Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs



Board Meeting MinutesSaturday, November 14, 2020 | 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM Zoom Conference Call Call to OrderQuorum reached at 10:02 AM. The meeting was called to order by 1st Vice Chair Faitalia at 10:05 AM. Present: Chair Nam Nguyen, 1st Vice Lydia Faitalia, 2nd Vice Chair Ekkarath Sisavatdy, Cmmr. Carrie Huie-Pascua, Cmmr. Lori Wada, Cmmr. Helen Christensen, Cmmr. Tam Dinh, Cmmr. Lalita Uppala, Cmmr. Ping Ping, Cmmr. Toka Valu, Cmmr. Julio DiazAbsent: Cmmr. Sam Cho (excused)Staff: Executive Director Toshiko Grace Hasegawa, Project Manager Rosa Mai, Project Coordinator Brenda O’BrienWelcomeWelcoming remarks and commendations were made by Senator Joe Nguyen, Senate Co-Chair of the Minority Color Caucus.Approval of Agenda & MinutesMotion to approve the agenda was made by Cmmr. Ping. Seconded by Cmmr. Huie-Pascua. No dissents, or abstentions. Motion passed unanimously. Motion to approve the last meeting minutes was made by 1st Vice Chair Faitalia. Seconded by Cmmr. Wada. No dissents, or abstentions. Motion passed unanimously. Commissioner Community & Committee UpdatesCmmr. Dinh has been involved with state agency support work, seeking to serve the community during COVID. She has also been a part of the Notifiable Conditions Workgroup, that has been determining which API groups they need to include in their data collection. Lastly, she has been assisting a research team as they look at the current status of COVID. She has been pleased with how strongly the teams advocated for the disaggregation of data. Cmmr. Wada has been working with the Dept. of Commerce on a grant review process. One of these grants, the Youth Development Grant, was a partnership with School’s Out Washington and an awardee was recently announced. Currently, she is in the process of reviewing applicants for the Equity Funds of Nonprofit Organizations, as well as continuing to help minority-owned businesses apply for the Small Business Resiliency Grant. Cmmr. Ping has connected Spokane’s Chinese immigrants, who have language barriers, with the resources available to them, such as the Chinese Information and Service Center in Seattle. She has participated in the phone banking campaign CAPAA recently oversaw, to notify the API businesses in Clark, Whitman, Thurston, and Spokane counties about the Small Business Resiliency Grant. She was also involved with the efforts by Spokane’s API community to build relationships with the local police department, which started with providing breakfast for them during Halloween week. The officers were very appreciative of the gesture. Next, a couple of translation support projects were undertaken by Cmmr. Ping. Among them, was reviewing the Chinese translations of ballots that were completed by the League of Women Spokane Voters, and a High Crime Report brochure authored by the Spokane Police Dept. Lastly, she has reached out to Spokane’s API community leaders to facilitate a discussion around reactions to elections results, and started planning an API Business Professionals networking event, with other leaders, to tentatively take place in January 2021. Cmmr. Ping will participate in the event as a CAPAA commissioner.Cmmr. Christensen has been discussing small business concerns with Clark County’s Chinese Association. A recent fundraiser took place to benefit restaurants, who in turn provided meals to essential workers at Legacy Hospital and Peace Health SW Washington. She has also been informing the Chinese and Taiwanese communities about the resources that would be of assistance to them; namely, the Immigrant Relief Fund, and the COVID Relief Grant for Nonprofits. Cmmr. Huie-Pascua was recently appointed to the Board of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) for the state. She is also serving on the state DEI Committee for a NAMI affiliate. In addition, she has been providing tech support to the local Filipino-American community, and been working with the Yakima Yakima Census Coalition, where they have been shifting focus from the Census 2020 to redistricting. Lastly, she has been asked to review the applicants for the COVID Immigrant Relief Funds.Cmmr. Diaz has been active with the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation’s review process for the RFP grant, which awards funding to study Filipino places of significance. He has also taken part in the phone bank campaign, where he has continued to follow up with API business owners, to see if they need any additional