e e e e e e e e all right call to order the uh special council meeting of Wednesday August 21st 2024 for the purpose of interviewing candidates for the equity and inclusion commission uh for roll call purposes we'll note that council members St and schroer are not able to be here this evening uh but we do have a quorum and so we're able to conduct this business for the council uh with council member Aton council member grof and myself um we will proceed right into the interviews and so we're just uh awaiting the first candidate coming in to the chambers here um and then we'll begin we ready it's a nice and meet you got you over welcome man hello I tried to space ourselves out so you'd have to walk all the way around I need the steps yeah well feel free to put your name tag in front of you there and the folks watching the video can see that for because we two council members not here tonight they're going to watch afterwards and be able to get the information uh that way uh and then you know that'll help them make their decision along with us on the uh on the appointments we make but we do want to welcome you to this uh interview process for the equity and inclusion uh commission and thank you for your interest in serving um I'll do a quick uh description of kind of what the process will be uh and then essentially it'll be a round of questions from the three of us uh and then an opportunity after that uh if there's anything you want to add or anything we didn't cover that you want to make sure we know about in considering your application uh we'll do that and then uh hopefully in about 10 minutes time we'll be done okay great all right well with that then why don't we go ahead and uh have uh council member gra ask the first question thank you for being here Mr Chad um how do you I I'll ask the first question it's how do how do you your experience and skills relate to serving on a city commission he first of all I'm an immigrant myself and through college my career and Community involvement I I have experienced the view from the other side I think there's one but over the years uh I have international position that I actually get exposed to different cultures around the world so that helps it and I was quite active in volunteering so one of my first thing that I put down in my application was I was on the 1987 cultural diversity council at Pillsbury yes now it was a learning process but that's 40 years ago so imagine that actually this topic has been around for forever so I also get very involved in community volunteering for Alp for YMCA for St Paul Park and R and even Roseville I actually waranty for event from oille so all this contribute to my learnings not the wisdom necessary but I say hey there is a topic that we need to address if I'm a citizen of this I bring my experience and I think all the experience over the years helps me to become a good candidate for it thank you right uh the second question is uh more specific to this particular commission and that is um uh when you submitted your application what motivated you to want to be part of the equity and inclusion commission well first of all I'm a Roseville resident and I have seen more than any other cities I've lived in the attention to diversity Equity inclusion in rosille I was very excited when I moov here I said wow this is on the agenda and I learn more the rose to Lutheran Church just have a talk diversity yesterday I'm on the YMCA volunteering Council for the for the community board uh we talking about that s po Park going talking about that but there's a lot of talking so what motivates me is as a good uh citizen I need to put put my own two sens in I need to hey you you want to help I put my name in if I'm pick great I'll help if I'm not pick I'll help in some other way so motivate me to make it a better place because I live here thank you uh council member U thank you for being here please explain your understanding of the scope or duty of this commission okay first of all I don't want to reread this but I think uh as part of the commission we need to reveal the uh I think the the the policy in place the action plan in place so that's one of the things to do the second thing it says that actually there's a strategic plan that has to be get feedback and help build it the third part is be an action team member contribute actively participate uh attend all the schedule meeting uh prepare materials and also don't do the things you're not supposed to do you're not representing the city so I am aware of those those are the things the basic stuff but honestly I also here to learn so I I think there's a big part of learning too not necessarily uh doing the job that this it's a good thing here thank you H member gr here's an easy one I hope how what do you love most about living in Roseville oh uh I think the community is wonderful my first exposure actually is in the Ros parking rack I'm very active I walk a lot of the parks uh I I do some volunteering so I like the community we have a diverse Community but I said I repeat one more time is when I first read the thing that sent to my house and I see that uh diversity is such a big deal here uh I I like it I also like another statement that was making is the world has thrown a lot of Cur for US federal state we need to do something ourselves because we live here so I love this about the attention being paid I also need like the action being done so when I call the park and re hey there's a broken board there's a crack Road things are done well the second thing I like to there's a good inclusive listening process we having a meeting trying to do count hero e and way before you do the action you have a plan in place invite input so the process that we use in Roseville here I think is very good you're inclusive you're listening before you make decisions for the city thank you and the last question uh is uh can be sometimes the most challenging one we'll see how it goes um so sometimes uh commissions make recommendations to the Council on a matter that has a lot of stroke feelings in the community uh perhaps even from opposing points of view uh and uh that can manifest itself in in a lot of people coming to a meeting and having a lot of different points of view that they're expressing as part of the public input process so you can talk a little bit about how uh you would expect to deal with those situations and and uh how the commission might come to its recommendation as part of that I thought about this actually a lot the most because you are in front of the public you from the public and I used to think that hey well it's easier than the Schoolboard it's easier than the why actually it's not everywhere you go a long is deal with a public there is always opinions lack of facts and emotions okay so I thought about it so I would not say that this is easier but I thought that this is a very sensitive subject a very important subject to me and our city and I I won't be here to to actually be contributing by listening first get all the facts straight and do the right things knowing that the right things is always sometimes painful okay so I'm also have the attitudes I'm coming to learn because I have not been a position like this before so it's critical that whoever is in commission is humble enough to say yeah it is going to be difficult there'll be people screaming across both side uh make the best decision based on the information in correct the process being used and Dr true to yourself and true to the city I think that's the only way but it's not going to be any more difficult than deciding where to put a pickup court that is one of the bigger challenges I know I know that there are no right answers in that situation well thank you for that answer uh we appreciate that Insight um and wanted to make sure is there anything else you wanted to either ask us or anything you wanted to let us know about that we may not have covered in these these five questions well I actually did a reading I went the website I'm actually happy to see there's a lot of very good candidates so before I go I say I like to be on it because I like to volunteer I do a lot of volunteers over the last 40 years and this my as I put down my answer my favorite ones actually Park and wreck because I used to PK but I think this one needs someone that have been true hard to do it so the question I have is I really like this this the action of government at federal state and local level have created raal disparity who decided to put this in I think this very true I think it was kind of a group decision a process we've had over a number of of years actually of discussion but uh that's important it's true exactly I I appreciate this very much because they just speak to the truth and I think they speak to the importance of people stepping up and doing what we can so I'm trying to do that thank you very much we wish you luck we're going to be making our appointment decisions on uh September 9th which is our next council meeting uh and certainly uh sta you can you can follow that meeting live of course but uh certainly staff will make sure and follow up with all the applicants uh as well thank you appreciate nice to meet you yeah hand yes exactly and don't forget you there you go all right you thank you have a seat in the at one of the quadrants of the table here up good evening and uh thank you for applying for the equity and inclusion commission for the City of Roseville and I believe you may be a repeat applicant for commission with the city perhaps or am I mistaken maybe it might have been a while ago but not recently I was going to say I recognize the name unless I'm unless I'm just thinking of it from something else but regardless prob next door could be wait tell us about that that's yeah that's that's how we all know each other right these days um well again thank you for your interest in the commission for being here this evening um for the interview process um we will uh do a round of questions from the council members we do have two council members who aren't able to be here this evening so that's one of the reasons that we're videotaping and then they'll be able to watch that and and be informed in their contribution to the decision- making that we make uh at the end of this process so uh with that I think this round of questions I'm actually starting with so get right into it and then I should note that we'll have an opportunity at the end of that if there's anything we haven't covered you want to make sure we know about in support of your application or your service or any questions you have for us Perfect all right water there if we if the questions get too intense feel free to uh partake with that uh the first question is uh an opportunity for you to elaborate on your application and talk about how your experience and and skills uh relate to serving on this type of City commission so I um work in an environment of inclusion I work in housing and affordable housing for state of Minnesota so my whole career has been working with diverse communities different religions different ethnicities different