March 18, 2019 — City Council Special Meeting

Transcript

Captions from City of Boulder YouTube recording.

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[6:16] and welcome everyone we're gonna start real quickly by just introducing ourselves Lisa why don't you go ahead I'm Lisa Marcel Cindy Carlisle Aaron Brocket Suzanne Jones Sam Weaver and Mary young so I'm Jane Brautigan I'm the city manager I'm Tom car I'm the city attorney I'm Greg test I'm the police chief and we just want to start off by welcoming everyone here tonight it's really heartening to see the turnout and I'll just note that we have two council members who couldn't be here on such

[7:00] short notice one of them will be coming later but I know they this is important to them and they'll be wanting to engage in further conversations I'll just say that this is a community that cares about matters of consequence and your presence here shows that and that's a really good thing so thank you for being here well there is a lot that I and other City Council members could say tonight probably want to say tonight tonight is about us listening I also I think as you know we are legally obligated to withhold judgement and be restrained in our remarks as we wait to receive the results of the official investigation but regardless of the outcome of that investigation we know that this incident has already caused a lot of pain in our community we want to acknowledge that and if anything it has underscored the gap well underscores something that we

[8:00] already knew from surveys it's it underscores the gap between the welcoming inclusive inclusive community that we aspire to be and actually what it feels like for people of color living in this community but even without this incident we already knew that we have work to do on racism in our community we are engaging in some of that work but we obviously have a lot more to do and we look forward to engaging with you as we move forward with that work and so with that let's turn to this tonight's purpose and that is to hear from all of you so we've changed things around a bit this is a little bit of a hybrid part of it is the seating arrangements we are down here with you and you can be up there talking to us in hopes of making this formal space a little more welcoming in order to hear from everybody tonight there's a lot of

[9:00] people signed up we're gonna stick to our regular two minutes apiece we totally understand that that's not enough time but that's one way to be able to hear from others from all of you and unless you're pooling with others if you have two other people you're pulling with you can have four minutes four minutes our intention is to provide space and time for all the perspectives in the room I think it'll be helpful to know that this listening session is just a first step in a much longer conversation and we recognize that and we see this as the beginning of some an ongoing series of forums and conversations about race and the design of that will vary in recognition that tonight's format may not work for everybody but we're committed to moving that forward we understand that the topic here tonight it is painful and challenging and we fully expect to hear some testimony that has anger and frustration in order for this to be a safe space we ask that we

[10:02] all do our best to respect the variety of viewpoints we may hear and to refrain from clapping or providing verbal commentary some people like to do this if they agree we just want it to be a safe space and so that's one way we can do that with that I think we're ready to begin we are honored to denied to be honored tonight to be joined by a spiritual leader and an artist a poet who are going to help start us off in a place of reflection so with that I'd like to invite Mary Kate raise you yeah we yeah to the podium and then we'll be followed by the poet Norman Johnson thank you for the privilege of offering some words of invocation today for a hard and necessary conversation I

[11:03] am aware of the privilege of my voice and I offer it as one of many before we begin I want to invite you to turn to a neighbor and simply smile a welcoming smile thank you so let us begin in solidarity first with the people of Christchurch New Zealand and I would like to offer some seconds of silence in those brief seconds may we renounce and repudiate the white supremacy and the will to violence that caused this

[12:15] and now let us move from that incident of individual hate and violence which is so easy to condemn and from which to separate ourselves to this community in which we live we give thanks for the dignity of all persons for the gift of humanity for the will to recognize it and those we know those we don't know those we see those we don't see we give thanks for those who have said yes to public service and who lead the city of Boulder on our behalf this council and our civic leaders we give thanks for

[13:04] those who serve this community for the common good especially the police the firefighters the first responders who enter into danger for the safety of others and we give thanks for the call to show up here this evening for the will and courage to speak and to listen for the desire to become a more whole more true and more just community so let us now pause and prepare our hearts and minds to listen I know first that the words we and us so often have not included all persons all voices the fullness of humanity may all whose skin

[14:03] is like mine acknowledge the privilege in which we have moved in the world fears we have not had for ourselves and our children let us acknowledge that the sin and brokenness of racism are in our daily life seen and unseen acknowledged and unacknowledged and let us make a lament a song of sadness for the history we have received for the systemic racism that persists may we repent of our blindness to the depth of hurt and damage done may we listen before we speak listen to the experience of our neighbours listen I invite you for a moment to close your eyes and to

[15:01] listen to the history of our city and our state the indigenous persons who lived here for centuries the ancestors the ancestors of our Latin x community removed and slaughtered the laborers of color who traveled worked lived and died without civil rights or social respect the internment of Japanese persons during wartime the black families and students at our beloved University who lived down on Gough Street because they were not permitted to live on campus the grief and the lament are so great by the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept how can we sing in a strange land and for those among us who are old enough

[16:00] long in the tooth enough to remember and to be thinking yet we are that Colorado City that elected one of the first black mayors in the state we are past this pause stop listen one Penfield Tait that was his name he and Ellen rest in peace one Penfield Tait was not the antidote or the cure to the ills of the world surrounding us here so let us accept the past and the legacy inherited and let us be angry the ideals of justice and fairness are not here yet not for all persons Augustine of Hippo said this hope has two beautiful daughters their names are anger and courage anger

[17:05] at the way things are and courage to see that they do not remain as they are for this hope then let us offer up our anger and move to courage courage to listen courage for those who are weary of the fight courage for self-reflection courage for hard conversations courage to admit miss admit mistakes and failures courage to share power and accountability courage to give up for the sake of others courage to listen to the voices not yet heard courage to reject simple answers and to seek a shared complex way forward courage to be a whole community diverse in both intent and reality and at last we know that the

[18:05] healing of hurt cannot and will not be done in one meeting one moment or one day but the healing of the hurt will never be done without living in moments and meetings of truth and reconciliation and love these are the most powerful healers in the world may we seek them tonight and forever without fear in all honesty and with liberty love and justice for all thank you you thank you and now we will hear from the poet Norma Johnson I have a first of all

[19:16] good evening everyone thank you for being here but truly thank you for being here I have a collection of poems called poems from my white friends and largely it was inspired by living in Boulder this was the first poem that I wrote in that collection and it's called a poem from my white friends I didn't tell you I didn't tell you about my real life the one that haunts me most days it comes in

[20:03] moments at a time triggered by a look an attitude a sensing of superiority of blatant ignorance of good meaning intention dripping crap down my face I didn't tell you about the look they gave me when I opened my door and they saw black me standing there their mouths a gape their thoughts running loudly through my head I didn't tell you about being followed through the store and how I obediently kept my hands and my bag in plain sight I didn't tell you how

[21:00] quickly they looked away when I catch them staring at me in the restaurant and standing in the supermarket line I didn't tell you how the clerk pretended the white woman was standing at the counter before I had and waited on her first I didn't tell you how I have to take a really deep long breath every time before I walk into a room full of white people I didn't tell you that in the meeting the classroom and the workshop when the subject of diversity comes up they all look at me as if I am a spokesperson for the whole nation of people of color and I didn't tell you that when diversity isn't

[22:01] mentioned and needs to be I'm too often the one who has to point it out I didn't tell you how many times why people say to me in one way or another you were different because they felt comfortable with me and that didn't fit their mold what they figured a black person was like I didn't tell you how disappointed that white man was when after eagerly questioning me found out that I was not the exotic Nubian he had fantasized but just another Negro girl from New Jersey I didn't tell you about the white woman a stranger who chose out of all the white

[23:01] people around us to sit next to me and proceeded to tell me all about her favorite black performers and her black friends and how this country needs to take integration to the next level so I could see how her life is an example of that I didn't tell you about the anger I stuffed down when that dreadlock young white boy gave me a high-five and called me sister I didn't tell you about the white one I passed at Twilight in the park who tensed her body tighten the grip on her purse and walked a large curved detour past me I didn't

[24:05] tell you that my stomach clenches when I see a police car because it means I may not be safe I didn't tell you that your world is not mine and that we are virtual worlds apart I didn't tell you that while you can somehow think of yourself as ethnically expansive because you have a black friend I meanwhile just still stay black I didn't tell you that while you can walk boldly into any place you choose I always have to consider where I am who I'm with and how I'm

[25:02] going to affect people I didn't tell you that being a good person and being clueless can come in the same package I didn't tell you about the comments you made that would take a lifetime of explaining how you bought into the system that keeps us all in our place I didn't tell you about my day because I've been taught not to and you have been taught not to even consider it I didn't tell you about my day because

[26:00] then I would have to live it all over again and I have to save that for tomorrow I wrote that poem in 2008 and it's now being used nationally by educators to inspire discussions about race I hope you've been able to hear because that was my prayer when I wrote this that it could be heard and felt

[27:10] I think that's all I want to say thank you we will break our own rules for Norma um thank you for that now we're gonna hear from our city manager Jean Brautigan Thank You Mara I certainly hope miss Johnson's prayers are answered tonight community members City Council and city staff 17 days ago an african-american college student who was picking up trash was confronted by a boulder police

[28:02] officer many of us have seen a video filmed by a community member the captured part of this interaction and are deeply troubled by what we observed a thorough investigation into the police response is currently underway and tonight I can share that former District Attorney Stan Garnett has agreed to conduct an independent review of this process this incident has caused deep pain in our community as well as in our city organization as one of many leaders in our community and as someone who is accountable for the actions of local government I want you to know that I am taking this challenge to heart what happened on March 1st was unacceptable it is time to confront our biases and learn from them so we can better serve

[29:02] our entire community I want to publicly and personally apologize to xate Atkinson and his family I am very sorry for the fear and pain that you must have endured in this incident I cannot tell you how grateful and humbled I am by the example you've set for us and it's aftermath I understand you've said that you want to be part of positive change my door and my heart is open to you I'm committed to listening and learning from your experience and reflections you may have about next steps at the same time I understand our community's pain is not just about this one incident and it goes beyond issues related to policing we have heard courageous and personal testimony in this very room about microaggressions and other ways our institutional structural and individual biases and

[30:02] racism impact others we received valuable and painful feedback as part of last year's inclusivity survey and at a Human Relations Commission forum that followed and yet here we are still struggling in the wake of current events I hear the anger and frustration in your individual and collective calls for justice it's important to say that even before this incident your input has made a difference last year I said our city organization on a course to learn more about systemic racism and the impacts this scourge has on our community through our partnership with the government Alliance on race and equity our intention was to gain a better understanding of this issue internally and prepare a group of city staff members to be able to authentically and sincerely listen to our community we

[31:01] planned to begin public engagement later this year last week I shared with city employees that we will accelerate our community engagement and this is an organizational priority I'm committed to making this happen in the weeks and months ahead I hope some of you in this room might help us plan community conversations that will provide room for continued listening and empathy while also resulting in clear action items we can work on together lastly I want to speak for a moment to our Police Department I want to be clear that I value the important work that you do in our community and I share your commitment to ensuring that every officer goes home to his or her family safely after every shift I believe that you are a department that strives for the utmost personal integrity and understands the importance of continuous improvement I

[32:02] encourage each of you to see this incident as an opportunity and to take the courageous step of asking what you as a department can do to strengthen our community and promote meaningful change and healing you have a chief who understands the challenges you face each day he is also and this is critical fully committed to listening to our whole community to feel their pain and search for solutions so we can better serve everyone who lives works and visits Boulder I stand by Chief Greg testa and thank him for his brave leadership like me he is deeply troubled by examples of race-based biases in our community and is committed to self-reflection and making changes to support equity and inclusivity in our city miss Johnson's powerful poem

