From: Xania Bytof
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2025 2:54 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Cc: Mayor Kate <[email protected]>; Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>; Eli Hill <[email protected]>; Maika Llorens Gulati <[email protected]>; Maribeth Bushey <[email protected]>; Cristine Alilovich <[email protected]> Subject: Public Comment 9/15 City Council Meeting About the PAAC Dear Mayor and City Councilmembers,
I hope to bring your attention to some concerning developments in the Police Advisory and Accountability Committee (PAAC). I believe the PAAC was created with good intentions, but the Committee's structure has severely limited its ability to advise or hold the SRPD accountable in any meaningful way. The staffing, structure, and presenters for the Committee meetings seem to allow the Police Department too much control over what information is presented during meetings. Because each month's topics are usually presented by the Police Department itself, Committee meetings have become a place where the PD reports out on their own policies and data. Although this information is important for the Committee to know, the lack of outside presenters brings up questions of partiality and doesn't allow for any new analysis and expertise. Change and accountability can't happen without outside perspectives. It's important to have non-PD presenters such as when MVFREE presented RIPA data and recommendations during the May 2025 meeting.
Furthermore, the PD seems to have a lot of control over what information is passed along to the City Council. The Committee can vote on recommendations, but how these recommendations are handled is inconsistent because which of these recommendations are brought to the City Council is up to the discretion of the Staff. For example, the recommendation to purchase drones was quickly brought to the City Council; in contrast, the Committee voted to recommend adopting MVFREE's RIPA recommendations in May 2025 but it has yet to be brought to the City Council. Instead, an ad hoc committee was created to consider MVFREE's recommendations with no updates on its status.
This brings me to one of the biggest concerns: Staff and the Committee Chair seem to be making unilateral decisions outside of meeting times and without notifying other Committee members or the public. One example of this is the previously mentioned ad hoc committee to review MVFREE's RIPA recommendations; this committee was created and appointed by Staff and the Chair outside of meeting times, without a nomination process by the Committee, and without notifying the public. More recently, Staff and the Chair made the decision to cancel the September meeting this month without consulting the rest of the Committee.
The individual Committee members are committed to their roles and work hard in their positions on the PAAC. However, the structure of the Committee is hindering their efforts in many instances. I urge you to look into these concerns and work collaboratively with the PAAC and the San Rafael community to find solutions so that this Committee, which is so important for public safety and police accountability, can lead to real, meaningful change.
Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Xania Bytof
San Rafael resident