City Council
Staff Report
Report Type: STUDY SESSION
Lead Department: Community Services
Meeting Date: August 19, 2024
Report #:2408-3348
TITLE
Study Session: Report from the Human Relations Commission regarding their Research on the Lived Experience of Asian American, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders; CEQA status – not a project
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Council receive a report from the Human Relations Commission on the results of their research on the Lived Experience of Asian American, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
This is a Study Session, therefore there will be no recommended actions; however, the Commission will be requesting Council feedback on the Commission’s possible next steps.
BACKGROUND
The Human Relations Commission (HRC) has prepared a report on the Lived Experience of Asian American, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (Attachment A). This research is in response to input by the Council and Policy and Services Committee, as well as the HRC’s ongoing work on Inclusion and Belonging, including exploring and implementing avenues to decrease hate crimes/hate based incidences in the community. A summary of this work is described below. •Council Meeting - January 19, 2021. The HRC presented a report to Council titled “Black & Brown Lives – History and Current Experience.” 1 Stemming from this report, the HRC committed to completing a project to partner with community leaders to lead up to 100 small group community conversations on diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging, followed by a presentation of findings to Council and the community. That effort was completed in 2021.
1 City Council, January 19, 2021; Agenda Item 3; SR #11911, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas-minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports- cmrs/year-archive/2021/id-11911.pdf
•Council Meeting – January 24, 2022. The HRC presented their report on “100 Community Conversations on Race and the Lived Experience in Palo Alto.” 2 There was low participation from Asian Americans and Council members felt that it was a “missed opportunity” to hear from this community. It was recommended, though no formal Council action was taken, that the HRC explore the lived experience of Asian Americans, including hate crimes/hate incidences. 3
•Policy & Services Committee - February 8, 2022. During an update on the City’s Race & Equity work,4 there was a motion passed5 to “Request the Human Relations Commission research the lived experience of Asian American and Pacific Islanders and suggest related workplan items as desired.”
•HRC Hosted Meeting with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - September 21, 2022 FBI members met with representatives of the HRC and City staff to share recent hate crime statistics.
Thereafter, in the spring of 2022, an Adhoc subcommittee (subcommittee) of the HRC began work on a report on the Lived Experiences of Asian American and Pacific Islanders. In keeping with the naming of the annual heritage month celebrated each year in May, the scope of the report was changed by staff to include Native Hawaiians.
The subcommittee created and distributed a survey6 and targeted outreach was done in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community to anyone who lived, worked, worshipped, or went to school in Palo Alto. The survey was translated into Traditional and Simplified Chinese. The survey was open to the public in Spring/early Summer of 2023 and 100 responses were submitted. The subcommittee analyzed the survey results, as well as demographics collected from the American Communities Survey and they presented their initial results to the HRC on October 12, 2023,7 at which time members of the AANHPI community were also invited to share their experiences in Palo Alto. The subcommittee became aware that results of the City’s Annual Community Survey would be available in late Fall of 2023 and requested to receive the responses from the AANHPI community to 2 City Council, January 24, 2022; Agenda Item 1; SR #13841, https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=29235&repo=r-704298fc 3 City Council, January 24, 2022; Summary Minutes; Agenda Item 1, https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=30268&repo=r-704298fc 4 Policy and Services Committee, February 8, 2022; Agenda Item 1; SR #13997, https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=727&repo=r-704298fc 5 Policy and Services Committee, February 8, 2022; Summary Minutes; Agenda Item 1, https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=28197&repo=r-704298fc 6 Human Relations Commission Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI0 Lived Experience Survey; https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/5/community-services/human-relations- commission/aanhpi-survey/hrc-aanhpi-survey.pdf
7 Human Relations Commission, October 12, 2023; Agenda Item 2; Attachment 1, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/community-services/human-relations- commission/agendas/10-12-23/10-12-23-hrc-agenda.pdf
incorporate into their finding and report. The updated report was presented to the HRC on March 14, 2024.8
ANALYSIS
See Attachment A: Memo from the Human Relations Commission titled: Report from the Human Relations Commission regarding their Research on the Lived Experience of Asian American, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
The HRC will be further investigating a series of next steps in response to this report in collaboration with staff. If the Commission wishes to go forward and engage with staff on any of the next steps identified that do not already align with City programming or services, staff will need to evaluate staff capacity or identify a funding source which may include requesting additional funds.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The HRC discussed the AANHPI survey and project at the following commission meetings:
February 9, 2023, March 16, 2023, April 27, 2023, June 8, 2023, October 12, 2023 (which included a listening session of the experiences of local AANHPI individuals), and a presentation of the final report on March 14, 2024. All meetings were open to the public.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This is not a project as defined by CEQA.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Human Relations Committee Memo to Council & Slide Presentation APPROVED BY:
Kristen O'Kane
8 Human Relations Commission, March 14, 2024; Agenda Item 4; Attachment 1, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/2/community-services/human-relations- commission/agendas/3-14-24/hrc-agenda-3-14-24.pdf