HomeMy WebLinkAbout25.09.08 - Minutes, Diversity and Inclusion CommitteeDiversity & Inclusion Committee Meeting
Meeting Minutes
Commissioners Administrative Building — Room 1301
100 West Washington Street, Hagerstown, MD 21740
Monday, September 8, 2025 @ 7:00 p.m.
Call to Order - The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.
II. Attending: Terence Ngwa (Chair), Angela Yamashita (Vice -Chair), Zsun-nee
Matema, Fatima Sakarya, Eric Schwartz, Allenia Washington, Derek Harvey (ex
officio, county commissioner), (quorum reached)
Absent: Tiara Burnett (ex officio, Hagerstown City Council) Darrel Evans (ex
officio, BOE, Jeanine Salifou (secretary),
III. Committee approved the Agenda with modification to "New Business". The July
meeting minutes were not available for review and have been tabled until the
next Committee meeting.
IV. Introduction of Guests/Public Comment. Member of Hagerstown Youth Council
Olivia Yamashita) reported that they will have their own Earth Day celebration in
2026. The benefits of having a permanent member of the Youth Council as part
of the DI committee was discussed, while councilman Harvey stated that the
By -Laws would need to be amended for this to occur.
V. Liaison Reports —
A. County Board of Commissioners ("BOC") Board of Elections meets on
Sept. 9th to determine early voting sites. There will be a 9/11
commemoration in city park, Hagerstown. The BOC is building next year's
budget. The challenges of allowing the public the opportunity to address
BOC while still maintaining order and decorum and fairness, so that all
who wish to be heard, can be, was discussed. Council meetings are
repeatedly disrupted and monopolized by certain individuals, often the
same persons. The BOC has legal counsel advising the BOC and
creating guidelines to manage council meetings while still preserving "First
Amendment" (US Constitution) rights of the community.
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VI. Old Business:
A. Boonsboro Farmer's Market — Chairman Ngwa and member Sakarya
represented the DI committee at the Boonsboro Farmer's market on Aug.
12, 2025. The market is well attended and includes vendors who are quite
diverse, ex. Camaroonian catering service "Motherland Kitchen" which will
be operating as a restaurant in downtown Hagerstown soon. The WC
Health Department was present at the market and engaged in
conversation with the DI committee members to discuss ways the two
could collaborate in the future.
B. Committee budget/swag purchases. Table cloths which depict the new
Washington County Logo were provided to the DI Committee. There is no
current need to purchase more `giveaway swag' items, as there are still
plenty of pens and notepads leftover.
C. Formulation of an "Excellence in Diversity" award — The "Attitudes of
America" award which is in the DI by-laws, was initially conceived by
member Matema when the Committee was first formed. Members
Matema and Sakarya agreed to form a subcommittee and to come up with
a draft statement formulating what the goal of the award should be, the
kind of candidates deemed worthy of the award, and how the committee
will solicit nominees for the award. Finally, a plaque, trophy or similar item
of recognition should be designed to be given to the recipients of the
award. Once such an `award' has been formulated, it will be presented to
the County Clerk (Dawn Marcus) for presentation to the BOO and the
County attorney for consideration.
VII. New Business
A motion was made and passed to approve an annual subscription for
Zoom meetings ($159.90 annually). The Committee will consider holding
Zoom Meetings during the Winter months; the meeting links will need to
be given to the County clerk so that they may be posted online, for public
attendance, in compliance with the "Open Meetings" act.
VII. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:06 pm.