Davis City Council Special Meeting on MAPA Recommendations - April 28, 2026
Davis City Council Special Meeting on MAPA Human Relations Commission Recommendations - April 28, 2026
The Davis City Council held a special meeting on April 28, 2026, beginning at 5:30 PM, to consider recommendations from the Human Relations Commission (HRC) regarding discrimination against Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and allied (MAPA) communities. The meeting included extensive public testimony from both supporters and opponents of the recommendations, followed by council deliberation and unanimous votes on several actions.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Dozens of community members spoke, with positions divided. Many MAPA community members and allies shared personal experiences of harassment, fear, and erasure in Davis, urging adoption of all six HRC recommendations. They argued that the recommendations were modest and necessary to address specific harms, and criticized staff proposals as a watered-down "all lives matter" approach.
- Numerous Jewish community members and representatives of groups such as Hillel, Aggies for Israel, and the Jewish Community Relations Council opposed the MAPA report, calling it flawed, anti-Semitic, and divisive. They highlighted the lack of rigorous methodology, the conflation of Zionism with racism, and the report's failure to address anti-Semitism. Some speakers called for rejection of the report and recommendations entirely.
- Several Jewish anti-Zionist speakers expressed support for the MAPA recommendations, asserting that supporting Palestinian rights is consistent with Jewish values and that Zionism should not be equated with Judaism.
Discussion Items
- Mayor Donna Neville opened by emphasizing that the council was considering the HRC recommendations themselves, not the underlying MAPA report. She clarified legal misunderstandings about free speech, equal protection, and the role of elected officials versus city staff. She expressed a desire to acknowledge the experiences of all marginalized groups without diminishing others.
- Councilmember Bapu Vaitla moved to adopt HRC recommendations 1, 2, and 4 (acknowledgment of anti-MAPA discrimination, commitment to free speech including advocacy for Palestinian justice, and training on anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Muslim bias for staff and council). He argued that these actions were basic steps that did not harm any community and reflected real pain.
- Councilmember Linda Deos proposed an additional motion to acknowledge concerns about anti-Semitism and reaffirm that both anti-Semitism and anti-MAPA harassment are unacceptable. She also supported the staff recommendation for broad-based training.
- Councilmember Gloria Partida reflected on the difficulty of balancing concerns and noted the value of hearing all voices. She expressed interest in a broader climate survey.
- Councilmember Josh Chapman supported recommendations 1 and 2 but concurred with staff on recommendations 3, 5, and 6 (relating to other jurisdictions), citing practical considerations.
Key Outcomes
- Vote 1: Motion to adopt HRC recommendations 1, 2, and 4 as originally written passed unanimously (5-0).
- Recommendation 1: Acknowledgment of anti-MAPA discrimination in Davis.
- Recommendation 2: Commitment to free speech, including speech advocating for justice for Palestine and Palestinian people.
- Recommendation 4: Commitment to anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Muslim bias training for staff and council.
- Vote 2: Motion to acknowledge concerns about anti-Semitism and reaffirm that both anti-Semitism and anti-MAPA harassment are unacceptable, and that discrimination of all forms exists, passed unanimously (5-0).
- Vote 3: Motion to adopt staff recommendation for hate-free together to partner with the city to develop broad-based cross-cultural anti-bias resources for the community passed unanimously (5-0).
The council did not adopt HRC recommendations 3, 5, and 6 (which involved requests to DJUSD and UCD) due to practical overlap with existing communications.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the April 28th special meeting of the Davis City Council. I will note for the record that my colleagues are all here in chambers, and our first order of business is to approve the agenda for this evening. Is there a motion to approve? Moved by Councilmember Dio, seconded by Councilmember Chapman. All in favor of approval of the agenda say aye. Aye. Any no's abstentions, hearing none, the agenda is approved unanimously. I want to just make a couple of opening remarks before we get started this evening. First of all, welcome. Thank you for being here and for your commitment to coming out tonight to participating in this meeting. The subject tonight is a weighty one, and I know that it may evoke very strong emotions. In advance of this meeting, many have expressed concerns regarding safety. So I want you to know that we have spent a lot of time planning for this meeting, and we'll do all we can to maintain safety. You'll notice there are several police officers here this evening. They're here to ensure that we create a safe environment and address any issues that might arise. We do have to put potentially potentially put in place protocols in case we reach capacity. We have a maximum capacity of individuals that we can accommodate safely in this room, and the fire safety rules prevail over all other rules. That said, we will make sure that everyone who wants to make public comment is able to do so, and that there is a way for everyone to observe the meeting. Depending on whether whether and when we reach capacity, we'll be asking people to line up to provide public comment. We'll be asking folks to line up outside. But that's contingent on when we reach that critical point. And I'll be getting the signal from the fire marshal at any point. Doesn't mean you have to leave the room immediately. You can to line up, you can stay here and decide you want to hop online later. That's kind of your prerogative. Individuals who may be in the handicapped chairs, you do not have to leave and stand on line when it's time, you can go out and you'll be able to move into the line in a in the beginning of the line. You won't need to stand online. So I've also heard from many folks that they're actually afraid to be here in chambers tonight and they're concerned that they're going to be shouted down or otherwise. I know, I know that we're better than this, and that we're all going to listen respectfully to one another tonight as we participate in the meeting. But in order for the meeting to go smoothly, everyone needs to follow the rules. So I'm going to run through them quickly. Many of you know them, but I'm just going to run through the basic rules. During this meeting, we ask that you listen respectfully while members of the community offer public comment. We ask that you refrain from expressions of approval or disapproval, such as applause, booing, hissing, or clapping. We need to make sure that everyone feels safe in expressing their point of view, regardless of whether others agree or disagree with it. It needs to be a safe space. The same rule of not showing overt signs of approval or disapproval applies when staff is presenting information to us or when we are deliberating here at the dais. As the presiding officer, it is my responsibility to maintain order. Members of the audience may not disrupt the meeting. If you do so, I will give you a warning, and it will be a very clear warning that you have disrupted the meeting and made it difficult for us to proceed. If we need to, and I hope it does not come to this, but if we need to do so, we will have to clear chambers. And this means that state law, well, state law expressly provides that recording a meeting by members of the public is permitted. But it's important to know that the fact that video recording is allowed doesn't mean that it can disrupt the meeting or interfere with anyone else's ability to participate meaningfully in the meeting. So if you're using your phone to record the meeting, please don't hold it in a place. Excuse me, so that it interferes with anyone else's ability to observe the meeting. Same thing holds true for signs and other things, other visuals that you may have. You can't display them so that they block others' view. And I'm just about to turn it over to staff for report. Um just two more points quickly. I want to be very clear so that everyone who's here understands what is and is not before us tonight.
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