Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I like to call our racial equity committee to order at 11 a.m.

Madam Clerk, would you call roll to establish quorum?

Yes. Thank you, Chair. Vice Mayor Telemontes.

Councilmember Guerra is running late but will be here shortly.

Councilmember Jennings?

Here.

And Chair Vang?

Here.

Vice Mayor Talamontis, would you help lead us in the land acknowledgement?

And Coach Jennings, could you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Please rise with an opening of challenge and honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands.

To the original people of this land, the Nisenan people, the Southern Maidu, Valley and Plains Miwok,

Patwin-Wintun peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe.

May we acknowledge and honor Native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather together today in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's Indigenous peoples' history, contributions, and lives. Thank you.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice.

for all someday. Thank you so much. Happy Tuesday everyone and welcome to our first

racial equity committee meeting of 2026. We have one item on consent. Madam Clerk do you have any

comments on this item? Thank you chair. No we do not. Is there a motion on the floor?

Second. Moved by Talamontas. Second by Jennings. Madam Clerk can you call the roll? Yes thank you.

Vice Mayor, Chair Montez? Aye. Council Member Guerra?

Council Member Jennings? Yes. Chair Vang? Yes.

Thank you. The motion passes. Thank you so much. Next, do we have any open public

comments? Yes, we do. Thank you.

Can I still

please have Lambert come up for item two?

This is items not on the agenda.

I'm sorry.

Oh no, for the minutes.

Oh, for the, oh, there is someone for the minutes.

Oh, sorry.

Is there comments for the minutes?

No, no, I have one for.

Okay, yeah, look, if there's no comments on public,

nothing on the items, we'll move to the next item.

Okay, no worries.

Okay, so we will move to discussion calendar update

on the Sacramento Center on Racial Equity,

the SCORE initiative presented by,

I guess we'll have both.

Hello, Sacramento Racial Equity Committee.

My name is Nia Moreweathers.

I'm a representative of the Sacramento Racial Equity Alliance and also a proud member of the Sacramento Kids First Coalition,

in addition to being the Racial Equity Manager Policy at Youth Forward Local Nonprofit.

So, where are we in the SCORE work plan? So, at the moment in our process and since the passage of the racial equity resolution, our focus at the Sacramento Racial Equity Alliance has shifted from building the framework to putting racial equity into practice.

and the vehicle for that is the SCORE work plan.

The idea is that we make this resolution real through concrete goals, timelines, and accountability.

And so up until this date, work that we have completed going back to the beginning of October,

on October 9th, 2025, the Racial Equity Alliance submitted the recommended changes and questions

that we had for the SCORE work plan to the city.

And by mid November 17, 2025 the Racial Equity Alliance had met with the Office of Diversity

and Equity to align on the purpose and function of the score work plan.

Going into December the Racial Equity Alliance met again with the Office of Diversity and

Equity to walk through the recommended edits and provide guidance as the Office of Diversity

and Equity moved forward with the revisions that we had.

And following that meeting ODE returned an updated version of that plan that still required

refinement.

And currently we've reviewed and updated that work plan.

We've provided additional edits to strengthen clarity, accountability and alignment with

the intent of the resolution.

And at current we plan to have a working meeting on Thursday, February 5th to revise and review

these revisions made in response to ODE's feedback and to ensure that the plan is ready

for broader engagement. We also want to emphasize that community engagement is central to this

process for us. And from the beginning, our racial equity policy work has been grounded

in community leadership and shared ownership. And we are intentionally designing this process

so community can be engaged at every step so nobody feels left out and so that our work

plan reflects real buy-in, not just compliance. And so to help support community engagement on

Tuesday, February 24th, from 10 a.m. to 1130 a.m., the Racial Equity Alliance will be convening

community leaders to review the SCORE work plan and to provide feedback before it continues to

move forward. And our goal is that by March 3rd, 2026, the city has a solid shared SCORE work plan

with those clear goals, defined action items, and a roadmap for implementation and accountability.