capabilities I'm also a veteran I'm a disabled veteran I'm a biracial black woman so I kind of meet those di categories even though that's like a naughty word right now what we need to do is break away from that being like this negative con connotation um but I live in Rosevelt but I'm only like less than the 14% of the community that in the minority community and I see what's going on I hear what's going on I read what's going on and I want people to see that it's not always negative when they hear something like affordable housing does not bring Crime it means that your grandma who lives on $1,000 of Social Security pays $230 a month in rent and can afford her groceries and her medicine not that your the grandma that's moving in affordable housing is going to steal your car so we need to get that through to our community because when you look at the comment and everything around the community it's about oh I'm a taxpayer and I don't want this well I'm a taxpayer too and you may look at me and think you don't own a house you don't pay taxes you don't do this you don't do that but I do and I need you to see me as equal as you see yourself so it's kind of why I applied thank you and just a followup to you know of course a commission is a group of people having conversations and trying to come to consensus on recommendation to the council and do you have some experience in that type of environment either serving on boards or other things in the past or you know things that need in your experience that might help you uh be able to apply that to this work I think my role now I work as the um Federal rental assistance program for the state has put me in a position where I've had to work with the different jurisdictions the different counties the different landlord boards the different resident boards to come to a consensus of what is best and how to use the funds that were given to the state even though they're G gone um and how we can use them and make sure that the people that need the funds are getting the funds and hearing different points of view it hasn't been an easy program and there's been a lot of hate but we've done a good job I think so thank you for that added information uh Council on the next question I think I know the answer but what motivates you to be part of this volunteer commission getting the community to know I'm my kids live in Roseville I'm raising a not raising I'm helping to raise a my grandson who was black and I want him to not be looked at like oh God this kid is walking around the streets what's wrong with him I want people to know that our community is diverse and not just the seniors or the people that have lived here a really long time this is a diverse community and we're building and we're bringing people in and other people get to live on this in the community and get to make decisions that are best for everyone and again not just Equity does not mean we're excluding certain people it means it's bringing everyone to the table so that they all can have a conversation thank you cerra make please explain your understanding of the scope or duty of the commission so my understanding is that we will work with other people to come up with plans that are good for this like the City of Roseville so our opinions on things um maybe work with other community members to see like to give them an idea of what's going on um work with the inclusion the Strategic plans give feedback on things that are coming to the city so that other people can understand what's going on and get like a better idea of it's not just this it's negative everything's negative it's not but that's what it feels like thanks right change is good and the next question uh for a little bit of a change of pace here what's uh the thing you love most about living in Roseville um I would say it's kind of that small town feel but it's got all the amenities so like if I need to go run a Target it's right there but I also live kind of on a block where there's nothing behind me I live be like my house is back up to the temple over off of Dale and so no part of that's my land it just makes it seem like there's nobody it's Park like it's I'm not bothering anybody and our neighbors in our neighborhood is really quiet and we say hi to each other I wish we were more neighborly like hey let's all hang out together or have a black party but we also don't have a lot of kids on our block so I think that plays a major role in what's going on so in other blocks where there's more children there's more like togetherness where in my block there's more like adults so we don't have that yet but I wish we could get that and bring that to a lot of neighborhoods cuz I remember living in a neighborhood in St Paul and being like I'm going next door to grab sugar and just knocking out door and like walking in and now I'm like I wav my neighbors and tell them they can park their cars in my driveway during snow emergencies so nice they have a lot of cars I only have one so well that says and BR uh c m all right sometimes the commission makes a recommendation on matter that has a lot of strong feelings from the public how would you expect to deal with such situations while serving on the commission listen that's I mean you have to listen to everybody's um concerns use affordable housing as a example that always has such a negative connotation to it and you want to listen to what the community has to say or what their feelings are about it but you also want to communicate the good things about what's going to happen and let them know that you're listening to them because I think in any issue if you're being listened to that makes you feel good and you're more willing to listen to what's going on so if you have a complaint I listen and then I tell you hey how about this this is what it's going to be this is why we're doing it and you're more likely to listen first just speaking being spoken to thank you all right those are the questions we have this evening for the interview um is there anything we haven't covered yeah it goes fast anything that we haven't covered that we want to make sure we know about as part of considering your application uh for service here or any questions you have for us no I mean I think I said it I am one of the diverse members of Roseville and I want to be able to help shape and see what's going on in our community and for my KS that are growing up here and for my grandson who's growing up here so that he can feel welcome and not feel like he's well excluded in things and so as some of my daughter graduated from the alternative school so it's just we've been here a while didn't think I'd be here a while but we've been here a while so I like to see it shape so that my grandson while he's here and starts school he'll be able to feel included so um and I should note uh we'll be making our decision on as a council on the appointments for this Commission on uh September 9th which is our next council meeting okay and you can keep tabs on that and certainly uh Rachel and the staff will also make sure that all the applicants are aware of what appointments were made and and what your status is after that uh and I did note that you also noted your interest in the Planning Commission and I think one of the things we're trying to do in addition to looking at the makeup of this commission is is making sure that all of our commissions are really representative of the community uh and so certainly keep that sort of in the back pocket in case uh you don't get appointed in this particular uh process uh that usually uh in the spring around February we have applications for our other commissions uh this is kind of a special process because we're starting this one new but that's the usual timing and then sometimes in the fall there's also um if there's turnover on a commission there might be an opening so keep tabs on that as well but wish you the best of luck in this process and hopefully you do get a point thank you thanks for your time the SE to meet too have too have a seat that's your spot I to make it not too confusing as to the MC table here sound so hey I'm Gabrielle Philip Crawford and I'm uh interviewing for the equity and inclusion commission thank you for that and thank you for applying in your interest in serving in the in this capacity uh and subjecting yourselves to the to yourself to the interview this evening uh we'll try to be as easy as we can on you here it's nobody's nobody's come out with wounds or bruises anything like that so far it's looked yeah take she's worried about that yet no so U what we'll do is we'll do a round of questions from us council members here we do have two council members who are not here this evening they will be watching in the video of this and that will help them inform their decision-making um and then once we do the round of questions it's five questions here um if there's anything we haven't covered you want to make sure we know about uh feel free to let us know that at that time or if there's questions you have for us that'd be a perfect time for that sounds good thank you so much all right well we'll begin then this round of questions with council member at thank you again for being here uh how do your life experiences and skills relate to serving on a commission like this so um my background is I was a professor for six years at St Katherine University my um areas of expertise were on uh Prejudice and stereotyping particularly focused on the lgbtq community and currently I work in uh policy research and program evaluation so I have a lot of experience in exploring the impact of different programs that address equity and inclusion issues particularly around things like Workforce engagement and public benefits so I'm not only experienced with sort of thinking through these issues and how public policy impacts them but also then uh developing communication around those issues and sharing that with policy makers so a lot of experience sort of building different communication strategies to communicate around equity and inclusion thanks for being here yeah what motivates you to be part of volunteer commission so I live in Roseville I've been here for the last um nearly five years now I'm raising a child here and I I really love this community it's been a great city to live in and I think that um one thing that I've really appreciated is following overtime the the evolution of the equity and inclusion processes with the City of Roseville I can see that there's a really clear commitment to making active change in the area of equity and that's not always the case for everywhere so sometimes you see sort of let's check the boxes and do sort of a performative um you know surface level treatment of equity and inclusion issues and it looks to me from the outside so far that roseville's really trying to take an active role and really understanding that you know for example there's a big difference between being not being racist and being anti-racist and so I think that there's a lot of progress that's already been made in that area and this seems like a really great way to get