[33:02] provides an important framework for all of us in Boulder we like to think of ourselves as a progressive community but this very perception may be our greatest obstacle good intentions are not enough our largely white and privileged community will continue to fail at dismantling racism until we recognize that the advantages most of us enjoy are not available to community members of color and that the experiences many of our neighbors visitors and co-workers have here are not acceptable I truly believe my role tonight is to listen reflect and to learn only then can we work together to chart a path toward creating a new future that improves safety quality of life and equity for everyone in Boulder if we fail to take steps to understand

[34:01] our own complicity we fail in our commitment to serve the public and we break the trust we have worked so hard to earn I thank you for continuing to keep this at the forefront of our minds I assure you this has affected me deeply and other city employees as well and I will be listening closely to each comment shared tonight thank you for being here thank you city manager we're now gonna turn to our invited guests and we're honored to have Zaid Atkinson join us okay well I just want to thank

[35:01] everybody for showing up today and I wanted to thank the poets for for speaking takes a lot to be that raw yeah so I appreciate this opportunity to discuss the issues of racism racial justice and racial bias in our police and city government these problems are long-standing but they are too important to ignore while the bolder government is trying to create an appearance of racial sensitivity this stance is for the sake of appearance only I had guns pointed at me because of the color of my skin this is unacceptable treatment of anyone the police department is not capable of investigating itself and I have asked for an independent review of what happened to me by bolder outsider instead bolder has picked a 9-year bolder district attorney to do a secondary investigation boga has not

[36:01] taken this request seriously and I have been ignored and my power has been taken away again while I appreciate the speaker's schedule to be here today these issues must be addressed with hard work and not lip service although I hope that this meeting brings the community together on these issues and points us towards progression the problem will not and cannot be solved by single town-hall meeting as we know the meeting must be first and of many other steps in our progression and I hope that the city is committed to doing that hard work tonight I'm not gonna get into details about the recent incident involving me that needs to unfold as the investigation goes on I will have more to say about the incident at a later time what I can talk about tonight is my perspective as a member of the boulder community and what I see in this community I'm also here to listen and

[37:00] hear the views of others in our community creating community like enforcing the law is very important to having a successful society but balance is critical to any system we cannot tilt too far towards authoritarianism towards weapons and towards force we must focus on empathy and compassion for ourselves our neighbors and to everyone in this city and the whole world o universe the key to social sustainability I believe is serving others I found eternal love and happiness through serving others by serving life and by serving the universe as well everything that we obtain in life will be taken from us at death we are trained to obtain things but I've but rarely are we trained to give I believe that this is one route to our disease and suffering and so I think

[38:04] that we need to take the approach to race I need I think that we need to take that approach to racism to law enforcement into creating our community we need an attitude of giving and service we need an attitude mindfulness and selflessness thank you for listening and I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say tonight [Applause] say thank you for your words and your presence here we appreciate it next up is in it James I'm Annette James I am the president of NAACP Boulder County chapter who our branch the NAACP has

[39:06] been involved in in forming effective law enforcement policies since its inception a hundred and ten years ago the NAACP advocates for smarter result-based criminal justice policies we call for an end to racial profiling we call for an end to racial disparities and all levels the incident of March first was dire it was traumatizing to the individual it stagnated our community and when I read in the paper that the one person in the community

[40:00] with the greatest amount of individual power categorized the incident as concerning what was frankly insulting it miss communicates its severity it diminishes our belief in the truthfulness of a right outcome well here's a couple of things that we black people and both are fine concerning we find it concerning that the most powerful entity in our community declined an invitation for dialogue but chose instead to retreat behind the proverbial ongoing investigation gate but when the gate opens be it 30 days 60 days 90 days

[41:01] we'll be waiting there we'll be there again to extend an invitation for dialogue for support and for collaboration we'll be there to ask that you move immediately to establish embrace and empower a citizens oversight board will be there to ask that you promote know your rights training especially for black citizens will be there to ask that through policy each officer uses clearly defined truthful language when assessing a threat put down your buckets eMeter put down your bucket it's a life-and-death

[42:02] difference between drop your weapon we will be there to hear your findings we will be there to see what remedy you choose thank you [Applause] um next up is Nikhil man k-car good evening I'm Nikhil man Kay call them the trail of the city's Human Relations Commission thank you all for coming out tonight I'm also a native of Boulder but I'm of Indian and Sikh American heritage and I think the only position of college

[43:02] to be leading the City Commission in a long time probably since a decade ago and friend of mine led the Human Relations Commission and then a decade before that when when a while the Commission I was born and raised in Boulder I grew up in this city it's my hometown in that time I've had a really different experience from the people around me the issues being discussed tonight I have experienced this racism discrimination and felt the impact on my life and humanity and out of my family and ways little too much to get into tonight I could have my own public healing and talk all night to the council so if you want to do that just let me know I mean I want to a lot of people in this room and watching tonight probably can't handle the truth about

[44:00] that and some people think they know but I'll just say you have no idea people have called it isn't just one of the two incidents it's a consistent experience happening over and over again every second of the day and many times a day you will be reminded over the place put into the place treated look it was less than in some way the way people choose to interact with you and inappropriate email they don't stop to think as racist and on and on the way you get looked at the question is you navigate spaces in your own home town when you have space to speak to the truth and not when people who should be the plans are so filled with resentment they can't even say a civil hello make eye contact and acknowledge the humanity the association of white privilege by people is so consistent you can't even think of a different way of being and experiencing life sometimes to inflict

[45:02] that on someone or to be a bystander than that is unacceptable the sad thing is among all the people committing this racism the white privilege allows them to deny it and say but I am NOT a racist I am NOT I can't be racist I'm a liberal I'm a progressive that is not me in both of them there's no they cysts they will say but so how many how can so many people have caused experience racism every single day then and if they're no racist as we repeatedly get told how do you all plan to solve this problem you can't solve a problem if the people in power and your next-door neighbor who won't even admit that there is one to begin with two weeks ago I presented on updates to the city's hate crimes law to the City Council what many in the community did not see is that it took the news of me looking almost like a full-time job on

[46:01] it just to get it before the council when people have called leading on issues in the community that impact us on a day to day basis why does it take such a long time to do something about it white privilege is entitled entitled entitled white privilege those Tantrums when it's only doesn't get its way white privilege is angry when it doesn't get what it wants despite being unqualified and mediocre at best white privilege allows its owner to go unquestioned to not be held accountable there's always someone just like them to make excuses and rationalize away the poison that is inflicted so casually on those of us not more than so privileged has to be able to escape it just two months ago when I spoke at the mouth of the King Day I said that while we've accomplished some things and we should be proud of them as a city and on my own commission we've made progress but we still have a

[47:00] long way to go and that peace and love only come through action action action action I asked the council to stop the talking to stop repeatedly asking people of Kali to tell you our stories and our drama and for the community to stop rationalizing away what we tell you and to take action the time is now the time is always now thank you so we have one more invited guest and then we'll get to the public and that is Guillermo Medina is Guillermo here okay then so now we will turn to there's a lot of people signed up and that's wonderful now we're going to start paying attention to the the lights up there that give you two

[48:02] minutes and with that we're pleased to have the president thank you all for being here and I appreciate the opportunity to speak briefly about the situation the lawyer in me understands the comments about needing to wait for a process to be completed the human in me says that I'm not prepared to wait to look at what I experienced on March first an experience that a student at Naropa was unfairly targeted was the victim of racism in this community and despite the formality of the investigation that feeling is not going to change for me it hasn't changed in the last 15 days and I do not imagine it changing go forward at Naropa we are working hard to invite a diverse community of faculty

[49:01] staff and students and yet three days ago I received an email from a poet of some renown a man of color who wrote to me as he was coming to decide whether to show up for our 40th summer writing program asking me whether it was safe for him to come to Boulder Colorado he made me sick to receive that email and yet it was completely understandable based on what he experienced from a distance about the community at this point I believe that for us to do the work that we have to do we have to decide how real were prepared to get as a community I'm incredibly proud of Zadok concern for standing up so clearly and stating his truth and I think the time has come now for us as a community to decide whether or not we're willing to hear that truth from person after person who has a story to tell are we prepared actually to give up the power

[50:00] that we have in engaging each other in discussing racism in this community into what other people have said those of us who feel that we are good people and we are not racist people need to set that aside and realize that even good people and even non racist people are racist in some cases that's going to come up over and over again and the opportunity we have right now in front of us I believe is to hear and learn from people whose direct experience has been so different from ours and is equally real and who have much to teach us so I'm looking forward to hearing from the rest of the community but I'm more looking forward to a decision by this community that we will lean in to what's uncomfortable in this conversation this is not an academic exercise this is not an intellectual exercise but it's one that actually is something we have to feel into we have to lean into somatically

[51:01] and we have to understand how we experience what we're experiencing deeply in our body he's not just in our minds and that's the work that I'm committed Naropa is committed to doing with the city and I hope it's something the community will embrace Thank You president lief and I think we're looking forward to working with you I think I could speak for everyone here appreciate that Manuela's one face in you are pooling with two people good evening my name is Alesia good soldier and I live on the occupied lands of the Cheyenne Arapaho and Yuta nations I'm here with Manuela cifuentes and Juan Stuart neither of us are at all surprised at white police officers from the boulder Police Department racially profiling a black man as a criminal for simply being black almost exactly two

[52:02] years ago on March 9th 2017 we both signed onto an email that went out to the Boulder City Council among others that exposed three racist videos created by a local band los cheesie's and starring folks from Boulder and other parts of the county including Lee Seamus and Shawn Camden this band had been hired to play at local events and paid for with taxpayer money we had various complaints about the videos including local leaders in brown faced fittest photo sizing Asian women objectifying women in general but also specifically perpetuating stereotypes of black boys and men I will read an excerpt from that email the video also perpetuates the dangerous and ingrained stereotypes of blacks particularly black men as criminals the character stevie is presented as a lawyer and a judge that prosecutes all the scumbags of Vallejo California while the camera pans out to an image of a white plaintiff and a black defendant consider that that

[53:01] through racial profiling black males are disproportionately targeted by police through stops searches use of force and juvenile arrests that compared to their white counterparts black youth and men are also more likely to receive prison terms and be sentenced to life without parole consider also the recent and highly publicized deaths unarmed black youth and men at the hands of the police Tamir rice Michael Brown Eric Gardner Freddie gray Philander Castillo and how the rise of the black lives matter movement has been met with the tone deaf all lives matter rebuttal this email to which Councilwoman Mary young also signed on to went out to various elected officials including the boat'll Boulder City Council in place on March 9th 2017 aside from a young who I already mentioned these emails went out the council included that council included Suzanne Jones Sam Weaver Erin Brackett Lisa Moore's oh all on council still today as well as Bob Yates Jane

[54:00] Burt Jan Burton Matt Applebaum and Andrew shoemaker this message is also for you do you remember your response to that email there was been deafening silence and earth-shattering inaction you were so uncomfortable you opted to ignore the concerns raised in those emails after all this is Boulder a community of light progressives that commonly oppose racism I really have no idea what would have no idea what went through your heads because you opted for silence I imagine your thought process something like respected local white males engaging in and promoting racial stereotypes cannot be good people they employ people of color you are not alone in not responding we also did not get a response from members of the Lafayette City Council Louisville City Council Lamont City Council nobody on the Board

[55:01] of Education for the same vein Valley or Boulder Valley School District's or their superintendents none of the County Commissioners and on and on I want you now to imagine what would have happened if you'd taken our concerns seriously what if we would have had a conversation about the dehumanizing damage that comes from brown face and black face and using native imagery of mascots what if we would have had a conversation about how racial profiling by the police have dangerous and sometimes fatal consequences but so lucky to still have you and what if we'd also talk about how the media and pop culture contribute to racist believes even among those who don't want to be racist that was a missed opportunity and now here we are so I ask you to be introspective and if you want to change bolder you have to change your leadership thank you Thank

