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Home My WebLink About2025.09.04 SERJAC minutes A r"'ol ,HLAND SOCIAL EQUITY AND RACIAL JUSTICE, ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING MINUTES September 4, 2,0215 Siskiyou Room - 51 Winburin Way - 4:30ipm 1. Calli to Order and W&Icoimie Coim err i-tte,e Members present:Jdhn TyIer, Cassie Preskenis, Catherine Greensp gun, seanSmi-th,AIlison Mendel,and EmilySiimon Council Liaiii on Ipresent:Gina DuQueinne,and Jeff Dahle ,St� Ipresent: Kerrick Good en Guest presenter: Micah BlackLight 1. Land Acknowledgment-Weackinlowledge and honor the aboriigiin,61 it on whiose ancestral homelands we work,-the lkirakutsurn Band ,ofthie Shasta Nation, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities,whin, make their hiome here today. Wedenouncethle egregious acts of the colonizers and governmentand irecognizethie hiorrific,impacts,that,still existtoday. We honor thefirst stewards,in the Riogue Valley and the lands we loveand depend on: Tribes with ancestral lands,in and surro,uni iin��,gi,tlh,e,gi,eo,graphy of t1he Ashland Watershed include the original pias,t, present and future ind'iiige,nous,inhabitants of tbe ShastaT Takelma and Atha,baska n people. Wealso reGOgnizeand acknowledige the Shasta villageof K T wakhak,hia -"Wherethie Crow, Lights"-that, is iniowthie Ashland City, Plaza Simon read the lanid acknowledgm�ent 2. Labor Acknowledgment-Wealso, pauseto reco gin ize and acknowledge t1he labor uipon�which our couintry, state,, and in slit uitions are built. We rememberthiat i country is built oni the labor ofenslaved peopile w'hio were kidnapped and brought tiothie 'U.S.from the African continent and recognizethie continuied contribuitioni f their suirivivors., We also, acknowledge all immigrant labor, including voluntaryl involuintaryi traffickedi forced, and undocumented peoples who GOntributedtothie building of the couintryand GGntinue to, serve withi[n i labor force. We acknowledigeall uinpaid care-giving labor. To t1he people who contiributed t1his immeasuirable work and t1heir descendants, we acknowledgeth,eir indelible markon the space in� whi&h wegathier tioday. It is our collective responsibility,to critically examine thesie histiories, to repair harmT and 'to honor, protect, and suistain their GOntributilion to-ouir sodiety. Tyler ire ad t1hi Illabor ackinl owl edgm,ent II. Approval of'Uinutes, 1. Approval of minutesfrom the 8.7.2025 reguilar me,eting Tyler mioved,to approvethie miiinuites.,The motionwas seconded Iby Pair esikenis.A11 Ayes. Thie miotion pas,sed. III., Speciiall Presentafilon -Micah BlackLiight 1-1 Anciestor's Future: C,rystaffizinigi Our Call Micah BlackLight presented t1he Iback,grounid and current statusof His projed:Ancestor's Future:Crystallizing Our Call.(S,ee agienida packet) BlackLight exp!aiined the pr jed�w liiinspiiired by,the'Say Their N[ames'rneimoirial and Ihas received Parks approval for installation at Ashland Creek Park,and has received Illocal suppoftanid ite i,onal attention. Black light explained the projed liis ready,to receive funding toac-tualize a 3-D itendering which will einable a more accurate estimate of t1hie total Iproject cost. Doinations,for t1hie projed are currently Ibeing accepted by the Parks Foundation, Ibut fiscal sponsorship,was,recently secured through t1hie Peace House and funids re,ceived by,the Parks Founda-flion,will transf er over(currently around $30K) The committee discussed th,e History of the'Say Their Ili 'W rn,emoirial at itailroad Ipark, li4s vandalism, anid the recent permanent playwrights' Iplaque installation there featuring a quote from Lorraine 1-lansberry.,Th,e commi-ttee discussed t1hiese effoirts as stepping stones for BlackLight i's proj ed.The committee discussed that the Oregon Reim e nip ran Project and Ash IIand Sun iriiis Projed are Ib,ehind this,as itsupports repair and reconciliation.The The committee discussed Ihow ifc,anslupp,ort th iii Iproject and asked BlackLight to let the comm iittee know how it can support im oving forward. 