7887 E. 60th Ave.  
Commerce City, CO 80022  
c3gov.com  
Commerce City  
Meeting Minutes - Final  
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission  
Wednesday, April 30, 2025  
5:30 PM  
Commerce City Civic Center - Rm 3109, 7887 E 60th Ave  
Commerce City, CO 80022  
Call To Order/Roll Call  
1.  
Meeting was called to order at 5:41pm.  
Present: Iona Longsoldier, Deana Hall, Dee Dee Gilliam, Joanne Gaines Stranahan,  
Ashley Roman  
Guests: Scott Vanhuesen and Interpreters Karla & Francisco.  
Absent: Bianca Gonzalez-De La Rosa, America Carbajal, Marco Vega, and  
Councilmembers Craig Kim and Renee Chacon  
Land acknowledgement  
2.  
3.  
4.  
5.  
Iona presented  
Public Comment  
Scott expressed his commitment to the group  
Ice Breaker - Introductions  
Round table introductions sharing name, place of work, and an unpopular opinion  
Approval of Minutes  
Min 25-094 March Meeting Minutes  
Deana moved to approve the March meeting minutes. Joanne seconded the motion,  
which passed unanimously.  
Subcommittee Reports  
6.  
A. Legislation & Education (Bianca & Dee Dee)  
Dee Dee shared a health bill resource. Group discussed how to narrow issues down  
and decided it would be narrowed down in the subcommittee to then bring to the group.  
Group took a quick break for food.  
i. Council Report - DEI Annual Update 6/16  
Iona will present to City Council on 6/16  
ii. Upcoming Proclamations - 5/19 PRIDE  
Dee Dee will join in giving the proclamation for PRIDE.  
Interpreters were dismissed.  
B. Signature Events (Deana, Joanne, Iona)  
i. AAPI movie event  
Iona, Deana, and Scott will attend the event on 5/18.  
ii. Juneteenth update  
The poet laureate, Kerrie Joy, now has availability to speak at Juneteenth. The group  
decided to increase the price to $300 for both Kerrie Joy and the dancers.  
Food vendors are booked and going through the business licensing process. Staff will  
also invite the hot dog stand to come and sell food.  
Staff will check in with parks team to make sure someone will be monitoring toilets.  
Staff will purchase swag (bags, coloring books, and paper fans, as well as event  
t-shirts for DEI Commission.  
Registration for spades tournament will open soon and close 6/12. DEI Commission is  
asking Cultural Council to take that over completely.  
C. Recruitment, Engagement & Partnerships (Marco)  
i. Memorial Day & June events  
Members aren't available to attend Memorial Day, so the group won't attend.  
Iona, Joanne, and Scott will attend PRIDE and give away PRIDE flags.  
Ashley and Scott will attend the first Music in the Park on 6/12 to promote Juneteenth.  
D. Resource Compiling & Spanish Translations (Ashley & America)  
No update  
Review of Bylaws  
7.  
25-152  
Commission Bylaws  
Dee Dee moved to approve the bylaws as edited. Joanne seconded the motion, which  
was approved unanimously.  
The group discussed Marco and America's lack of attendance, and decided to have  
Iona reach out and ask for them to resign as the bylaws state after three or more  
absences.  
New Business  
8.  
Group discussed recruiting at June tabling, and creating a flyer that explains what we  
do and information for onboarding new members.  
A. Shirts, Nametags, & Business Card Distribution  
Send shirt sizes to Melissa if you need one.  
May Agenda Setting  
9.  
Juneteenth volunteering  
Adjourn  
10.  
Meeting was adjourned at 7:35pm.  
**Subcommittee Meetings to take place immediately following this meeting.**  
Subcommittees did not have time to meet, as the meeting took the full allotted time.