 So it's good you're taking notes. Right you're taking notes. So the other piece I just wanted to add is I hope to have a date for this at this point but kind of going off of our year since swearing folks in we're hoping to do a kind of mini crest academy for a day in July where folks can kind of come and experience some of the trainings that our responders went through and give folks just a little bit of a taste of kind of the things they bring to the table and we hope to make that a fairly regular event. We're working with our training partners so hopefully that can be kind of a part 1.5 until we get to the next listening session. Okay great thank you. Any questions for Earl based on the listening session or are there any things that we need to include I think you know having something simple the first time and not trying to make it too complicated is important but I want to make sure we're covering what everyone would like to see. Are we all planning on being there? So so so didn't we talk about having a refreshment? Oh right um we did not. Oh we did um is there a budget Ms. Pamela? I have I if that's something folks wanted something that I can cover. Okay so yeah snack very simple. So like the like the grief session? Yes that yeah like the healing session yeah that works. You'll get that exactly think that exact thing again. Yeah that works thank you think that'll be good. In terms of outreach or kind of advertising since it is coming up quick I'm wondering because I did see the DEI presentation that was supposed to happen in the superintendent's report um so I'm wondering if that's if this poster is something that could be passed along to the school committee because that will that will reach a group of people who might not be watching this meeting um assuming that other parents check their superintendent's report for emails um but I was also wondering if maybe outreaching to town counselors because I know some of them at least have lists of you know people who have attended their meeting you know their district meetings in the past you know to see if that's something they'd be willing to distribute to their district. I don't know if that's a good idea or not but it's I'm just trying to think of ways to get the information out there besides just the town website. We can also uh share it with with our partners um and we can the responders if we get we'll print out the flyers and post them around so folks can see it that's something we can definitely do. What about those weird sign thingies that are in town? Oh Brianna I will ask Brianna about getting on the touch screens I've always wanted it. I will say yeah oh go ahead. I will say that the flyer whoever did it is it's nice thank you so we can send it to MSMD. That was a Jennifer from Wasting One. That's really nice yeah. Yeah so Jennifer did the flyer um and uh again she's been in and out of the office she's been under the weather but I think that it was her intention to send it out to her network of contacts and that includes the school so but I I'll have to double check with her um yeah generally the my the Zoom meetings that I set up are automatically recorded so I didn't even check to see if we were recording but I have been taking notes so yeah here we go. So yeah it looks like we missed about the first hour of yeah the recording so yeah um So basically CSSJC our role that they were to listen correct right that's why it's called listening session is that correct okay I think the hope is that everyone is listening and learning together yeah yeah and I think we need to eventually have our own but um you know it's important we have Cress right now yeah I just wanted to add in and just piggyback off of what Dee had said at the beginning of the meeting just um for an equity piece of having um translation services of Spanish I think I have tried in my networks to convince people to come to this and the pushback that I'm getting is well is it going to be in Spanish are you going to be there translating what's happening with that like and so I'm kind of like yes and no like I wouldn't mind translating to a few people but my Spanish is not up to that standard of a better higher person that can translate a lot quicker than I can and so for that piece I think that that's kind of a piece that we really do need to look at in the town because I think there are some interested bodies in the latinx community but the concern is that their needs will not be met because they have gone to stuff in town and they're just for a lack of better words they have said that it is a waste of their time thank you for for emphasizing that bill I mean Pamela do we have a list of people to hire for translation or has Zoom been upgraded to add the component of translation what what do we have to offer Spanish language translation at this point in public meetings so I do not have a list of Spanish language translators I do have a list of American sign language translators I do believe that Zoom has the capability for a language translation but you know I am not that I technically I don't have excellent technical skills so I would not want to state that with a hundred percent certainty but that's my understanding there I think that there is a possibility that we might be able to obtain someone for translation services but this is a week out so that makes it really difficult to you know to to obtain someone and hire them within within a week's time but we can put that on our on our list and see what possibilities there might be I mean I I do know that Jen and I were in a conversation recently with some folks at Amherst College and there's a possibility that there might be support from Amherst College around translations through a program that they have so that would be my first call tomorrow to see if there might be someone who could step in but as Philip has pointed out translation services really are a very unique skill and people have to have a wide vocabulary and an understanding of the subject matter it's not easy just to have someone who's you know Spanish speaking or Mandarin speaking step in without knowledge of the of the of the topic you know but I I mean I can try to make a call tomorrow but generally you'd need a little bit more lead time than a week away so this this is my issue I and I appreciate if you if you yeah try to get on it tomorrow um for for DEI for equity purposes in this town this has to be something that we are able to provide um you know have a list of and we can explain to people this is not perfect this is our first time in in doing this and they will understand so okay we miss that word translated or it's not translated properly but have you know we're in the process of building a list of professionals people who are able to come in and be compensated hopefully um to translate at public meetings things I just think it's like a basic thing that needs to happen so I do let me finish I do appreciate that you're going to reach out um as soon as possible but I think this is part of equity that we need to build into our community yeah so I would agree that it is part of equity but it also needs to be planning like in an ideal situation the event would be planned and there would be uh notice right then and there at that moment that language translation would be required and so there would be some time to put to put it in in in place and in most instances that I'm aware of and obviously I'm not aware of every instance um the notices would be would include language that says if translation services are required then there would be a request for an accommodation um and so that is part of the plan it is certainly something that the office is thinking of and is trying to work towards but it's not in place at this moment and I'm just trying to be realistic and saying that I can make an attempt but you know a week's notices uh is really a short period of time in in order to obtain translation services no and I I agree and I think um it's important for us to make the effort to have something you know if we can get it it's important to make the effort and I I would say it's it's you know how you described it it's more of an HR uh type of narrative or language to to say well if it's needed it's kind of like uh if you build it they will come and now I see it that if we say you know language um particularly and again the largest other language group is Spanish speakers and so if we make it available continually even if it's just two or three there more people will feel I I believe like they're being represented and they're being invited into that space because their language is going to be heard and spoken in some capacity and so that I think it's important so I it's there's no disagreement that it's important uh but I I also have to think about you know capacity so in in in the department that I currently have with the budget that I currently have in the seven months that I've been trying to build this department up it's not something that I can say you know I have this to offer at this moment would it be fantastic if I could make that offer it would be but you know I'm I'm I'm speaking to you from the reality of where I said it's not something that I can say I I have a list of people and I can call tomorrow and and provide and provide that service certainly what the way in which you've described it is the ideal um and obviously you know the town has made a commitment through its statement that this is something that it's striving to do but you know um unfortunately we're we're not I don't have it to offer at this moment okay well thank you for for