And that date, March 3rd, represents a transition point for us, right? So we're going to be moving

out of the planning phase and into the execution phase, which for those of us who are in the room,

I'm very excited about. It's been a long kind of buildup to this. So why all of this matters

and why it's important. The city and the community invested significant time and energy into building

this racial equity resolution, right? This did not come for free. This came at a cost of our time,

our sweat, our tears, our funding, right, to build this. And now it's the moment to operationalize

it, turning our values into action. The intention is that by the end of 2026, Sacramento is moving

at full speed on racial equity with systems, processes, and accountability structures actively

in place. And the Racial Equity Alliance will remain committed to partnering with the city to

keep this work moving forward in a transparent, inclusive, and results-driven way.

The focus is not just on having a plan, but in ensuring that the plan works, is trusted,

and delivers meaningful change for all of our marginalized community members living here in

our Sacramento community. Thank you so much, y'all. I'm happy to answer any questions and

or to hand the mic over to Ami. Thank you so much, Nia. Why don't we have Ami present,

and then we'll open it up for any questions.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Nia, and the Racial Equity Alliance.

Good morning and happy new year, all.

Ami Zenzelay-Barnes.

I serve as the Diversity and Equity Manager

of the Office of Diversity and Equity,

which is located in Human Resources.

I was glad to see a lot of alignment.

I will actually move very quickly

through this very short presentation

because it covered many of the same points

because we want to make sure

that we are sharing the work publicly and that you all as the racial equity committee

know some of the key consultations and meetings and actions that have happened.

So moving from recommendations to action, this is part of the journey to implement the

resolution that was passed in December 3rd of 2024, which is operationalizing racial equity.

And so this presentation is just really to give some brief overview of the consultation

and collaboration that continues to shape the SCORE work plan.

As mentioned, city leadership, members of the Racial Equity Alliance,

Racial Equity Committee co-facilitated nine trio spaces in 2025.

I thought that was important not only to lift up how many times,

but the prep, the deep consultation that happens prior,

Those meetings are co-facilitated by each partner to build relationship and deepen our understanding with one another as we move in this co-governance strategy.

We also, our team, really want to thank Larissa Wall, our strategic workforce equity analyst, and Armando Herrera, our equity analyst,

for preparing and meeting with the Racial Equity Alliance that we did in the fall for deeper consultation and relationship building.

Those meetings were just not an hour. They were anywhere from three to four hours where we co-facilitated shared skills building.

We talked about visions and aspirations, the dynamics that both partners face.

So it was a really great way to develop relationship, but also deeply understand the capacity and how we are moving at a human affirming pace that deeply roots in community.

And that is part of our goal with the SCORE work plan, which is to do things differently and be curious about how we can do that moving forward.

And also to meet and discuss the Racial Equity Alliance recommendations that were provided to us in October of 2025.

Interesting we also had why this work matters.

We want to address present inequities and some of the top priorities that the council,

not only the racial equity committee has identified in terms of housing and homelessness, wealth

and access to services.

We want the resolution to really become a driving force for systemic change.

And we want the work plan to be kind of our cultural roadmap of transformation.

all partners accountable.

The starting point, we developed the work plan approximately,

I think it was this time last year.

The vision is to move from compliance to commitment

and from individual intent to collective accountability.

I think that's a great way of describing co-governance

where we share in each of those endeavors.

And of course, the guiding principle,

as our careholders from the Alliance mentioned,

that equity is both a process and it is in the outcome.

The consultation journey thus far,

partnerships that are engaged,

also as a way to acknowledge and say thank you

to the Racial Equity Committee and for y'all's leadership,

District 8, Racial Equity Alliance,

the Racial Equity Committee, the community careholders,

and of course city leadership and staff

who engage in the monthly TRIO meetings

and meetings that support that work.

The how of it has been the meetings with Racial Equity Alliance and the Office of Diversity and Equity.

As I mentioned, those were multi-hour, really deep conversations on November 17th and December 12th

to also explore the recommendations received.

