The commission confirmed September 13 as the date for the Multicultural Festival and discussed early planning steps for Juneteenth, vendor coordination and a task-force approach to spread event tasks among commissioners.

Multicultural Festival: Members settled on the weekend date of Sept. 13 (the transcript records September 13) and noted the historical event window of noon to 6 p.m. The commission identified scheduling conflicts with other city events as a reason for selecting the date and said they will begin outreach to partners — including the chamber and parks staff — to map logistics such as vendor placement and a performance layout.

Juneteenth and vendor partnerships: Commissioners discussed bringing in food trucks and reusing vendor relationships across multiple events to reduce workload. The commission discussed continuing a partnership with the chamber for alcohol sales and vendor coordination; members referenced prior coordination with a local vendor (referred to as Illmatic) and Mason/Mike at the chamber to manage alcohol sales and beverage procurement. Commissioners emphasized that earlier outreach and lead time will improve vendor availability.

Task-force structure and Gantt chart: To spread workload, the commission described a Gantt chart to assign tasks, deadlines and responsible parties across events through 2027. Members proposed designating small teams for common tasks (for example, a vendors team) so multiple events can share vendor lists and contacts. One member suggested establishing the task force for the 2026 events at the February meeting following this year’s MLK event so planning does not become last-minute.

Sunshine law / public meetings: The commission discussed the need for task-group meetings to comply with public-meeting statutes: if a meeting of a task group qualifies as a public meeting, it must be publicly noticed and held in an accessible location. Staff agreed to post a public notice if the task-force meeting will be held in public.

Next steps: The commission will use the Gantt chart to allocate tasks, contact the chamber and key vendors (including food trucks and beverage partners), and begin earlier outreach for Juneteenth and future multicultural planning. They also asked staff to confirm available public meeting rooms and to post notices for any task-force meetings that require public notice.

Ending: Commissioners emphasized earlier, shared planning and clearer task assignment across events to avoid overloading a few members and to improve execution in subsequent years.