being you know honest about it and I know you're working on it as far as the technical part um I believe it's a it's an upgrade within zoom in order to allow for Spanish unless we already have that as a town so I think it I think that it already exists um in zoom as a possibility but again I'm like you know I'm don't have a lot of vast knowledge around the technical aspects of zoom and so I would have to ask that question of the IT department okay I'm fairly certain that that does um exist all right so IT will get back to us about that thank you so much Earl yeah so just two quick things um one I think it's in the show captions it allows you to do that in Spanish to the other thing that I've heard from Spanish speaking folks is that that's always going to be still a poor substitute because they're kind of hearing a conversation that's happening um and I would fill up maybe this makes sense to to have a conversation with you about um we have a responder Rome Carrera who's really been practicing being able to do this presentation in Spanish um and so I'd also love to consider um having a responder do this same conversation in Spanish so that you know uh finally someone made it click right it's the it's the language people kind of feel in um and having something how yeah understanding a concept in the language of your your heart makes is different so um we'd also love to do one of these in Spanish Rome is wonderful presenter um and I think uh has shown and you know really worked to be someone who can do that so I'd love to to do that with folks and and think about that and maybe have that be a secondary thing that we do always when we do listening sessions that's great I was trying to put my thumbs up instead of my hand I think that'd be great I just really want to echo everything that I think Dean Phillip have said I think it's so important that it's not a footnote and I guess maybe thinking forward to the next session that we host we we think okay well hopefully we'll have more planning time for that right um but also here are some things that we could do like maybe we have a Google form that you register for and we have a checkbox on that that says preferred language so that we know okay we have people who are interested in this and it will be beneficial for us to provide this service because people already know that they want to come and know that they'll need it he loves local government so he'll love getting a shout out during an official CSSJC meeting right so is there anything else about the the listening session are we all planning to be there okay great so thank you and thank you Pamela for helping us plan this and thank you Earl for being willing to do this I think it's a good start thanks for letting me take up some space tonight take care everyone yeah back to Pamela and the DEI update oh we can't hear you Pamela you mute it help it help if I would unmute okay um so the first thing and I was surprised that Earl did not share this but he and I have agreed to share an AmeriCorps volunteer or AmeriCorps intern for the fall the person will start in August and spend you know 50% of their time with DEI and 50% with press the primary and really sole purpose of this person is to work on youth development and youth empowerment um and you know we've both created a budget request to support the position and I know in my budget I'm also requesting support for youth programming for that position as well so the town has a core equity group I'm not sure if you're familiar with with it are you at all okay so prior to my arrival the town joined GAIR which is the government alliance for racial equity and members of the town various departments self-selected and and created a core equity group Jen and I have been thinking about ways that we can expand that group um when I arrived there were probably about you know maybe six members of the group and we're now approaching double that amount with membership from fire the senior center the health departments the clerk's office conservation and development finance press it jones library and the town manager's office and the plan is for this group to be a working group so to work internally at learning more about DEI initiatives and the principles behind diversity equity and inclusion as well as to serve as facilitators so as press served as facilitators for the national day of racial healing members of this group will be trained and they will also be able to do workshops and trainings and service for facilitators for the work that we're doing the DEI office and the human resource office partnered for a professional development day for the town the town manager has established that there would be quarterly half days for professional development the most recent one was last thursday we um there were in charge of two presentations uh gen and um melissa melissa logici walker who's the new hr director did presentation on microaggressions and implicit bias and then elizabeth prue who is the hr manager and i did a workshop on uh team building um we did i think since the last report uh complete the second black history month uh event which was on resiliency as it was demonstrated through the history of um african-american music and um we have started to roll out our um DEI workshops for various departments um made a decision that the workshops will be customized for each department so no two will be the same yeah the issues that are in dpw are different from the issues um you know so in finance and so we're really trying to specialize and customize the workshops to the needs of the department and where we feel that the folks in that department are as far as their journey towards anti-racism um uh i did complete and i think the last time i spoke to you was two two months ago i did complete the conversations with the consultants around the resident oversight uh board as far as the development of that rfp and it is um you know nearing completion and i think that's it for me thank you pamela um sounds like you all have been busy i am familiar with gear and um i was wondering what had been happening with that i just remember it being announced in the paper last year or so and and did not know what was the status of it so um they provide a list of guidelines that are uh with other national um i guess municipalities uh and uh i mean it looks great surface i i just i don't know um other than sharing information um i guess it broadens the network of folks trying to do this type of work so gear actually has a pretty robust um program for analysis and dei assessments for for you know for government agencies and municipalities um we have not chosen to do the gear self assessment yet which is uh if memory serves me right um probably i think in excess of like 50 questions if not more um instead we as a department decided to do a smaller self assessment around dei issues and the i think i reported to this group about that a few months ago that each department was going to answer a series of self assessment questions and then jen and i would have an opportunity to look at that those questions so gear does have a very robust um programming the way in which the town had been interacting with gear um prior to my arrival was utilizing some of their resources and beginning to educate themselves about dei issues and um through their resources so we still have an active membership i think there's probably a lot of area for growth to utilize their their resources more than we have been but my general feeling is that um some baby steps are really needed to to sort of get into this area not uh there is a wide range of where folks are in the various departments in town as far as learning about and being open to and figuring out how their particular departments will be able to utilize the services of the diversity equity and inclusion department as well as the services that um are available through gear and uh i it was my sense that having a little slower pace was probably the best way to proceed so um designed uh an internal shorter dei assessment that we use uh in addition to gear the town has it's sort of there's an informal collaborative of diversity and equity directors in municipalities in the commonwealth um and they meet on a bimonthly um basis so we gen and i have both been a party to those meetings which have provided some insights and directions um there's a sharing of resources and that's been very helpful because you know all of the other members are members of the commonwealth so still subject to the same laws that we are um subject to and i did share that group produced last year a dei guide for municipalities in the commonwealth and that guide was shared with all of our department heads as part of the self-assessment tool that we designed within the department i see so this is not like um an equity audit this is um kind of a survey of each department and what they're doing so well when i guess i'm i'm asking that has already gone out and when should we uh as the community and the css jc expect a report on on that so that has gone out and we're probably about 75 percent uh um we probably received about 75 percent of the responses back so we're still collecting responses um you know obviously you know getting every department to respond in it uh is something that we're striving for i sent out a reminder um for the last few departments um i think about two weeks ago so once all of the departments have responded then we will be completing our analysis of their response but it was a very basic survey so it looks at the demographics of the of the staffing in the department it