Racial Justice Listening Session Notes: June 19, 2020 (Afternoon Session)

The City of Vancouver held a community forum via webinar for the City to listen and learn about race, racism and racial justice issues with members of Southwest Washington Communities United for Change (SWCUC) and the Noble Foundation. The following summary reflects high-level notes from the participant comments. A representative of the Noble Foundation participated and approximately 10 members of the SWCUC joined the webinar. (Note: there may have been an additional participant I heard in the SWCUC room during introductions, I was not sure). In addition to the notes, observations and recommendations are offered for any future City listening sessions.

SWCUC comment highlights:

Overview

Participants represented a mix of non-profit leaders, emerging youth leaders, as well as engaged SWCUC members who represented other roles within the community. Other roles included positions within the following organizations:

• WSU Vancouver
• Noble Foundation

SWCUC has worked with multiple organizations, such as the Hough Foundation, to listen and capture the experiences of the BIPOC community.

• Approximately 20 community conversations have been held to date.
• Received responses from about 800 community members in Clark and Cowlitz County.
• Comments were summarized into a document and distributed to City leadership.

SWCUC stated historically there has not been a conversation between Black community members and City leadership where the community led the facilitation. Their hope was to start to begin relationship-building, to center the perspectives of their community, and bring their requests to the forefront of the conversation.

Requests by SWCUC

Specific requests from SWCUC were stated in the meeting. These requests included and were further detailed in an email to the City:

• Legitimize racism as a public health concern.
• Defund local police and divest funds into non-police forms of public safety.
• Demilitarize police by removing equipment such as flash bangs and tear gas.
• Create an independent citizen review board and add power to community voices.
• Remove policies that permit excessive use of force.
• Retrain all law enforcement practices with materials reviewed by POC.
• Police unions should commit to condemn illegal behavior by officers.
• Reinvest in communities of color through allocating funds to culturally specific programs, safer spaces, community-based Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training, arts and culture, early education, etc.
• Many directed questions to the City about actions that the City has taken to address issues such as the following:
  • In general, answering the needs of communities of color and allocating city funding to address them.
  • Recruiting police outside of the area, rather than those who understand the climate and conditions of the community.
  • Responding to the specific demands by SWCUC.
• There was interest in finding out the percentage of funds allocated to POC, specifically Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and if they were provided to non-profits that are led by POC.
  • The Noble Foundation noted they were pleased to receive CDBG funding to begin community health worker programs and the first multi-cultural center in Vancouver.
• During the discussion, participants made several requests for the City to commit to the following. A member commented that they would like to see action to demonstrate that Carlos Hunter’s life was not taken in vain. Requests included:
  • Seek cuts and adjust the VPD budget in response to the demands of the SWCUC.
  • Reallocate police funding to first responders that are not armed and have community trust.
  • Take actions to rebuild trust with law enforcement and the Black community, so people are not afraid to call the police.
  • Make changes to reduce public health impacts to POC.
  • Increase diversity among teaching staff.
  • Increase diversity of City Council.
  • Address lack of affordable housing.
  • Monthly meetings with the Black community, with a seat at the table.
  • Creating an oversight committee that would have hiring and firing power for the police chief, an ability to subpoena the police department, and a role in collective bargaining between the City and police union.
    • The City shared that union contracts can have a duration of 3-4 years and noted that the police contract was just approved.
    • In response, it was suggested that it would help to have commitments on the record of how the next negotiation would be handled.
• In response to the City sharing information about the decision-making process to address these requests, a member commented that they were confused about where authority and power lies. They stated that if City leadership and the City of Vancouver is invested and fully committed to changing systems, these barriers need to change or be taken down. They added that they did not feel individual people were the issue, but the entire system needed to be reformed for POC not only to be at the table, but to have decision-making power.