support. Cmmr. Faitlalia has been working with CAPAA staff in assisting COFA enrollment in health care. Secondly, she has been working with anti-hate and bias across the community. Next, she has been assisting with efforts to help the NHPI community see the importance of meeting virtually during this pandemic, and lastly, she has been working to help secure direct services for her community.Cmmr. Uppala, along with King County and the SE Asian Community, have been engaging in a lot of organizing and advocacy around the small business community, specifically around some niche groups that have not had the opportunity to avail themselves of mortgage assistance. They have also reached out to invest in some small businesses, such as restaurants and beauty salons, to utilize them for holiday events during the Festival of Lights. Finally, she has been working on the H1 Visa Immigration Policy issue. Cmmr. Sisavatdy participated in the end of summer flower drive put on by the United Communities of Laos. Funds raised went to assist with rent and utilities during COVID. He also partnered with Laos Community Service Center, the Hmong Association of Washington, The Laos Khmu Association, and the USDA Farmers to Family Food Box, in organizing a food distribution event for families struggling during the pandemic. The King County Alliance provided $20k in grants to allow for the inclusion of ethnic foods, and between the 2 trailers, there were about 2400 boxes ready for distribution. Cmmr. Valu has been working with Cmmr. Faitalia on informing their communities of the dangers of meeting in person, and there remains some work to make sure the PI community is following through with actually meeting virtually. There is also much partnering and allocating of funds to marshal foods in their community. Finally, there has been some division amongst families as the results of the election have proved to be challenging. As a result, there have been many instances of dialoging to move through the issues. Census 2020 Needs Assessment Committee: Chair Huie-Pascua reports that work has started to shift, at least in the local Yakima area, from Census 2020 work to redistricting, and a committee is being put together with candidates that are more representative of the communities. Blaine Tamaki is one such candidate who has been nominated for the statewide Redistricting Commission, along with many other POC. There is also an API Census project that has moved from the work Cherry Cayabyab did last year, to looking at the data collected to see how to best secure funding and inform grant writing. Civil Rights & Immigration Committee: The committee recently received and reviewed five files from ED Hasegawa. One file was an independent investigation into an officer-involved use of deadly force. The main issue that the committee recognized is that for POC in our state, there is a lack of trust existing between them and police. In the latest committee meeting, they identified three areas of concern they’d like to focus on. One concern pertains to police brutality. They are considering a speaker to speak on the issue, and are opening up the invitation for the commission to attend if interested. The second area of concern is the division that exists, not only around the election results, but amongst the country as whole. The committee is considering inviting an expert in constitutional law come and give a better understanding of voting legalities that they can share with their respective communities. They would also like to focus on solutions that will help our communities achieve greater unity than is currently existing. The last area of concern relates to the H1 Visa. One final note of report is that the committee decided at its last meeting to appoint Cmmr. Ping as its Vice Chair. Economic Development Committee: Chair Diaz reports the driving motivation this period was connecting the API Community to the resources available to them because of COVID-19. He took time to thank and recognize all the work that Cmmr. Wada, Cmmr. Faitalia, Cmmr. Uppala, and Cmmr Cho engaged in. The committee was recently briefed on proposals on Public Banking by Senator Hasegawa and the banning of credit scoring on insurance by OIC. They are considering if this should be a priority for the 2021 Legislative Session. Finally, the Washington Retail Association attended their last meeting to start discussion around possible partnership opportunities with CAPAA that could benefit the API Community. Education Committee: The committee has voted unanimously