asks questions about the constituents that are served whether they're volunteers it asked questions about how our office might work with each of the department um what sort of training they might be interested in receiving you know it was i would say it was a very um broad range in the types of questions that we asked but not seeking a lot of depth of information really an entry into thinking about how our office will work with those departments and how we can support them and have them understand that regardless of what they do there um there is a possibility of examining their work through an equity lens okay so you're saying this is the first entree in that so is there a plan to then send out or do focus groups within these departments to do an actual equity audit which would assess how they approach um diversity equity and inclusion within each department and and also look at the demographics of hiring like you know who's there who's been retained those types of things so um so i think there will be after the assessment of what we have of you know after we've had an opportunity to review and sort of have a better understanding of what this initial response is then there will probably be another opportunity to do a more in depth equity audit but i my thinking has been that i really need to get introduce um the various departments which vary from very large like dpw to very small like the town you know clerk's office has three people um that rather than having a large very in depth um initial entree that i would try to um step into the process by having people asking the departments heads to do this initial one and then at the one year anniversary when when folks have had an opportunity to have some introduction to this work to then ask them to do a deeper dive into it okay so will it be you pamela doing kind of an equity audit looking because i'm sure all that's listed in hr who's who and and giving kind of this demographic picture of who we have employed in terms of racial ethnic language diversity what have you education um just to give a picture of that uh for our town right so we did include in this initial you know self-assessment a snapshot of the demographics of of the employees for the department but the demographic information is not as in depth or as robust as one might hope so um and that's just a reflection of what was collected in the systems that were used in the past so you know under federal law you would typically want to have not only race and gender but also veteran status and disability status right information is not available so you know um so um you know so what what each department received was a snapshot of of that department's staffing and and the way in which we typically would do it is that you know you choose one day and whatever the staffing is on that day that's the snapshot that you then use as a comparison point because as with any department things are changing you might have more employees on a particular day if you hire seasonal employees you might have less on a on another day so we received from hr demographic information um and then provided that information to the department heads so that they could review it check it for accuracy um if they were able to to fill in some of that missing information they could you know input that information but it was not as robust as as one might have hoped it would be um but that's what we have um and that the demographic information did come from hr and I will also add that you know unfortunately uh Jen and I were working on this at a time in which we did not have a permanent hr director and so there is you know there has been some some transition although we I think that the information that we got was as accurate as we could get for the time frame that we we asked for it okay my last question and I'll stop here any of that information that goes out to the departments does it have a letter attached from the town manager um okay so when it goes out does it have anything like you know town manager would kind of an introduction kind of giving shaping and an impetus and a tone to these departments this is something that's important to participate in uh I'm just worried about the other 25 percent that have not sent in their survey okay oh for the self-assessment did that have a letter from the town manager um it did not but um the town manager and I introduced to set a department had a meeting and I've had subsequent conversations with him about the you know the few departments so um um you know some departments I know were were were more challenged because of the number of employees that they have um and this is new to them so there is always you know as in any survey there's always a little bit of a challenge for people to be able to respond and have a complete understanding of what you're asking for one of the ways in which we did try to utilize the core equity group the group that I started the conversation with was to say um the core equity group assisted in reviewing the the self-assessment read it over for questions and input looked for ways in which we might edit the questions to make them um you know more clear and then members of that group a few members of that group volunteered to assist departments if they felt like they were you know needed some hand holding or needed some help in um and either understanding the questions or sorting through their data because it is a it's a new ask for them and so I'm I know that we will get a hundred percent um I'm not surprised that there's a delay in any position that I've had previously whenever there's been a survey there's always been a few people that you have to really nudge over the finish line so to say that we're at 75 percent I think is is to say that we're in very good shape thank you who's that um if you want to go first well um thank you miss pam for the presentation could you speak a little bit more about the youth programming because I'm glad to hear that you know you're you know you're finally looking into that because that was CSWG recommendation for the youth program to come on the DEI and I hope there will be some resources robust resources you know for you to be able to carry that out has it has a building been identified for the youth program so there's uh I haven't been involved in in any of the conversations about the building of uh you know the cultural center or youth empowerment center but I know um that this is an issue that is of importance to the community and so having the ability to share um the AmeriCorps intern with Earl creates some capacity so a building will be you know years away but having me someone who can dedicate time and energy into researching and developing and pulling this together is something that we could do now utilizing you know town spaces or school spaces that we have and so the discussion that I had with Earl was you know um are you interested in sharing responsibility for hosting this intern can we both decide that we want to have the intern work on youth development and that's the primary purpose of the AmeriCorps volunteer it fits in very nicely with their mission and since the opportunity arose um and Earl and I were both in agreement I submitted an application on our behalf and that application has been accepted and it's now just a matter of uh finalizing a contract to have a person in place to begin to do this work uh the the the contract could be up to two years but I um initially decided that we would start with one year we want to see how it's going to work out um and then that person's primary responsibility will be to build out the programming under you know my supervision and supervision from Kat Newman and Cress um so I think it can be um really whatever we want it to be as far as development is concerned I did you know take a look at the community safety working group what the topics were in that report so um youth empowerment leadership academics all of those things are included as topics that we would want the AmeriCorps intern to re to research and develop um and with someone who's in place who can dedicate their time to doing this in conjunction with Cress I think there's a lot of possibility there for it to be you know a successful program but it's just going to be you know the beginning so thank you I have so many questions I won't drag up then the night um so what about the five hundred thousand dollars that was given to um rec department to do research on youth program is that fun going back but what if would the fund go to the AI department so I have no um I don't I don't know yeah I don't know um the answer to that I wasn't aware that there had been a transfer of funds to the rec department I think this must have been prior to my arrival so I'm I'm not sure this the the position that Earl and I are going to share um I thought would help to begin to fill the need that was identified because in theory we can hire someone who can start to do to really develop time and energy into this area and to develop programming that we would be able to offer um even though there's no structure in place right because the programming could be offered in theory at Jones library or in the high school or in the middle school or you know we can we can provide the provide the programming without a building in place but I I'm not sure about what happened prior to to my arrival as far as the funding that was concerned the only funds and I'm not even sure about this I thought that there had been funds set aside for a study um that's what I meant yeah right yeah yeah that's what I meant yeah through the apper funds