We also really wanted to build understanding, shared understanding around the why,

which is to ensure that the edits and the input and the score work plan is rooted in the lived experiences of community

and balanced with practical implementation, tactical and practical.

So what we heard thus far, and we're continuing to hear more from our Alliance careholders as well,

is shifting language from urgency to sustained commitment, embedding accountability and transparency.

So this is looking at the work in the city currently as equity strategies, also the community and accountability report as more integral into the process.

Also breaking down silos and centering the human experience.

So those were some things that we heard in our conversations.

What we continue to hear as well in the most recent feedback that we received over the weekend with the deep work that the Alliance did in looking further into the work plan for refinement as we continue to engage and exchange insights and questions and curiosities is aligning the timelines with capacity and resources.

We did hear that in the fall and moving into the fall of last year that the pace is something that we really do need to be mindful of, not only just for our alliance careholders, but for us as a city as well.

So reframing levels of inequities as well, and that's looking at what equities can we tackle first, what is most meaningful, but what is most realistic and what can engender a sustained commitment, knowing that developing a citywide racial equity action plan is a multi-year process.

It's not something that's going to happen overnight.

And then it's also clarifying equity and the resolution adoption and moving that forward as well.

So that's some recent great feedback that we heard from the alliance.

How we respond is we continue to question and add cultural shift to our language.

You will notice that when you see the document into the introduction and using terms like marginalization versus underrepresented,

looking at when we mean systemic change, what does that mean?

So really having a certain language discipline in our work as well.

Integrating the resolution more into the commitment in shaping the goals as a tactical strategy.

What was named in the resolution is something that we want to bring in further.

Reimagining the timeline.

The timeline has been reimagined from 2025 to 2026.

Now it's starting 2026, 2027 for that phase one.

and you will see that more as well.

And that's also to embed iterative capacity

as things change for not only us as a city in leadership,

but also for the Racial Equity Alliance.

And continuing the relationship building

and community leaders review.

So we adjusted the timeline from 2026.

This is just a brief overview.

It could also continue to shift

as we continue to have conversations.

It's still a phased strategy of the first two years

being around foundational partnership structures, equity, the draft citywide racial equity plan to get us to that to the end of 2027.

Phase two is the institutionalization piece, which is linking it to the already existing department equity plans

that the Office of Diversity and Equity is developing with our departments.

Dashboards and training. Training has to be very integral to this as well.

And then the phase three is looking at 2029 and beyond around sustainability and how this information is embedded,

not only as tools and instruments, but how it is shaped in our planning, our budget spending, all of that good stuff.

So the next steps I really want to highlight is to continue the city community consultation on the key questions and strategies.

I could see us reaching out to you all to get your feedback and see where you think things are going as well.

I think the more consultation we have in developing and finalizing the work plan,

the more ownership and the more shared understanding for us to move in a co-governance way,

but also in a sustained and in a positive relationship way.

document and integrate the feedback from the community leaders review scheduled on February 24th

2026 the office of diversity and equity will support whatever strategies for that and how we

can help and be part of that we would love to be part of that to hear and listen and learn from our

community leaders as well I think it would be a great experience so we'll definitely be working

with the alliance on that bring the city community review and reconciliation of feedback I really want

to kind of highlight here, it's gonna be really important

that as we get the feedback from the community leaders review

that we are engaging all elements of our partnership.

So that means city leadership from the city manager's office

to the racial equity committee, our office,

any other city care holders that would be important

to do that as well as the racial equity alliance as well.

So we might need to, I think we'll definitely need

to talk about what that review

and how we reconcile the feedback

to make the document be as sound

and as possible and imaginary as possible.

Present the feedback and recommendations

that will come back to the Racial Equity Committee.

We will begin and then the implementation

of the work plan which is a very exciting phase.

I do wanna highlight and it would be great

to get direction from the Racial Equity Committee

around what that February 24th to March 3rd timeline looks like

and is there enough time for that reconciliation

and that feedback and consultation.

And I think this is also a beautiful opportunity

to involve city leadership and particularly

our new city manager, Markeisha Smith as well,

for insights, right?

