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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020_12_07 Racial Equity Taskforce Minutes Minutes of the Racial Equity Task Force of the Town of Mamaroneck Held December 7, 2020 at 7:00 pm, via Zoom Present: Councilman Jeffery King (Chairperson), Councilwoman Sabrina Fiddelman, Helen Horsham- Bertels, Diana Lovett, Andrew Tannenbaum, Gonzalo S. Zeballos, Town Supervisor Nancy Seligson, Town Administrator Stephen Altieri, Police Chief Paul Creazzo th I. December 17 Public Listening Forum The format of the public meeting was discussed. All committee members, Supervisor Seligson, Mr. Altieri and Chief Creazzo will be on the Zoom panel. (Subsequent to the meeting, there is a discussion as to whether or not Chief Creazzo should be on the Zoom panel). Assistant Town Administrator Lindsey Luft will be on the panel but not visible so that she may act as the gate keeper and allow attendees into the meeting one by one. She will also be able to protect the identity of any attendee who does not wish their name to be visible on the Zoom. Supervisor Seligson will welcome all attendees and, briefly frame the discussion and introduce Councilman King. Councilman King will provide background on Executive Order 203, The Racial Justice Task Force and the process for making comments this evening. He will also remind people of the existence of the survey and direct people to it. He will introduce each member of the panel and ask us each to give our own brief introduction. Then attendees will then be welcomed in, one at a time to make comments regarding their feelings about and interactions with the Town of Mamaroneck Police Department. Because this is intended to be an information gathering session and a listening meeting, the panel will not respond to attendees except perhaps to clarify details. II. Discussion of Publicity for the Survey The survey, which was finalized by the Task Force in advance of this meeting, will be posted on the Town website on Tuesday December 15 or Wednesday, December 16, but before the meeting of Thursday December, 17. It will be available from a banner on the Town Website. It will be available in English and Spanish. The cover letter and survey will be posted as one complete document. Mr. Altieri and his staff will prepare all publicity materials. It was agreed that it would be publicized on the Town website, via a Robocall and Town email. Supervisor Seligson will mention it at every Town Board meeting. The Town will post a sign at the corner of Weaver Street and Palmer Avenue pointing people to it. And, a press release will be written and distributed to the local print media, LMCMedia. It will be posted on the Town’s Facebook page and on Next Door. We will reach out to the Murray Avenue PTA and Saints John and Paul rectory and ask that it be included in the weekly news to parents. The press release will also be shared with the Larchmont Gardens and Howell Park Civic Associations and the Boards of the apartment buildings in the Town of Mamaroneck. We will try to post signs in these apartment buildings, as well. We expect to close the survey in early to mid-January. We are hoping for a response rate of 20% of households and will try to provide enough publicity to achieve that goal. III. Police Report Several members of the Task Force sent follow-up questions to Mr. Altieri for Chief Creazzo. Due to the short timeframe, the answers will be provided at the next Task Force meeting. Mr. Altieri and Chief Creazzo asked for some clarification regarding some of the questions. Ms. Horsham-Bertels suggested that the Task Force have a listening session with police officers. The other members of the Task Force and Chief Creazzo thought this would be a good and productive idea. Chief Creazzo stated that New York State is generally progressive in its policies regarding law enforcement. The Committee agreed but pointed out that if even one incident of bias occurs in the community it is one incident too many. We all agreed the work of the Task Force and the Police Department should be to ensure that there are no incidents of biased policing. We also agreed that an education campaign should take place among residents to ensure calls are not made to the police based on bias. This is part of the work the Task Force hopes to continue subsequent to filing the Police Reform Report with the State. IV. Next meeting The Task Force’s next meeting will take place on December 21. We will invite a representative of the District Attorney’s office, a representative of the school district and the Executive Director of the Community Counseling Center to join us. There was discussion as to whether the Superintendent of Schools or the Murray Avenue School principal should be invited. The next meeting of the Racial Equity Task Force will be the public listening session on December 17 at 7:00pm via Zoom. The following meeting will take place on December 21, 2020 at 7:00pm via Zoom.