1 June 7, 2022
Mayor & City Council
City of San José
200 East Santa Clara Street, 18th Floor
San José, CA 95113
Sent via electronic mail
Re: Item 3.5, REAL coalition member support for Charter Commission Equity Proposals
Dear Mayor Liccardo and City Council:
This letter was prepared by the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits, in consultation with the Race Equity Action Leadership (REAL) coalition.
REAL Coalition
The REAL community of nonprofit leaders and allies has been meeting since June 2020 to use our positional power to advocate for a more racially -just and equitable society; to establish a peer network of leaders committed to fighting white supremacy and systemic racism in ourselves and our institutions; and to hold each other accountable to the promises we made in the Nonprofit Racial Equity Pledge. The REAL coalition is broadly representative of the nonprofit community including human and community services, behavioral health and health, arts and culture, domestic violence, older adults, food distribution, education, environmental, farming, legal, disability rights, LGTBQ rights, ethnic, immigrant rights, housing and homelessness, criminal justice reform, urban planning, and intermediary organizations, and others. Over 125 organizations have participated in the REAL coalition.
Please consider this letter signed by 42 nonprofit and ally members of the REAL coalition in your deliberations regarding the equity proposals from the San José Charter Commission. We ask Council to vote yes to place on the November 2022 ballot a charter amendment that would:
• Require that the City have a commission to govern ethics and municipal elections and campaigns;
2 • Allow San José residents who are not qualified electors and/or U.S. citizens to serve on the City’s Planning Commission, Civil Service Commission, and Salary Setting Commission;
• Update Charter language to be gender neutral; and
• Require the City Council to adopt a statement of values around social equity, as well as creating standards and assessment processes for equity, with the language proposed by Councilmembers Ji menez, Cohen, and Foley.
These Charter amendments will add to the emerging culture of racial equity within the City of San José and ensure that the entire community understands the equity values that our City holds.
Best regards,
Kyra Kazantzis
Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits
Vaughn Villaverde
AACI
Almaz Negash
African Diaspora Network
Maritza Maldonado
Amigos de Guadalupe Center for
Justice and Empowerment
Richard Konda
Asian Law Alliance
Sparky Harlan
Bill Wilson Center
Carmen Brammer
Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet
Gregory Kepferle
Catholic Charities of Santa Clara
County
Pete Settelmayer
Downtown College Prep
Shawn Gerth
EduCare Silicon Valley
Gisela Bushey
Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen
3 Reymundo Espinoza
Gardner Health Services
Veronica Goei
Grail Family Services
Susan Frazer
Jewish Family Services of Silicon
Valley
Mayra Pelagio
Latinos United for a New America
(LUNA)
Quency Phillips
Lighthouse Building Back Better
Gloria Baxter
Lighthouse of Hope Counseling
Center
Anjee Helstrup-Alvarez
MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y
Cultura Latino Americana
Walter Wilson
Minority Business Consortium
David Mineta
Momentum for Health
Ellina Yin
Only in San José
Eva M. Terrazas
Pacific Clinics
Heather Cleary
Peninsula Family Services
Lauren Babb
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Nathan Svoboda
Project MORE
Carole Conn
Project Sentinel
Kathy Cordova
Recovery Cafe San José
Poncho Guevara
Sacred Heart Community Service
Dorsey Moore
San José Conservation Corps &
Charter School
Brendan Rawson
San José Jazz
Carlos Rosario
Santa Clara County Black Lawyers
Association
4 William Armaline
SJSU Human Rights Institute (HRI)
Victor Vasquez
SOMOS Mayfair
Marie Bernard
Sunnyvale Community Services
Regina Celestin Williams
SV@Home
Yvonne Maxwell
Ujima Adult and Family Services
Cayce Hill
Veggielution
Kylie Clark
West Valley Community Services
Jeffrey Buchanan
Working Partnerships USA
Adriana Caldera Boroffice
YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley