May Task Force Meeting Summary

Date: May 21, 2025

Time: 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Location: Edina Public Works – Multi-purpose Room

Task Force Member Attendance: Jim Nelson, Bianca Dawkins, Jan Stone, Pranika Kumar, Jasmine Stringer-Moore (remote)

Task Force Members Absent: Elly Doscotch, Jonathan Rogers

Staff In Attendance: Thomas Brooks, Zoe Johnson, MJ Lamon

Public Members in Attendance: Colleen Fiege, Leann Weber, Hilda Martinez, Bonnie Padilla, Meriwether Felt, Ron Jarvi Jr., Theresa Farrell-Strause, Tim Scully, Alana Zbaren, Cory Lukens, Joni Bennett, Roger Bildsten, Ann Curtin, Dave Schneider

Welcome & Introductions – Co-Chairs Dawkins and Nelson
Meeting Topic(s)

A. Staff Presentation – 15 minutes

Staff Liaison Thomas Brooks presented on Board and Commission Experience Survey Results

Current and former board and commission members had an opportunity to complete a survey administered March 2025 to evaluate boards and commissions. Participants were able to rate satisfaction in a number of areas and provide direct feedback to better understand successes, challenges and opportunities for improvement, and ways advisory bodies can be improved in the city.

B. Group Table Discussions – 50 minutes

Community Engagement and Special Projects Manager, MJ Lamon to facilitate workshop discussions on commission for all attendees on Recruitment, Communication, Diversity & Inclusion, and Roles.

Recruitment (i.e. application, interview, orientation)

Successes	Word of mouth, neighborhood associations, large applicant pools, social media, improvement of application
Challenges	Gender and racial imbalance, lack of accomplishments, continued attendance challenges, no chair involvement in the interview process, lack of minimum qualifications, clarity of commissioner roles
Solutions	Involve the chair in the interview process when one commission is selected by applicant Expand panel and duration of interviews Sensitivity to cultural diversity on specific commissions Training specific to each commission charter Opportunity for in person interviews No seniors: recruit sophomores and juniors Add video component to application process

Diversity & Inclusion

Successes	Broadly defined diversity at application, deepen diversity within application pool, have initiatives that provide direct support with community
Challenges	Lack of cultural awareness on commissions, language barriers, lack of funding for translational services, modes of engagement, more presentation from renters
Solutions	Diversity training Demographic data per commission Enhance outreach efforts to underrepresented communities Connect with Jack & Jill, Edina Give & Go, and other nonprofits to build diverse relationships Spread more awareness of resources available to help people in need; shine a light on city partners

Communication

Successes	Staff liaisons to commissions, regular email communications, member to member communication, info distributed timely
Challenges	Inconsistent communication with different structure of meetings, communication with other city staff or liaisons, multi-city communication, respect among members, toxic masculinity, tendency to go off on tangents
Solutions	Improve collaboration with commission and city staff More transparency around budget and work plans Improve feedback from city council to understand limitations; commissions do not want to work on projects that will not be adopted by council Shift commission priorities to better align with city goals Commission chair training Stay on time, focused agendas

Roles

Successes	Funnels up into elected roles, transparent and published information to the public, work plans, onboarding packet, passionate commission members, good engagement, staff liaisons are great, develops experience to better serve community
Challenges	Work plan binding, lack of transparent of requirements/roles, lack of understanding roles & scope, untapped resource of professional expertise, changes to work plans not communicated, very slow process for tangible results, lack of understanding of Roberts rules, inconsistent design student work allocation
Solutions	Should be advisory and not a buffer for council decisions More info upfront during application process Orientation in person or online to ask clarifying questions Specific orientation for each commission Improve interactions with commissions and council; commissions often left in the dark from council decisions Chair/Vice Chair training on meeting facilitation Intra-commission discussions to evaluate commission challenges and solutions

Final Updates & Adjournment

Feedback received through the workshop portion of the meeting will be used by the task force in future meetings to identify possible recommendations for commissions and advisory bodies in the future. Attendees were made aware of potential legislative changes that may impact commission attendance and accessibility, specifically remote attendance requirements. Next Meeting is June 18th and will be held at virtually through Microsoft Teams to receive the Final Equity Strategic Action Plan (ESAP) Presentation and is open to the public to attend.

Categories: #summary, #notes