City of Sacramento
Racial Equity Committee Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2025-01760 10/21/2025
Disabilities Advisory Commission - Recommendations for Advancing Disability Inclusion in City Equity Initiatives
File ID: 2025-01760
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Receive, comment and provide direction.
Contact: Jesse Gothan, Supervising Engineer, (916) 808-6897, [email protected], Public Works
Presenters: Stephanie Saiz, Assistant Engineer, (916) 808-6808, [email protected], Public Works; Sylvia Kramer, Disabilities Advisory Commission Chair Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail:
As part of the City’s ongoing commitment to fostering a more inclusive and equitable environment, several key recommendations from the Disabilities Advisory Commission’s (Commission) 2023 Annual Report were reaffirmed and carried forward into the 2024 annual report. These recommendations aim to ensure that individuals with disabilities-both observable and non-observable -are meaningfully included in the City’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) efforts and are outlined below.
First, the City’s mandatory DEIB training for elected officials, council staff, and appointed officers should be updated to incorporate comprehensive “Disability Awareness & Etiquette” content. This includes guidance on using respectful, non-ableist language-such as person-first and third-person terminology-and training on self-description practices to support more inclusive and accessible meetings. These updates will help foster a deeper understanding of disability inclusion and promote respectful engagement across all levels of City leadership.
Additionally, the City’s Race & Gender Equity Action Plan (2020-2025), along with future DEIB strategic plans, should be revised to explicitly include the experiences and needs of individuals with
File ID: 2025-01760 10/21/2025
disabilities. Recognizing disability as a critical dimension of identity ensures that equity initiatives are truly reflective of the full diversity within the community.
Finally, the Commission recommended that they present to the Council’s Racial Equity Committee.
As such, this presentation will focus on the intersectionality of disability with race and gender, offering insights that can inform and strengthen the City’s broader DEIB strategies. By centering the voices of those with lived experience, the City can take meaningful steps toward more inclusive policymaking and community engagement. Specific recommendations are included below.
Commission’s 2024 Recommendation 6: Carried forward from 2023. Update the City’s Mandatory Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Training for City Elected Officials, Council Staff, and Appointed officers to include “Disability Awareness & Etiquette,” and ableist person-first and third- person language, and self-description training for inclusive meetings. 2024 Recommendation 7: Carried forward from 2023. Update the City’s Race & Gender Equity Action Plan 2020-2025 and future plans addressing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to include individuals with observable and non-observable disabilities.
2024 Recommendation 8: Carried forward from 2023. Invite the Disabilities Advisory Commission to present to the Council’s Racial Equity Committee regarding the intersectionality of disability with race and gender in diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Policy Considerations: The Disabilities Advisory Commission advises on activities and programs within the City. The Commission’s 2024 annual report included a recommendation for the Commission to present to the Racial Equity Committee.
Economic Impacts: None.
Environmental Considerations: None.
Sustainability: None.
Commission/Committee Action:
The Disabilities Advisory Commission included specific recommendations to the Racial Equity Committee in their 2024 annual report. The Commission discussed this presentation content at their meeting on September 3, 2025.
Rationale for Recommendation: None.
Financial Considerations: None.
File ID: 2025-01760 10/21/2025
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.