involved and help continue to move that forward yeah all right uh the third question um is uh kind of expands on that a little bit in terms of can you talk about your understanding of the scope and duties of this commission and how it's how it's going to fit into the the system yeah my understanding is that the commission serves an advisory role to the city council and so um the lived experiences and areas of expertise with the commission members are a way for the um Community voice to be heard directly in the council chamber and to really communicate uh what concerns are of citizens of Roseville around issues of equity and inclusion um so I think that it's really uh a space to make sure that diverse voices are being heard here and again in that advisory capacity so recognizing that the commission members are not themselves the policy makers but are the ones that can sort of help inform and um offer recommendations around policies that are being considered right thank you uh Council M mov fast they we're intelligent clear and succinct and they are I I had I had to ask if we were going too fast sure uh what do you love most about living in Roseville I think that but um so as I said I'm raising a child here and I think that kind of the highest compliment I can pay is it feels like a good place to bring up the kid um there's there's a strong sense of community here and um in many areas where I've had the chance to interact with folks a strong sense of belonging that is fostered here so when I'm interacting with the park system here with the libraries here there's um people are deeply to working for this to for this community to be successful so I think that's been a big part of it it's just it feels like a place that is um that is safe is secure for me and for my family but also that is recognizing areas that it can improve and it seems like there's active motion active forward motion to try to identify areas for improvement and move things forward so I think that that Forward Thinking nature of the city coupled with you know the already existing um great services that are here is what makes this a good place to live for me there right and counsilman M sometimes the commission makes a recommendation on a matter that has lot of a lot of strong feelings from the public perhaps through imposing obviously quite often from proposing opposing perspective how would you expect to deal with such situations while me on the commission yeah I think that's a fantastic question and like in my mind I kind of break that down into two pieces so one is um so first I'll say that my background in teaching and in teaching and researching on topics like Prejudice and um discrimination and stereotyping um I'm definitely very accustomed to facilitating discussions on difficult topics and highly emotionally charged topics and figuring out how to bring people into that conversation and create an atmosphere where where people do feel safe sharing their opinions and I think it's important to distinguish between um feeling safe and feeling uncomfortable difficult conversations can be uncomfortable and they kind of should be they are there to push us out of our comfort zone and that's fine and that's okay but no one should feel unsafe engaging in the conversation so I think creating a space where people are able to engage respectfully and safely is key um so I would say when at the point where a recommendation has been made there are strong feelings about it I think it's about you know showing kindness showing respect and engaging in those conversations and um and I'm comfortable holding that position and not backing down recognizing that you know this this might be a difficult topic this is the stance that we've taken on it this is why um and providing enough information to people in a way that they're able to engage with so they can recognize where that decision came from um I would also say with regard to that that it can often it's not always easy to predict what's going to push buttons but sometimes you can see okay we're working on this topic there's going to be heated feelings around this so the earlier people can be engaged in that process the better the more collaborative of a process it becomes I definitely um seen this happen in organizations where I've been watching from the outside as an evaluator and organizations I've been a part of that leadership might identify an issue do lots of behind the scenes thoughtful work and try to craft what they think is the best solution put it out there and then are blindsided by the kind of push back that they get um and often it's not even that there a problem with the solution it's that people weren't asked they didn't feel like they were heard up front so I think what matters the most is if you can look ahead and see this is going to be a contentious topic um bringing the problem to people before you're bringing a solution to them here's the issue we're facing what do you guys think what are ideas out there what are your experiences around this and I think one of the key parts of that whole communication and collaboration process is people need to know you're hearing them and they need to know how what they're saying is being used like how is it going to make an impact on what's being done so not only you know not a listening session where um we just hear concerns and then you know Mi their choice that was already made behind the scenes but that you can show people we had a public session for comment here's the ideas that people raised here's how it got incorporated into changes that we made so really make Mak sure that voices are being heard and Incorporated from the beginning can can't entirely derail the reactions people are going to have but can hopefully um get more Buy in from more people earlier in the process thank you uh so is there anything we haven't covered in our brief conversation this evening you want to make sure we know about or question have for us yeah I mean I think I just want to emphasize again that I think what stands out to me about this process and kind of about the goals that Roseville has set around equity and inclusion is that it seems to be an active process of trying to actively draw people in and really um proactively change policies or change procedures or enact different things to promote the goals of equity and inclusion um which I do think stands apart from a lot of other um municipalities and um oh there was another thing I was going to say what was it yeah I I mean I would also say just that um my experience of living in Minnesota and working with the diverse communities here I think that uh this isn't unique to Rosell but you know people's ZIP code tends to be one of the strongest predictors of of outcomes right of Health outcomes educational outcomes building up being able to build up generational wealth and I think that um there's a lot that roseville's already done to create a more Equitable and integrated Community here but there's definitely still steps that can be taken so seeing that active progress is really encouraging and I think it's something that I could help contribute to thank you again and we wish you the best of luck in this process uh the council will be making our decision on September 9th at our next council meeting and staff will make sure and let everybody know the results great thank you so much for your time pleas good evening thank you you too ask me thank you continuing interest in serving we appreciate that you know I had to think a lot about it only because I have to think about what service I can provide you know that's useful that helps the community so I have answers for that if you ever want to ask them uh well I I want to officially again welcome you this evening for these interviews and uh and uh appreciate your past service to the community on the human rights inclusion engagement commission and your interest in serving on the equity and inclusion commission uh going forward here uh you're uh kind of old hat at the interview process uh so we want to spend a lot of time explaining it again to you but we certainly got council members here uh who'll do a round of questions uh and then at the end of that if there is anything we haven't covered that you want to make sure we know about uh or any questions of course that you might have for us we'll we'll make sure and give an opportunity to cover that as well and with that I believe council member graphy start this round of questions thank you Matt good to see you how do you this is we we sort of know some of these answers but we're going to go through them again anyway how do your experiences and skills relate to serving on a city commission okay first of all I did it was a little frustrating because anytime I had program proposals I was told to wait and reasonably because the the scope of the commission was open to question and has been changed so that's one uh two would be um my work with the uh to some extent with the lgbtq community as a physician um serving the needs of the HIV population um the third would be the work I've done for um the the wakon Ridge viw hospital system I upgraded their infection control system and uh developed and chaired the program for antimicrobial stewardship which is how those drugs are appropriately used and the formulary in their Hospital system so it's in andout patient but the point is it's not just developing the work plans it's um making sure that you you develop a program make it useful for the patient and uh working staff gather the data and measure the outcomes and Report federally um so I'm familiar with working with systems that are strategically developed they have Mission a vision they have goals they have specific goals for shortterm and long term they have work plans you develop around them they have outcomes that you measure and Report okay which is what I also hopefully envisioned for this new Commission so that you actually are of service you know what you've done that works what you haven't done that works what needs to be done for the next segment you know a few months a year or whatever long-term goals short-term goals and the first step in that is going to be finding what community needs um which is a little tougher for me because my connection to the community is largely through the commission and the neighborhood that I live in and the people that I know that's expanding um but I actually made a proposal to uh to our new diversity director um he's a great guy seems quite brilliant and what I told him is look whether I'm a commission member or not here's at least one thing I would like to do and that is to see if the city can sponsor a series of forums and it's not entirely about diversity or inclusion um or Equity but that's a big piece of it get the word out to the appropriate communities and subcommunities within Roseville and hold Forums on specific issues an example would be we have a circulator that that helps people with transportation that can't really provide their own but I've hearing from some people well I didn't even know that existed or it never comes to me you know when I