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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-04-22 Public Comment - J. Strout - Please support a robust Resolution 5384Dear Mayor and City Commissioners, Monday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson out of Committee with a vote of 11-11 after she answered more than 20 hours of questions during her hearing, submitted more than 1,500 additional written responses to the committee, and offered every Senator the opportunity to meet in person. After a bipartisan motion to proceed vote moved her nomination forward her confirmation, Judge Jackson now heads to the full Senate, with a vote expected by the end of the week. This was the first time in 169 years that a U.S. Supreme Court Nominee who also happened to be the very first black woman nominated to the Supreme Court was almost stalled by a tie vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee. If you have even had a short time to watch the Senate Judiciary Hearings, you may have been as appalled in the 21st Century United States without Legal Equality in our Constitution to witness the unfounded, inappropriate, and down right bad faith efforts to discredit her incredible tenure as a judge, but Brown Jackson is now one step closer to becoming our nation’s first Black woman Justice of the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson’s ascension to the highest Court, over two centuries since its founding, is one more reminder of how much work still needs to be done to achieve equity in our country. And in our community. From:Jan Strout To:Agenda Subject:Public Comment: Please support a robust Resolution 5384 Date:Monday, April 4, 2022 10:04:37 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. BOZEMAN CITY FOR CEDAW INITIATIVE Cities for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination AgainstWomen and Girls (CEDAW)Bozeman: A City for CEDAW | Facebook Why a Bozeman for CEDAW? There is a continued need to protect and expand the human rights of all women and girls by addressing discrimination in educational, economic, safety, political and cultural areas. By adopting an Ordinance or Resolution based on the principles of CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women) to effectively monitor and end both subtle and substantial gender discrimination, the City of Bozeman will continue Montana’s tradition of history-making decisions that support women and girl’s advancement and empowerment. That is why, among numerous and similar local and states examples in 2022 alone I can share, the proposed Resolution 5384 "Establishing a City for CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women)" is so needed, relevant and aspirational for the opportunities we have to "walk our talk" as a welcoming, fair and inclusive community to advance the basic human rights of all women, girls, trans and non-binary people in our City and Valley. After more than 4 years, we must truly appreciate the inspired efforts by so many in our community - including the over 2,000 City residents who signed a petition for an Ordinance prior to the COVID Pandemic onset - plus our City Commissioners, other cross section of community leaders, our initial Steering and Advisory Committees and, of course, our diverse members of the Bozeman Task Force to Advance the Status and Safety of All Women and Girls, the action arm of our Bozeman City for CEDAW Initiative. All volunteers! And our generous wo/mentors who are either implementing or organizing U.S. Cities for CEDAW Ordinances and Resolutions that shared their best practices and strategies with us to create conditions of safety, economic security, health and well-being to not only benefit women and girls, but all who live and work here. Specifically for the City Commissioners and City Staff, we appreciate your strengthening the draft Resolution with our proposed Amendments to better reflect some of the impacts of barriers facing women and girls surviving the trauma of gender-based violence, adding more inclusive language as well as the Be it Resolved Clause to incorporate the need for an annual report and plan of action based on the data from earlier City Equity Disparity studies. However, we respectfully ask you all to amend this Resolution further to incorporate an actual Annual Date for this Report to be made public each year at a Bozeman City Commission meeting presentation of CEDAW - related data and its plan of action to remedy and prevent the equity disparities and forms of discrimination identified. As you know, we asked if this could be added into the process of City Resolution 4601, Equal Pay for Equal Work, which has the same requirement. It also is a move toward the intersectionality of women's human rights issues as well as identities that CEDAW requires and would make it even more powerful rather than remain in silos. An annual date we would prefer, however, would be either March 8th, International Women's Day which honors women workers here locally and around the world fighting for their workplace safety and rights or May 5th the National Day of Awareness of #MMIWG - Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Better yet - just give us two months. Seriously, we would appreciate one of those two dates that would allow more public engagement and recognition, City Commission transparency and accountability and opportunities for many across sectors and identities to engage in advancing the human rights of all women, girls, trans and non-binary people. As we have all discovered with the unanimous adoption in 2015 of the City Resolution 4601 on Equal Pay, the subsequent Resolution of pay equity encouragements in the selection of vendor services for the City's funds and lastly, the need for implementation of the City's strategic plan of a Comparable Worth study and actions, is that women's lives and women's human rights are intersectional and we cannot have Economic Security with Pay Equity only. We must have Comparable Worth, Paid Family and Medical Leave, and affordable accessible child and health care to care for ourselves, our families contribute to our community and live a life of dignity. Our City has made a great start to model many of these human rights and that will also add greater credibility with an annual public report that analyzes intersectional data impacting women and girls accompanied by the plan of action to remedy where the inequities still remain. Lastly, our Task Force has expertise and credibility with U.S. Cities for CEDAW based on our accomplishments thus far that can be of great benefit to the Economic Vitality Citizen Advisory Board and they should consider making us a short-term task force as they oversee the initial required data studies and creation of plans of action to recommend to the City. Commission. Thank you again for your adoption of Resolution 5384 as amended and all your support over the years. In gratitude, Jan Jan Strout pronouns: she/ella co-leader, Bozeman for CEDAW Initiative Bozeman: A City for CEDAW | Facebook 206.251.0880 "If you are free, free somebody else. If you have some power, your job is to empower somebody else." - Toni Morrison Bozeman: A City for CEDAW Bozeman: A City for CEDAW. 232 likes · 13 talking about this.Join us in our goal of becoming Bozeman a City for...