so thank you for your efforts you know I will keep quiet but there's a lot of emotions that you know that is triggering me um because it's you know by pork youth are going to benefit from this program all of a sudden the town doesn't have space for for our for our youth or youth in general and you know getting a part-time staff to help to help out you know to do research on that others is like irritated me uh but we have money to support Jones library because it was pushed by status poor powerful land owners in this town and we don't have risk money really to locate a space for our youth CSWG was very clear any programming without a dedicated building let me say it again there has to be a building space for our youth in this town doing it at Jones library to the school is triggering for some youth some people go to school because they had to so make it to get your programming in the school if they don't have to attend classes I don't think it's a good idea thank you so may may I ask I mean I mentioned those locations as just top of mind is there a you know I'm thinking that there that there should be some opportunity to have programming start before a building is built or dedicated because that will take will take years so you're would you're shaking your head does that mean that you would be in favor of no programming until the building is built I mean in favor of getting building is the town can read commercial building if they look very hard they will find if this is something that you know statue school wealthy large white people are looking for I bet you the town council they will find they will find space if we look very well we'll find space for you it's not going to work because we we interviewed seven gen I hear I don't want to speak for seven gen Dr. D that did a very beautiful research for CSWG the youth from their mouth they want a place where they can hang out it cannot be John's library it cannot be school system okay they want their own dedicated building so do not just hanging out the mentorship academic support anything that doesn't have to do with white space excuse me I don't know how many times I will say this this is not what CSWG recommended and we have money to support John's library 16 million dollars and we can come out with you know two or three million dollars to you know to do youth and bipolar cultural center I'm getting very irritated I'm sorry but it's not it's not to watch you miss miss paint Pamela I know you're trying your best but this is just checking the box by the people in power you know CSWG requested this we've we've we've checked the box where we're working on the youth programming let's move on that's that's how I'm I'm feeling I'm sorry but that's how I feel you mentioned this but is there a time like a hours per week that the volunteer would be working so the volunteer would work week would be Monday through Thursday from eight into five so it's um you know a pretty much a full-time position on Fridays uh pursuant to the AmeriCorps contract the individual has program with their has programming that they have to do with the AmeriCorps I just I wonder too if there's any way since we know that the bid got like 300 thousand dollars in ARPA funds from the drape if we can go back to the bid and say hey you got all this money and you're making all this profit off of your performing art space like why don't you set up a internship program for youth where you're paying stipends to you know to subsidize the employment that you're going into in the community so say you know I come in I'm 15 I got a job at Hazel's and why can't the bid be contributing to youth development in that sense um so that they're giving that money back into the community and youth are working businesses are getting a little bit of a reprieve like wouldn't that be a great partnership on all ends um just something I've been thinking about and I know Boston had a model um through their community development corporation where they they would kind of subsidize youth employment for the summer um and it had I mean it had positive effects all around you know the businesses have employees the youth have something to do and they're and then they're making money so they can contribute back into the local economy and you know it's a great community partnership so that's just something I've been thinking about and you know I I echo Miss Pat's concerns I mean I think that it's super important that the youth have something to do and but there needs to be somewhere for them to go um to do the things and I mean I remember when I was a youth in this town we like hung out in front of the bank center because that was the only space that was kind of available to us because if we walked in the bank center we got dirty looks from you know the seniors that were using the senior center part of that space um and I was a person who was involved in school I had extracurricular activities but they didn't take up all my time um so I I do think that without a space that feels welcoming that the you know the activities can't happen um but I do I really am glad that you're putting the effort towards getting programming for the youth I think right now our town is showing that the youth aren't their priority not just by not funding this but by what's happening with the school system and cutting 30 positions across the schools it's really concerning um so thank you I know it's it's a battle we're all fighting and I think there's you know I wish that there was a prioritization of funding for what you're trying to do deep yes um agreed it's it's a battle the um the AmeriCorps um in a organization previous organization I was involved with youth action coalition we used um AmeriCorps students and um I mean they're college graduates usually undergrad or near to finishing um their their undergraduate degree very intelligent smart young people um so you know they'll be guided by you and Jen it would be great to have them meet with area youth so as Ms. Pat you know references um Seven Gen we got you know the the words uh and the voices from the the young people that participated with us the the BIPOC youth that they wanted their own space and wanting your own space um suggest empowerment that they wanted to feel you know like they belong because they felt marginalized and you know these are real issues when we talk about well what leads young people to just hang out and some BIPOC youth are more targeted than others when they're hanging out we've seen the evidence of that and so if our town really wants to um have ways to to to mitigate to intervene so those things don't happen perhaps you know as July 5th kids need to have their their own space you know with within reason at okay 11 12 midnight yeah it's time everybody needs to go home this is the curfew but having um their their own space in which to uh create their own activities um you know create their own sense of belonging is really important and um I know that there's lots of buildings in the town that they have yet to figure out what to do with these properties so it would be great for the intern to maybe creatively not only meet with uh young people BIPOC youth in particular to figure out what their wants and needs are um you know do some type of sessions with them some focus groups um but also you know begin to talk to um people in the town particularly the folks um who uh manage these buildings that are vacant you know for instance the Hitchcock Center um the old Hitchcock Center you know that property is just languishing it's of course it's gotten even worse since it was vacated but um when it was initially vacated it was not in such bad shape now it is just languishing and it's getting worse and worse the old Hitchcock property um and and that's just one one example okay lastly I wanted to revisit and and just if you could get back to us about this in terms of language services I recall that Mindy Dom had allotted some funds last year for language services um has all that money been utilized so I don't have any knowledge of us set aside funds for language services um okay Jennifer was aware of it because Jennifer had come back to us um about those funds and I know she did say well some of the um the flyers had been translated that type of thing but flyer translation you know you can do that online now and then maybe get a speaker to then go through it and make sure this is translated properly don't rely on google translate but um you know just to see if any of those funds are still available within the town that Mindy Dom uh had uh put together so those are my comments there but um yeah I'm I'm glad you know AmeriCorps that that's great put some resources for it but um there's still much to be done to have an actual youth empowerment center thank you question um will with this person be able how is transportation going to be managed how are kids going to be involved in activities in in terms of arranging for transportation because CSWG recommended for the EI to have its own vehicle at least for the youth center so you know how is this going to work out for kids who Mindy transportation to whatever activities that is planned or driving them home for example because this is what we talked about at CSWG yeah so I I do not have all of the details um about how transportation would be organized um Jennifer and I had a preliminary conversation about uh use of um a school bus and hiring a school bus and driver to provide transportation but um you know not all of those those questions have been answered yet and um there is obviously well maybe it's not obvious to