Racial Equity Committee Meeting Summary - January 30, 2024
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Racial Equity Committee Meeting Summary - January 30, 2024
The Sacramento City Council's Racial Equity Committee met on January 30, 2024, from 10:04 a.m. to 12:01 p.m. Members present were Mayor Darrell Steinberg (Chair), Councilmember Mai Vang (Co-Chair), Councilmember Lisa Kaplan, and Councilmember Rick Jennings. The committee discussed progress on the multi-year SCORE initiative, mandatory DEIB/racial equity training, and received public testimony. A key outcome was a motion directing staff to develop an interim racial equity tool and a detailed work plan within 30 days, with a special meeting to be scheduled in February.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Approved the October 24, 2023, meeting minutes. Councilmember Kaplan abstained due to absence. Motion passed (Members Jennings, Vang, Mayor Steinberg yes; Kaplan abstain).
Public Comments & Testimony
- During Item 4 (training discussion) and at the end of the meeting, members of the public commented.
- Davis Lambert: Criticized the slow pace of racial equity work, called for accountability on consultant contracts, and questioned the sincerity of the city's efforts, citing low participation (62 people) in the baseline assessment out of over 5,000 city employees.
- Julius Gills: Opposed the Race Forward and DEI initiatives, stating they discriminate against white people and are divisive; argued for programs benefiting all races.
- Guy Stevenson: Agreed with Gills, called for action over talk, and asserted that media propaganda exaggerates racism.
- Ryan Masano: Interrupted proceedings with disruptive remarks and was removed after an outburst; the meeting was adjourned early at 12:01 p.m.
Discussion Items
-
Item 2 – Overview and Updates for Racial Equity Committee (Oral Report): Senior Advisor Kelly Rivas reviewed the committee's stated purpose—to align council on racial equity in policy, budget, and service delivery—and outlined short-term (ARPA rapid response tool), mid-term (workshops for council), and long-term (SCORE initiative reporting) goals. No action taken.
-
Item 3 – SCORE Initiative Update (Oral Report): Representatives from the Racial Equity Alliance, Racial Equity Council, and Race Forward presented a 120-day plan (March–June 2024) to publicly launch the initiative, host community listening sessions, and draft a racial equity resolution by fall 2024. Committee members expressed frustration with the slow pace, noting that no tangible tool was ready for the upcoming 2024-25 city budget. Councilmember Jennings stated a timeline-at-a-glance did not constitute a work plan. Mayor Steinberg and Councilmember Vang emphasized the need for an interim racial equity tool to guide budget cuts. A motion was made and passed unanimously (4-0) directing city staff and consultants to return within 30 days with a detailed work plan and a recommendation for an interim racial equity tool applied to discrete parts of the city budget, in parallel with the continuing SCORE work.
-
Item 4 – Report on Baseline Learning Assessment and Mandatory DEIB/Racial Equity Training: Diversity and Equity Manager Aimée Zenzele Barnes and Strategic Workforce Equity Analyst Larissa Wohl presented recommendations based on a 43-page assessment. They proposed a two-year training plan: Year 1 (2024) using CPS HR Consulting for 4.5 hours of foundational cultural intelligence training (virtual or in-person, closed or public) at a cost of ~$12,000; Year 2 (2025) using Race Forward for one- or two-day in-person racial equity training. Committee discussed pros and cons of closed vs. public training, noting power dynamics and transparency. Councilmember Vang suggested bringing the format decision to the full council. Councilmember Kaplan proposed adding mandatory online training via Acumen and GARE portals. Mayor Steinberg supported integrating real Sacramento scenarios. The committee directed staff to prepare a presentation for the full council to decide on public/closed format and to use existing funds (including $50,000 set aside for a virtual resource center) for training.
-
Item 5 – Sacramento Equity Explore Design (SEED) Presentation: Continued to a special meeting in February due to time constraints.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar: Approved.
- Item 3 Motion: Passed 4-0 to direct staff and consultants to produce a detailed work plan and interim racial equity tool within 30 days, with a special meeting in February to discuss.
- Item 4 Direction: Staff to bring training format (public vs. closed) to the full council for decision. Staff to proceed with CPS HR training for 2024 and Race Forward for 2025. Additional online training (Acumen, GARE) to be made mandatory for staff.
- Item 5 Continued to a future special meeting.
- Public Comment: Received—no action taken.
- Next Steps: A special Racial Equity Committee meeting is to be scheduled in February 2024 to follow up on the SCORE work plan and equity tool, and to present the SEED item.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone. The meeting of the Sacramento City Council's Racial Equity Committee will come to order. Would the clerk please call the role to establish a quorum? Councilmember Jennings. Here. Councilmember Kaplan. Councilmember Vang. Mayor Steinberg. I am here. Could we all please rise? Councilmember Vang, would you please lead us in the land acknowledgement? I've been happy to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Councilman Jennings. Go ahead. Please and your people to the original people of this land, the Nissanon people, the Southern Maya. Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe. May we acknowledge and honor the Native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather today in the act of practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento Indigenous People's History, contributions, and lives. Thank you. Would you please pledge and salute? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God in the visible liberty and justice for all. All right. Good morning to the members of the public, the city team, the city staff, and uh my colleagues, uh, council colleagues here. We have a busy agenda here, and let us begin with the consent calendar, the minutes from the last meeting. Are there any inadvertent mistakes or corrections or anything from the minutes? Is it okay if I just abstain because I'm you should abstain, yes, because you were not there, so uh it's the pressures on the rest of us. Okay. All in favor, please say aye. Aye, opposed abstain. Good. All right, let's go to the discussion calendar, and let's uh begin with um a few minutes on an overview and updates for the committee itself, what's happened since we last met. Who is presenting? Hey, thank you, Mayor. I will be presenting. Hello, racial equity committee members. My name is Kelly Fong Revis. I serve as the senior advisor, racial equity advisor to Mayor Steinberg. This is just a brief overview as we welcome our newest member to the committee, Councilmember Kaplan, um, and review for the public record. Um, the stated purpose of the racial equity committee, um, as you see on the presentation and in the staff report materials are to help align the council um in terms of advancing racial equity in our city decision making with the impacts resulting from city policy, budget, and service delivery decisions. It also provides us a space to help coordinate the various city racial equity initiatives, efforts, metrics, and best practices into a holistic citywide informed approach rather than a case-by-case approach. And finally, is intended to increase engagement, transparency, and accountability for our city's ongoing racial equity work. The stated committee goals since the committee was formed, were in the short term to provide direction for the development and use of our interim rapid response tool for ARPA expenditures. We've had updates uh for that to the racial equity committee last April and January, and anticipate we'll have another update at some point this year. Midterm goals include coordinating racial equity workshop or series of racial equity workshops for the full city council. We're making progress on that in terms of the mandatory DEIB training that was passed by council that you'll get a report on later this equity uh committee equity meeting. And then long term really is to serve as the public reporting body for our multi-year-long Sacramento Centered on Racial Equity or the SCORE initiative as we call it and work plan. And you'll be hearing more about that again at this meeting. Um these are just more details about each of those updates that I'll skip through. They're in your materials for review, and again for the public and the staff report materials, and as mentioned, uh the next discussion items three, four, and five, all touch on those midterm and long-term goals for the committee. So open to questions and comments now.
openpublica.com