[56:03] You Shirley mayor City Councilmembers good evening thank you for the opportunity to address you my name is Shirley white I'm a former member of your human relations commission and I want to ask you about to consider something very specific and that is if you recall the Hillard and Heinz report completed in February 2016 over three years ago one of its key findings was that there wasn't enough an accurate data by race and ethnicity and the human relations commission at that time asked for the data to be compiled in a manner accordance with best practices it's not a new practice in analyzing data in this way for communities who want to really understand how people move through the justice system and so we asked for this data on a quarterly basis by the 15th of

[57:01] each month for the preceding quarter and we haven't seen anything like that yet the Human Relations Commission asked for it to the City Council so I ask you to consider as you listen to the folks tonight what specific things you can do to demonstrate leadership as we try to grapple with and address some of these larger issues and I would say that looking at data that's the place to start week we don't need to rely on people being good people being progressive people checking their white privilege we can look at the data look at it by decision by each decision stage and the story will become obvious and I encourage you to collaborate with the county I'm glad to see the district attorney is here look at the entire criminal justice system of how people move through and I think the story will be clear I also ask you to explain to the community what happened with the diversity officer what

[58:00] happened there I think it's really unfair to hire a diversity officer then all of a sudden she's not here the community is wondering it's really disrespectful to say that diversity is an important part of your work and then to have something like that happen lastly I'll just say you all had an opportunity a little over a year ago to have a person of color represent the city as mayor and you all chose not to and you decided to give in to this culture of politeness and you didn't see the value of what that would mean to my two kids of color to have that and so I asked you in the words of our city manager to look at your own complicity that contribute to this kind of environment if the next speaker comes up one second I just want to acknowledge congressman Jonah goose is here and also a DA Michael Dougherty they're here to

[59:00] listen and we very much appreciate your presence and your service so I wanted to acknowledge II I know you guys can't necessarily stay the whole time and with that it's been two and a half weeks since the incident we're here to talk about tonight and that incident could have ended in the death of a young black man a resident of our city since that time we've only heard about an officer going on leave and an internal investigation if I were a person of color I would not feel safer I might feel more unsafe other cities that have had incidents like this the same day the chief or the mayor holds a press conference to acknowledge the incident and the video that everyone has looked up by now I understand you can't discuss personnel issues I'm not really interested in the investigation that's going on right now I'm interested in the department as a

[60:00] whole what I would like to hear chief say the day that this incident happened starting immediately at the beginning of each shift each officer must review video with a trainer or supervisor until everyone has reviewed it and answer the questions what went wrong what should have happened and what would you do each of you in that situation for a better outcome I admire and respect the boulder Police Department but I no longer trust I no longer trust our Police Department's training and judgment I'm here tonight to urge Council to act to get involved to to do what is not supposed to be done find out what training is going on and what training is not going on I know you're gonna would ruffle some feathers I know you'd get resistance from the police department in interfering but I'm asking you to interfere what is the

[61:02] saying extraordinary times require extraordinary measures this is an extraordinary time I'm asking for action from you guys thank you Thank You Gloria Steve Bentley you're pulling with two people I am and I'd like to appreciate their minute and 45 seconds that I need in 2015 called the thin blue line there once was a kind on that thin blue line who would say to a young mind this community is mine but now all they see is hidden blue brutality and it's no wonder they're all doing time there's no stopping a chat no helping anyone with this or that just a choke and a bat if you happen to be black and walking around in one of those dark hooded hats Oh your charges our lives say their bosses with blind eyes protest lines are filled with their spies do not question why they'll spray

[62:01] blind your eyes when will they open their own and use their more human minds to realize its neighbors and friends they live to despise these are American families too that the blue terrorized so whether you're a woman or you're black or brown or gay and our land it should always be okay to live and whatever peaceful way and always be free to say what they say we should help one another live fully the promise of the freedom and not the finance within the American Way but now this blue bigotry is causing such strife when it's untreated hate and no thought or value for the colorful life perhaps we need women and some colorful men who lead in the kind way that vigilant deputy Fife who to everyday would carry a gun but Barney the man had no satellite van or big tactical plan and in the early morning hours after he'd taken his shower put on his badge of power that power was kept restrained for in his pocket remained what could cause bloodstains and leave a

[63:00] neighbor with nothing but a flower Oh he'd leave his home armed but protect all from harm and during neighbors with charm blue does not have to be synonymous with harm it's up to those who oversee to change the course and Harbor the force of the rising blue seas it's true there's crime that's quite plain to see but fear is a path that has no release our future is not bound by history silent sound there's already enough black blood that's been spilled on the ground to strike fear and our children round after round in spite of our anthems victorious sound and for freedom this world all around we fight and we heave for those who are still bound by those who believe and beat and deceive leaving families to grieve today in our land day after day the blue by their actions ceaselessly say that freedom sound is no longer around is that sound still found in my hometown or

[64:01] am I too likely to be put in the ground by the carefree release of just one more round there's no need to worry no question will sound instead of throwing black men into the pound open your blue and white eyes take a look around this grand land of bounds there's room enough around to reach out to neighbors who need a new lease instead of buying drones and monitor and phone we all should be focusing on building the peace thank you Cheers thank you gilben I grew up in 1970s Miami when us1 was still called South Dixie Highway I'm very familiar with over white nationalism that's unfortunately on the rise and I've been here in Boulder for 30 years that ignorance of white nationalism is horrible but isn't Boulder great for whom veneer is more

[65:03] insidious and pernicious because it pretends all the time to be something different I'm also someone who's lived here for over three decades and I've raised three children two biracial here I know something about racism in Boulder not enough has changed since Ruth Kay flowers came to a close Boulder in 1917 or 1972 when she talked to BHS and said that Boulder systemically systemically discriminates people of color education housing economic and social opportunities and the truth is nothing's changed because person after person before me has already come up and said that they haven't been listened to and I've been a close watcher of Council this council not only do you say racist things over and over again neighborhood character I listen to to Lisa on the

[66:03] Daiya say the outsiders are invading our open space cindy carlisle got up and didn't want to listen to me the last time I was here because she doesn't like the way I deliver things well you know what it's about time that you all open up I watched Sam dismiss Charles leaf last Tuesday and say oh go talk to the human relations committee and it wasn't only me that was offended by that I've watched you be smug and arrogant I've watched people be dismissed by this council and it's this count responsibility to do something thanks mark I'm Jude Landsman I'm a local artist mother of both white and biracial children and a long-term social justice advocate thank you City Council members for your consideration and for arranging

[67:03] this forum it is an inclusive and responsive step well it is necessary to be heard and to listen to have integrity there must be follow-through this story has been told already the Hillard Hinds report told it in 2016 it's time now for action in our community I think that's a theme I've been hearing the n-double-a-cp Boulder branch members of which I am one demand an independent community oversight board with broad investing investigatory powers and binding rulings civil rights activist and writer and poet Audrey Lorde speaks about action and change she writes guilt is not a response to

[68:00] anger it is a response to one's own actions or a lack of action if it leads to change then it can be useful since it is then no longer guilt but the beginning of knowledge Boulder can do better than guilt we can model best practices we can act we can be knowledgeable please support us as a community to move forward our Peterson a Peterson I'm a boulder native I wanted to say for me the bubble is burst I have friends who have been subject to the all too typical harassment reserved for our minority friends whether that is some calls to the police that are in a pro four reasons to harass neighbors while shopping at the hardware store or driving while black each instance involved a response that was more extreme than would have been executed on

[69:00] a white person and unwarranted in all cases we all know from media exposure the sudden moves or actions by minorities it might seem innocent in another context are too often taken as aggressive or dangerous by law enforcement and the result in the death of innocent persons we are fortunate that in this instance that that did not occur the danger was clearly evident in the law enforcement response I am here because I'm tired of trying to rationalize the law enforcement responses towards my friends I'm here because I want to build a better Boulder where skin color is not how we judge our neighbors and our welcome mat is an invitation to all it is my opinion that Boulder Police Department needs to engage in racial sensitive sensitivity training along with training and how to de-escalate situations before they devolve into weapons drawn style responses the responding officer needs to undergo counseling to determine if

[70:00] there was a bias problem in his future with the Department determined by that outcome an apology from chief testa is necessary to both the her a student and the community at large many in our community recognize the need for so-called white privilege and how this situation would never have occurred had the student than white comments about how to respond to police officers in forums like the daily camera clearly indicate that many do not understand how a lifetime of discrimination can impact how a person would respond to an overly aggressive police intrusion the community discussion geared towards and heifer to understand how these racial attitudes perpetuate stereotypes and how we can overcome those negative perceptions might be a path towards a better Boulder thank you thank you Ami's Ackerman hello my name is Amy Zuckerman and I was chair of the Human Relations Commission in 2015 when an incident prompted City Council to hire Hillard Hinds to review police data in

[71:00] the SRP well here we are four years later with an outraged community and I think we should admit failure I have four recommendations number one courageous and accountable leadership to complete the job $100,000 of our money went to good consultants but their 12 recommendations were only partially addressed we need people in leadership jobs who are willing and able to do what must be done as recommended number two the HRC should hold the psrp accountable in 2015 the city manager was quick to remove HRC involvement with the consultation process the HRC when it was instead given a nebulous goal of fostering a quote safe and welcoming community but that is an outcome and not a cause what does cause a safe community is people living free of biased police behavior the HRC could provide valuable psrp input and oversight as the psrp hears community complaints reviews investigations into those complaints and makes community recommendations to

[72:00] leaders in the police department number three it's time for a 100% citizen review board moving the psrp under the city manager in 2016 was a good first step but we have to protect the objectivity of community members on it the ACLU and others have critiqued split boards for a long time a number for de-escalation policy and training needs to be a priority and 2016 chief tested told council that de-escalation training was held that staff was exploring new ways to enhance police a bias bias free policing did the officers on March 1st passed that training this community deserves officers who are skilled in this let's not have this citizens experience being vain the time for serious lasting structural change is now thank you thank you Amy Michael Franklin hi my name is Michael Franklin I'm a professor at Naropa University for 22 years and over those years I've had many students

[73:01] of color in my classroom I can't tell you how many office hours have been devoted to talking with them while they weeped and while they were feeling the need to escape and even leave our program because of the heinous experiences they had in our community what I fear one of the outcomes from this situation is similar to what Chuck lief said earlier and that is you have harmed my capacity to recruit students of color to my program something that I work very hard to do but they they will see what happened and in fact this year before this incident we had our admissions interviews and a Navajo woman

[74:01] who really wants to come and study with me and our mbnr program said I'm not sure I can come because I'm not sure what it will be like for me to be in this community the word is out about this community this just makes it even more pronounced when I looked at the video of what happened I was shocked at how stuck the moment was I mean that's that that was what I'm watching for I don't know was it 12 15 minutes and it was just stuck it was solid it was rigid where was that moment of training where somebody looked at this gentleman and said this is ridiculous this this moment does not deserve how it's being met can we just back off and maybe reset for a second and apologize in the moment okay I'm buzzed thank you very much Evan Evan rabbits

[75:01] table Mesa I've lived here over 40 years the city of Boulder has built a reputation as very punishing to young people artists and hippies not to mention people of color and the homeless it goes back to our founding we took all the Arapahoe land breaking that treaty Boulder was established with building Lots costing a thousand bucks compared to a hundred in Denver to make it an exclusive place black people lived on Goss Grove and especially on Water Street now known as Canyon which regularly flooded in the 30s Boulder had one of three Colorado Ku Klux Klan clans boulders a bastion of the military-industrial complex with all the major in defense firms along the Front Range and all the right-wing repressive politics that brings it's just well hidden in genteel Boulder there's a reason someone risked arrest or death a few years ago by repainting the sign on the Justice Center to read

