BY Jason Victor Serinus

Port Townsend’s newest board/commission, the Equity, Access, and Rights (EAR) Advisory Board, is currently taking form. So far, only 10 applicants have applied for seats on the nine-person board; at least five must be appointed for the board to become viable. While interviews have already begun, there is still time to apply via the website. If what you read below and online speaks to you, I hope you will become one of those applicants.

 As explained on the city website, the Equity, Access, and Rights Board is “charged with helping to move the city forward as a more diverse and equitable place through outreach, education, and feedback to staff and City Council.” The board will not only serve as an avenue of communication for the city’s diverse population, but also identify issues and propose actions that city council and city administration can take to forward equity, access, and rights. 

 The idea for the board originated with the city’s ad hoc Committee on Law Enforcement that met for six months following the murder of George Floyd. After the pandemic slowed action, proposals from activist Emelia De Souza lit a fire under members of city council’s Culture and Society Committee. Council member Owen Rowe, who serves as chair of the Culture and Society Committee, proposed the board’s name. 

 “The board’s acronym is ‘EAR’ because it will serve as a sounding board,” Rowe explained. “As much as possible, the EAR Board will use the same structure and rules as other city advisory boards. Until and if the county comes up with something similar, we will try to serve everybody in the county. So, people throughout the county are welcome to apply. First, the council liaison, [Deputy Mayor Amy Howard], and the three staff liaisons [Director of Communications and Marketing for Port Townsend Shelly Leavens, City Attorney Heidi Greenwood, and HR Director Cynthia Schaffer] will look at applications, conduct interviews, and figure out who is the best match. Then, it’s up to Mayor David Faber to appoint and City Council to consent.”

 The city has intentionally not stipulated how the commission will go about its business; it is up to board members to determine when they will meet and how they will interact with each other, the public, and the city. Nor has it stipulated specifics about which groups should be represented on the board. “There are so many different identities [among our population] that we can’t guarantee that every one of them will be represented on the commission,” Rowe explained.

 “The expectation that people who have been marginalized will do equity work for free is a problem. As a council benefiting from many types of privilege, we didn’t feel we could speak for advisory board members. Nor did we want to impose a partial or flawed solution. Identifying solutions is one of the areas where we hope EAR will take a leading role.”

 Howard was of similar mind. “This is an effort,” she said. “This is a place to start. We may not get it exactly right in the first blush. As a white lady, I don’t want to be in a position where I dictate the work this board does. But in acknowledging that I’m in a position of power, I want to use that power to remove identified barriers to serving on the board.”

 Among the many issues the EAR Board might tackle, Howard identified “conscious and unconscious biases in city government, areas that are inaccessible to people in wheelchairs, and reasons that some groups definitely don’t feel comfortable approaching the city with their issues.” She pointed out that during her time on City Council, someone (perhaps at the Historical Society) discovered an old city ordinance that declared a person of nwative descent had to be accompanied by a white person within city limits. As you might expect, City Council quickly repealed that ordinance.

 “We hope the EAR board will have its ears on the ground in the equity space,” Leavens said in summation. “We’re excited to appoint these folks, support their convening, and invite the community into their conversations about equity, access, and rights.”

 Interested persons can learn more by visiting https://cityofpt.us/bc/page/equity-access-and-rights-advisory-board online.

 Jason Victor Serinus is a critic of culture, music, and audio. The oldest member of the WA State LGBTQ Commission, he’s also a professional whistler. Column tips: jvsaisi24@gmail.com.