DEI Research - Cities and their Advisory Panels
City Type of Panel # of Members Details about the Board Challenges Successes Notes Redwood City
Subcommitttee - Equity
and Social Justice
Subcommittee
established 3/8/21
3 Council members
Assigned by Mayor. Serve one-
year terms. No consecutive
terms, but can serve after one-
year break
1. Scheduling meetings for busy Council
members. Now meet 4 times a year rather
than 6. 2. Ensuring new members are trained
on this issue - Briana trains
The Commisioners have proven
very helpful to guide department
staff on issues, escpecially before
going to full Council
Work with two community groups Redwood City Together: https://www.rwctogether.org/ and Community Coordinating Activities Team:
https://www.redwoodcity.org/departments/police-department/police-divisions/patrol- division/community-policing-ccat - They also have an internal committee made of staff from each department. The Police Advisory Committee - also looks at equity in police activities. Recommend asking for input from the San Mateo-Santa Clara Equity Leaders Group
Irvine DEI Ad-Hoc Committee
established 1/26/21
7 committee
members
All must either work or reside in
the city
1. The committee was set up without clear
goals. They are bored and are now getting
into City processes and operations, which is
not good. They should have written the goals
of the committee more tightly and perhaps
had a 2-year pilot program. 2. The
commission wants more than the budget
allows (events). 3. They also want DEI
training, which staff doesn't have. Need an
expert consultant or on staff
Have influenced the holding of
more diverse events
Staff liasion is assigned. Need more expertise either on staff or a consultant. HR should be involved with setting up the committee to ensure that staff are considered as it is demanding on staff. More events. More work. Keep scope and goals of committee tight - must be reasonable with resources the City has. Consider a temporary solution before committing to a permanent one. The committee members have begun to get into the City's processes, like purchasing, and don't understand public agency rules Pacific Grove
First Task Force
established 4/9/21 for
18 months but Council
decided to continue the
work
5 members - just 4
right now - Council
has not approved
the Mayor's recent
nominee
Mayor nominates and Council
approves. One opening has not
been filled. Thinks
(confidentially ) it may be
political-some in community are
concerned about the need and
the cost. The delay can also be
attritubted to staff changes.
Recruiting a new CM now
Task Force Focus. Work Plan is narrow,
Ordinance is more general. Active group in
town doesn't think a DEI task force is needed
and is critical of everything it does. Say that
having a DEI is more devisive. Consultant
hiring is being held up and they need the
support. They are complaining it is too costly -
looking at an a la carte option now
Started during COVID. Catalyst -
Feast of Laterns - an annual event
that needed restructuring due to
cultural appropriation (Chinese).
They were able to make the needed
changes. The task force provides
education and has the support of
most community members
One Council member really wanted to explore DEI. The first Task Force developed a Work Plan that prompted Council to make it permanent. Need help now with consulting and creating a website
Brisbane
Inclusion, Diversity,
Equity & Accountability
(IDEA) Committee
established 9/23/21
5-7 committee
members
Appointed by City Council and
serve for staggered terms of 1
or 2 years and can be appointed
again without interview.
Unlimited terms. Members
must work or live in the city
1. How to balance event planning and
execution among staff. Want to focus on
community-led events to help staff. 2. Lack
of policies. 3. Want IDEA involved in various
outside groups and tasks. 4. Not much data
yet. 5. Budgeting an issue
1. Increased multi-cultural events,
2. developed administrative
procedures, 3. created a diversity
calendar, 4. estalished flag
procedures, 5. support community-
led cultural events
Arose from Black Lives Matter movement. Still very new & a budget is needed. Need enthusiastic members to do the work, but is rewarding. Creating a work plan for Council approval in the next few months. Been surveying the community to see what it wants.
Temecula
Race, Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion (RDEI)
Commission established
8/25/20
7 commissioners
Commisioners for all
commissions are recruited
annually. Serve for 3 years,
Council appoints.
1. Input from the community should have
been obtained before the commission was
formed, and not just from the Council. 2. The
goal of DEI should be Othering and
Belonging, not race, justice, equity and
inclusion. These concepts are more
acceptable to the community.Lanugage
matters. 3. Race is a controversial terms and
shouldn't be in the title 4. The
commissioners must understand their role -
advise Council and connect with community -
don't have an agenda. 5. If there is a staff
person supporting either a commission or
the policy itself, they need help.
1. Culture Fest event. 2. DEI lens on
housing, art, parks, and
homeownership for younger
community members.
This City's commission has been questioned by the community. It was established during volitile times - a better approach is slow, thoughtful and suited for your community, not some other community. Whoever is on staff needs to either have a Director be the face of the City's effort. Person should have direct access to the CM for effectiveness. Position is political and an expert (she is a Certified Diversity Executive) so she can do both. If staff has few folks of color or are marginalized, don't put the burden on them to represent the community. Persson needs to be seen as authentic to be able to build trust. Demographics of the community should dictate who should be in this position. You don't need a commission for community credibility, but you do need visibility. The commissioners also absorb the burden of attending all of the various meetings, events, etc. in the community.