[76:03] injustice center now I've lost my place there's a reason why thousands of students rioted for two nights in 1997 on the hill doing half a million dollars damage one reason the student president testified was the perception that students had no rights while the police had given the parents of JonBenet Ramsey every opportunity to escape justice I'll skip down here that two-level justice system worked right here for two City Council people Richard Polk and George Carrick and then DA Stan Garnett appeared to help zetas right Stan Garnett is eminently unqualified to lead this investigation thank you Thank You Evan Adam sweat like good

[77:01] evening tonight I wanted to speak about my personal experience surrounding race issues here in Boulder during my hundreds of nights working in the service industry I had thousands of positive experiences the best part of all was the service industry staff that I got to work with we would often joke that our staff was the most racially diverse cross-section of Boulder that Boulder had to offer and it was actually a truth it wasn't really a joke at all but with this diversity often came some of our worst experiences both verbal and physical attacks of racially charged nation nature happened every few weeks to my friends of color I was always astounded at how well they managed these attacks they would be angry of course but always in control to them it was just a part of life one I hadn't been exposed to until regularly working with them weirdest that'd be most was the frequency and nonchalant attitudes of

[78:02] the attackers something I didn't realize what exists in Boulder until I was in it unfortunately most of my service industry friends only commute to Boulder to work so you won't ever hear from any of them I just thought it would be worth saying for them that issues of race are far from solved here especially in little scene areas like the late-night service industry as for my interactions with Boulder PD I never witnessed a scenario like the one that brought us all together tonight despite dozens of interactions with them I base this lack of negative experiences on a strong sense of community that the downtown service industry has fostered police employees and patrons were always watching each other and holding each other accountable for their actions this led to mostly positive interactions during even the most tense of encounters I asked tonight that we strive for the

[79:01] same accountability and oversight throughout the entire community not just our downtown service community thank you thank you Rob smoke my name is Rob smoke I live in Boulder I've lived in Boulder like thirty two and a half years and I I would venture to guess that I've spoken at City Council meetings hmm more than any of the council members here in this room over a lifetime not in recent times first of all telling somebody who isn't holding a weapon to put down their weapon as a terror tactic it's not police work and it doesn't take a lot of research to find that out you can actually see video of people being shot immediately after that line has been spoken my god I have to just share

[80:06] momentarily about my own experience I was brutally assaulted by someone who was white 26 years old much bigger than me a drug dealer on the hill and the arresting officer said things in court to make sure this guy was acquitted and he wrote a statement and if answer that which would look at that guy and it said things in that statement that he said I said which I never said to him so I asked for the body camera of that and I asked for the the dispatch tape of while I was the time I was with him in his truck I was in his car the entire time I was with him and neither of those things were produced and only seven and a half months later did Greg testa the chief of police say there was no body camera and I believe was to cover up and I asked

[81:02] only the the city city attorney I asked counsel and the city attorney Bay director to the city attorney can I submit my complaint to the Professional Standards review unit or whatever it is you have and I was told by city attorney Tom car that my complaint was baseless primarily because he knew Greg testa personally and Greg testa would not allow lying by members of his force I you know I don't have any concealed weapon on me but I have a finger I can point there's at least three people here deputy chief chief of police city attorney who do not long involved in this investigation in any way shape or form thank you thank you Steven McMillan Steve here I'll in seagull

[82:04] I guess loons coming up Sheila Davis okay well it's not like she'll lose her place are you Steve hi I'm Steven macmillian I'm glad you're still here with us I'm glad that there was a video on you your incident brings up May 2012 for me I took my own case to court was found not guilty and they found excessive use of force was used by the border Police Department I'll tell you why eight was there it's eight for restraint there's one on each

[83:00] arm one control in the head the six ones yelling out quit resisting quit resisting to let everybody know that excessive use of force is being used the seventh one is there watching the six back in crowd control and the eighth is next two columns in case Reese additional resources or medical needs to roll to that incident City Committee wants you to think this is about race but the people here that are on house face this every day as well I'm talking about the homeless here in Boulder and I'm mama told me the home is where your heart is so as long as you have a beating one you always have a home but homeless here in Boulder face this brutality along with our minorities as well and I just wanted to expose that now tactically I can talk about the boulder Police Department as well because this was brought up in my trial

[84:00] they're allowed to use what they call softening the suspect they're allowed to drop elbows they're allowed to knee if you google cops and Boulder on YouTube that incident happened not even fifty feet from here across the creek that juvenile man was contacted for smoking a cigarette he's repeatedly need an elbowed because he won't give up his hands because he didn't feel that smoking a cigarette was outlawed but here in here here in Boulder it is that's what I got for you guys thank you Thank You Steven Lynn perfect segue Lynd seagull mountain heights my concern here is that in 2013 on New Year's Day someone in the police department killed an elk and two guys were implicated in

[85:03] it and I don't see where things have improved now we've got eight folks involved this time so I think we're going downhill I don't like to sit and seem that happened for Sam Carter and Brent Kerr no the to that collaborated on the elk and they used each other to get the sentence reduced and I'm afraid we're gonna have some serious stuff coming down here this this is sentencing issues what happened with Sam was he got one year Stan Garnett commanded one year when he could have given him up to six I thought he should get life without parole because these guys have violated the human trust and they are in a position of trust in Boulder and that Trust is eroded and it's gone downhill since 2013 and this is very concerning was not meaningful

[86:09] but symbolic judge Butler said Butler also said he was not interested in symbolic gestures but the benefit to the community so the guy got community service well I'd like to know what is the real benefit to the community the real benefit is to the community is how you treat these eight people that pulled this off because they are message to the future and to what goes on here in Boulder that's what's beneficial to the community not community service thank you in Sheila Davis and then bill Spain good evening my name is Sheila Davis and I'm a physician professor health equity researcher at a

[87:00] member of the boulder branch of the NAACP the shooting of unarmed black men at the hands of police has risen to the level of a public health crisis in this nation on my drive to this meeting NPR was reporting on yet another white police officer on trial for killing an unarmed black teen in Pittsburgh fortunately the episode at Naropa on March 1st did not escalate to a shooting however for the boulder community to serve as a model for the nation with respect to inclusivity I propose the following measures last Saturday I had the privilege of engaging in a dialogue with youth of color and members of the Denver Seattle and New Orleans police departments in this conversation youth described their encounters with police and please discuss what their average days were like the officers had an opportunity to

[88:00] appreciate the dire circumstances of some of these youth in these vulnerable spaces authentic relationships emerge this event was part of the Denver Police Department's bridging the gap children and cops program through this program I facilitate dialogues between youth and police officers and you know something dialogue really works as a public health researcher I am all about prevention to that end I would like I would love to see bridging the gap launched here in Boulder along with the independent community oversight board thank you Thank You Sheila um bill Spain and then the Shama Abraham my name is Bill Spain and I live in Boulder I've been here for six years I came from Ohio worked in a

[89:05] city called Newark Ohio that was at the end of my retirement from another company and I worked for the city for about three and a half years I was in human resources director there and I was in charge of the police the fire department and also code administration one of the topics that I've heard tonight it's about getting is about the communication between the public and also the police department first of all I will say something about the police department that I'm familiar with because I work they would they work with me for about three and a half years when I was there in in Newark Ohio some situations are very frightening I've gone on runs with them and there are some situations in which they have been

[90:02] taken that they have been taking a potshot at and that is not very comfortable for anybody on the other hand there were some serious communication problems between the public and between the police department so what we did was we set up a program in which we would have sort of a community a community buddy-buddy system where we would have certain officers they would be in certain parts of the city but their job was not just to go out there and look around their job was to get up the car go and engage in some conversations get to know the people in the community and after that the established that would establish some sort of camaraderie some sort of well they do care about us state the other thing is what it what it established was that we we had this

[91:02] camaraderie over a period of time between the police and the community and I tell you one thing right now that that worked that worked so well that we we we just didn't have it hardly have any more problems at least with the communities that we work with so that's something I would suggest to the city of Boulder Boulder and to the police chief chief tester and I think you might find that very very interesting I'm sorry mr. Atkins the concerns about what happened to you and I know that it must have been devastating hopefully we can get it all resolved for you all right thank you neshama and you're pulling with two people out there could erase their hands great thank you good evening Thank You counsel Thank You staff my name is neshama

[92:01] Abraham and I've lived in Boulder for 22 years I'm a mother two daughters I fought fracking for years here I'm an environmental activist I have a very strong place in my heart for justice and love and I'm also a member of the community engagement panel which the city of Boulder I was by the city manager in the police department chief greg testa i've started on this panel for two years and we've met every two months and I want to share my experience because my perception is that the police department is excellent it's thorough it's thoughtful its process oriented it's careful it's dedicated and devoted to protecting the welfare of the community there's something called when you in this capacity I participated in what's called the Citizens Police Academy which is open to everyone it's free and it lets you see the inner workings of the police

[93:01] department one of the things that I did was I got to do a ride-along and that completely changed my perception of police officers I was with officer Torres when a woman had used mace to spray people if any of the Safeway parking lot we were and I was with the officer and we went to the scene and the women sprayed him with with pepper spray in his eyes and that was he was blind at that moment and I stood with him and what and she ran away and I knew that her she'd come back I would have done everything I could to protect it that officer because I got to see what it's like if you go out every day on patrol and you have no idea what's going to happen I mean you put your life on the line I've also gotten to spend months with chief testa and I mean I'm gonna consider myself a pretty good judge of character and he is a good man he is

[94:00] thoughtful he is open to ideas we you know he has shared with us that I'm gonna name now some specific actions that we have asked of police chief testa and also thinks that I've heard from the community and I think that they're going to be listened to so one is that we have that the police department has another round of implicit bias training and that the community suggests some of those trainers and the organizations and my compliments to district attorney Adara t because I understand that you've gotten a grant for implicit bias training and that's great and I think to share who you pick as another choice would be really helpful the idea of de-escalation training is definitely needed in Richmond California the police department created its own program and from 2007 to 2014 there was

[95:03] not one use of lethal force and that was implicit it was called force option training so that's something that we could benefit from another Police Department that's really been successful the idea I am in favor of a community oversight board I mean I think that you know it's there are excellent there are dozens of them in the United States the ones that we could look at would be Berkeley California Flint Michigan Minneapolis Minnesota and San Francisco these are all in something called the National Institute of Justice report and they use a type of oversight where the board has its civilian based there's racial and all kinds of diversity there's real authority that that panel has it could subpoena for example witnesses it needs staff support am i four oh my gosh well I just I advocate

[96:03] that we act with love and see it's person as a human being thank you thank you nish um Sally Ann Campbell and then Matthew ray hello I'm a PhD chemist but I'm a master's degree in fly behavioral science and I'm changing the subject because I've had an experience I think different for most of you I grew up in an integrated community but my family when somebody talked about the bad guy it was the silly white people in the trailers and then I went to college and then I got chosen as a great compliment I was chosen to help open a college in Washington DC for black people black

[97:00] kids and there was no entrance exam it was all by lottery and I was part of a very excellent group of people who were chosen to do this worldwide known psychologists and sociologists and chemists and engineers and we took our students where where they were and gave them remedial whatever they needed and most of them went to graduate school and I felt very proud that we were able to do that with our students however they asked me to do a day of concert of discussions on Earth Day you may remember years ago and I gave a discussion on lead poisoning in