need something and it only goes to the to the shopping malls um well no that's not true at all so when let's have a form let's bring those people in and say Here's what's available to you here's how you make use of it you know that's just one issue and making sure in terms of the inclusion and Equity part of that that um we have a stated goal to make sure that all those communities are served and uh and measure those outcomes and then report them to you guys and if we need resources that are not already provided and it's not all money I mean there's human resources as well um to know where to go to ask and see and hopefully see what response we can get to to what's needed and that's just that's a simple single issue I can go on and on I time so ask the next question say we' got five questions here so uh we're 20% of the way there um in this uh next question uh this probably is a little bit informed by your own experience once again but uh specific to this new commission uh and the fact that you're applying for it what what uh motivates you to be part of this uh commission as it's now envisioned and being put into place because it can serve the community better than we did before it can actually have a strategic plan it can have a mission and a vision it can set goals it can measure outcomes it can be directly involved with diverse members of the community to discover their needs and see how the city can serve them and how we can serve them personally which is something that we just talked and talked and talked and talked about before and and now it's time to start from the beginning and do those things and serve the community actually work and serve the and I think this commission can do it because the scope is written to give a mandate and power to do it thank you uh council member this ties to what you just said or talking about please explain your understanding of the scope or duty of the commission so you may feel like you've covered that I think I have I mean the scope the scope of the commission is uh to serve the um diverse population of the City of Roseville and sometimes Beyond um but specifically and especially the diverse population of the City of Roseville in multiple ways um and the vision is to in to is inclusivity bring bring the population in to be part of the process that affects their lives and the lives of their the people around them great thank you what do you love most about living in Roseville I knew I thought about that question for a while um the people the neighbors that I've met the enthusiasm for be for being a part of the community and doing things that that help each other out um it's Roseville [Laughter] nice um so the people is what I love the most and then I'm going to be very very honest location because we do a lot not only within the city but in both of the downtown major Twin Cities and and we're we're older I represent part of the senior population as well and um we're older and it's easier to get to those things that we need to get to and when we can it's a city which which we talking Transportation can help provide fill back need thank you uh and the last question here is um as you probably very well know um commissions can make recommendations to the city uh on matters that sometimes can be controversial and can have differing and opposing viewpoints uh from the public um and so talk a little bit about how uh as a participant on this commission you would approach that as it relates to the work of this commission answer that by example you may not remember there was a time I sat in the hawk seat and Julie strong had the most relevant question she asked about this was after um in St Paul there had have been attack on a musk and she said what is our commission doing to address the issue of um bias and hatred and and so on and I said quite frankly under the scope that we had written we had no mandate so it was imperative that we remain neutral in all such circumstances at that time and if you're going to approach an issue and bring both sides in you do need to remain neutral I mean no question but um under the new scope we have a new mandate and I could answer Julie's question a lot better and I can say we address it we address it with dialogue to begin with with a search for resources that can be potential solutions to the to the problem and getting the out to the people who need them the most um what I really don't like is when the commission goes to the city council and says we want a proclamation um specifically it's not not I'm not talking about proclamations against hatred or against that's easy right but we want to Pro Look the city I'm okay I'm Jewish all right the city of St Louis Park came out with I don't know what what whether they call it a proclamation or a statement or what but they came out with something that said we support the people of Gaza okay who doesn't they're suffering you know but there are two sides to that issue so if wants to do something like that if the city council wants to do something like that can we do advice and consent as a commission and figure out a way to help make the statement so that it's inclusive and so that it has meaning but not just walk away from the issue does that answer your question I think it does yeah well than you um well we do want to that's that's the five questions is there anything you want to make sure that uh maybe we haven't covered or questions you have for us all right well thank you again and we we didn't have a chance I don't think to say it in person when uh when you cycled off the H AC but thank you again for your work on that commission as well good roll learning but thank you all for that opportunity you know I hope you offer this opportunity which I think is far more important okay wish you luck and we make our decision on September 9th and uh enjoy the rest of your evening peace see you good you good how about you thank you for being here and make yourself comfortable thank you making my name t out that's right she soent it's your first Tas is that the technical work tonight I didn't what else would it be it is now place card yeah oh that might make that's that's for the dinner t this is not this is not a state dinner or anything all right well uh thank you for applying for the equity and inclusion commission Roseville and thank you for being here this evening uh for this uh interview process uh it's very helpful I think to the council to see people in person and get to know you uh through a set of questions um you know in addition to the information that's in the application you provided uh that really does help us make a good decision on who we appoint and and we've I think we've we've got a pretty good record of some some really great people serving on our commission and and I have to say people that didn't get appointed were pretty great due so uh that's a that's a testament to the people of Roseville so but enough about that let's uh let's get on with the process here um we'll do a round of questions from the council members that are here we do have two that are absent uh council member St and council member schroer are not able to be here so they'll watch a video of this uh and be able to be informed uh in the decision- making that we'll undertake after this great and then after that uh if there is anything we haven't covered you want to make sure and let us know uh or any questions you have for us we'll have some time for that as well sounds good all right well I think in this particular round of questions I am the first question asker so um I will uh kick it off here by asking um the question that sort of gets it all going which is what motivates you to be a part of this particular commission Rosa yeah it's a good question um I've found over the past few years of restlessness about the state of the world to not you know put it mildly uh and as I really have tried to focus on what can I really make a difference it feels like that answer is something very local and um you know I am one of those people that reads the uh Roseville city newsletter and um and in reading it I was like that actually sounds like what could be a really good fit um something that's sort of the right amount of volunteer time um I mentioned in my application that I've spent the last 10 years leading a nonprofit which a lot of our work um because we're a social justice organization working with adults coming out of incarceration um was focused on um you know busting myths and moving beyond assumptions and then of course a lot of work um around racial equity and then also equity and inclusion across a lot of other differences and so it feels like one of those spots where I have a unique uh past EXP experience that I can bring in that always feels good when you're when you got something off for your community thank you uh c m for the next question than you for being here how do your experiences and skills relate to serving on City commission yeah well first of all I want to just name my whiteness right I'm applying for something around diversity equity and inclusion and definitely don't want to take up space where I'm not needed um that being said I think that especially as a white person in our majority white community that we each including making assumptions at this table but um we all have a lot of work to do and so I think that there's a certain level of self-accountability that I can bring in being a white woman on this group or this group um I also have some really you know different areas of difference I don't have any children no plans of having children I'm a dog Mom I have a dog at home um I'm not originally from Minnesota I don't have um blood family here I'm not still friends with my friends from the second grade like often is the case right um and I have very close members of my family who identify as members of lgbtq community like there are a lot of places where um I think I can bring awareness of what difference looks like uh in our community even as I show up in the way that I do yeah I'm going to ask a quick follow up on that too uh so we the first question is more specific to this commission and then the second question is a little more broad um can you talk about have you had experience in sort of a committee type decision-making uh mode or that sort of thing yeah you know that that that might be uh instructive as to your your work on this on a commission in general yeah yep um so I'm currently a volunteer member of the board of doctors of Eureka recycling um thank you all for having them as uh a city vendor in fact um and actually it was their uh it was Eureka's last um process through the RFP that I remember it was before I lived in Roseville um seeing that there was a question around what sort of equity and inclusion work was required and that was very striking and inspiring but um so I volunteer on that group I also um in my previous role as a CEO of a nonprofit had to work with a board and lots of Comm commes and um I feel like have a fairly reasonable expectation of what it looks like to influence policy versus when you're in that decisionmaking seat which uh is you