to have monthly meetings beginning in October, due to members being a part of 10 standing workgroups, committees, and task forces throughout the state that they have to be responsive to. CAPAA appointed Sui-Lan Ho’okano and Vesna D. to the Ethnic Studies Curriculum Advisory Committee, which is tasked to identify and make available ethnic study materials and resources for grades 7-12 and elementary schools. Chair Sisavatdy thanks the members for their support and engagement, and gives a special thanks to ED Hasegawa for her attentiveness throughout the process. Finally, the committee has voted to send a CAPAA holiday greeting to the volunteer champions appointees, whose dedication and care towards the mission of CAPAA have been greatly appreciated. Health & Human Services Committee: Due to the pandemic, much of the work the committee is engaged in pertains to COVID. There are policies moving on that front, especially in regards to the COFA Community, who wants to make sure their voices are heard and that they receive everything in writing. There has been some research done on Communities of Color and the impacts of COVID, but as Cmmr. Dinh has mentioned, the AA and NHPI Communities have not been sampled as much in these initial studies, even though it has been recognized that they are among the most impacted by COVID. Finally, there are ongoing issues with language and translation services that have been magnified during this time, and many are trying to heal from losing a loved one to the disease. Public ForumLin Crowley, from APIC of South Puget Sound, is interested in learning more about the proposal on banning credit scores. Can Cmmr. Diaz share more about what that entails? Cmmr. Diaz will connect Ms. Crowley to Rory Paine-Donovan, who came to present the details on the draft legislation. Lu’isa Laulile, from United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, from Pierce County, has concerns about the representation from each county. She noticed that, at present, it is very King County heavy, and there isn’t much support in Pierce County. In discussing it with Pacific Islanders they have also voiced concern that there is not enough representation here. In the RCW, it does seem to express that there should be a balance amongst the counties, and she knows there have been people from here who have applied, who didn’t end up being chosen. Can CAPAA share what factors are taken into consideration in appointing commissioners and how it ended up being so heavy in King County?ED Hasegawa explained that while CAPAA has its own internal screening process and make recommendations to the governor, in the end it’s up to the governor alone to make the final appointments. She will forward Ms. Laulile’s concerns to his Boards and Commissions staff. Serene Chen, from King County, is interested in the Commission’s stance on the Growth Management Act/environmental justice issues impacting the API Community. Vice Chair Faitalia conveyed that the Commission has been meeting with local community leaders to get their insight into pollution, how it aligns with equity in terms of justice, and how it affects access to resources. She would be happy to continue unpacking the conversation with Ms. Chen via email. She can also send some links regarding this issue and would like to invite her to come to some future meetings to further the discussion. ED Hasegawa also conveyed a point of information. While do talk about environmental justice and how it impacts our API communities, as evidenced by a recent FB Live conversation with the Dept. of Ecology, we do not have a specific Environmental Justice Committee, nor is environmental justice formally built into CAPAA’s strategic plan. It is something the governor has implored our community members to center and emphasize, but at present it is not something this agency has yet built into its foundation or area of concentration. There is room, however for emerging voices and leadership, and it’s something she implores the commissioners to consider when we look at redesigning the strategic plan in a year and a half. Is this a pillar that we would like to build in? Ms. Chen is writing an Op Ed piece for the International Examiner, outlining the importance of making this a priority this next legislative session. Time is of the essence, and if we don’t push for legislation now, we will have to wait another eight years before we have another opportunity to do so again.Mark Carlos, from Spokane County, was invited from Cmmr. Ping. He is Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese, and is happy he could attend today and hear about the work that is going on. Dainen Penta, an attorney with NW Justice Project, joins today to make sure he doesn’t lose touch with the API Community as a new transplant to Yakima. Executive Director’s ReportED Hasegawa presented a verbal overview of her written report at 11:13 AM.Keeping Washington Working Task ForceReport has been postponed for the next meeting. Public BankingSenator Bob Hasegawa presented his proposal of public banking to the Commission, and he hopes that it gains traction this legislative session. Currently, the state uses Wall Street for our banking system. This allows them to use funds for their investments. With public banking, we can use funds to invest into our own state agencies. It allows us to raise revenue without raising taxes and is counter cyclical to the economy. This means that when the economy is down, borrowing is not stopped, but that lending can actually increase to help get us through crucial times. Most other countries use public banking, but the US does not, with the exception of one state, North Dakota. This year marked the 16th consecutive year that they made a profit from utilizing the system. There is a national movement growing in support for public banking, however. In California, 10 counties have passed legislation in favor of it, and New Jersey has a task force, led by Goldman Sachs, trying to determine how to implement it. Opposition for the bill in our state has traditionally come from big banks, bond brokers, and the state treasurer. Sen. Hasegawa theorizes that this may be due to a fear of institutional change. It should be noted that the new state treasurer, Mike Pelliciotti does support the bill. Links for additional information on public banking can be found in the chat box. Cmmr. Diaz conveyed that after Sen, Hasegawa’s presentation at their last Economic Development Committee meeting, the committee acknowledged that public banking would be great for the community and they expressed their support of it. Vice Chair Faitalia moved a motion to support public banking. Cmmr. Dinh seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously with no dissents or abstentions. Commission BusinessThe Commission discussed and decided to hold the holiday social this year. It will be held virtually on December 9, between 5:00-6:00 PM, and Vice Chair Faitalia and Cmmr. Dinh will in charge of planning it. CAPAA is proposing amending the rule pertaining to sponsorship. If amended, commissioners can apply for it on behalf of organizations. Cmmr. Ping moves to adopt the change. Seconded by Cmmr. Diaz. Motion passes unanimously. No abstentions. No dissents. The new dates for 2021 Board Meetings have been set. Please let ED Hasegawa know now if any dates conflict with a prior commitment. Cmmr. Huie-Pascua moves to accept the 2021 meetings. Cmmr. Diaz seconds. Motion passes unanimously. No abstentions. No dissents. Good of the OrderCmmr. Dinh appreciates being a part of this team, and how the new commissioners are just jumping in. She would like to solicit any ideas for the holiday social.ED Hasegawa commends this cohort as phenomenal. The work all the commissioners are doing are just blowing us away. Though she has some angst in stepping away, she has full confidence and trust in our collaborative relationship. AdjournmentMotion to adjourn was made by Chair Nguyen. Seconded by Cmmr. Diaz. Motion was unanimously passed. Meeting adjourned at 12:25 PM.Chat Box TranscriptFrom Me to Everyone: 09:56 AMGood Morning! Please sign in with your name, email, and organization. Thank you!From Lori Wada to Everyone: 09:57 AMgood morning everyone! From Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 10:01 AMPing Ping you are amazing! Thank you for the notes.Yes, Commissioner Dinh. Good morning Community!!!!!From Ping Ping to Everyone: 10:01 AMHi Lydia, Yeah I will report on my onw notesFrom Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 10:01 AMPerfectFrom Paul Tabayoyon to Everyone: 10:02 AMPaul Tabayoyon, APIC Yakima, community outreach coordinatorFrom Toka Valu to Everyone: 10:02 AMmy internet is currently choppy so I apologize if I'm in and out From Paul Tabayoyon to Everyone: 10:03 AMpjtabayoyon@From Nam Nguyen to Everyone: 10:03 AMis my audio working?From Ekkarath Sisavatdy (he/him) to Everyone: 10:14 AMHi All, heads up, my Zoom is being a bit wacky. From Joe Nguyen to Everyone: 10:14 AMThank you everyone! I have to run to change a diaper. From Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 