[98:00] the inner city because we were living in Washington DC you know it was it was lead poisoning city well some students came up to me after it was 95% black I think I mentioned that so students came up to me afterwards and said they're kids dying of lead poisoning down the street and I said we got to do something about that and I got some other chemistry made people teachers to work with me and we got black high school students to go into the into the slums pick up paint samples and bring them back for testing for lead and then we got the kids who were exposed tested and treated and what I didn't know until after the poll program done and the city took it over because it was so successful what I didn't know is that had been successful because the Black Panthers are behind it

[99:01] ma'am you're out of time I know okay Thank You Matthew ray and then Darren O'Connor hello everyone good evening my name is Matthew ray I would like to thank oh thank you thank you for providing us all with this opportunity to share our experiences with you oh thank you I'm sorry I'm a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder I'm a freshman I'm 19 years old I grew up in Broomfield nice place growing up I always heard that racism was over you know same way the climate's doing fine and our schools are safe the it didn't take long for the bubble to pop on that one and I wanted to be the sort of person to take action a concrete goal I can provide you always is that from my

[100:00] research despite only being one to two percent of the city population black and african-american residents of Boulder make up about 12% of its arrests I find that to be an undue over representation and that should decrease the data sourced in 2016 as has been mentioned it's kind of hard to track down a lot has come up about what sort of people we are you've all presented yourselves as nice people and I'll say I believe that and I will take you at that and a difficult thing sociologically is that despite that we all still participate in systems that are harming people and the responsibility still falls to us to amend those systems and those harms so you know I'll believe that you all want to do the right thing a good place to start is making making efforts to

[101:01] decrease asymmetric police response talk to people about this this is real it's not just it's not over it's not just means you know what I mean by that Thank You Matthew Darren Darren O'Connor I have a lot to say but I'm gonna keep it short tonight and hold up my sign it says community designed community oversight our message shall not be muted this is in reference to the fact that we don't want our city manager to design community oversight we want community to design community oversight thank you

[102:21] not as silent as I expected [Music]

[103:28] Thank You Darren Maria and then Anna would my name is Maria Richmond n-double-a-cp Boulder branch members of which I am one demand an independent community oversight board with broad investigatory powers and binding rulings no more shall our voices be heard but our message muted thank you

[104:00] Thank You Maria so I have a message for the folks downstairs I know this won't be popular but we're all being quite up here in order to preserve a safe space for everybody to speak their mind and we would ask you do that downstairs because it's disrupting yes up here thank you hello my name is Anna wood and I am the regional didn't you shut the doors hello my name is Anna and I'm the regional organizing manager at New Era Colorado a local nonprofit nonpartisan organization that works to mobilize and empower a new generation to participate in our democracy and make Colorado a better place for everyone we've worked here in Boulder for 13 years engaging at City Council and at the ballot box I'm here on behalf of New Era to voice our strong support for Swift tangible action to advance racial equity in our city we are long past the time for action and long

[105:01] past the breaking point the city of Boulder prides itself on norm breaking progressive culture we take the lead on bold climate change policy and became a sanctuary city but underlying all of this we lack diversity inclusion and anti-racist infrastructure and action more than that our community lacks a firm commitment to addressing and dismantling white supremacy and advancing equity in light of our community's activism and leadership our lack of progress on these issues New Era's Progress included is shameful we are grateful for the leadership from boulders n-double-a-cp chapter black lives matter 50 to 80 and showing up for racial justice we fully support the imperatives for the action for action that the boulder and double-a-c-p outlined and commit to supporting them to ensure these imperatives are implemented new era focuses on training uplifting and advocating for young people our generation was raised taught and governed by an older generation who dismisses institutionalized racism we have witnessed systemic racism in the criminal justice system the school to

[106:00] Prison Pipeline and our economic economic policies youth of color being the most impacted by all of these if we want to make a safe and healthy future for everyone in Boulder we must start taking real action against these oppressive systems Millennials and Gen Z are the largest most progressive and most diverse generations in history and will no longer ignore Perpetual racism and white supremacy this meeting is a good start but can't only be an annual conversation about the progress we have not made as organizations as community members and as the city itself new era is committed to the continuous work this year and into future years as well thank you for all being here tonight and for engaging in this incredibly crucial conversation I look forward to seeing some tangible action thank you thank you Anna rich Larson is richer um how about Madeline Woodley okay welcome Madeline

[107:05] good evening to you all thank you for allowing us this opportunity my name is Madeline strong Woodley and I represent the n-double-a-cp boulder branch n-double-a-cp boulder branch members demand an independent community oversight board with broad investigatory powers and binding rulers rulings no more shall our voices be heard but our message muted I'd like to ask to leave you with two things one if you would look up the name Ron settles and just read about Ron settles and I think it will provide insight for everyone particularly my family our family and the other thing is the community review

[108:02] boards citizens Review Board of which I am from Memphis Tennessee and worked with the police departments there in creating a citizen's review board that this day is in effect and has decreased the crime rate significantly and it has bridged gaps between the police departments and the community thank you again for having me good evening Thank You Madeline Glenda Robinson and then Judy thank you very much in end racism justice now we're back here we got a we got a have we got to have conversations but we got a have action and it takes the actions of everybody here thank you guys for all being here being concerned thank you for your participation and we expect results

[109:02] thank you thank you Judy and then Anna Seager hi I'm Judy Houston I was born in Boulder 1951 I now live in Longmont but I watch what's going on in Boulder with great interest when I was about I think it was probably 16 I met the Denver president of the Black Panthers who when I told him that we were all working together to make racism go away he said Little Miss we don't have time this was 50 years ago in Boulder and he lived in Denver at that time his sinus now his family is active in the anti-racism community in Denver I am the n-double-a-cp and also bowled a surge I'm very

[110:01] privileged to serve as vice president and that whom you spoke who spoke earlier the n-double-a-cp Boulder branch members demand an independent community oversight board with broad investigatory powers and binding rulings no more shall our voices be heard but our message be muted we really are trained to hold this community to action it is time it is past time it is 50 years past time it is a hundred years past time it is 500 years past time let's get on it thank you Judy Anna hello my name is Anna Seeger I'm here to speak for my husband who couldn't come tonight because the incident that he experienced was too traumatic my husband is from El Salvador

[111:01] he's a dark-skinned male 4 years ago he was driving well before that a white male driving a white pickup truck pulled out a gun and brandished a gun at someone else in the street a couple miles away and as a result my husband driving with our two kids in the backseat druk was pulled over at gunpoint by the polder police department they made him get out of the truck they put him down on his knees on the side of the 28th Street with a couple cops all putting their guns at the back of his head while our kids were in the truck they yelled at him where's your weapon they went around to the front of the truck they trained their guns on my kids they and then they realized that they have made a huge mistake but they sent there and he sat at the side of the street on his knees with the guns trained at the back of his head and no one said we made a mistake they talked on their radios and

[112:01] it went on well he was sitting there on his knees and then eventually they said you can go and I'm just really saddened that we're here four years later it's happened to another male then none of the police officers they police officers that were there none of them said hey maybe this isn't what we should be doing let's stop and I'd really like to see Boulder take some action to make those changes thank you thank you I'm here tonight as a mother of two biracial children in this town I've been here for 24 years and my son's here tonight and I know that most parents are concerned when their kids are just kids and they go out into the community and

[113:00] they wonder what kind of trouble they're getting into I wonder if mine's coming back alive that's what I wonder about I sit at home and I wonder is tonight the night that he wanders into a neighborhood where neighborhoods neighbors don't come out and ask questions they just call the cops I wonder whether or not his hood is up he showed up tonight with his hoodie and I said tonight is probably the one night you're safest to wear your hood here in this community I think about that all the time I think about whether or not I'll see my son when he leaves this huh when he leaves the house I wonder if this was your child if he was your child if you would describe it as a concerning event I wonder if your response and lack of response would have been the same we missed an incredible opportunity and I'm not saying that you condemn the police or you don't do an investigation but just like me or Pete did in South Bend he said in his letter

[114:03] that one sentence that stuck out to me is that we can't stand for this you are loved but also that you are needed you missed the opportunity to say to value individuals of color in our neighborhood to show up to say something you didn't have to condemn the police to just say something and to say it's a zero tolerance you didn't do that and you failed epically because of that you approved this in this by not it's me it's complicit behavior by not saying anything now zero tolerance Thank You Mason Janet heimer and you're pulling with two people are they here I was gonna pool with didn't

[115:02] they already had somebody so good so I'm Janet hi mer I have lived here for 50 years and in all of those years I would like to say that Boulder has never been what it thinks it is as a white person we cannot judge what people of color are experiencing here and we can't pretend that we know that the police are behaving a certain way because they treat us a certain way I just want to say that unlearning racism is a lifelong process I am 71 years old I continue to learn every single day and we have to admit that we are racist you cannot grow up white in

[116:03] this country and not be racist it's a hard pill to swallow but we have to swallow it I think that we have talked and listened enough in the city of Boulder in Boulder County we really do have to have action we have to make a change it has to be now and I think the review board sounds like at least one step in the direction that needs to be taken and it needs to be independent and that's all I'm gonna say Thank You Janet Susan Andre that Susan and after Susan Andre if Sammy Lawrence could be ready

[117:07] hello I'm Susan Andre I've been a resident of Boulder for more than 30 years I was once pulled over by a police officer when I was driving at the correct speed down 9th Street turning right on spruce something I did once or twice a day to go home and the police officer came up to me with his hand on his gun that was the first and last time that happened to me and I have to wonder if it was because my stepson with his dreadlocks was sitting next to me in the car I think it doesn't happen to the rest of us and we don't appreciate it I understand the police officers put themselves in harm's way for the benefit of the society and

[118:02] they have many times today probably to feel very afraid but I do think that human beings when they act out of fear can be very dangerous and I'd like to raise a question who should be carrying an armed weapon in the name of the residents of Boulder maybe not all all the police officers are really up to that responsibility thank you Thank You Susan I'm Sammy Sammy Lawrence here he's downstairs well there he is excellent after Sammy we'll have Laura Gonzales I want to take a moment in time and say thank you for being alive it's good to see your face yeah it's good to

[119:00] see you in person I want to say next thank you everybody for being here today for those of you who are at the March thank you as well Michael telling especially thank you for correctly I'm Kenneth I'm pointer and when I'm a glasses on contacts but I remembered you here and want to tell you thank you personally you know what for the reason why that being said as well my grandfather was was Apple as a sheriff for Stockton California for about 20 years and I've talked about that before so with the works of him actually also serving in the military and being a Purple Heart veteran there are a lot of promise that have come from his general from his legacy in his servitude to me as a matter of fact and I find an interest to how as was mentioned earlier today that we have biases that we must address in this community as a white black and Native American man I have to have to face my own biases in order to make sure

[120:00] I am able to be in this community especially as a man with a brain injury trust me life's not fun sometimes okay so that being said as well we must be accountable there was a bias that was in place on that day of the incident that is greater than racism it takes more to look at the picture for us to be bolder in order for this to actually come to face for us to grow even greater as a community the bias of racism is prevalent in this community with officers but there are also officers who do good work there are a few that I can count on my hand and it's not because they've served me because I asked for assistance it's because the fact that human beings underneath that badge I implore to all of you human beings underneath this badge to remember your hearts remember you are human just like all of us we need you as much as you

