CITY OF SEBASTOPOL
Proclamation
Proclaiming August 26, 2023 as WOMENS EQUALITY DAY, marking the 103rd anniversary of the enactment of the 19th Amendment, celebrating the achievements of women and recommitting to realizing gender equality in our City, including equal pay for equal work Whereas, on August 26, 2023, we mark the 103rd anniversary of the enactment of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution which secured the right to vote for women; and Whereas, in 1976, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors established one of the first Commissions on the Status of Women in the State of California with the purpose of promoting “equal rights and opportunities that enhance the quality of life for all women and girls” and addressing “issues of discrimination and prejudice that negatively affect women in Sonoma County”; and Whereas, women now constitute nearly 50 percent of our workforce, the majority of the students in our colleges and graduate schools, and an increasing number of primary breadwinners; and Whereas, in 2016-2020, Sonoma County women as a whole earned approximately 88% of what men earned; and
Whereas, women in Sonoma County are more likely than men to live below the federal poverty threshold. The greatest poverty rate among families is for those headed by single women caring for their own children. One in five (21%) households headed by single mothers with 1-2 minor children of their own in 2016-2020 lived on income less than the federal poverty threshold; and Whereas, even with the gains women have made, work remains to be done in many areas that directly impact equal pay for equal work including access to quality, affordable child care, affordable housing and comprehensive healthcare for women including reproductive and mental health care.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that I, Mayor Neysa Hinton, on behalf of the City Council of the City of Sebastopol, proclaim August 26, 2023 as WOMENS EQUALITY DAY, marking the 103rd anniversary of the enactment of the 19th Amendment, celebrating the achievements of women and recommitting to realizing gender equality in our City, including equal pay for equal work.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and the Great Seal of the City of Sebastopol this 1st day of August 2023.
Neysa Hinton
Mayor, City of Sebastopol