everyone but but certainly part of the of the position description includes outreach to students because um you know the you can't have youth empowerment unless you're having conversations with students about what they want to do so uh that is included in in the description of the position that uh this individual would be responsible for engaging in that type of outreach and having conversations and uh working with uh students to develop the type of programming that they're you know that they're interested in not so so um there has been some thought given to transportation but I you know we have not figured all of those pieces out yet. Last question I promise very last question any um update about Viacultural no Viapok Center at all is there any conversation any discussion um because we don't have our we don't have any safe space in Amherst yeah even the Black Business Association you know it would be nice to to go to bigger space if we have to do an event for example all the you know Asian group or whatever but there is no safe space for us to do anything it seems like we're not um town council priority or the town government priority so we're not powerful enough to be considered but we have many tax dollars to pay extensive Jones library okay so I don't know what says SJC what we're doing like we're supposed to be recommending making recommendations to move our town forward to promote social justice equity inclusion all that stuff and it's like town council they're ignoring us the town manager ignoring us and you know what is the point it's like HRC they have talented people who can make some changes in this town but they're not giving the power to do that only happens to town committees that we have more of Viapok members anyways I'm getting frustrated about our role with this group I am they saw we can't continue like this they cannot continue to ignore us like this um it's not helpful to anyone agreed and um I would like for us to you know I hear Earl saying you know the July session for them and they they could certainly do that but I think we need our own listening session along with DEI as we hit this you know year mark and um you know advertise that get people to come out and you know we may get some uh feedback that people don't appreciate whatever we're doing and I you know I'm sure that we'll also get feedback that people uh appreciate what we're doing and probably want more in terms of equity work within this community so I think we need to once we get past March 25th we need to begin planning planning our own uh listening session um and uh you know include about the budget um include um you know about ARPA funds all the things we've been working on and maybe write up our own presentation and report these are the different things that we've worked on this year um and you know what we've been able to do um I mean I think the resolutions that have come out of the town council um certainly were part of some progressive counselors but also with um what we in conjunction with what we were trying to do within CSSJC so I think we'll we'll need to put that together ourselves and and do our own type of presentation and report okay um why don't we is are there any other questions or comments like were you back are there any other questions or comments about um for DEI not from me okay what should we because it's getting late um what should we look at on this agenda and put us a priority I just real quick the item uh E long meadow anti racism racism task force I wanted to share that with you all I came across it while working on some stuff and in long meadow recently um there are some interesting pieces of course they have a select board model still of uh government but they have this task force that uh came about in 2021 um that had some uh I think some relevant areas that you know as we were talking about an audit a town audit how that might work how that might function in terms of um uh you know responsibility within the town to equity and their commitment to equity how they go about their hiring and promotions um and the other thing yeah those those were the those were the main things that they have a toolkit that they use when they do hire and for the departments about an anti-racist toolkit I think what Pamela was um talking about in terms of the workshops and the GAIR could be akin to that but I'm not sure you know I'd like to see actually what um what is given to department heads let's say because this this report they're actually talking about this is given to departments um in order to make sure that um they are looking through that anti-racist lens for for hiring for retention etc and so that would be another conversation but um anyway I just bring it to everyone's attention because there are other towns that um after the murder of George Floyd uh kicked into gear and tried to you know create these task force and what some of them are doing a place as uh still highly segregated like um uh long meadow it's it's an interesting step so that's all for for that part thank you D and that is in the packet they're like report um we've already done D there is no post update um I think that so what about our funds okay so the budget um even though we didn't have like formal budget budget uh but we had raised something up I'm just wondering did that go out to the town council yet so where we listed yeah we had talked about it we started to look at it then we decided we were going to write a list of things that we wanted to prioritize that were policy recommendations and then I don't think that we were able to get to that so I think I mean I think time's a ticking if we want to send a letter related to the budget I think we should do it now or just not I would like to suggest that whatever uh if it's okay for everybody for the time for the sake of time that Aligar and I put together for us to just forward it to to the town council is that okay with everyone that was in the last packet yeah in February to have Aligar send it out to the town council agreed and the the urgency on that is that Lynn Grismur got back to us when I had um asked for a meeting a meeting and basically she said that well um we're all going to meet on this for April 6th so the April 6th meeting pertaining to the budget but you should um is it the third I'm sorry April 3rd thank you so much Allegra April 3rd and um so they should get something you know uh whatever you all are going to send I agree should go out before then because what she's saying here in preparation for the meeting on Monday April 3rd the following must take place this is in an email to me by March 20th the town manager working with the staff must prepare and make available a written report on actions to be taken and or progress in addressing um the above which includes the css jc um human rights commission um you know a whole litany of stuff um while that report will be public it will be specifically sent to the town council the css jc and the hrc so the things that we talked about in November basically um they're going to have a response to and then by March 29th the css jc and the hrc will have to meet and discuss in public to provide written advice to the town council so I don't know if everyone got the email that I sent out for re agenda scheduling but I think that human rights commission already has their meeting scheduled for next Wednesday and so we were just going to hop on as a joint meeting for a little while I mean it doesn't give us very much time to review the document but it allows us to do it in a public manner um so that is the plan there um so then the but whatever we're going to send to the town council then should that go out before I I mean I think so because I think that what what they are also talking about might incorporate some of the policy recommendations that we had been talking about at the last meeting um hopefully because that's one of the things they said they were going to do is look at policy um so I think I think if the budget if we I can send out the budget letter tonight I mean yeah please yeah yeah thank you so um still on budget um somebody made it a way to me that apparently the police department has in their budget you know uh surveillance camera so why are we adding more money to the police department when other other you know priorities are being ignored and I would like to say policy if the town decides to purchase surveillance camera you know how it's going to be used who will be collecting you know more details and not just getting you know body camps for for the police will it be to protect the resident that is involved with the police or will it be to protect the police because the camera is not supposed to protect the police if they're using it to protect themselves and they're doing something wrong but if it's being used to protect residents when they encounter police then that's a different story so it would be good for the police chief to do some education you know to inform the public the policy how they plan to use this apparently is is nicknamed into the budget and I didn't even know about it and somebody you know call my attention to wait thank you and then I attended you know this is not budget but just a different quick issue solar program in Amherst I attended apparently like six people were in the audience and I didn't hear what I wanted to hear in this town I've noticed that when the town wants to spend money then they do big campaign big do big outreach they want to reach everybody we have it in the school building projects in the Jones library we're having that in solar program however