Professional Documents
Culture Documents
City of Melrose
Paul Brodeur
Mayor
• The death of George Floyd, and the persistent methods of systemic racism present in
American life and history has led to unrest and loud calls for change across the
country
• How the City of Melrose provides government services has a direct and lasting
impact on the opportunities and experiences of our residents
• Just as every individual, family, business, and organization should be taking this time
to identify how it contributes to or mitigates structural racism and inequality, each of
our departments, boards, and commissions need to self evaluate and identify how
we already combat discrimination and how we can improve.
• While reversing centuries of oppression takes methodical planning, time, and
commitment, the urgency of the moment calls us to take as many steps as we can
immediately.
• The purpose of the project we are undertaking is to gather information and data, and
then identify what steps we can take quickly, other projects which may take more
time, and initiatives which may require more resources.
• These weeks are only the beginning. It’s a running start to get us going.
Part 1: Inventory; June 8-9
• What procedures and policies written or otherwise does your office follow
which are involved in how you interact with the public, vendors, or others?
• What data or information does your office collect? What format is it in?
How often is it updated?
• Does your office interact with the public? Does it solicit services from
vendors?
• What barriers exist to accessing your office and its services?
• What are a few issue areas, policies, procedures, or projects you believe
could be reviewed to determine if they could be executed with greater
inclusivity or a closer focus on equity?
Part 2: Best Practices; June 10-11
• Research how departments like yours have confronted inequality or
racism in other communities and states. Find documentation–
whitepapers, press releases, news coverage, web pages which discuss
this change. Find what worked and what didn’t. Feel free to reach out
to your counterpart at these departments. Save these documents and
links.
• Insights may come from looking at other organizations, public,
educational, or private. Keep an open mind– you are looking for tactics
and practices which you can adapt to work in your office. Think
creatively and with empathy. Share applicable insights with other Dept
heads.
Part 3: Drafting; June 12-15
• What steps has your office already taken to facilitate inclusion, cultural
sensitivity? Make note of existing policies or actions so that we can share them
with residents
• Compare the best practices you’ve identified against what you inventoried on
Part 1. Draft a blue print of the steps you and others need to take to
implement changes in your department
• Try to identify actions which can be taken within a few days, actions which may
take a couple weeks, and actions which may require greater resources (time,
staffing, money).
• Draft a brief report– format in the next slide
Formatting your Report
• 1. Mission of Department, staffing levels
• 2. List of written procedures and data collected by the office. Add links or copies of
policies/ procedures as attachments to this memo
• 3.List the steps or actions your office has already taken to ensure accessibility, equity,
and inclusion.
• 4. Issue or policy area you chose to focus on improving and why
• 5. Summary of best practice, link or copy attached.
• 6. Action plan to implement
a. Immediate
b. Short term (couple of weeks)
c. Long term (many weeks, more resources necessary)
Part 4: Implementation; June 16-17
• After sharing your report with the Mayor’s office, use the day to take as
many steps as you can to implement the immediate action steps you’ve
identified.
• Document these steps with pictures, videos, writing as applicable share
with the Mayor’s office.
• Our purpose is to demonstrate to the public transparently what making
change at the local level requires so that they can more effectively
partner with us as we continue to work on our medium and longer term
projects. Our purpose is not to perform or beg for praise– it’s to improve
our services and educate the public about what is required to do that.
Part 5: Sharing Results; June 18-19
• The Mayor’s office will collect and compile all reports, attachments,
links etc. and release it to the public.
• In addition to listening sessions, members of the public will be
encouraged to review this report, conduct their own research, and
engage with each of you and the Mayor’s office. It is vital that we
listen and approach suggestions from a positive position.
• The report is a working, living document which isn’t meant to be
perfect but simply our first step in a series of steps we will continue to
take together for the weeks, months, and years to come.
Reminders
• You, your department, and the City are not under attack. We aren’t answering the
question “Why are you racist/ oppressive/ etc.?”. We are answering the question,
“What can we do to improve? What do we already do that the residents (and other
departments) probably don’t know about?
• Keep an open mind. You may feel uncomfortable or realize that some City policies or
procedures are inconsistent with valuing all residents equally. That’s ok and should
be expected! We are trying to make changes. Share these insights with others.
• If your regular duties and this project are in conflict- speak with the Mayor’s office
ASAP.
• If you can’t find resources, are confused how to proceed, or have questions, please
reach out. This project is collaborative and it is our first step. We’ve never done it
before.