know it's always fun to shake things up uh sometimes it's harder to have restraint and uh recognize that change takes time um but also in other previous um volunteer opportunities have done a lot of committee work so I'm very versed in um collaboration and compromise and all the things I currently work in a nonprofit um I'm preparing for next week's in-person board meeting with 15 people coming together and agendas and all sorts of things so it's an area that I feel very comfortable in thank you appreciate that opportunity follow council member gr great please explain your understanding of the scope or duty of the commission yeah well I mean that's one of my questions for you all when we get to it but um definitely I have um my understanding so far has a lot to do with um a group of individuals of citizens at the city of Rosevelt providing uh input and accountability I think for part of um the next steps of what the city's plan looks like as we build a community that includes and and is thriving and um it seems as though this feels a little bit like a dust no um it seem seems as though um really being focused on the city of roseville's staff and policies and like it seems very internal rather than being perhaps like a really large picnic or like something that's more Broad and focused on the community and you could tell me later if I got that right no wrong answers okay all right especially on the next question okay so we always do this one as a bit of a a change of pace the process after a little bit of inity um can you talk about what you love most about living in rosev I enjoyed this question and I thinking about it it is a tie between all of the amazing paths U my husband and I have a dog I already mentioned clearly I love our dog so much um and we go on a lot of walks in the beautiful parks and so we can walk down to the Nature Preserve and Arboretum and Landover in Central Park and it's just it's It Feels So spoiling to be in a spot that we 20 minutes to downtown St Paul or 20 minutes to downtown Minneapolis but then also you see deer just walking in the park and so that's that's really great I'm also really in love with the bu nothing group that I'm a part of um and I it really is about community and coming from a place of abundance and that we can meet each other's needs and it is a wild thing that I have joined into but I love it so much and um it's just it's been a fun way to get to know neighbors because I'm not originally from Roseville I think that is the first time that that has are you serious question so we noting that probably trying to give [Laughter] yourself um sometimes the commission makes a recommendation on a matter that has a lot of strong feelings uh from the public perhaps opposing perspectives how would you expect to deal with such situations while serving on the commission yeah well um I think it said that criticism is a sign of commitment um so I think for as much as we think of feedback being a gift um that's really the approach that I try to take as a human I think being grounded in um each of us having a voice and a say being important and also uh continue to stay rooted in the job that we have to do as a commission um and doing all that with a lot of compassion and empathy because there are a lot of stress feelings across the Spectrum as we talk about equity and inclusion those are the questions uh is there anything you want to make sure that we know uh as we're considering your application uh that we maybe haven't covered in the questions or any questions you have for us no I mean we talked about the by nothing group so I think we're good yeah and and I have to say I think your you know your answer on the scope and duties was was okay good that was the question I was going it wasn't out in left field some of you you should be so work we this that topic especially with this commission being a new commission right has very much on our minds through this process so hopefully we all know what the scope and duties of Theiss has as well for sure yeah well thank you again for coming forward being interested and taking some time to be with us this evening for the interview uh the council will make our decision on the appointments on September 9th which is our next council meeting and we'll make sure that the staff follows up with all the applicants uh and we always want to encourage folks even if you may not be appointed because we've got more applicants than spots um there's lots of opportunities to volunteer with the city and Rachel who greeted you out there we'll be happy to help you with it thank you again and and of Lu in this process thanks so much take good care thanks for your work okay help see it around table yes yes normally there's a few more people at the table as she said some couple were SI or something yeah so we're doing the best we can this my that is perfect thank you again for applying for the equity inclusion uh Commission in the City of Roseville and for being here this evening for the interviews uh oh it's a challenge in the summer evenings to be able to get uh all the folks here so including the council uh so yeah but uh we what we'll do is we'll do a round of questions from council members uh and then we'll have an opportunity after that if there's anything that you want to make sure we know about in support of your service or anything you want to ask us at that point we'll have some time for that as well uh and our two council members that aren't with us this evening are going to be able to watch a video of this that's why we're in the chambers here so we have the ability to do that recording and provide that then for them to be informed as they are part of this decision awesome right well with that we will start this round of questions with council member at thank you for being here you of course what motivates you to be part of this uh the equity inclusion commission I uh just really value diversity um and I am just grateful to live in Roseville with all the diversity and everything that it brings um and I I mean I I grew up in southern Minnesota very much so very white very segregated um and I just appreciate all the diversity that roadfield brings and I feel like being on a committee where my voice can be heard and I can talk about that diversity in a healthy way with other members of rooseville can be really cool and just a good opportunity for me as well too hey graph I'm thanks for M care how do you your experiences and skills relate to serving on the city commission I am a mental health therapist in Roseville and so I live and serve in Roseville um and I really appreciate the diversity of clients that I work with now in an outpatient clinic um but when I was first getting licensed I drove it was in home therapy and so I drove to my clients homes and their schools and saw them sometimes two or three times a week very low economic status very high needs um children mostly that I saw but I saw got to know the families um and got to drive all around the Twin Cities and really get to know school districts and uh just families in different neighborhoods and really like see and a lot of my clients were in rough neighborhoods East St Paul North Minneapolis and to really see through their eyes like what their stresses were what they went on and I feel like I could really learn a lot from them um and I take now because of course my clients now are more um they're not as high needes I can see them weekly bi-weekly and they do okay without me um and I can now take what I learned from that and when they're talking in front of me I'm like oh I imagine this is what it was at home too um and so I believe my like skills as a therapist would make me a really great member of the committee I feel like I have a different lens that I see the world through um because of my experience and then in 20120 I actually I got trained in EMDR and so it's a um it's eye movement desensitization reprocessing it's lots of fancy words that uh helps you reprocess your memories so um through bilateral stimulation and so if there's a negative image a negative belief leaves bilateral stimulation and then um it can help you think of the memory and just like life in a more positive way and so um I feel like also that trauma lens too would um be a great asset to the committee thank you uh the third question uh it's uh very specific to the committee and this talks about uh your understanding of the the scope and duties and role of the commission uh as you would be a member of it uh can you talk a little bit about how your understanding of the the scope duties and role of the commission um I know that they meet like monthly is the commitment for meetings and then we adise other committees on not advised but I'm like work closely with other committees to bring the lens of equity and diversity with them so thank you uh coun what do you love most about living in rosone um I love the accessibility that it is to uh the to minneap in St Paul it's great to be like close to whatever happening things we love the Minnesota Twins so we frequent t f quite a bit um but I but I appreciate that it's a a suburb and not one of the big cities because I I just really I feel like a smaller suburb a smaller School District there's just a lot um a benefit to that that we don't that there's not a large school district and when I I have two young kids and so talking about school districts and seeing a bunch of them in my previous show was very important in where I wanted to uh settle down with them too and I just really love the the accessibility I love Central Park I love um all the different activities that Roseville has to offer and just then just the diversity and people that live here it's um it's just really refreshing knowing we can all coexist and do well do well together so good and council member C last question sometimes the commission makes a recommendation on a map that has a lot of strong feelings from the public perhaps the from opposing perspective how would you expect to deal with such situations while serving on the commission um well dealing with the public can be interesting because some of them could be my clients and so that could be potentially confidential um but uh uh but regardless I I would I would hope that um they would trust members like yourself that you did a thorough interviewing process that I um would be a good person to be on the committee and so that they would trust the officials enough to make those good decisions to have somebody like me on the committee but also um I also believe that their concerns and their voice matter as well too and so maybe it's something that we didn't think about on the committee that we could bring back up at another meeting of like well did we think about this or do we need to change a statute or think about something differently um to make sure we are including uh their perspective um and I I believe and I I try to preach and teach my clients the only words that are in my office are you matter and so like their voices matter no matter if they're on the committee or not and so um it shouldn't be taken lately because