[121:01] need us thank you thank you Sammy the racial achievement gap in Boulder Valley and San Fran is DS doon ethical way we take students of color money at CU well we refuse to support them to succeed the lack of representation right in this room in the sitting counsel in positions of power the broken premise of Boulder PD to continue to provide information to ice the refusal to accept recent history of colonization of murders of indigenous peoples of sacking black businesses of not taking responsibility to provide health education to those that we take taxes from and don't have a right to any benefits hell should be a human right the privilege to dismiss other cultures others than white the city of Boulder can avert can afford to make reparations and to close the racial gap in many areas have you been listening sorry just realize that my bad the March first

[122:01] incident is not a bias it's another act of racism please recognize that I sew and stop sugarcoating racism I am tired of intention I'm tired of being told to pursue the positive and good intention of others especially if those with power and privilege you know who you are I am tired of being told to not be emotional or angry when I talk about race how dare you ask me to separate emotion from race when that is something that has been and continues to haunt me and many black and indigenous people for over 500 years I will ask you to really listen right now and I will tell you if some potential solutions that have been asked for decades by other community members that came before me stop delay in reparations make sure you provide landmarks to every single Massacre that was done in this state to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people to the face of Boulder to those Chicano X and those Mexican Americans we deported you to their skin color when there were Americans to recognize the real colonizing history of this country in this city to teach it in k12 system so we make sure is not repeated again to close the racial achievement gaps are having courageous conversations about

[123:01] race you know agencies and here as well to provide full city scholarships the first-generation Boulder citizens to go to an affluent and white university as means to level the field that we like to say we're proud of to request our police officers to have basic education such as maybe an associate degree in criminal law and policies to have knowledge about the communities to engage with them and to dis callate situations give him a history lesson give him some intercultural communication training and intersectionality training and do not stop there continue to educate them and provide them the tools to be able to be nonviolent and stop this violent why dominant culture provide potable water to all unto all the racial oppressions that two minutes then allow me to talk about let's provide good quality to all people including people color to run for office I really would like to stop saying I'm the first of that the first black of this the first indigenous of this as a woman of color in the sciences with Mayan indigenous roots I know I am NOT not the first I and many of us people of colors we come from a

[124:01] long line of astronomers engineers governor's educator mathematicians Mota was far more accurate in their current governing calendar which has been forced to forget and I ask you to remember Thank You Jamal hello sorry my name is Jamal Gilmore here at it all off real quick started college at fifteen went to the Navy served six tours in Iraq came here to Boulder been here 19 years in that 19 years I work for various organizations caging you being one of them but I'm on the hip-hop show I mean sorry yeah the hip-hop show 00 to 10:00 and 00 to 9:00 in the morning upon the gospel time and I'm jamming Jesus with Jamal where am I so my thing with Boulder in this place is I'm

[125:01] offended by you I've been here long enough to say that to you I'm strong enough to say that to you I'm a business owner I own property I did everything you've asked of me and you gave me nothing and and how I know you gave me nothing my kid goes to your school in in in school for Black History Month and in the kindergarten the teacher who's a white teacher she got up she gave every three to get kids three pieces of paper they posed to write their greatest attribute on that piece of paper and then bring them in she proceeded to Lincoln as a chain around the room to say that is my culture you teaching my black kid but that is his culture that is him he was a slave so all those white kids in that room he is one of 20 he was the only only kid of color in that room so supremacy is what you taught my kid you taught him supremacy I didn't ask do that educate him and you educate those white kids in that room about supremacy he is not he's not beneath

[126:01] them to this day he's a second grade and now he's worried kids tease him all the time call him dumb call him all this stuff but come see him in his court come see him where he strives and be there I'm sorry if I get offensive and crazy but like you sir I got seven seconds you are the young Mike Jones I don't know if you know Mike Jones but Mike Jones waits in the roper Mike Jones is kicked off a Pearl Street because he's been through you for like a long time he's like 50 years now over 50 and so like Mike Jones is too old you brother I'm with you man I am with you brother like I promise you I will be here I've been here I don't prophet eyes my stuff but I'm here for you brother and I see it happening you kicked Mike Jones over bro Street because he's talking about the issues of this man he's talking about the issues of my son he's talking issues of every person of color woman that you overlooked for years and I asked my

[127:03] fault because I saw here for 19 years and watched you do it and profited off of it and I I apologize to you brother and every other person of color here I will no longer do that for right now from from from ever I am gonna be here to help you my brother I'm gonna be here to help all brothers and my white brothers my white sisters it doesn't start with color because in the Navy I wish I was over there you talk about people he's scared to come to a car think about you and you were a member of the country that everybody hates you not just because you're black because you an American and you fight for bush and all this other crazy stuff I can't even imagine about right now but then I come here and I get the same thing when I come into a space I said if you bring me if you look at me I say hello to you ask anybody that saw me today as soon as I see you I say hello when you see me you don't say nothing you say nothing you don't even look at me you do this thing me and my peoples call

[128:01] to know no cuz you look at me to recognize I'm black then you stand your face to the ground until you pass me and then once you pass me you pick your head up proudly how do I know because I turn around not to look at your booty I know you think I'm doing that but that ain't it I turn around to see your reaction so I could teach my son how to live in this world my life we have an argument as we do every morning about how strict I am with my son I'm sorry I'm taking too long but like I teach me to be perfect better than perfect better than perfect you're white kids can come up here and be crazy do whatever this valley wanna do just shoot people kill people but you profile me landowner business owner fought for my country fight for you my brother and my sisters and you look at me as I'm a bad person I live across the street from that for I live in local housing you know what my stuff is worse than anybody else's I've ever seen if I wasn't a handyman if I didn't know

[129:00] how to do my own stuff I had to rebuild my own house I put in a new countertop new doorways I don't even have electricity on the outside of the building which is cold and I bought it in 2007 and that wasn't cold in 2004 so like I'm out of code in 2019 and the businesses I can treat poor people and I'm poor and I get it I get it you don't want it you want to look at me you want to have this conversation but then do something you teach white supremacy you teach supremacy period you teach how to fail as a black man you don't teach how to strive as a white person you you bulldozer every every hurdle that white kids having their way and you put up more hurdles for the black kids and we started off the race late now I live here by choice I am from Brooklyn New York my family is all in their homes is 1908 I'm here to support you my brother I'm saying I'm here by choice and I've been here

[130:00] learning how the white society here treats their people of color and I'm really sorry I'm taking my time from you I but I think what we're not talking about here is the systemic issue that you overlooked it's like you don't put any resources into doing this because there's only 11 percent you don't put anything into anything because it's not worth it the voices aren't many I know of three black people from a city right now we're not I'm not being the only one there was a woman before her there was a man from transportation after her asked about these people why why can't they be here to talk for themselves why can't why is it because you shoveled it under the rug racism doesn't matter and it's horrible and Penfield Tate was the first mayor but he was kicked out because he was bringing up uncomfortable situations like the LGBTQ sorry I don't know their acronym but the queer community the gay community he bring up issues about that and so that got rid of him he didn't

[131:01] step down they got rid of him and so you have to talk about that educate your people like they said before me like really take a deep dive deep into this cuz I'm gonna be here I'm gonna be here I promise I'm gonna be here and with God willing we all will be here and I'm next time man when I watched that video my only advice to you don't turn your back on him keep your eyes focused like it happened to me it was 17 cops in front of me rang on Pearl Street as I was a business owner so keep your eyes focused on them don't turn your back man because you turning it's a flash and the flash will get you a flash love you all peace in your journey [Applause] thank you thank you for being Louise and after Louise we have Laura Dylan we have

[132:02] about just so people know where we are we're at 36 and we have 47 people signed up hi I'm Louise I've been in Boulder about eight years after I retired before then I was in civil rights enforcement in another state and first I'd like to just say Amen through practically everything I've heard tonight it seems to me the particulars about was not a failure it was one failure after another there were so many points at which a different decision could be made first a police officer sees a man picking up trash how many trespassers come to property and pick up trash I wish they'd come around my place

[133:02] decides to question him and he shows his ID and explains why he's there so far so good thank you sir sorry to bother you have a nice day leave no call for backup it's not just that other police showed up somebody dispatched them somebody made a decision to send other police there how many and who another chance to not make a mistake but they made one and ultimately a third party came in and said hey this guy really belongs here and finally the police leave shouldn't take a third party a person is picking up trash come on folks there's been a

[134:01] lot of talk about an independent community board and I support that that's primarily an afterword thing and I think we need a lot of prevention and I'm sorry my time is up Thank You Louise Laura is Laura Delon here or DeLong okay Maria Maria and then David probably good evenin everybody and I appreciate that you are putting this time for us to speak wasn't sure about coming because some time I feel this is just deaf ears so I hope it's not this time on a Latina and I have lived in this town for about 20 years or over 20 years with my two latino kids this is not an isolated

[135:00] incident I have had my own share of my children have because I look white so I go easy nobody kind of notices me but my kids are not as why ask me and yes they have had their share my boy especially I think is harder for the boys Mel a color and he had or he used to be stopped a lot when he bought his first car that he can afford anything fancy and he was stopped a lot for no reason and then once he found he was clean it's like oh well you turn too soon or you put it like too late oh you did it so it was just these silly reasons I finally was able to afford it and give him my car and then since got a little better because my car look a little better so then he didn't look at Latino for some people so these things do happen all the time and you could see they cry from the community we are hurting a lot

[136:01] this is no one isolated incident it just deepening the wound that we already have and it's daily and what happened my children now adults graduated from CU and they are Splore in other horizons they move to exploring and finding options in another continent because they want to be in a place where they can feel welcome and integrated which even though they spend 20 years of their life or more here that still no feel like home and that's very sad because I went in here but I understand their point and I work in education and yes we had here a lot about data please provide the data create the data look at the data we are asked every day to look at the data and see where children's are failing what is the gap what can we do to make it better so the data speaks just feeling like we're trying we're trying it's just talking look at the data so

[137:00] you could actually production thank you thank you David Prowse David here Deidre Johnston and if folks are downstairs come on up and we'll fill you in Susie Belmont okay Kirsten Wilson oh there's David okay Wow I'm not gonna get up here and get out of passion I've been watching all you guys everybody's listening we know what we're here about I'm from Mississippi believe me racism is alive and well everybody here is racists okay chief thank you for coming in and get in front of this council thank you for sitting here so quietly and non-responsive as it's like you're

[138:00] listening I appreciate that you said some marvelous thing sweetheart thank you this is a story this is nothing to be ashamed of this happening all across America how I gotta do is man up we got a good chief we got a good Council let's just do it I'm not gonna sit up here and down talk or what I've experienced which I've experienced some things been here 50 years but you shouldn't have had to go through that the homeless people let's remember that the homeless people are hassled every single day there's a bias against them it's not just racial not minimizing racial disparity okay not at all I'm from Mississippi I'm a good guy I worked at the penitentiary there understand it a lot of hatred going on it's all about love that's all we gotta

[139:01] do and it's just as simple as that and I'm gonna stop okay thanks guys thank you David are you one of the people that I call which one hi I lived in boulders and your name sorry Deidre Johnston and I lived in Boulder since 1982 and we're a strong intellectual community and I just want to take a moment because for me I'm feeling this here and I just want us all to take a moment and feel our heart I year ago walked out of my house and there were six boulder policemen with guns on me and when my son I mean when my husband came out of the house a man who has taught both of our sons that when you encounter police you act as

[140:02] politely as possible you raise your hands you get low you look small because you're a big black man and you have to look small to the police as he sat on our bench in front and they had a gun guns on me and guns on him and they said that there had been a call that there was a burglar in our home an armed burglar there was no armed burglar in our home and when I asked to please have us go get our IDs they said people lied to us stay where you are and they held the gun on me and I watched them hold the gun on my husband and I know that there are a list too long to name of unarmed black men who have been shot in this nation