however when it comes to spending money times the last money okay they don't take the time the town council the town government do not take the time to do similar outreach only handful of people make financial decision for us in this town upper fund is for example because I looked at some big cities and smaller communities I looked at Houston I looked at Northampton and few other places they actually did community engagement how would you like upper fund spent and it went to broad range of groups but that's not what happened in our town many people did not even know about upper funds black business owners we did not get dying for the existing businesses based on the town records black owned businesses did not receive upper funds that was not outreach done to any group only handful of white decision makers including Baird decided how to distribute your tax dollars so this is an equity issue and nobody seems to be concerned the town council president has not made it a priority agenda to be discussed at town council thank you thank you miss pat I actually the question for for miss young so upper funds as miss pat described in other towns and communities were distributed and were first you know talked about and then distributed through entities within the town the municipalities themselves and of course that doesn't guarantee things are you know equitable or whatever but now that you've probably heard about what has gone on through the chamber in the bid what what's the DEI's assessment or view about the inequitable distribution of the ARPA funds isn't this something that DEI would be a part of normally so I think had the well I guess you might make the argument that the office was or that Jennifer had some capacity to work on DEI issues prior to the official start of the office because she did do some of that work and her prior capacity but since I have been in this role the last seven months I think the bulk of those decisions came prior to my arrival in town and did not have an opportunity to participate in those decision decision making I think as miss Anabako has pointed out you know some towns did engage in community engagement what Amherst did or why they did what they did prior to my arrival I just you know I don't have the ability to really speak on that because I wasn't here okay that's that's understandable but there's still funds that are out there outstanding and so right so I'm you know in in my opinion this would be something because these aren't private funds these are you know federal funds state and federal funds that there would be a role for DEI in terms of how do we now equitably distribute the last two million that is you know coming into this this town and so you know I think that that's an important area when we talk about equity economic equity for the the DEI to be a part of and to weigh in on this conversation or to talk about you know we we have the the Amherst area black business association that is trying to get some of those funds to help the black businesses you know so I mean that's just an example of one way to be more equitable but again where where is DEI in on this in the last two million so I have not been privy to any conversations about how the last two million has been I don't know what the plan is for the distribution of the last the last two million dollars so okay is there a way for you to look into that please sure I can have a conversation with the finance director thank you and the town manager about that because it is it is an equity issue it's not you know just willy-nilly this is an equity issue of two million dollars okay thank you I will check back with you about that thank you I wasn't sure did we blend together the discussion of APA funds with the budgets because I think we were discussing at some point priorities and how that was meant to be reading up and whether that be sent directly or whether there will be a way that it be sent to the group just wanted to know or get some clarification on that okay ask your question again where the funds will be distributed no no no hi um no we did and I'm going to take on us for that because we went from budget and then I brought up RF I guess I was trying to bring us oh okay so they did end up blending they are too sad for things though yeah it sounds like we did conclude with Allegra's going to send the the budget letter that was included in the last meeting to the town council so that was that part and then APA funds was on our agenda yeah and I brought it up because they're kind of related because I'm hearing some town councilors asking you know for some of the you know APA funds for other projects you know if the but you know to fill you know budget gap which I'm not against but I hope people will also remember that black owned businesses did not get a dime for all existing businesses no black person got APA funds for existing businesses so they're kind of related sort of budget and APA but thank you for raising the question so I would like to see some movement I would like to say you know our pride from the community I want our allies to support if you really want to have diversity of businesses I'll you know I appreciate people who have been like thanking us behind the scene and privately if you really want to show support write letter to the editor you know go to town council meeting you know speak up support black owned businesses back BIPOC owned businesses uh write write you know emails complaints whatever the town manager to you know to the town council that way we know that you you truly truly support you know black owned businesses BIPOC and it's not just only black people uh that are other ethnic groups that didn't get as much as white owned businesses and I'm not against you know the smaller white businesses that got APA fund it's not the issue it's the three hundred dollars that was given to Drake it's it's driving me crazy it's not fair 300 no equity 300 thousand 300 thousand dollars and we have and it's just a nightclub and we have another nightclub that is owned by black people that have put in very significant amount of money to have the nightclub running and they did not get it get any dime how is that fair they reach you know keep getting richer I will keep raising my voice until justice is done with tax dollars the Hispanic groups the Asian Native American groups all the ethnic groups were really left out with this APA fund the two million should be devoted to youth programming macro center businesses that is owned by black people that's where I would like to see the entire two million dollars go thank you I'd still like to return to the letter that was supposed to be sent if it's a point of clarification if I'm getting this right the letter was already available from February yes from last meeting okay um is there any reason why it wasn't sent earlier where the things that were added in or what we actually we actually approved it the last meeting with you know um I look if you want you can we send it to everybody tomorrow I mean I so my recollection was that we had approved it and then from some of the feedback that the community had said during the conversation we were having about policing I think it was Mr. Rhodes who said it would be helpful to just whittle down to one or two priorities um which the letter did not do I mean it was just basically like please increase the funding for the two the two new departments of Crescent DEI and then please allocate more funding to creating the youth empowerment center and the BIPOC Multicultural Center so it was childcare sorry family care yeah yes adult care yes um so it was basically just in support of all the cswg recommendations plus some of the recommendations that have come out of this committee so far um and then we pivoted to the idea of perhaps specifying some priorities to focus on policy wise um and I think that discussion will come next week with HRC instead so I'm just wondering I mean I I think that it would be important to send a letter about the budget but if people are feeling like they don't want to then may I suggest that you send it out let me I'll send it out tomorrow and then before you know I can even I look like you can do that too if you want do you want a refresher um Dr. Frecky yes please refresher is always good now that that is out of the way um could I return to um these parts some of the things that you've mentioned um I would be interested I I believe this is the forum for such I'd be interested in if we um see some discrepancies in the way that businesses um are treated in um the town it would be good to um have a discussion and that's four ways forward um and um I I understand from what you said that um there is um section of some funds still remaining um but what I would be looking for is how do we make sure that going forward the town um gets to be more equitable in the treatment and so it's um not so much a response to things that have been done but um being proactive before something else um of course thank you I think I'd like to second that Frecky thank you so much for bringing that up because I think that in all this definitely in my opinion there's for sure an equity happening in the distribution of opera opera funds and the conversation about bringing the DEI department in and having them look at it is definitely needed and I totally agree and so if we're talking about budget season and how next year's opera funds are for sure going to be distributed I think that these conversations are relevant into that equity piece for further advancement while still acknowledging that what is currently