they're probably not the only person with that that voice and so um that it can be a learning a collaborative voice that we can use if members of the committee do not maybe we're all aligned on one thing and then this outside voice has something different so um it can help us learn and grow and think about a different lines that we're not thinking about thank you thanks well that's the questions aome um and thank you for again for participating is there anything you want to uh if we didn't cover Through the questions you want to make sure and emphasize in support of your application or any questions you have for us I I guess I was curious how long do the terms like is it like a you know do yearly do you have a math degree I don't give numbers that's my husband see we'll we'll do the math at this at this end of things but but because it's a new commission there's a little bit of variability there okay so a typical commission appointment is three years okay um and then what we'll do because it's a new commission is you know some people will be three years some will be two and some will be one so that we build that's why right puzle and and still within our own rules about commissions anyone who serves a partial term can still serve up to two full terms you know in addition to that okay so we but not that you have to it's just that there's the opportunity to um so but it's essentially years or nine years that you could potentially potentially okay got it six or eight I guess so eight would be the max probably yeah if you if you had two initial and then two full three-year terms that would be eight um but once again you don't have to sign up for the full eight on day one um and and certainly honestly and and maybe we'll we'll uh as I think about it we might want uh you know Rachel to follow up with folks if you'd prefer start with a shorter term than the full three years you know that might be something to feedback to us as we're making our appointments uh and so we'll make sure and do that but so I appreciate you asking that question my husband was on a alumni board at our Alma Mo and I feel like with Co he's been on it for a really long time so I'm happy for him but I'm like GL over well I think the general best practice is to have some turnover in term I know nonprofit boards it's actually something that the the critiquers of those boards look at you know if you don't have turn limits and I've talked to other cities where they've had like Commissioners that have been on commissions for like dozens of years so it's just yeah it's a it's a different way of doing business so so anyway that's the answer to that anything else you wanted to cover this evening or you I don't think so I guess any last questions for me do you feel like you got what you needed I think so I think that was very helpful and we always appre getting to know people in person as opposed to just trying to make decisions off the coal paper so really once again glad you could be here this evening and that that worked out and now you get to enjoy the rest of your evening while we finish this process yes you can get some time outside yeah I think it's still a little bit light out yeah it's just a question of when mosquito not too bad we've got a seat already ready for you here at the table Jason good meet you Jason Dan I'm Dan Mr Mayor how you doing I've seen you before Wayne yes good to see you again yeah you bet hard there oh um I should have lted that uh that Hufford was not able to be here this evening but still does want to be considered and so we're moving is it this Su that was just I just stere so this is Dan so that's where we're at in the agenda you are dor just sometimes the the order of things changes up on us so we're just going to make sure we're all on the same page here but uh that being said thank you uh for your interest in serving on this brand new commission for the City of Roseville uh and also for your ability and willingness to be here this evening for an interview uh we do find that it's uh extremely helpful to the process of making appointments uh that we see folks in person and get to know you through this process and so what we'll do is um I should say we're recording this on video because we've got two coun members who aren't here this evening uh we actually always record it on video but that's a specific reason that we need to do it this evening is so they can be informed as well in the decisionmaking um uh but with those of us who are here will ask a series of questions about five um and then um after that if we haven't covered something you want to make sure we know about uh there's an opportunity for you to emphasize that or if there's any questions you want to ask us uh and then you'll be free to enjoy the rest of your evening all right so with that um I believe on this round of questions uh questions council member gra you start okay good to start with me um and it's an easy one in some ways what what motivates you to be part of this commission uh I think uh Roseville is as I walk around the park a lot Central Park mainly it's really diverse I enjoy diversity we used to live in less diverse communities and we I was born and raised in sh you and we felt like we were kind of coming home to move to Roseville from the more Northern Community um I'm a suburb of rville yeah right yes yes exactly that's what we like to say yeah um I'm a admitted foodie uh leaning towards Asian food so all my haunts are kind of the university area and this is proximately proximately close to that um I have been involved uh for a number of years well number of years haven't done it but two three years before that we to undertook an effort to called Labor Day project to try to explore Dei um Centric LGBT Centric uh Workforce opportunities and we had a number of people with different perspectives my perspective was always there's missed opportunity by this by businesses to not be accepting of the other and so I that was the direction I took towards it so we actually did like a two-year effort um video based and to try to educate business owners to missed opportunities in not being accepting of a diverse and Equitable Workforce um that was a little bit before it became in Vogue and way before it became a political Hot Potato so I'm keenly aware of person on a personal level of the political sensitivities of that thanks so the second question uh expands more broadly than just this specific commission and talks about um how how uh does your experience and your skills uh relate to serving on a commission in that sort of group uh environment uh if you could talk a little bit about that well I've never been on a commission but um when the um I only this group W I believe before it was Comcast oh and uh as part of their license by the cities would have to do cable uh you know provide equipment provide technology Studio space I was on the original cable committee um of that commission okay um so I go way back that was back right out of high school um I've been interested in that space as just more opportunities to help help cities that I was involved with it's kind so right is that a good enough answer they're all good as asress there's no wrong answerers right right I'm just trying to help uh help inform our decision making uh council member in the third question please explain you're understanding the scope and duty of the commission we you're applied for here I don't have a clue that's my answer I don't actually believe you let's push back I can I guess most of it being a new commission would be aspirational and I see it as a possibility to interject thoughts and goals and dreams um I certainly would expect that as part of a quote advisory commission to the council we'd be chewing on stuff and coming up to a consensus prior to presenting a recommendation but in broader terms no I don't know what you guys are planning council member gra so what do you love most about living in Roseville that's a tough one I know thought about that question like where do I start yeah um again proximity of the Cities but that's not that's low on the list I love the the services fire utilities police Parks parks and record is incredible um I'm kind of I kind of my second home is is uh Central Park been there all the time um probably not Corey but uh Matt probably gets tired of my emails because every time I see graffiti I take pictures of it and he's he's got it licked the next day it's amazing trees down email fixed t p fixed uh so that's a big big part um I do really appreciate the diversity coming back to that it's a community that I said you know when I saw it driving down past Lexington on the sign or a diverse community and they're putting that on a sign that to me is impressive you know especially when somebody flying a rainbow flag can get hate mail and this and that I realize how high topic it is um so that's a big deal to me to live in a city that's inclusive like that uh now from the the sort of softball question to more of a a hard nose question I guess um uh but this is the last one uh sometimes commissions make recommendations to the Council on topics that might be uh might have strong opinions on both sides and and a lot of participation from the public at a commission meeting uh where that issue is being discussed um can you talk about uh how you would expect to deal with those types of situations while serving on the commission and I thought about that question and I think um a lot of it is you have to pick your battles but the other is you have to let a lot of stuff roll off your back um I know you guys are in that hot seat all the time so I don't see it as any different and uh when I I guess uh one of the council members in the last cycle will appreciate this when I came to their defense on some negative issues that presented themselves um I stuck my my my neck out and emailed the person and was pretty inflammatory story and I think I included you on that chain um but you got to let stuff go you can't let it chew at you you know if I start getting threats of getting firebomb yeah this be an issue but that's why I'm glad we have a police force that responds within three minutes with four squats right thank you yep was there anything else you wanted to make sure we knew about in support of your application or your service you know the thing I'll say is one you always hear what Dei as a buzzword as an acronym and since it's gotten more political they're trying to rearrange the order of that and you know different political Persuasions are wanting more or less of it I think a lot of people are missing the boat when they don't add an a to that and what that means is you can be diverse and you can be Equitable and you can be inclusive by paper by edict from up on high but until people really own that and and a accept those things you're not going to have real change in in again my Direction workforces but also as a community so to get true acceptance is the LA is the least of the you can't articulate really on paper it's more of an emotion with between people and the way I've also approached that status for communication the