Recommended ad-hoc committee addressing inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-racism and awareness moved to workshop

The Appointments Committee met on June 29, 2020 to draft a recommendation for Town Council review to create an ad-hoc committee, IDEAA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-racism and Awareness Committee).  After much discussion among the Town Council at their meeting July 13, a motion was made to move the recommendation to the July 20 workshop and was supported unanimously.

Councilor Penny Jordan stated that she would like the new committee to include more action-oriented objectives that would propel the town towards more immediate anti-racists efforts.  Councilor Jeremey Gabrielson, a member of the Appointments Committee, shared that the intention of forming an ad-hoc committee was not to delay progress, but to form a committee and produce future recommendations as soon as possible.  The formation of a standing committee would follow.

Councilors also discussed the makeup of the proposed committee and concurred that it would be preferable to include more community members.  This could be achieved by appointing one Town Councilor and one School Board member to serve as non-voting liaisons within the committee instead of serving as two of the seven voting committee members.

Chair Valerie Adams concluded that she hoped that the proposed committee would produce explicit directions and action steps for the Town Council to implement sooner rather than later.

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