10:14 AMThank you Sen. NguyenFrom Nam Nguyen to Everyone: 10:14 AMthanks sen. nguyenFrom Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 10:15 AMCan everyone please mute your micFrom Nam Nguyen to Everyone: 10:15 AMPlease keep your community update to 1-2 minutesFrom Toka Valu to Everyone: 10:18 AMI'm going to log off and back on- apologies From Toshiko Hasegawa to Everyone: 10:33 AMthat's so great, EkkI UNDERSTAND!!! everytime someone uses the microwave I lose my connectionFrom Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 10:33 AMYou got this bro ValuFrom Julio Dale Diaz to Everyone: 10:34 AMplane must be flying by...From Toshiko Hasegawa to Everyone: 10:36 AMCarrie -- do you mean the Yakima County redistricting commission, or the statewide one?From Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 10:39 AMGreat job Commissioner Huie-Pascua!From Toshiko Hasegawa to Everyone: 10:41 AMCorrection - I didn't recommend a speaker from WASPC. I recommended having our police accountability task force representative puao Savusa come and speakFrom Ping Ping to Everyone: 10:51 AMOh we will correct it, we brought the name of " WASPC" up in our committee meeting, thank you ED. Toshiko, for your clarifications! Will change it to puao Savusa...From Serene Chen (she/her) to Everyone: 11:00 AMDo we have to comment on one of the reports or can we bring up a different topic?From Nam Nguyen to Everyone: 11:00 AMyou can speak on any topicFrom Toshiko Hasegawa to Everyone: 11:00 AMSerene public forum is open mic for you to share what ever you likePlease put your affiliated organization and email in the chat box!From Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 11:08 AMThank you LinThank you uso Lui'saThank you Serena ChenLydia.faitalia@capaa.I absolutely agree with youFrom Paul Tabayoyon to Everyone: 11:08 AMI agree, we should get involved nowFrom Toshiko Hasegawa to Everyone: 11:11 AMToshiko.hasegawa@capaa.Dainen Penta, Center for Justice, SpokaneFrom Me to Everyone: 11:11 AMIf you haven't already done so, please make sure to sign your name, email, and organization. Thank you!From Ping Ping to Everyone: 11:11 AMSo nice to see you Markie! You are a wonderful community leader in Spokane!It is so nice to hear your voice Danan, we appreciate your work in justice for ALL in Spokane!From Lu’isa Laulile to Everyone: 11:12 AMMalo E Lelei Everyone! This is Lu’isa Laulile with United Indians of All Tribes Foundation as a child advocate and representative for the Pacific Islander Community. I am a Pierce county resident and small business owner in this county. I have included my email: llaulile@.From Mark Carlos to Everyone: 11:12 AMThank you for the invite! Looking forward to working with you and the Commission to help the Community 8)From Carrie Huie-Pascua to Everyone: 11:13 AMWelcome to Yakima Mr. Penta.From Dainen Penta (he/him) to Everyone: 11:13 AMHi everyone! I'd love to stay in touch with you all and hear what you're up to. Thanks for all the great work CAPAA is doing. You can reach me at dainen.penta@and thanks for all the great work you all are doing in your respective orgs/communitiesFrom Lin Crowley (she/her) to Everyone: 11:14 AMThanks for all the reports. Learned more about the proposed change on the use of credit scores for various insurance processes. Thanks to Commissioner Diaz and ED Hasegawa for sending information to me and others by email. Thank you. Have to jump off to another meeting now. Thank you so much again.From Serene Chen (she/her) to Everyone: 11:14 AMThank you all! I will definitely reach out. I’m Serene Chen, live near the CID, my email is serenechen@. I work at a tech startup (Convoy) and am actively involved with Futurewise, the 37th legislative district democrats, and the Mountaineers (on the equity & inclusion steering committee).From Dainen Penta (he/him) to Everyone: 11:17 AMYes, Serene! We definitely need more BIPOC in the outdoors community. I am a WTA member and was a member of Spokane Mountaineers. Your presence in that space is vital.From Serene Chen (she/her) to Everyone: 11:19 AM100% agree Dainen! Great to connect! It’s been illuminating getting involved in the organizational level with the M’s - they recognize they are a historically white male driven org and have a LOT of work to do.From Serene Chen (she/her) to Everyone: 11:28 AMI grew up in small towns/cities in Alabama and Georgia and am constantly amazed by the AAPI representation and communities here in Washington. Amazing to see this work.From Ekkarath Sisavatdy (he/him) to Everyone: 11:28 AMGreat Job Carrie! Thank you!From Nam Nguyen to Everyone: 11:28 AMSerene, which small town in AL did you live in?From Dainen Penta (he/him) to Everyone: 11:29 AMRegina Malveaux is awesome, she was the ED of the YWCA Spokane and is one of my professional mentors, hope you all get the chance to meet herFrom Serene Chen (she/her) to Everyone: 11:30 AMI lived in Birmingham, AL (still have family there) and Albany, GA.From Lalita Uppala (she/her) to Me: (Privately) 11:37 AMBrenda - We have been doing some culturally nuanced mental health support and gathering data on its impact; please let me know if in future you will need any firther info on this and data from south asiansFrom Me to Lalita Uppala (she/her): (Privately) 11:37 AMThank you Commissioner Uppala! Will do!From Dainen Penta (he/him) to Everyone: 11:41 AMgreat beats!From Me to Everyone: 11:43 AMbrenda.obrien@capaa. 253.229.9826From Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 11:47 AMThank you Commissioner DinhFrom Dainen Penta (he/him) to Everyone: 11:48 AMnope, thanks!From Toka Valu to Everyone: 11:50 AMI was just wondering if there was some more detail as to what the opposition to the WASPC language was? Sorry (arrrrgh Xfinity!)From Dainen Penta (he/him) to Everyone: 11:53 AMjumping off the call now, the state bar board of governors is also meeting today. great to 'see' you all, have a great weekend!From Toka Valu to Everyone: 11:54 AMThank you so much and for that continued workFrom Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 11:54 AMThank you Dainen PentaFrom Toka Valu to Everyone: 11:56 AMThank you so much, ED HasegawaFrom Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 11:56 AMYes, Thank you ED Hasegawa for your advocacyFrom Toshiko Hasegawa to Everyone: 12:01 PMWASPC should have asked us on the front end instead of just throwing our names in there. we could have saved them a lot of timeFrom Bob Hasegawa to Everyone: 12:05 PM* Public banking video ?<;* Public Banking Institute? <;* Public Banking Town hall 9/30/20 <;* Facebook page?("Invest in Washington, Not Wall Street"; latest news in public banking) <;* Bank of North Dakota (BND) <;* BND 2019 Annual Report?(16th consecutive year of record profits and 18.6% ROI) <;* North Dakota Students video interview <;* Public TV Documentary on BND <;* It’s a Wonderful Life?(simple banking explanation) < Toka Valu to Everyone: 12:09 PMWhat kinds of checks and balances would WA employ to keep an eye on public banking?Thank you!From Julio Dale Diaz to Everyone: 12:09 PMI encourage the Commissioners to look through the Senators links...From Toka Valu to Everyone: 12:09 PMsorry, I'm trying to preserve my bandwidth by just using the chat From Lalita Uppala (she/her) to Everyone: 12:14 PMThank You Senator Hasegawa - we will be taking this conversation to our community.From Ping Ping to Everyone: 12:14 PMThank you so much Senator Hasegawa for your presentation!!From Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 12:15 PMThank you Senator Hasegawa for all that you do for our communities.From Toshiko Hasegawa to Everyone: 12:15 PMRosa - let's create a public banking tab linking to these resourceson our webapge*web pageFrom Bob Hasegawa to Everyone: 12:15 PMThank you all for the vote and for all the work you do for our communities.From Carrie Huie-Pascua to Everyone: 12:16 PMThank you Senator Hasegawa for a very informative presentation on public banking.From Rosa Mai, CAPAA (she/her/hers) to Everyone: 12:16 PMToshiko - noted. I will add the resources to our website. From Toshiko Hasegawa to Everyone: 12:18 PMI will update our policies document, have it signed by chair and redistribute to all commissioners next weekI will send our proposed dates to wa state register and we will publish on our webpageFrom Toka Valu to Everyone: 12:20 PMI trust Comm Dinh From Me to Everyone: 12:20 PMhooray for campy games! :DFrom Lalita Uppala (she/her) to Everyone: 12:22 PMWishing you the best of times welcoming parenthood ED Hasegawa - its a journey like no other. From Toka Valu to Everyone: 12:24 PMwishing you the best in these few weeks leading up to the arrival, ED Hasegawa!From Ping Ping to Everyone: 12:24 PMBest wishes ED Hasegawa!! You will be a wonderful mom!From Lydia M. Faitalia to Everyone: 12:24 PMCongratulations ED Hasegawa and familyFrom Carrie Huie-Pascua to Everyone: 12:24 PMBest wishes to ED Hasegawa.From Julio Dale Diaz to Everyone: 12:25 PMBest wishes to you ED Hasegawa...! ................
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