more people get to know each other face to face barriers start coming down and there's nothing that an HR manual can teach you about that I've done a lot of HR with for companies in HR and we do these diversity trainings we do these you know Workforce trainings you know everything from Dei to lgbtq2 sexual harassment but you got to personalize it make it real for people and that's when the startch sticker all right well thank you again for applying and for being a part of this and uh we wish you the best of luck the council will be making our decision on September 9th uh and we'll make sure that staff follows up with everybody to let you know uh anyone who doesn't get appointed because we only have seven seats and more than that number of applicants we certainly encourage people to to find other ways and and continue to be involved with the city because we couldn't do what we do without a lot of volunteer help so I really appreciate when folks like you come forward super we don't want we don't lose that opportunity yeah no well thanks for your time guys no problem don't forget your water and your son yeah e I have a seat at the table so I didn't know how this is going to go but I I come from the business world and so I brought my resume and I printed them so like to hand them out un problem yeah and if you do have a couple extra copies to give to Rachel so she can give them to the uh yep all right thank you Jason to give to Rachel we'll give them to the other coun members thank you for being here this evening and for your interest in serving on the equity inclusion Commission in Roseville um we appreciate folks coming forward from the community and wanting to serve in these ways uh and we also appreciate the opportunity to get to know you in person as part of that process so thank you for that um I'll just talk a little bit about what the process will be so you understand going into it a little bit uh and then uh you'll will there'll be about 10 minutes here and you'll be able to enjoy hopefully the rest of your evening uh with that what we'll do is a round of questions from the council members uh we do have two council members who aren't able to be here this evening uh and they'll be watching the video later to be able to see uh the interview and be able to be informed in their part of the decision-making uh and then once we've done our round of about five questions if there's uh something we maybe didn't cover that you want to make sure we know about uh or a question you might have for us we'll have a little bit of time for that as well good all right well with that um the first round of questions this time will start with me uh and the first question is uh specific to this commission brand new commission here uh what motivates you to want to be a part of this particular commission yeah so to be honest like I didn't know what I was getting into kind of post colle you know working um and my you know my orall goal for the longest time my parents kind of instilled is always like you have to you know go and get a job and claim the corporate ladder because for honestly like money wasn't you know my parents went through a lot of financial trauma in India you know and that was very important but recently a couple months ago my grandfather died and before he died he mentioned like oh I shouldn't have focused so much I should have focused on things and giving back into something I took very personally um so it was a combination of like that kind of inspired someone the Civil Service um but also was something I've always had in mind one of my favorite shows is westwing I binge washed it um during the pandemic and so you're way too young to knowbody yeah um it was on Netflix and I watched it and you know everyone talk about policy is you know Democrat Republican whatever but I feel like the worldall show that message was civil service and one of my favorite lines that I I like it so much is that Jed Bartlett who is the president of the show said that decisions are made by those who show up and I feel like you know whether that state government TR government here people take that for granted and I feel like this is kind of my step in doing that if that makes sense thank you uh council member second question broadly how do your experiences and skills relate to serving on a City at advisory commission yeah I guess I could speak specifically to this Commission because I talked to Antonio Montes who's the equity inclusion manager I guess I don't know what it was and so I know obviously coming into this I wanted to speak with him and on what his aspirations were for the commission and one thing he mentioned was that he wanted you know this commission to be helped making decisions a part of all the other commissions so you have to understand you know what the finance commission does what the parks and uh Parks and Recreation Commission does and you know I work at 3M it's a very large organization and one thing you know I've seen over the last three years um you know I'm in finance but I have an IT background and I actually interned in tham's IT department and thr's finance department and I'd say my big value ad is that very very few people can take that step back and see the large picture of like multiple functions you know people in finance normally they just kind of stick in their Finance Silo and then people in it stick in their it Silo and very few people take that like step back and say okay what's happening here right and I was even talking to racial yesterday I was like okay well uh 10 minutes ago and I asked her oh like what communication does the Planning Commission have with the finance commission what and she's like oh they don't talk at all right and I think that's to the detriment to everyone right I feel like a lot of things can be solved by just simple communication and the cross collaboration which is definitely um something uh this commission needs to be able to do and something I've been able to navigate the 3M which you know they're a huge company with like 90,000 employees council member girl thanks from please explain your understanding of the scope or duty of the commission you life yeah um I guess I can answer that already um but specifically um you know kind of my background right diversity doesn't you know just mean race and means like everything and when I filled in the form obviously I was born in India but I moved to the United States so when I was um you know my parents always changing but I was very young three four five um and I remember how difficult it was uh when I first moved here and my first job in college which I don't know if I put it on my resume or maybe I removed it was um in college I was uh English and math tutor to Somalian Ethiopian refugees and though I can't speak amaric or Ethiopian I could relate to that fact of like okay I'm in a different place I don't have like that Family Foundation or that Network just my parents and me and I remember how difficult it was for me not having that first moving here you know I feel like everyone talks about diversity Equity inclusion now but but was not really much of a thing in the early 2000s and so I feel like that perspective and my background can help provide value to this commission uh the next question is um uh what do you love most about living in Roseville yeah um so you know obviously I was in college campus you know I grew up um kind of all over the us cuz my dad was a consultant um but only I moved to uh Minnesota um for college and so I didn't know much about the Twin Cities and you know my first um I guess housing after college was actually downtown Minnesota and then most recently I moved to Roseville this year so it's very different experience at Suburban life and one thing I really like is the parks here there's so many um I just especially in the summer and we had really nice weather this year um I went to like the reservoir Woods Park and I just sing like that huge tank and just walking and I the history of it and how actually it was made by a group of people coming together and saying hey this a really nice area we should maintain it which again goes back to you know that initial thing I said decisions are made by those who show up right and and now it's such a nice park um and I live near Lake aaso which is actually right here um and I found I don't know what the name of the trail was but there's one that goes right across 694 and Lake V I think it's again very wellmaintained and I think as I get older I'm realizing the importance of conservation and I think Roseville does a really good job with that um because I don't think you know downtown Minneapolis does not have as many parks and is also not as wellmaintained for sure so thank you right do all right sometimes the commission uh makes a recommendation a matter that has a lot of strong feelings from the public U perhaps some strong opposing perspectives how would you expect to deal with such situations while serving on the commission yeah so in Indian culture people pleasing is a big part of it right and it's something that always kind of affected me throughout like most of my life and even a little bit to this day and one of the things you know again after college you know just working I didn't want my whole identity to just be with my job and one of the reasons I'm doing this too um but I actually got kind of my side hustle was I don't know if you watch Tennis but if you know the people who like sit in the middle in the umpires and call the ball out in I got certified to do that it's not that fancy um I've had a lot of parents shout at me but going back going back to the question you you ask you have to make decisions that not everyone agrees with and especially in sports sometimes the calls very binary and what I realized is no matter what I do if I call the ball in or out people someone's going to get mad especially again with parents and they're so passioned and I feel like that role um in help especially helping my job actually at 3M is it forced me to be more assertive right because again like you said you're going to make decisions that not everyone's going to be happy with and you kind of have to kind of stand your ground at times and again don't have to be aggressive and Sh or anything but you know again I think the best word to use is being assertive and definitely being that tennis umpire has really helped me grow there from that people pleasing mindset I guess thank you well that is the five questions uh is there something that you want to make sure we know about in uh consideration of your service on this commission uh that we maybe haven't covered or that you want to emphasize some more or uh questions that you might have for us yeah I have a couple questions written down because I talked to Antonio about it and I also wanted to ask you but obviously one big conversation we had was with the SRE the Strategic racial Equity action plan um what do you think obviously that was implemented a couple years ago what do you think has gone well with it and what do you think has gone poorly with it because obviously this commission is