Agenda Item #________
For Council Meeting of: July 14, 2026
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: ACCEPT
RECOMMENDATION
The City Clerk’s Office recommends that the Council, by motion, accept the Annual Report of Diversity of City Council Appointees for the 2025 reporting year and provide direction to staff regarding the format and methodology of future reports. This item has no impact on current fiscal year budget.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
City Charter Section 11, Participation and Diversity in Boards and Commissions, requires that the Council issue an annual written report regarding its appointments to boards, commissions, and committees to be discussed in public session. 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.
GOAL
This item relates to Council Goal 4: Foster a safe, healthy, and inclusive community and fulfills a legal mandate as the City Charter Section 11 requires an annual written report.
BACKGROUND/PRIOR COUNCIL REVIEW
Pursuant to City Charter Section 11, Participation and Diversity in Boards and Commissions, the City shall undertake all reasonable efforts to encourage participation by all residents and ensure that appointments reflect the diversity of Santa Rosa, including geographic and ethnic diversity. The City Charter requires the Council to issue a written report annually on its appointments to boards, commissions, and committees showing trends in diversity, including geographic and ethnic diversity.
In February 2022, the Council recommended that future reports include data on the gender and ethnicity of appointees by City Council district and by appointing authority. In August 2023, Council recommended that future reports also capture data on age ranges.
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
August 5, 2025, for the reporting year of 2024
Reports for 2011 through 2023, including the 2015 through 2017 reporting years that were not presented to the Council, are posted online at https://www.srcity.org/2572/Annual-Diversity-Report.
ANALYSIS
The Diversity Report for 2025 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, and includes a brief summary of recruitment efforts.
The data gathered for the Diversity Report is also 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 recommended action is not a "project" subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it does not have the potential to result in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. In the alternative, the recommended 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 recommended action 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 2025
Attachment 2 – Resolution to change CAB areas – RES-2024-201 Attachment 3 – Council Policy 000-06
PRESENTER(S)
Dina Manis, City Clerk
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