happening is subpar to what should be happening sounds good okay where are we on the agenda um we're done I think the one the one thing that I think is really important public government well that also but the police chief police chief oh I mean I think that we should this should be an area where we influence right based on what CSWG had foreseen and wanting DEI involved in things like the police contract negotiating don't we want to be involved in the police chief hiring I mean I think we should be um but I don't know what other people are feeling about that so I think that first um change you know sometimes can be difficult some people don't like change or transition but I think you know the community should have open mind I think my expectation I hope that it will be a robust outreach to especially community communities negatively impacted by policing in our town for our constituents have significant representation in the next police chief I think in anything less than that you know it's it's mediocre period so um we should not be thinking about promoting from inside we need outside and I'm not I'm not saying you know that person is going to be perfect but let's have a lot of input for for for people who have been you know hot most by the police including people with behavioral disabilities and you know other situations basically so um I'm actually excited for the change that's all I can say it's an exciting time so Pam you may not know the answer to this but what's the the interviewing process going to be like or what's anticipated for the police chief and and will there be a role for the community to weigh in um or will this all just be internal like Earl I I don't know all of the decisions that have taken place about what the search process is going to be like so I don't really know at this point okay and so you haven't been asked to um eventually be on the committee or anything like that or so I um I was notified by the the town manager obviously that the chief was going to be leaving in the past he has included me in the search process for the higher level positions so that's sort of my expectations but I don't think that the full realization of what that process has been will look like has been determined yet okay please let us know whenever that happens thanks thank you I think it's only appropriate given that we're speaking about the um the police chief's retirements to thank him for his service um given the length of time that he spends that is the length of time in the public space um that should be appreciated regardless of what our feelings um may be I think part of the reason that is necessary is we can now have an opportunity to extend our hand to um whoever else is going to be in that position and um let them know that we expect to work with them and look forward to having a good relationship um with them as well um and also that uh this being a public forum it might be appropriate to again speak about the fact that it would be helpful if we are if not integrated at least made aware or prized of what's the process is for the new person who takes over thank you so is that a a memo or an email you want to go ahead and draft Preke so I think I'm pretty um loofy in this situation this is a public forum so um there isn't any need to draft um oh okay everything's already on the record oh okay all right yeah okay I just didn't know if that was something you want to send officially so okay thank you thank you do you want to say something or um no that's that was it for that Philip do you have anything you would want to add uh I would just like to echo that I think that it is a great opportunity and time for this town to I think give some power and some um emphasis on what is promoted for town values on anti-racism to look at candidates that promote those types of things and if it is a candidate within our police department or if it is a candidate outside of our police department I think that that should definitely be heavily weighed on as well as giving community input because at the end of the day we all are residents and I think that residents have the opportunity to kind of say who they would like to be running the program or the department that upholds laws that can restrict minorized groups so I really think that we should listen to our residents as much as possible in this instance so do we think putting a memo together to Mr. Backelman about our hopes and aspirations for the search process and being included and including residents and including DEI and including crests or or at least at the very least having a very serious conversation with candidates about how they intend to work with crests is that a memo we think we should put together I wouldn't be opposed to it others I think that would be good miss pat was a yes or no I was good I was going to say that we we're already doing a lot I mean unless if you're thinking of drafting something um the stuff that we tend to turn cancel in the past they haven't worked on it I'm not against it but if somebody wants to volunteer to draft it I just feel that each of us are all overextended but I think we will have opportunities and you know public forum to speak our mind you know the next leadership that we need at the police department it should be clear so I mean I don't mind drafting something I okay I hear the concern and see the concern that sometimes the things that we say might not penetrate the people in power but um okay if you're if you're volunteering to do that that's fine thank you and I can do the same thing send it to um Jen to have it sent out to the group and wait for feedback and I believe that the last day for chief living stone is the end of May is that correct so likely there will be some sort of interim leadership I would imagine unless they are moving quickly and already in the hiring process um so I could support you yeah right so oh boy it's my o'clock it's getting too late yeah so public comment unless anybody has any other comments for us um okay public comment does anybody want to say oh there's hand I see it oh there she comes hi this is Vera Cage can everyone hear me yes okay I just want to quickly say thank you for your time um this evening I listened to the meeting um very impressed by all of your part your dedication um to do this work I know it's not easy um taking the time from your families um to be together this evening and to serve you know the public um I want to just touch upon what um Emily Young has stated with regards to how quickly or not things happen in this community um I think the Drake is a is a great example of when resources and attention are driven to you know people and a cause that is about being successful setting up for success um it practically the Drake was was created overnight right um and that has a lot to do with an infusion of capital so three hundred thousand dollars to to to be and you know and and then that's in addition to state funding um of about a hundred and sixty thousand dollars so that paid for rent up front three years that paid for a buildout that paid for that's paying for for programming um so this town has examples of things that can happen overnight you know we're able to to to do renovations to a parking lot in front of town hall and dedicate a million dollars of community preservation act money towards that to just overhaul the parking to create green space right because some people said that they value that and they pushed for that and they lobbied for it and they got it they got the town manager to support it they got the town council to support it they got the community preservation act committee to support it um so I just want us to be mindful of that when we talk about things for our BIPOC community for our teams for people who feel that they don't have a voice and rightly so so that's all I have to say this evening um I think it's it's hopeful and it is optimistic um because I think we have to to to expect more for our people for our our communities um and and and and and raise our level of expectation of what we deserve for ourselves thank you have a good night thank you so we are having a joint meeting next Wednesday with human rights commission what time is that does that mean an at six Pamela yeah six but I would say relevance for CSSJC probably more towards like 637 because we'll do a little bit of our agenda first but the bulk of that meeting is for the town managers report but we just have a few things to take care of on the HRC so so do you want us to join you guys at seven or six 45 I'm hesitant to give a time because I don't know how long things will take us but if you are available from six 45 to seven I think in between that time frame will probably be it okay so we'll just wait in the audience and then you bring us in yep gotcha okay um and then oh yeah yes so I um I think that you will all be brought in as a panelist because uh if you're over a quorum so it the I think it's the intention to have both meetings uh be notified as a joint meeting so I mean you're welcome not you know to hang out but I I think you'll be coming in as a when you come in I think you'll be coming in as a panelist not an attendee so so next week we'll be heavy because then we'll have the listening session the 25th um and then are we thinking oh and then April 3rd so we're going to be spending a lot of time with each other over the next couple weeks um can I make a suggestion that because we're having that joint meeting on April 3rd do we still need to meet that month because I'm I'm concerned about people running out that's a lot of activities next week