Golden’s city officials kicked off their Race, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion meetings with the Golden Heights community on April 18. A crowd filled the Green Conference Room at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Golden for the meeting, led by Golden’s Thriving Communities Director Sarah Vaine.
“One of the purposes of this meeting is to reach people, I think particularly in neighborhoods where we’re not hearing from people,” Vaine said.
Vaine and her team knocked on doors to invite community members to the meetings and received a lot of surprised reactions.
“They said, ‘And you’re inviting White people?’” Vaine said. She explained to everyone that although the word “race” is in the REDI name, everyone is included, and that the purpose is to hear from everyone.
“The concern is that there’s no excitement about participating in the local government,” Vaine explained. “Not only is there a lack of excitement, but there’s a feeling like ‘nothing I say will make a difference,’ or ‘nothing I do matters.’ That’s why people don’t get engaged.”
Vaine told the crowd that Golden’s City Council and officials can’t do the work that the community needs without input from everyone.
“Part of the purpose of these meetings is to generate some excitement about getting to know your neighbors, and figuring out ways that you can tell us what you want and what you need in your smaller communities,” Vaine said.
She added that the purpose was not to solve the problems but to empower and inform everyone so that they know where to go and who to talk to in order to get solutions.
Over an array of tasty hot burritos and cold beverages, the people present were asked to first introduce themselves and share what they loved about the neighborhood. She filled a whiteboard with a shorthand of all the answers.
Vaine made sure that each item was realistic and assured the audience that this was just an icebreaker exercise. DEI is about problem-solving, and to do so, the meeting would get to perceived problems.
That part was next. Vaine asked everyone in the room to write down their concerns about the community. She handed out colorful sticky notes to the curious crowd.
“The purpose of this exercise is not that I’m going to do things for you or any of us,” Vaine said, gesturing to the task force. “The purpose is that we take the post-it notes once you’re done and divide them up into categories. Then we talk about ways to approach that particular issue.”
By the time this exercise occurred, everyone was acquainted, relaxed and ready to talk. So, the notes were filled out quickly. Vaine collected a pile of notes and stuck them to the whiteboard.
One by one, Vaine went through the pile of sticky notes, addressing issues one each. Parking, snow plowing and speeding were some of the most common problems. Vaine reiterated that the goal was not to fix each problem. The goal was to point the community members in the direction of a solution.
The city officials present and REDI Task Force members Virginia Ortiz, Latara Durand, and Camille Keyes helped whenever possible.
Every question on every sticky note was answered over the course of the evening. Some people spoke up and claimed their questions. Some didn’t. Vaine did not push people to claim their questions.
By the end of the night, the questions were a pile of colors that Vaine would take to City Hall. She said that follow-up meetings would be called and other officials invited, like someone from code enforcement, to address community concerns.
The Golden REDI community meeting looked a bit different from a usual DEI-based gathering. However, the meeting did practice the basic premise of DEI by providing a safe, welcoming space and opportunity for every person in the community to be heard.
More meetings are planned for 2024. Vaine plans to stop in every Golden community with similar listening sessions. To find out when the next REDI meetings are scheduled, visit the city’s calendar at CityofGolden.net.