probably be somewhat a part of that and so kind of having your opinion and your experience um would be important as I you know potentially join this commission well we certainly don't want uh to bias you as to well you've got to do what you know people pleasing you got to do what the council says is the the good and the bad with it but I think um hopefully it would be reasonable to say um that uh one of the objectives is is the you know is actually to try to improve the diversity of our commissions uh and this Council um and um you know I think we're still trying to work on that and and figuring out ways to to do that and um uh you know one of the one of the things that has continued to be a challenge just to get off on a little bit of a tangent from my perspective is um that it's easy to think about making sure that applicants and appointments are diverse on a commission that is our former human rights and inclusion commission or uh or this commission uh but we really need to think about it across the board and everything that the city does and also on the hiring side and I think that we've made a lot of strides on the hiring side but I think it it's fair to say that we need to do more on the side of recruiting people for our commissions and I'll let other I think we want to have our city reflect more of the population our population has changed in the last 50 years and our our staff and our commissions haven't changed as much so one of our goals is to do that and and it's partly about action you know we've done a lot of work with the you know planning and all those sorts of things but we want to make these in inter actionable uh for sure yeah so that that's my take on it I don't have a lot to add but I think one one of the purposes for this commission is to look at what progress made and make recommendations for next steps or adjustments or things like that so I don't part of the work and to bring back ideas to the city council yeah and I don't know if Rosell does this so relatively neut to everything but one thing you know where my parents live in Dallas obviously Dallas is a very big metro area lots of diversity um specifically my parents live in a city called Irving so like kind of like Rosel in like the Twin Cities and one thing the mayor really made a big push for is having a lot of cultural celebrations of one that's most on so especially from India you know they have a holy celebration and the celebration and even though like he's a white guy you know he came in and threw all and I think again it really helps the community believe in you as a leader if you're willing to go out of your comfort zone and they have events like that and I think I don't think Rosell has anything again I'm a bias for Indian culture but I also know they have one for Chinese New Year and other cultures as well um so that was definitely in one of my ideas I just want to bring up as possible with Antonio and the commission if I'm able to join it sure sure well and I think we have talked about that in terms of like even incorporating cultural celebrations into our Rose Fest or or even just other ways of doing that and so it's something that's been on our radar but yeah not a lot of action has been taken in that regard so appreciate that feedback yeah yeah so no I appreciate that were there any other questions you had that was one but uh you said you had a couple so no you're like trying to make it every 10 minutes um but yeah of course I gave you my resume uh feel free to you know ask you know email me or ask other questions 100% more than willing um to answer anything that you may have and thank you for your time you bet and thank you for your interest and we do have to say too we're always appreciative of very new residents being uh jumping right into trying to serve in the community uh and if it happens to not be in this commission I know you expressed interest also in the finance commission there would probably be some openings on the finance commission later uh in the spring uh so uh you know if it doesn't happen here keep keep your name in the in the ring here and uh uh who knows maybe someday you'll be sitting in this maybe all right thank you again yep thank you and good luck to you e SE heart seat hi I'm Jessica Jess thank you all right well we thank you for applying for the commission and being willing to serve on this brand new Commission in Roseville uh and for taking the time to be with us this evening as part of this interview process um I think we've found over the years we've been you know city's been interviewing candidates for commissions for many years and it is really uh the only way to to make a good decision is to see and and you know know people in person so we really appreciate your ability to do that uh and and uh what we'll do as far as the process is we'll do a round of questions from the council members uh that are here uh and there's about five questions uh and then if there's something we haven't covered at that point you want to make sure and emphasized it in support of your service uh or any questions you have for the council at that point that'd be an opportunity to do that I just know not that we don't have all five council members here this evening a couple are not able to be here uh we will be recording this on video and they'll be able to watch as a followup so we'll be all informed as we make our decisions uh with that um our first uh round of questions uh will start then with council member thank you again for being here um what motivates you to be part of this specific Comm commission Equity inclusion commission I have a strong professional and personal interest in equity and inclusion um my background professionally is a I was a public library director a librarian 17year career doing that uh and I got involved with equity and inclusion um when when I was a librarian uh so I have that background and then personally um something I passionately care about right thank you mov how do your experiences and skills relate to serving the equity and inclusion commission so I'll follow with some examples there and just to to clarify that the question is about sort of serving on a commission more General true or on a board oh okay uh so as a public librarian uh particularly as a director I was on everything all the commissions maybe not quite all but yeah like marketing and finance and I attended the common Council meetings each month whether I wanted to or not budget meetings things like that yeah so I'm I'm for valer uh the third question is if you could take a moment to explain your understanding of the scope and duties and role of this particular commission uh so part of what interested me especially was that it looks like a it is an advisory capacity which is nice the buck doesn't stop with me um yes it's just sort of an advisory capacity uh particularly with boring policy and things like that and then translating policy in practice into uh messages that a community might enjoy reading I'm good with both sides of those massaging that I'm an editor now used to be a library and now I'm an editor and so uh I have the experience looking at these documents and saying you know what we should revise it this way because this was unintentionally offensive that kind of thing and then figuring out how to translate it from here's the statement that we people in one room voted on how do we communicate this out to make a difference in people's lives I'm good with that translation as well thank you there okay um what do you love most about living in Roseville so I've been here for three months yeah yeah booked it from Wisconsin and let me tell you what truly to Rose that's really the question uh so as a self-employed home editor I could have moved anywhere within practical considerations there is a housing market crisis right now and trying to find a place to live did limit my options somewhat you know looking within my budget I wanted Wisconsin or Minnesota for the climate I like this area I love the Upper Midwest and Roseville one because when I looked at the houses that were dog friendly and had air condition wearing my budget this was the one that was near the trails so this is a beautiful city I was nervous about moving from a DOT of 6,000 people to an area of 3 million and it's fine because I can step outside and see a deer when I need to thank you and member garage thanks for the answer there an interesting that you said you chose this you know that was a good perspective I think this is a little harder question okay sometimes the commission makes a recommendation on a matter that has a lot of strong feelings from the Public Public often with opposing positions how would you expect to deal with such situations while serving on the commission I was a public library director when we were the only shop in town requiring masks oh I survive that just fine uh um you stick to the message that's that's what it is and you had to believe in it sometimes you have to work harder to make yourself believe in some messages than others but that's what being an adult is that is the five questions um we appreciate your answers to those is there anything you want to emphasize once again uh that we maybe didn't cover Through the questions in support of your service or questions you might have for us don't think so thank you for taking the time that's fair and thank you once again for uh both applying as well as taking the time uh we've got uh I think two applicants this evening that were less than year about a year in Roseville shortened amount of time and we and we had that in our last round of commission appointments too a couple of folks and so really nice to see that we've got folks that are jumping right in with it serves me too this is how I get to be part of the community and I saw the number one bullet point was the community one and that's what we that's what every Community struggles with how do we build that Community that's what every individuals struggles with and I think this would be a great way for me personally plus it would be helpful for you guys so that's how I'm looking at it all right we wish you luck in the process and we'll be making our Council decision on September 9th uh and certainly Rachel and staff will follow up with everybody uh and let you know how we how we did uh or how you did and you'll know how we did by how you did I guess but um that being said once again uh thank you and uh enjoy the rest of your thanks nice to meet you as well do you think the others will be here uh I don't think the others will be here zor miss withdrew oh Z M okay I got to make thank you I said before hman is still interested but not and no no sign of sh sh all right well we were supposed to be done by 7:45 and it's now after 7:45 so she should have been here by now I think at that point why go ahead and have followup from staff with her and just make sure she's still interested and then we follow up afterwards like the other applicant thank you again Rachel appreciate it uh and with that uh the special meeting to interview uh candidates for the inclusion commission is ajour thanks