't bangor now it's in herman and then the brick History, I don't know if there was Brewer Brickyard, but I think there was also a Bangor Brickyard.
[1:29:26] Teresa Fallon: Actually, I remember the Historical Society mentioning something like that, and I think you might be right that it was largely based on Brewer, but I'll double check that for.
[1:29:34] Suzette Holly Furrow: Sure. And then Snow and Neely. I don't know if that's on there, too. The Axe Company. And that was a big... Okay. Wood stoves that they made here. Yeah, a whole less corny. And then brownies, but that's controversial. I was gonna say brown out. Yeah, I don't know if that's, that's brownies, like I think Frank's Bakery does, they say something about their brownies in Bangor, but whether it's according to regional before the very first.
[1:30:05] Katie Brydon: Chocolate brownie was accidentally created by a Bangor housewife. The story goes, she was making chocolate cake that collapsed because she forgot baking powder. Instead of throwing it away, she cut the dense flat into squares and put it in cookbooks as Bangor Brownies. Wow.
[1:30:21] Teresa Fallon: I didn't hear. I'm really cool, you guys. I love that. I wouldn't have an actual brownie.
[1:30:27] Suzette Holly Furrow: The taffy isn't there. Oh yeah. I don't know if it's a real brownie. Yeah, I don't know about that. Might be brownie. I don't know.
[1:30:40] Adam Douglas Baker: I know we're just throwing a lot of suggestions and whatnot, but possibly just the evolution of our waterfront. I know it used to be a lot of industrial, and then it got switched to there was like nothing there, but now there's more commercial, like whatever now, just food for thought.
[1:30:58] Katie Brydon: Absolutely. Absolutely. Also, supposedly the first automated snowplow came out of Bangor while we're throwing machinery up on this wall. But in terms of like, you know, community, I do think that, yeah, really highlighting that the different immigration status of folks that really came to create a home here in Bangor is really, special. So thank you for highlighting that.
[1:31:28] Teresa Fallon: Yeah. And so we will be continuing to work through this as we develop the panels and the webpages and stuff. And so my hope is to have actually in pretty good shape before I leave the end of November so that everything's ready to go. But many thanks to the Bangor Historical Society in particular. They have put a lot of work into this for us.
[1:31:56] Katie Brydon: It's a great use of the space. It's a really neat, yeah, story. I think it'll be great. Yeah, as usual, Counselor, we're out of time, and it's time for your updates. Oh, yeah, you can skip me if you want. I do
[1:32:15] Teresa Fallon: have a big one, just so you know, so no pressure. Would
[1:32:20] Rheylan Burke: you like to go first? Oh, okay. Well, so we've
[1:32:27] Michael Beck: had two council meetings since the last time we all met here, and so as you know, we have new appointments for ACRE. That by Lee Lynn is the new ex officio student that was approved last night. Annie, who's on any Tompkins, regular member. Adam reappointed. There's sort of two regular committee seats open left, so if there's anyone out there watching and want to get involved, be sure to apply. Also, there was at least one renewal on the Advisory Committee on Homelessness. And then we also had the new addition to the Advisory Committee on Housing. But there is still an open seat there as well. So if people are interested to be on that board, definitely need more applications. The Yellen Pines project, the TIF was approved on that one. So that was approved last night. And see, we've also got Project Hope, which we talked about before. Council could not decide on a funding source, so that project ended up being defeated. So that will be going forward, at least not in current iteration. May come back, but it was voted down last night. The Together Place, they approved funding for Together Place last night, so they didn't remain open. Improve the bonding for 103 Main Avenue. So public health, when that's all went through, we'll be moving into 103 main avenues that'll be good space for them we don't have to keep leasing from texas ave this month was national recovery month there was a proclamation on september 14th so bob vickett from the barn came and accepted that public health is going to be going through some clinical modernization they're going to be having a modern electronic health record and billing platform so that's going to be great for various community services given billing capacity for things including std testing treatment, immunization, case management, lactation services. So that's to be helpful to the department. And last but not least, they're the result of the past last night celebrating the partnership with Penobscot Job Corps. Wonderful. Thank you. Good work.