[141:00] and the fear that came over me to see my husband with a rifle him with guns around with police telling me to be quiet because I'm just asking you to feel that that's all I'm asking is to feel what that really feels like when my two sons leave the house I fear for their life and they fear for my husband's life and as human beings I just would like you all to feel that in your heart thanks thank you Susie yeah so my name is Susie Belmont I'm here on behalf of bull bear showing up for racial justice and we are tired of all the talking and the leadership that is not leading to action and we want to see

[142:01] is action coming from this community because this community has the answers that we are looking for

[143:49] Thank You Kirsten and then Neil DiMucci

[144:05] hi beloved City Council great esta teach esta the Beloved Community Boldin so what happened as was said on March 1st is unacceptable but what happened on February 28th and February 27th then February 26th of 2019 2018 1987 1937 1877 1859 is also totally unacceptable this is one incident in a long long long long long an enduring struggle for survival and for justice and equity and I mean justice in the form of Cornel West which is a form of public love my name is Kirsten Wilson I'm the artistic director of motifs theater and we create original theater on community conversation on critical

[145:00] issues to support a stronger and more equitable community the performance that spawned motifs rocks karma eras on Boulder History was created in response to a series of race-based hate crimes in 2005 in a series of City Council meetings a lot like this one I invite you to watch the film which I handed out and learn about more about Boulder history we are standing on the ancestral lands of the Arapaho ute and Cheyenne and this room is not full of these native peoples right now their insight their strength their knowledge because of both federal Indian policy and because the founders of Boulder City Town Company and the first mayor and the man who donated most of the land for see you participated in the Sand Creek Massacre there are also many people of color who are driven out of Boulder in our history Chinese Japanese Latino African American and there are many people of color today who are no longer members of this community as their insights and offerings because they got tired of not getting the jobs they

[146:00] applied for getting having white men pick fights with them at local bars tired of being followed around stores tired of hearing the N word on the street tired of being told to go back home tired of feeling proud profiled by law enforcement being told that they bring up racism too much at boarding commission meetings there are also many I believe in final words that a first City was to actually prioritize anti-racism work bias and equity and put this beloved young man's safety opportunity and welcome at the center of every conversation that happens in these chambers that you would gain insight that would not only keep him safe but you would better understand how to make this the best environmental business and education and law enforcement decisions that would create a stronger and healthier community for each person in this room their employees students and their beloved children thank you so much thank you Thank You Kirsten and thanks for the

[147:01] work that Motors theater does Neal and then Eric bud hi I'm Neal and I'm one of the loud mouths who's clapping and cheering downstairs and you know heck yes I'm gonna show up and I'm gonna I'm gonna clap clap for Zaid and I'm gonna clap for Norma and I'm gonna clap for I'm gonna clap for Darren I'm gonna clap for Jamal for speaking their truths so you know it was really great to be at the March and to see Aaron Brockett there and mayor Jones there thank you however in in that public forum there wasn't there wasn't a closing of doors was there there was kind of like a listening and an acknowledgement of of the uncomfortableness right but I didn't really come here to trash Ty's council I came here to stand in solidarity with an double-a-c-p and demanding an independent community oversight board with binding powers of Investigation and

[148:02] subpoena power and full transparency and all that good stuff both it really needs it and it'll be better for putting on another hat I'm also here to deliver a message for the rocky mountain peace and justice center this is from Betty Ball speaking for the spokes counsel of the center and they say the Rocky Mountain peace and justice center shares the ongoing concerns about a lack of independent oversight of the Bullitt Police Department we agree it is absolutely time for Boulder City Council along with city administrators to act on these concerns and in conjunction with the community develop a model for expected oversight of our police department and that the community can truly trust thank you Thank You New York and then Rachel friend been in Boulder about ten years and something that when

[149:01] I moved here I never thought about really how white older is and it was something that I guess when when the whole issue of of people of color being treated poorly by the police started coming in the news it struck me really personally because I grew up in st. Louis and I I was my family was part of the white flight part of the reason that struggle was in st. Louis that led to all the all of the challenges in Ferguson and and really the start of this national movement is something that I had always seen all along as I live there but at that point it became real to me and I mentioned this in the

[150:00] context of Boulder because in a lot of ways Boulder is also the white flight we have so much segregated ourselves such that our city is really walled off from the greater community and that is in very much a similar type of strategy as people who were fleeing the city back in the 50s 60s 70s and so I just wanted to give a little my personal experience and why this is such an important issue to me and last thing I'll say is I'm also part of the boulder and the OACP and I support their measures on police oversight and this is something that will not get better in the community and thouest we take action this is something that is systemic at all levels of our community and we need to continue to make work in progress on it thank you thanks Eric Rachel and then Bruce Gladstone

[151:02] hi I'm Rachel friend I want to thank you all for holding this meeting tonight and being here and listening I am a college teacher of criminal justice and I guess I just wanted to make sure that you guys are aware of how flawed this system is and that people of color compared to white people are for doing the same exact things more likely to be stopped arrested charged denied favorable pleas convicted given longer sentences and then denied parole I get every single step they are treated worse and the system dead-ends into a dark place like solitary confinement is horrific but common rape statistics or jarring rehabilitation is lacking like it goes on and on so when we profile and stop individuals if they're lucky enough to survive we're shoving them onto a path that ends in a dark place and it's a vicious cycle that all traces back to police officers exercising discretion do

[152:00] I expect that Boulder can cure our criminal justice system no of course not nor do I expect that you guys are going to cure climate change but we fight really hard and out front on climate and I would ask that we do the same here the beginning of this system which is unjustice policing that's where the net gets cast and you all do control that net so I read on climate change this morning the level of disruption required to keep us away from catastrophic is incompatible with the status quo the level of disruption I think required to remedy the criminal justice system is like while likewise incompatible with the status quo things like implicit bias training and de-escalation techniques are not going to cut it those are band-aids that are on the status quo you guys are going to have to be radical if you want to make the change that we're all asking for and lastly as a first step I support the n-double-a-cp s demand for an independent community oversight board thank you thank you Rachel I'm Bruce and then Andre and Megan all

[153:04] I'm Proust Gladstone a boulder and I like the second or third the idea of a dialogue between all the groups I'm more of a person-to-person basis between the black groups the white groups the the police officers it's a lot easier when people know each other and they actually talk to each other face to face so I'm calling for the idea of some form of restorative justice not retribution thank you thank you Bruce Andreea and then Guillermo Estrada Rivera good evening Andre Mandel here delivering a statement for the bolder chamber 24:40 Pearl Street and chamber president John terror wanted to be here himself to

[154:00] say this he thought it was very important unfortunately he got sidelined by the flu is at home in bed I'm not doing so hot myself but I wanted to be here to say this in person as well as the community tackles these important issues of social justice and equity it's important that we're all committed and Boulder chambers committed to working together working with the city working with our local civic civil rights organizations and to make both our community that is welcoming and safe to all who live here who work here and who visit here they should all be welcoming beau there they should all come to Boulder and they shall feel safe doing so it's necessary that this conversation takes place tonight and so we can think about how we all learn to become better how we learn to evolve how we can do this as a community and the boulder Chamber is committed to advance in the we're committed to advancing inclusivity within we're committed to advancing inclusivity amongst all our partners and

[155:01] we're committed to advancing inclusivity within the broader business community in Boulder we got to move forward on this path together economically we have opportunities to improve areas like hiring practices workplace cultures engaging volunteers how businesses choose vendors securing resources for our community and who those resources serve so with that being said this is a journey that the Boulder chamber is committed to taking with all of you that we should be taken as a community together and we look forward to the effort in taking on that endeavor thank you thank you under and then Bhima whatever I say right now it's gonna be frigid redundant because we've said

[156:01] multiple things but I wanna share a story I came here yeah here I came here six and a half years ago and Boulder told me boulders white boulders politically correct and words matter he forts matter and boulders white means that white words matter more than our Latino identities are people of color all our identities I work with the boulder county in the program for cultural brokers what we are doing is trying to bring the stories of the community that are not just good stories there are stories of resiliency and we want to bring all members of the community so I implore the county the

[157:01] City Council and all members of the community as you go and look for committees for reconciliation to make reparation please look out in the community we are here we're diverse well there's not white Boulder is diverse and we need to start breaking that narrative and as we move forward and we bring members of the community we need to stop tokenizing we need to start giving giving the right resources to the community not just springing for conversation bringing power bringing resources paying for their time and valuing all the resources that we have we might have different languages we might have different views in the community but we need to stop talking about Boulder as a white community we

[158:02] are more diverse than that we can do better thank you thank you PMO we are joined by councilmember Bob Yates had a prior engagement Bheema hello my name is Bhima I live in I live in Longmont I was born in Boulder Community Hospital on Arapaho and foothills I think we've heard a lot tonight that has span the spectrum I've heard a lot of anger tonight I've heard a lot of attempts at reconciliation and others that have simply vented and I think I had an impulse to come up here and maybe talk about that but what I realized is that every single speaker up here has come from a place of personal pain and so even if you don't agree with

[159:02] everything that has been set up here tonight I think it is important to remember that these issues are real these aren't just some sensationalized headlines on a newspaper these are things that are endemic to the community and that if we want to have a conversation that isn't the cues Ettore then first we need to work on making sure that we hold ourselves responsible I think that NIMBYism is a big problem in Boulder I think people want to design a community that looks exactly like them and excludes everybody else and I think that is completely antithetical to equality in general as well as to the spirit of America George Washington's farewell address it gets quoted all the time by like conspiracy theorists who talked about the military-industrial complex which is important but I think a more relevant passage here is where he

[160:00] calls for us not to intentionally sabotage our own citizens but instead to unite as one American people for liberty and that's not going to happen if we let in justices pass without accountability thank you thank you [ __ ] Erica I'm gonna read from some notes in the white majority in Boulder a completely blind an insanely positive feedback loop is thriving that it is conscious it is mindful it is progressive that it is unbiased these growths understatements of subliminal and implicit bias is the poison that is perpetuating the kind of systemically

[161:01] motored discriminating culture that has allowed and continues to allow for something as traumatizing and dehumanizing as what happened earlier this month I'm sorry I know this because I am a white cisgender female and I'm a part of that dominant population wise community I know that the conversations that are having happening tonight are not happening in a lot of places in CrossFit gyms and coffee shops and yoga studios it's a different version of conversation I employee in Flor City Council to set an aggressive standard to change that narrative starting by supporting an independent community oversight board and I want to think what Guillermo just said that so appreciate

[162:01] and I know what I just said kind of counters that and I when I talk about a white majority it's just by population and that's it we are better than we're better than this so thank you Thank You counsel thank you Thank You Erica next up is Cynthia beard I hate Lynette can you keeps going up how many more people do we have not that I mind what used to be in here late but I know that all of you are 58 ok well this evening being what it is we're not gonna cut people off so but understand it if you don't feel like staying okay Cynthia Cynthia here thank you and then Robert Sharpe when my

[163:03] husband who is a person of color was threatened with a Taser and hogtied by multiple isse officers in 2016 he was subsidized of assaulting the officers who had harmed him my husband still has chronic pain in his thumbs from paying compliance methods that the officers used that night I momentarily thought that night they had killed him under the leadership of Stan Garnett a prosecutor specifically mentioned my husband's support for black lives matter in the closing arguments of the trial as part of her attempt to argue that my husband had a supposedly anti police bias this is the risk to any person of color who speaks out about racial injustice faces here incidentally the prosecutor also sent four officers to our home just a few days before the trial to have him reinvested for bogus charges that were later dismissed my husband was acquitted

