Equity board discusses guiding-principles framework emphasizing accessibility and 'do no further harm'

The Chair introduced a draft guiding-principles framework intended to guide how the Equity Advisory Board works with community proposals and engages residents. The framework emphasizes core ideas including "do no further harm," power-awareness (acknowledging and mitigating power differentials when soliciting community testimony), transparency about next steps, accessibility (multiple formats and languages), legal review and data governance.

"When we invite any community members to share experiences, we have to recognize that there is a power dynamic that exists," the Chair said, urging the board to use the framework when forming feedback and outreach. Staff described an internal flowchart prepared by a staff member (Joe) that routes submissions to the city secretary for an initial jurisdictional review, then to the equity advisory board staff liaison (Jennifer) and to Emily for follow-up. The chair and several board members said the framework should be used and iterated after testing in practice.

Board members generally voiced support for adopting the framework as a living document and asked staff to return with a version that can be approved or refined at a future meeting. Staff said the process would include legal review where necessary and that the board would receive quarterly updates on items routed to staff.