we're having the joint with HRC on Saturday we're doing listening session and a few more days we're doing April 3rd joint meeting so is it realistic to have regular CSSJC meeting in April especially when everything that we've been pushing for we have not seen any you know had been not like yeah so it's like yeah I think we should take a break after April 3rd and then meet in May or something I I believe so too because by that time the budget letter would have gone through and they theoretically that April 3rd meeting with the town council they would discuss that with us that would be part of the discussion I'd imagine I mean we could say we want it as part of our discussion that that meeting for April 3rd I don't know if we have to let them know but because I'm feeling like we're spinning the wheel like we're discussing you know same thing every time we meet and it's just not moving July 5th has not been resolved we don't know what the time is going to do with the APA funds we don't know you know the budget how you know from equity lens if it's fair it's like a handful of people are making all the you know budget decision and we're meeting every month and so should just yeah these groups supposed to be providing recommendation to the entire town department and to town council and it seems like they're taking us for granted you know that we exist you know I don't want to be a part of check off the box if if you know if the town one statue school members to join the the group that's fine but if we truly are serious about making changes then listen to our recommendation including you know recommendation made by CSWG it's taking too long like you know Vera rightly stated when it's top priority for them it will happen overnight so I don't want to hear excuses that we don't have resources yes we do we have you know cash reserve we still have some APA funds it's like where are we placing our priority you know we need to follow the money I don't want to come to meetings on all we do is like talk talk talk and we're not seeing any action for things we've recommended to to the town we shouldn't play that because that's that's called you know being marginalized let them talk we're not going to take action because we have the app you know they have the power you know you guys can meet you you want CSS JC we've given it to you we're giving you the committee check off the box and this is a progressive time clap clap clap right we need to take April off after April 3rd and and reconvene on in in May they're taking us for granted D so I'm going to agree that you know just because there's so many meetings that yeah after April 3rd we don't have an April meeting we wait till May but I do I think we need to within whatever next document goes to the town council we need to state that miss pat you know our our recommendations this is part of our recommendation the budget is part of our recommendation budgets are as as most activists will tell you they are moral documents meaning the the you know you you supposedly vote your values some people still tend to vote their values and that could be economic you you budget your values and so we are making recommendations of certain budget priorities based on our committee and then when those things are not being listened to or moved on as you say it's problematic because what the hell are we doing exactly you know the example of long matter the other reason why I give it is that they have this it's a task force which means it was probably a temporary task force to make those recommendations Amherst does not have within their town government a residential group besides us that is set up as a kind of anti-racist diversity and inclusion task force again this is stuff that they voted on almost two years ago to say this is what we are committed to well you need some type of mechanism some type of organization to make sure that you are moving those things along it is not part of the charter for the town council as much as we would you know in our best of worlds would like for something like that to be but that's not part of their responsibility and they will tell you that so then whose responsibility is it so here we are as a cssjc the appointed committee and part of our role is to make the recommendations yet they have not been moved on so I think that needs to be part somehow of the statement that here we're we're hitting this mark and you know we would like to see some actual progress I agree it's like no it's like planning department it's like planning department they make their decision I listen to their meetings sometimes so many other town committees make decision implemented see action but for us we are at the mercy of town council to approve anything and that is irritating me sorry so I agree I think that the best use of our time would be to meet either May 3rd or May 10th that will be after the budget comes out so maybe May 10th because usually then they'll do a public forum like two weeks after so if we meet in between when the budget is released in the public forum then we will have time to have gone over the budget to see where they have included or not included DEI crests and other equity issues and maybe we'll all have a little bit more energy to come back to the table but I think that's that's what it is I mean we you know some of us saw this last year in terms of the budget process and got very involved so having that that budget priorities document coming from CSSJC early on okay it sent you know what our recommendations are and then we'll see are they going to be included in May if they're not then it's to again write a letter get people involved within the community uh making sure they understand this document that the town council is submitting for for the budget for May that's going to be it so um this is a time for your voice to be heard we've made our voices heard you know uh as the CSSJC we may even want to publish it you know to the the different um uh the indie or or the gazette this is our budget priorities recommendations that we are making as a CSSJC we we hope the town council uh listens to our recommendations and includes them in this next uh budgeting round you know very good point you know I think for me the whole process the whole budget process is rotating me because my expectation with CSSJC is actually I had hoped that the uh finance director and the town manager will actually come to us or the finance committee which are to us because what we stand for is to remind the finance committee the town council the town manager from equity lens this is what marginalized group in community this is what we're hearing this is what we would like some of our budget funding go but there is who what are that town committee do we have that will look out for the interest of marginalized people in this town none so I don't know what else that we need to do I've tried to invite the finance director for upper funds he'd never have time but we'll have time to go to other committee meetings because why we're majority by book folks we'll be marginalized let's name it let's name what it is and not just get around there so I don't know what the purpose of this committee is if the town is deliberately ignoring our input and I'll keep repeating myself July 5th upper funds the budget process the budget what are we here for it's something that each of us need to really think very hard if you want to be part of the status quo then let's not raise any hell that people know that part on the back is not part of I don't I don't I don't I don't play status quo I don't I'm not in any group that play status quo I don't do that I'm not here to please anybody I'm here to make effective change and so the town really needs to decide do we really want to change or just performance you know check in the box is that what we want if that's what we want then make it clear recruit people who once checked the the box and continue to perform for our town but but history will judge each and every one of us so you know I think that having the April meeting with town council will give us another temperature test I mean we'll see how that goes and I think that this conversation is important and I think it should be continued at our next meeting I'm just wondering for the sake of time does can we figure out if May 3rd or May 10th would work better um May 10th might give people a little bit of extra time to look over the budget when is your mass graduation when's you mass uh 29th oh so they have time okay yeah so then will work for me the 10th the 10th works better for me okay what about you yes all right okay wonderful okay and freke you're good with the 10th okay all right um so I will and I will um email deb and let her know because I know she had asked me to keep her in the loop about the next date and whatnot um well thank you everyone for continuing to show up I know it's not easy and it's tiring and frustrating and I think you know I I feel that as well but I'm glad that we're all here and there's a lot of work to do and I hope that we can continue to do it I really appreciate each and every one of you and you too Miss Nong I know coming into this in the last seven months and just being dropped in and trying to catch up it's been a lot but I appreciate each and every one of you I agree with what you just said and Allegra thank you for your patience your patience is incredible come let it come yeah thank you all right so should we move to adjourn yes please okay I make a motion to adjourn css all right thank you all thank you next week Wednesday yes good night all right good night