[164:02] of assault as officers testimony at trial was inconsistent with the body camera footage that we thankfully were able to obtain in spite of the fact that the same officer who pulled the Taser on my husband proceeded to use lethal force less than two months later and has a history of traumatic brain injuries he's remained employed by the PB PD we still have PTSD from that ordeal I have video footage of two officers shining flashlights into our home security camera at I am on our wedding anniversary a few months after the trial it's been said the trust is established through consistency over time based on the many years of listening sessions not to mention the city's origins and violence on stolen land what I can trust is that this crimes process will be more empty words with no measurable change yet I continue to hope that city leadership will begin to take responsibility and hold itself accountable for the ongoing

[165:00] systemic racism that permeates this community thank you thank you Cynthia thank you and I I grew up in a home it was very strong Christian only and yet I feel very privileged that I've studied every religion that came along and have found value and hadn't found a mutuality of love every other be compassionate be helpful be forgiving even to murderers to the worst kind of things be forgiving and and every one has possibility of redemption this is our mutuality of all religions in all spiritual paths I grew up in a home of terrible violence actually and yet great

[166:02] peace and I'm thankful I've chosen the path of peace and not violence towards others at least not by intention there are many kinds of violence mental emotional physical spiritual and we all suffer them every color every religion every kind of people we suffer this is our mutuality of pain I grew up in a home of strong racism also and I feel privileged I come to know all races all kinds of people I consider a great privilege have come to know and appreciate and love and be loved by all kinds of people from all over the world this is our mutuality also there are many kinds of prejudice racism is one of the worst but

[167:02] there are many there is sexism there is ageism there is sexuality ISM there's belief ISM there is physical size and shape ISM there's you know mental ability ISM and all of these isms and prejudices we share among us I also am a person of color white tan cream or also colors I hope that we might choose some other language that will not be so us in them people of color I am a person of color also and I hope that we will all care for each other thank you Robert Felicia is that Felicia Felicia bless us here come on up otherwise Jane Matthews this J here okay Zoe Sheri Zoe

[168:06] here okay and hi Felicia plus welcome to a room I'm aware of how physically looked down I am people just see me I'm looked down on and I have to deal with that and I've had to deal with that my whole life my son is uh looks like a little white boy and my concern is how he's gonna grow up and how I'm going to teach him how to consider what he needs to think about so some things that we try to do is to take a look around that our surroundings and see what community looks like to see how many people of color in the room and your grocery stores the libraries the bus stops the restaurants are you're

[169:00] interesting in Boulder you don't even see people of color waiting the tables I also encourage you to check your priveledge tonight and honor how privileged we are to have people of color minority speakers take time out of their lives to speak with you and to know deep inside that it is not the job of a minority to teach you how to respect honor and how to take action I believe we as humans have a deep biological need to belong but when you don't belong it's just hard thank you good night Thank You Felicia I'm Jane hey good evening everyone my name is Jay I just want to be here just to represent and speak in solidarity solidarity for my brother solidarity for my sisters I think there's something that's being lost in this conversation and it's team human we're all in this together if there's a famine if there's

[170:01] bad water if the air and this Boulder County is polluted in grey and brown as I'm sure you've all noticed we all breathe it now there's been a lot of people up here who've spoken about the police department and their experiences being a man of color in Boulder for 12 years previous business owner property owner I've dealt with it from the sheriff's to the Builder PD I'm not gonna I'm not gonna go down that road and get frustrated and invent but I do want to speak on some things you know an independent oversight committee I think that's the least that we should do run by the committee of people the the people of Boulder not just white people not just black people not just gay lesbian men women all of us you know another thing I'd like to speak about is the judicial system you know I don't I don't expect Boulder to change the world

[171:02] but you know the judicial system needs to change from the top I think you know city council you know these these higher branches of government that would be a beautiful place for these changes to start you know another another speaker mentioned 12% of Boulder arrests are minorities and only 2% of the Boulder population is minority well that doesn't include all the people who like this gentleman here who get hassled what about all of that I mean let's really open up this conversation and not just have a conversation but let's take some action talk is cheap talk is easy and then we can all come here we can feel great kumbaya moment woohoo go Boulder but that doesn't make anything change that doesn't make anything happen you know I just like to say a few other things real quick you know the police you know their motto is to protect and serve that's what they're supposed to do to protect

[172:00] the community and serve the community of people not just white people not just women not just men not just whoever all of us and you know being on this planet for 40 years now I've seen a lot of intimidation and incarceration by the police departments east west north south in this country what is that I'd like to just I'd like everybody to think about that for a moment when was the last time you saw police hold a bake sale when was the last time you saw the police go to a school and and you know just educate some children you know show up and just be happy and friendly and kind of just do some community outreach you know I love to talk about programs and anger management and you know the police that having restraint and how to deal with conflict this and that well that's not protecting and serving yeah that's that's a start that's that should be the minimum that should happen anyway you

[173:00] know and you know I just I remember you know I want to mention one more thing you know at the top you know we had you know we had we had Hillary Clinton you know we have a lot of white people at the top it's been that way since the beginning of this country you know I remember when Hillary said you know black men there's super-predators you know I'm sorry my brother I'm sorry that this nonsense happened to you I'm sorry you have to be here from my heart to yours that should never have happened I you know how I learned about this I learned about this from my mother I'm biracial my mother on the East Coast called me and said hey did you see what the bold the police department did today I said no mom I didn't what what did they do she said oh there was a guy in his front yard picking up trash now when have you ever heard of somebody trespassing to pick up trash okay maybe

[174:00] it happens no problem you know maybe it happens who is that hurting we got Captain Planet walking around picking up trash in somebody else's yard so what that doesn't take 8 9 10 however many officers so you know I just I just want to say you know we're not super predators we're just like you just like you we're just like you and you and your son and your daughter we're all in this together team human and I think that's what needs to be remembered and not just talked action an independent oversight committee with broad-reaching power not just a committee to have more conversation broad-reaching power if somebody makes a mistake if the police show up and somebody has made a mistake you know amongst the black community I talk with my brothers you know we get together one of the first things we do you know in this this might hurt to hear but this is real one of the first things

[175:00] we do oh did you get hassled oh did you get hassled what did you experience oh and we kind of have to clear the air get rid of that frustration just let it go by the wayside before we can really just be and that's that that should not happen 2019 especially in Boulder this place is supposed to be so progressive progressive you know like let's let's make some real progress let's actually give some power to the people because if the police show up and someone made a mistake especially if it's a black man and he didn't even make a mistake but if they view that black man as a threat you know we got this joke shoot him in the face I'll say it one more time shoot him in the face my wife asked me why don't we go out more why don't you like to go out to the bars and have the dinner and have some drinks sometimes you know why because I I fear I fear some overzealous police officer and his other officers might see me as a

[176:03] threat you know there was a DEA agent in a club in Denver last year I believe you know this club no weapons no firearms allowed this DEA officer not only did he break the laws of the clubs by bringing in a firearm he also carelessly carried that firearm not only did he do that but he also decided he was gonna be Joe Cool and do backflips on the dance floor with his carelessly carried firearm the gun fell out of his hip wherever it was in his pocket shut some innocent bystandard what happened to this man I believe he got probation probation now if that would have been a black man what do you all think would have happened to him shoot him in the face that's what would have happened to him there would have been numerous police officers there if if he even made it out of the building

[177:00] he would still be in jail right now this shouldn't this shouldn't be happening this shouldn't be happening let's all reach deep and make some real changes you know city council please please I beg you let us form a committee and give them broad reaching powers so that as the police do to the citizens that they are hired paid for by tax dollars to protect and serve those same citizens can hold accountable the police officers if they do the opposite of protecting and serving and that's I'm gonna leave it there thank you very much thank you Lynn Zoey okay just give me a quick sec to catch my breath okay first I'm very sorry for what happened to you it was completely wrong this is not the boulder

[178:01] that I want to have so I'm so sorry for you that happened secondly I want to say that one of the things that I've learned during my life is that being anti-racist is not an identity it's an activity and an activity is only true if you keep doing it so I want to ask every representative of the city of Boulder government and the police and the citizens of the city of Boulder what activities are you doing it's not an identity you can't wear it you have to do it so I want to ask like really ask yourselves what activities are you doing that are not very anti-racist I also just want to ask like if these officers are not held accountable for what they did in what way can we expect people of color to feel safe in Boulder and just like if these officers are not held accountable in what way is a three-month investigation not just a stalling tactic so that's it for me thank you thank you so Ian Daniel Houser and then avi your attacker

[179:09] hello everyone is it first I just want to take a few breaths for myself but I want to invite everyone else to do the same thing so just yeah taking a few breaths thank you I'm a student at Naropa I am a friend of Zaid and I I remember one time he said I

[180:01] heard I overheard you say that you weren't supposed to be here and I wanted to after this was prior to something this thing that happened to you but I wanted to come up and say that you are supposed to be here and that you belong here and that I'm really glad you're here and that's all the yeah all the pain that people of color in the room have experienced in Boulder for me is someone who lives in Boulder and as someone who's white I feel like it's needs to be acknowledged and it also needs to be acknowledged that you belong here and that ya that we love you

[181:05] thank you thank you for that oh yeah thank you our last speaker first I'd like to echo what Daniel just said and saying that they Edward just so glad to have you as part of our community and just really cherish the fact that we can still say that so I also want to echo all of the sentiments that have been made for a request for oversight and speak about that big

[182:00] elephant in the room who cross our country which is that great blue wall of silence and ask that we look at that just as critically as we look at other issues and we really ask ourselves what can we implement to really tackle this issue I do think it begins with a community oversight board on a personal note I am really curious why I am gonna be facing as a future educator in Boulder Valley School District I'm in the elementary education department program at Naropa and I think about these challenges that I'm gonna have to talk with my students about just the other week I was talking with a group of fifth graders about my grandmother's experience in the Holocaust and I was

[183:00] challenged by the question of why did this happen and it was one of the hardest questions for me to answer and I can only imagine how hard it's going to be when those case studies are about our own communities right here in Boulder and these are the challenges that I'm unfortunately looking forward at having to have with my future students here in Boulder County so I asked what we can do to improve that situation thank you ollie so I want to thank you all again each and everyone for coming here we've heard some pretty heart-wrenching stuff we've heard about some horrifying events that took a lot of courage and vulnerability to sheriff

[184:02] we also heard about just what a drag it is to be a person of color here in Boulder and that's really hard to hear [Music] everything we know about this event this incident is is we're not allowed to use the word concerning is incredibly troubling and we condemn what it is that we think it means um I think I speak for all of us in that regard I am sorry for what you've experienced I am glad however for the chance for us to have this conversation even though I'm sure it feels like we've had it more than once and we're gonna have to have it it it is an ongoing process yesterday I was at the Islamic Center of Boulder for 2

[185:02] and 1/2 hour vigil and I was glad to be there too and it was this amazing interfaith unity coming together in solidarity solidarity for the victims in Christchurch but we were there because people were gunned down for being Muslim and just so anyhow I guess what I'm going to say is I'm thankful for this community I am very thankful for the progress we are going to make what I heard tonight was a very loud call for action we hear you you can hold us accountable on that front I don't pretend that it's easy in any regards it's going to take all of us but we will see that through all just also and kind of where I started with which is this is this is really big stuff it's much bigger than the behavior by some individuals I mean tomorrow we're gonna go into two days of

[186:01] government-to-government consultation with the 14 tribes that called this place their ancestral homeland I don't know what you do with that how do you begin that reconciliation but we're gonna we're gonna try that tomorrow so anyhow thank you again let us continue this journey together you'll be hearing more from us in the days and weeks and months hold us accountable hold our community accountable and thank you thank you good night

[187:06] [Music] - parasol felt like that [Music]