Agenda Item #16.2
For Council Meeting of: August 5, 2025
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: DINA MANIS, CITY CLERK
SUBJECT: DIVERSITY REPORT ON CITY COUNCIL BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES AGENDA ACTION: MOTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the City Clerk’s Office that the Council, by motion, accept the Annual Report of Diversity of City Council Appointees for the reporting year 2024 and provide feedback to staff on the method future reports. This item has no impact on current fiscal year budget.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report meets the criteria pursuant to City Charter Section 11, Participation and Diversity in Boards and Commissions. Section 11 requires that the Council, “issue a written report annually that will be discussed in public session regarding its appointments to boards, commissions and committees. The report shall contain, but is not limited to, the total number of appointments in a given year, the total number of applications in a given year, and relevant diversity information including geographic and ethnic diversity. Further, the report will evaluate the progress and success of increasing the diversity of appointments.” This item relates to Council Goal #4 - Foster a Safe, Healthy, and Inclusive Community as it reviews Council’s encouragement of participation by all residents in Boards and Commissions as indicated in City Charter Section 11.
BACKGROUND
Report years 2011 through 2023, including 2015 through 2017 which were not presented to Council, are posted online at https://www.srcity.org/2572/Annual-Diversity-Report.
In February of 2022, the Council recommended that future reports also include data on the gender and ethnicity of appointees by City Council district and by appointing authority. In August of 2023, Council recommended that future reports also capture data on age ranges.
Past reports have shown geographic diversity data based on the Community Advisory Board (CAB) geographic areas, and by City Council district. In December 2024, Council adopted Resolution No. RES-2024-201 (Attachment 2) to amend Council Policy 000-06 – Appointments to Boards/Commissions/Committees (Attachment 3) to align the CAB geographic areas to council member elected district boundaries. This Diversity Report for 2024 (Attachment 1) and future reports will now reflect this alignment.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
Diversity reporting was previously presented to the Council on the following dates:
July 26, 2011
September 11, 2012
June 17, 2014, for the reporting years of 2013 and 2014 February 22, 2022, for the reporting years of 2018 through 2021 August 23, 2023, for the reporting year of 2022
May 21, 2025, for the reporting year of 2023
ANALYSIS
The Diversity Report for 2024, provided in an updated format, shares statistics and trends in Council appointments showing the City’s progress towards increasing diversity on its boards, commissions, and committees. While no benchmarks or success factors were identified in Section 11 of the Charter or set by previous Councils, the Diversity Report shows applicant and appointment data and Census data where applicable for comparison, and provides brief analysis statements on the Council’s progress on diversity of appointments in the categories of gender, ethnicity, geographic, and age, in addition of providing a short analysis and summary of recruitment efforts.
The data gathered for the Diversity Report will now also be uploaded annually to the City’s Insights page so the Council and community will have the data on demand.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this action does not have a fiscal impact on the General Fund.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378, the proposed action is not a “project” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it does not have a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. In the alternative, the proposed action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the project may have a significant effect on the environment.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not applicable.
NOTIFICATION
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Diversity Report for 2024
Attachment 2 – Resolution to change CAB areas – RES-2025-201 Attachment 3 – Council Policy 000-06
PRESENTER
Dina Manis, City Clerk
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