Create space to let fear go and show vulnerability as you work with staff and the community. Small victories. This position is hard, many DEI's get burned out. She got death threats so had to move out of the community. Budget. A lot of costs can be absorbed into operating budgets. If you have an event, think of requiring vendors to show how they are tied to DEI. Community of Equity Officers and League of Cities are good resources.
South San Francisco
The South San Francisco
Commission on Racial
and Social Equity - one
year initiative
Commission below a goal of this initiative's Action Plan. Goal1 hire a staff person and Goal 2 the Commission
South San Francisco
Equity and Public Safety
Commission - developed
from a recommendation
of the above
commission
7 commissioners and
an alternate
5 commissioners are appointed
by each Council member (5)
from their districts and 3 are at
large. Currently, there is one
vacancy that will be advertised.
Term is 2 years
Staff tries to keep meetings focused so they
are efficient
A good link between the community
and the City. Listen to community
and educate them
Ongoing advisory board to add perspective to staff and educate the community. The commission is 1.5 years old and growing. Meet monthly. Receive presentations on a theme.
This year's goal is community education to families with young kids and seniors. There is a lot of enthusiasm. Meet every third monday at 6 pm. Commissioners also go to public events to share information. Prepares report and recommendations on various topics for Council action.
Santa Clara
Task Force on Diversity,
Equity & Inclusion
established 9/29/2020,
on hiatus since 2022
Up to 7 members Not active Related to Police
Los Gatos
Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion Commission
established 10/3/2023
11 commissioners Getting a work plan established.
Challenges to recruit members with specific
designations like a business owner who is
also a resident
Just starting Has a small project budget, like other commissions. Town Manager is the liasion. Had a consultant help plan for the commission
Palo Alto
Human Relations
Commission established
1969
5 (was 7 but
recruitting was hard -
but having fewer
places a lot of work
on a few, so impacts
effectiveness)
Members are not Council
Members, officers, or
employees of the city. Must be
residents. Terms are for three
years and commence on May 1.
See PAMC
Sections 2.16 and 2.22
Needs more diversity on the commission
itself. Needs to do better recruiting. Should
be bigger to share the work - especially to go
out to the community. Budget is tight,
$1,200/yr., so usually find from other City
sources. They do look at internal policies and
there is some education that occurs so they
understand the laws we have to follow. Vet
candidates well to ensure they are a one
issue person or anti-government. They need
to understand the goals and scope of their
powers. Having a manual helps
Pre-COVID they did a lot of
education with the community - lots
of workshops. No large scale events
until two listening sessions. When
they are studying a topic they are
good about getting information on
the topic so they can make better
policy recommendations to the
Council (Israel/Gaza). Bring people
together to dialogue
How well it works is determined by the members. Has a wide mandate and charter - more than other commissions. They can opine on anything. Make recommendations to Council all the time on policies and other matters. Hold events based on themes. Even worked on international issues that Council didn't want to deal with. So keep them focused locally.
Several issues that the Council had that sent to the commission to look at. Looked at how to honor a diverse community. They explore new topics. Interest in serving goes up and down Mt. View
Ad-Hoc Council
Subcommittee on Race,
Equity, and Inclusion
established 6/9/2020 for
3 members
Assigned by Mayor, who was
chair, and two other Council
members
Recommended the establishment of a Public Safety Advisory Board, which was established in 2020 to act as community liasion to the PD
Mill Valley DEI Task Force
(disbanded)
20 community
members
Developed by the community
and facilitated by a hired DEI
Coordinator
Only met for 4 months and have not continue
Created a final report and
presented to City Council with 40+
recommendations
Has a well organized website where you can find past documents concerning DEI easily.
Group was formed and appointed in 2020. Hired an independent DEI Coordinator to faciliate discussions. They worked for 4 months. They were asked to conduct a DEI audit. Members of the community. Broke up in smaller groups and focused on different areas. Convened in sept 2020 and final report was provided to council by dec 2020. 2 key recommendations:
Appoint a DEI Board/Commission and the other was to hire a DEI Consultant or a Chief Equity Officier. 64 recommendations in their report. 20% of the recommendations were things they felt like the City couldn't do it. The other items they felt wre part of their scope of their work.
Sacramento Racial Equity Committee
9 members (Mayor
and all 8 City Council
members)
Meets quarterly. Reporting body
thus far. Create accountability
and center community.
Do not make decisions. The committee's
purpose it to hear how the City is doing in
terms of DEI.
Leadership buy-in with City Council
and City Management
They hired a faciliator from the organization, Race Forward, to facilitate their coalition building meetings, which is separate from the Racial Equity (RE) committee. They have a RE coalition that is for a volunteer based group as well, but they also have one that is paid (via stipend). The paid group is made up of community groups that have worked on this type of work but never as a group and have changed to learn how to work with each other and with the city.