Any of the efforts we discuss in our recommendation will need a commission to make such efforts succeed and to ensure the sustainability across city operations and future projects. The city of Des Moines current has 22 board and commission and creating a new one may seem tedious, but it’s extremely necessary for several reasons. The first one that comes to our attention is the lack of representation of the communities we are trying to serve. This commission will bring relevant information to implement such efforts the most strategic way possible.
The Immigrant and Refugee Commission of the city of Des Moines would advise the Mayor and City Council members on issues affecting immigrants and refugees in our city. …show more content…
Their commission was a result of Seattle’s Immigrant and Refugee Report and Action Plan released in 2007. Seattle’s Mayor and Council members saw the importance of such commission and action plan due to the increase in communities of foreign born residents in the Seattle area. Such communities lacked representation which did not alignned with the city’s objective of providing a high-quality customer service to all its residents. The commissioners reflect Seattle’s diverse population. The Mayor appoints eight commissioners and seven are appointed by the City Council members for a total of fifteen. Since the time this commission was created, they have collaborated with the office for Education, led “Lunch and Learn” sessions to inform communities about the importance of an immigrant reform, and lastly, brought boards and commission together to work on the solutions for the homeless population in Seattle. These and many more efforts have come out of such commission. Their advocacy and input have made the city of Seattle an inclusive place for all its …show more content…
We recommend working with the office of Civil and Human Rights, the Iowa Department of Huma Rights, and local organization to develop a mission and vision for the new commission. We recommend that the Mayor and City Council member appoint 15 individuals to serve for a 2 year term in the commission. To ensure the engagement and high number of applications, we recommend the city work with local immigrant and refugee serving organizations, hence, increasing the network of community organizations and building credibility among such communities. The following are the organizations we recommend partnering with to ensure the success of the Immigrant and Refugee Commission of the city of Des