[1:34:49] Teresa Fallon: So the state's Office of New Americans had reached out, and they were looking for partners here in the Bangor area. They recently released an economic impact report of immigrants in the state. It has a lot of information. I believe I've sent you guys the link in the email, but you can also just simply Google it, and it comes up pretty easily. And so as part of that, the Office of New Americans was established by state statute, actually. And so they, their purpose is to improve the economic and civic integration of immigrants into the state workforce and communities to strengthen the economy over the long term. And so what they're looking to do this fall is actually hold dialogues or community-based meetings throughout the state, and they, to hear feedback around what folks are experiencing on the ground and in realities as well of Main immigrant communities and those that employ them in particular. And so they're looking to do a few different meetings here in this area. So they are going to hold one for employers and also one for the immigrant population itself. And so they're working through Maine Multicultural Center for that part and then the third is going to be a broader sort of stakeholder discussion community-based conversation and that foundations on stakeholders and who should who should be invited to the table if you will for that conversation. So for example I was thinking representative or multiple representatives from this committee might want to attend. I think city staff will be there as well as an invitation sent to schools. I assume that actually healthcare and hospitals would be invited to the employers one in particular. But again, I guess on either side of those if you guys have recommendations for who we should make sure is included in that conversation, please let me know because they're developing a work plan that they want to revisit every year and they're using that feedback to make sure that they are taking the realities of what people are facing every day into consideration when they develop that work plan. So it's, I think it's good work and they've been lovely. And so if you guys have, yeah, if you guys have feedback or thoughts on who we should make sure is at the table, please let me know. If not here on the spot, then just shoot me an email. Like within the next week or so, because they are looking to schedule those meetings as soon as possible I do think some of us should go. I would absolutely love to. I'm not sure how we should choose but I do think that we should absolutely be there it will be a public meeting so okay yeah even appointing somebody
[1:38:04] Katie Brydon: to sort of lays back yeah you know what the stakeholders are working on how we might best support what the needs are that would be wonderful. I'm happy to Courtney, I don't know if it would be appropriate for individuals to either send Courtney an email if you have a recommendation, or if you would like to be appointed the liaison. That's something that you could just approve, right? Not in an official capacity, but say.
[1:38:32] Teresa Fallon: Yeah, and actually, I guess if somebody did let me know that they were interested in being the liaison,
[1:38:38] Rheylan Burke: I'll let the whole committee know,
[1:38:40] Teresa Fallon: And then probably when we come back to a future meeting, then you can decide who and or anyone that may have attended may want to give a report. Anyway, it doesn't have to be formal. Yeah, that sounds good. That's wonderful. I feel like a few of us will definitely have an interest. Absolutely. When was this or when was this? We do not know yet. The meetings have not been set, which is of course another thing that it would probably be hard to determine a leader as long as we don't know who will be able to attend. But yeah, we'll make sure that is out there and available and folks know in advance as soon as possible.
[1:39:15] Adam Douglas Baker: Yeah, I didn't know if it just slipped over my life.
[1:39:19] Katie Brydon: You zoned out for a second. All right, well yeah, once you share that with us I think that Jesse would be determined like yes I will be in attendance, you know via email. That's appropriate, correct? Yeah, we respond all and say so we'll be there so we have an idea. That would be wonderful. [Teresa Fallon: Wonderful. All right.] Any other final updates, comments, questions from the committee?
[1:39:42] Suzette Holly Furrow: Yes, Yvette. So I spoke before about that I wanted to write about dyslexia. So do I just submit that to REROOV? I don't want to just go ahead and put it on the, I don't really know how to do it anyway, but do I just write something and then give it to you and then you can? Yes. Because I know we've talked about October and October's coming right up and I haven't done it yet. So do I just, what should I do?
[1:40:03] Katie Brydon: Case, so thank you for bringing that up. I also had the same like oh my goodness thought because October is also national employment awareness, our national disability employment awareness month. I actually had a blog for my work that's specific to Denver that I put up there and what I did was on in our acre folder. Can you access this? I think you sent me the one. OK. If you send it to me, I can put it up here as well. I guess that would sort of be the question. And yeah, I completely love that. Would it be appropriate for us to quickly discuss this on the 6th?
[1:40:43] Teresa Fallon: That's what I was thinking. Oh, sure. We can add that to the agenda for the 6th. Yeah. Yeah.
[1:40:47] Katie Brydon: Because I mean, I think that just being an available resource and having information on our website is the key. I don't think that there's a limit to what we put up there. So if you have a blog and you send it to me, I'll put it up here while send reminders, but please go into this file, look at the training, look at the blogs, see if you have any feedback, thoughts, and then we can make a decision next week as to what our training recommendation are, thoughts and feedbacks on any October information sharing, and then we can present that to Courtney to put on our acre page, correct? All right, awesome. Thank you so much. Is that, I'm so glad. So sorry I
[1:41:28] Teresa Fallon: missed last meeting. I am so overwhelmed lately that I completely forgot, so I want to say that, but I think that you did send out like a excel sheet where we put our names next to the months that we could work on. Does anybody want to like forward that to me? Yeah, I will send an email and I like
[1:41:47] Katie Brydon: yeah, awesome. Yes, wonderful. All right, so and we have, okay, I'm going to adjourn us without a vote because I trust that's all being 13 minutes, that's the time. Thank you so much, Annie, was nice to meet you. Thank you so much, I'm really excited. I'm excited guys. Me too. Thanks all. Appreciate it.