City budget and defunding the police

Concern about the most recent City $1.6 billion budget that was adopted and included heavy investment in policing, fire, police, and fire pensions. Specific issues included:

• In comparison to the $65 million for policing and $46 million for the fire department, affordable housing was allocated just $6 million.
• Lack of funding for immigrant and refugee affairs, education and early learning, arts and culture, civil rights, and culturally specific services and human services.
  
• SWCUC requested to receive notifications about when discussions about the future biennial budget are scheduled so they can be part of that dialog.
• The City committed to send initial information by early the week of June 22.
• Interest in investing policing funding into community initiatives and programming led by the community and non-profits. There is currently not a specific outline for a plan, but the community would need to be invested in building it. Interest was also expressed in investing in prevention that would save dollars, rather than regulation.
• A concern was shared about comments at a NAACP event and how it reflected a lack of understanding of community needs. The understanding was that a mural project, at a significant expense of approximately $500,000, was proposed or underway by the City.
  • The City was unaware of this and didn’t believe this type of project would have been approved at that expense but committed to look into it.

Policing concerns and public safety recommendations

• A member said although there is a national context that began the conversations over the last seven months in Vancouver, four community members have been lost to police violence. Two were experiencing mental illness and two were POC.
• In general, concerns were expressed about corruption, mistreatment, and lack of accountability for the police.
• Someone observed that there are several cities that have great policing policies, but they are not following them because of union protections, and the community is unable to hold the police accountable.
• A participant described his experience with police officers and that it was much more positive back in the 1960s when he lived in Detroit. He felt it was because the police knew and respected the neighborhood and there was community trust in the officers, whereas in Vancouver his sons and nephews have all been targeted by the police department.
• Concern that the traditional structure of top-down policies and services has proven not to work and what is needed to build new forms of public safety is to lean heavily on community restorative justice practices.
• As an example of what a new form of public safety could look like, a member said instead of a police officer pulling someone over for a burned out headlight, someone from the community would issue a 24-hour notice to fix it and provide support in getting it fixed.

Experiences with individual and systemic racism

• SWCUC shared their appreciation for members to share their thoughts, especially in recognition of the current climate, involvement in the protests, and the emotional labor demands on POC. They said there was a gap in the understanding and acknowledgement that as community members who do not sit in leadership positions, it was not their job to be consistently expending labor for free and reliving trauma, when there is national outcry. They asked for acknowledgement that this has been the norm and it has not resulted in positive outcomes.
• Participants commented on the contributions of Black people to the Vancouver community and to nation, and how they have made great accomplishments in many wlaks of life. In response, they wanted City leaders to think about funds, tools, and strategies that demonstrated their appreciation for these contributions.
• Many shared frustration and sadness at individual and systemic experiences of racism and having the same conversations without seeing changes. Specific examples shared included:
  • People who had been jailed or falsely accused.
  • Lack of responsiveness from the City.
  • An auto accident caused by a VPD officer, where VPD tried to cede responsibility and slander the victim’s personal character.
  • A need to not be alone in public due to safety concerns.
  • Family member killed by a police officer.
  • Racist perceptions that Black people break laws and are unable to be controlled.
  • Apparent lack of concern by City Council during testimony against the naming of Lynch Park.
  • Black and brown people dying at higher rates in hospitals and mental health institutions.
  • Lack of POC representation among City leadership.
• A member stated that in 2020 the City of Vancouver is becoming more of a melting pot, and it seems like a culture shock for everyone. VPD was not ready for this increased diversity.
• Suggestion offered that the City should consider creating a DEI Office, similar to Atlanta, charged with addressing equal access to opportunities, criminal justice reform, homelessness, and LGBTQ issues.

City commitments and next steps

• Offered Noble Foundation and SWCUC a seat at the table to have long-term conversations about use of force, policing policies, VPD culture, police accountability measures.
• Noble Foundation said they appreciated and valued the invitation. They would further consider the opportunity before providing a response and wanted to be sure that voices would be heard and actions could move forward.
• Send PERF report on use of force after meeting.
• Lexi and Sophie will coordinate to schedule future meetings.