1. Ancestor I s, Future: 2ystallizing Our Call: https://as,hiaindpark,s,"founidatioin rig/crysta 11 ii zi n g-our cal 2. Presentation I'V. Public Forum none V. Liaison Updates and Reports,, 1. Updatefforn current liaison assignments: ,Greenspan— Planning Commission Tyler—Climate and Energy, Policy Advisory Comrnifte,e Sage—Historic Preservation Advisory Cornrnifte,e Preskenis—'Transportation Advisory Corn rnifte,e Simon— Public Arts,Advisory Comrnifte,e Mend&l—Housing and Hurnains Services Advisory Com rim iftee Smith-- Parks Greenspan:The last planning meefing included discussio,n�about what is considered to,be'affordable'housing in a pa,irticiul,a,ir,devello�pni�ent: IIIs a 500 square-foot dwellinig at$400K really consideiredaffordable O'ust dlue to its small size)compared to other welllliiin liiin the same devellopment? Tyler: Discussion at the last CEP AC meeting included consideration of agas tax that would affect out six stations in the City with the majority,of expected revenue cominig from out of the area. Discussion Su l iiincluded EV and electric bicycle rebates. ,Sagle: Giood4n updated the commiftee that the received Sage's formal ite igna-tio,n�from the committee earlier in the day,,.,, Rreske rug is:was not able to make the last TAC meeting Simon:�did imruot make the last FAA C meeitinig. DuQuenne shared that Kate Russell and Peter Finkle llooked at and adopted art for the traffic-signal Iboxes 1project. Preskenis added that unselected art will be held for new events. The committee coinsidered a futu ire aBien da Rem for discussing the idea of relocatinig the statue of'Pioneer Mike'fronip Ashland Plaza �in itepla&inig it with something that might reflect the City better,such as the second Guanajuato, Heart that irueeds a permanent home The committee discussed Ihow to solicit alternative views of this ildea,and considered approaching Finkle for sugglestions. Mendel: HRSAC had its last meeting at Opportunities for Housing, IResources,anid Assistance(Ol-IRA)with a full tour. Discussio iincluded that 65%,of GHRA's budget goes to navigation services.The committeediscuused its interest liin Ihearing from the new 2,200 Ashland Street Commi-ttee once it,gets off the,ground,and considered how it might support Ash land's unhoused population. Smi-th: IParks disciussi,on includedsliding scale fees for the Community Center and Pioneer Hall which are not yet set'.11 Smi-th and !Vlendel[:CoCoConvo-(Monthly meeting of comma mittee chairs)-Smith and Mendel attended and discussion indluded the proposed Enhanced Law Enforcement Area,(ELEA)ordiiiin,a,inc,e,.,,'Tlhle,coimmitte,e discussed adding this as an agenda item for SERJAC to,consider andcome up with a posifion,which us up for a first iteading onSeptember 16th City Council impeeting. Discussion I iiincluded how the 2200 Ashlandstreet facility and rellated programming will Ibe able to,supp,ort Ashland's unholused Ipopulation. VI. Unfinished Business 1. Belonging Survey- Update from subGOMmifte,e and commiffee discussion� on� use Commi-ttee requested that Council Liaisons seek.Counci]Airectiionon how to co ct,compile,and report results from the BeJoingi ire g Survey. IDisciussion included benefits of multiple impodes inconductinig thesurvey,such as Iby eledronic means such as Survey Monkey, in-personwifh paper surveys while tabling at localevents,and/or locations such as the Food Bank,online through the City's welbsite and/or City Manager"' irep rt,and through inewsletters an d/or,oth,er,oirga,inizations' Iplatforms. -Preskeinis offered to,stairtaworki ire g group to consider format, tic. 2. Community,Genter,and Pioneer,Ha[l Fark s Fe,es-d its cussion I Collaboration with Housing and Hurnan�Services Advisory Cornrnifte,e on the Equitable Housing Plan VII. New Business, 1. Rescheduling October's Regularly,Scheduled Me,eting-Conflict with Yorn Kippur Commi-ttee discussedanid decided to move SERJAC's next regular meetinig to ThursdaY,Oct 9 4:30 in the Otte- Peterson of rein Room at the Grove. 2. Thank yolu lefter to,the editor of the Sneak Preview The committee briefly reviewed this item with no further discus silo n. VIIIIII., Amo ins emienU-and Evei ts 1. BASE Comedy Jam- September 5-7:00-1 1:--FM a,at TIC e Historic Howl ly'Theatre -226 W. 6th St.,, Medford Oregon: https:ffbasegreigon org/event/base-comedy-jam/ 2. Ashland Sunrise Project's.Gelit Into Acti September 8, 2025-5:30-TOORM Ashland Public Llbrar s,://asI n�dtolgetheir.org/even�t/'Iiinto-act,iion/ IX. Adjournment Me,et�i��nigi,w,a,s,a,djour�ned at 6:02PM