City Council
July 26, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: William Gilchrist
City Administrator Director, Planning &
Building Department
SUBJECT: SUPPLEMENTAL - Study Session on
the General Plan Update – Vision,
Guiding Principles, And Equity
Framework
DATE: July 11, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council: Receive An Informational Presentation On (A) Key Background Conditions Presented In The Map Atlas And The Environmental Justice And Racial Equity Baseline; (B) The Environmental Justice Communities Screening Analysis; (C) Community Engagement And Outreach Received; And (D) The Vision, Guiding Principles, And Equity Framework For The General Plan Update To Guide Baseline General Plan Policy Development.
REASON FOR SUPPLEMENTAL
At the May 18, 2022, Planning Commission meeting and at the May 24, 2022, special Community and Economic Development (CED) meeting, Planning & Building Department staff provided an informational report and presentation on the (1) key background conditions presented in the Map Atlas and the Environmental Justice and Racial Equity Baseline; (2) Environmental Justice Communities Screening Analysis; (3) Community Engagement and Outreach and (4) sought feedback on the vision, guiding principles, and equity framework for the General Plan Update and draft Housing Element.
At the CED meeting, the committee recommended that staff present the Draft Equity Framework to the entire City Council for their review and feedback.
This supplemental report provides the Draft Racial Equity Framework for the General Plan Update. See Supplemental Attachment A. The Draft Racial Equity Framework was developed based on input received through community outreach from November 2021 – June 2022 and feedback received from the Planning Commission, CED Committee, other Boards and Commissions. It describes the General Plan’s overarching equity goal, policy guidelines to achieve the goal, and the key set of indicators the City of Oakland will use to measure and monitor progress towards achieving the equity goal. For the General Plan Update, the City will use the Racial Equity Impact Assessment (REIA) as a tool to implement its Racial Equity Framework. The REIA tool will assess how City policies can achieve equitable outcomes, tracked by measuring Indicators of Success.
Jul 22, 2022
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: SUPPLEMENTAL - Study Session on the General Plan Update – Vision, Guiding Principles, And Equity Framework
Date: July 11, 2022 Page 2
City Council
July 26, 2022
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council: Receive An Informational Presentation On (A) Key Background Conditions Presented In The Map Atlas And The Environmental Justice And Racial Equity Baseline; (B) The Environmental Justice Communities Screening Analysis; (C) Community Engagement And Outreach Received; And (D) The Vision, Guiding Principles, And Equity Framework For The General Plan Update To Guide Baseline General Plan Policy Development.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Lakshmi Rajagopalan, Planner IV, at 510- 238-6751 or Daniel Findley, Planner III, at 510-238-3981.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM A. GILCHRIST
Director, Planning & Building Department
Reviewed by:
Edward Manasse, Deputy Director/City Planner
Bureau of Planning
Laura Kaminski, Strategic Planning Manager
Prepared by:
Lakshmi Rajagopalan, Planner IV
Strategic Planning Division
Daniel Findley, Planner III
Strategic Planning Division
Attachments (1):
A. Supplemental Attachment A: Draft Racial Equity Framework
SUPPLEMENTAL ATTACHMENT A
DRAFT: The General Plan Update Racial Equity Framework
and Racial Equity Impact Assessment
Purpose
In June of 2022, the City of Oakland officially recognized and declared that racism is a public health crisis in the City of Oakland, throughout the United States, and across the world. This resolution codified the City’s commitment to address and ameliorate the ongoing impacts of racism through consideration of how to achieve equitable outcomes in all aspects of City planning, policymaking, and practices.
A central guiding principle of the General Plan Update “is to advance the City’s codified mission to intentionally integrate, on a Citywide basis, the principle of 'fair and just' in all the City does in order to achieve equitable opportunities for all people and communities.” One of the most fundamental working assumptions necessary to achieving racial equity and lasting change is that race matters. Almost every indicator of well-being for Oakland residents shows disparities by race. The only way to close these equity gaps is through policies, programs and strategic approaches that intentionally focus on racial disparities and their root causes.
Many of the City’s institutional policies and practices contain barriers to opportunity that create and maintain disparities, sometimes inadvertently. For the General Plan Update, the City will use The Racial Equity Impact Assessment as a tool to implement a Racial Equity Framework. The REIA tool will assess how City policies can achieve equitable outcomes, tracked by measuring Indicators of Success.
In addition to Indicators of Success, General Plan policy development also should follow the guidelines listed below.
Overarching Equity Goal: The Desired Outcome
The Oakland of the future does not have significant disparities along racial and economic lines and utilizes its resources to provide fair and equitable opportunities that enable all residents to live long, healthy lives. The City uses a racial equity lens to both evaluate new policies, practices, and regulations, and to dismantle or re-redesign existing policies that perpetuate inequities.
Equitable Policy Guidelines: How the Goal is Achieved
An equitable policy…
• Is co-designed with community. Policies are created through meaningful community engagement and shared leadership. At the bare minimum, equitable policies have been reviewed and supported by community members most affected by disparities. • Addresses racial disparities head-on. The policy explicitly focuses on reducing racial disparities, or at the very least, avoids widening disparities, and removes barriers that perpetuate inequity • Uses an asset-based approach. Policies explicitly focus on lifting up and amplifying communities’ existing strengths; local resources, assets, and cultural values; and community- driven strategies.
• Results in Equitable Benefits. Policies and implementing actions address unique priority community needs and foster additional opportunity, resources, protection, and/or investment in communities in a way that leads to equitable benefits, including an equitable geographic, income-based, and race-based distribution.
• Is measurable and actionable. Policies rely on active monitoring, evaluation, and course correction with outcome-based accountability.
SUPPLEMENTAL ATTACHMENT A
Indicators of Success: How Overall Progress Toward Goal is Monitored Equity is achieved when key Indicators of Success reach the desired reductions in disparities across race. The set of indicators Oakland uses to measure its success will be co-developed with community and will reflect the issues most important to community residents. Potential indicators could include:
• Housing Cost Burden
• Homelessness
• Displacement
• Disconnected Youth
• Unemployment Rate
• Median Income