This is that part of it.

So it may not be enough time,

it may need to be the following one,

but that's something I would love to get feedback

and talk with the Alliance about as well.

So here's some outstanding questions

that we'll be going into as we continue this conversation

is we want to, and these were things

as we're continuing to exchange documents

and make comments, you know, understanding again

that language discipline, cross-sectional

versus intersectional for reporting,

the integration of the resolution language,

and how do we do that involving our departments as well.

Departments are gonna be, they're key care holders in this,

And so I'm really excited about springboarding the work

of the Office of Diversity and Equity into SCORE

and how we can make this one huge comprehensive plan,

work, effort that we're all moving in the same way.

Feedback on the timeline and feasibility of phase one

given the lessons learned.

Is that realistic?

It seems like a long time,

but we're already into February 2026, right?

So how do we move forward in the co-governance approach

and strategy and so there'll be more conversations

about that as well, but that's a huge question

that is before us.

Outstanding questions for city leadership.

Does support of this work require of an ordinance?

Is that necessary at the beginning?

That's something that we heard

from our Racial Equity Alliance care holders

is that they would like to see that.

I know there's a lot of direction and implications there,

so that's a huge question that all the partners need

to come around the table and decide as to where that is

and how do we gain agreement around that?

And if so, where does the racial equity study

also fit into the timeline as well?

Because that's a huge work product as well,

and we don't want to, we want to have things seamlessly work

and not take away energy from the implementation.

So balancing that is going to be really important.

The co-governance alignment,

what is the representative team that supports this work?

The work plan currently calls for an implementation team.

I think we may need to talk about that

little sooner than later as to who that looks like that supports and can be sustained given

current capacity of both the Alliance and the city and city leadership. What does that

team look like? So we're really being moving and making sure that we have seamless communication

with all partners. That's really something I think we all need to work on as well. And

how do we design meetings to sustain communication and work efforts, both internal and then also

city and with a racial equity alliance. Community relations and engagement, integrate the

recommendations from the community partnership strategy report and, of course, the community

leader review session that is happening next month. And thank you for your time and attention.

There'll be, I'm sure, some more questions, but look forward to your feedback and your thoughts,

and yeah, I look forward to the conversation.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Ami.

Should we take public comment?

Is there any public comments first?

Let's take public comments

and then I have Assistant City Manager Milstein in the queue.

So I have questions too.

Thank you, Chair.

Can I have Lambert please come forward for item two?

Hi, Mr. Lambert.

Now, the reason I came is because every time I hear about race equity at Sacramento City Hall,

it's always now this these two people just spoke. They are very sincere about what they're doing.

But there's and I'm on record as saying there's resistance to DEI at City Hall.

It's been well documented. And now that Donald Trump is in there, what you're talking about,

if it takes forever to get to wherever you want to get to, it's going to be more difficult now.

I mean, he's firing people and abolishing DEI as we speak. So I live in reality. I don't

No pipe dreams here.

And if you want something to really study,

I personally attended the new city manager's press conference.

This is what I mean by institutionalized and systemic.

And some lady gave me a piece of paper,

and it said term sheet for the new city manager.

The race committee, you should study this.

It said on the term sheet, zero cause for termination.

I've never heard of that.

Zero cause for termination.

And across the line, make sure you pay attention.

Right across the line, it said City Hall could terminate her and only have to pay her nine months salary,

which means her family would miss out on that three years that I read about.

And to me, there's people capable of organizing to do that.

This year, I hope what's happening over at the state comes to this city.

I want to see a federal audit come and find out why the city I love and was raised in is continuously in a structural deficit.

That's going to be the scandal.

Thank you for your comments.

Chair, we have no more.

Thank you, Mr. Lambert.

Lainey.

Thank you.

I just, first I want to thank the REA, the REC,

me and staff for all of their work on this.

I think the changes are really exciting,

that reflecting of, you know,

kind of new language around accountability

and action and commitment.

The only thing that, because I told me today,

and I worry from zero to worry in about five seconds,

is I just wanna be clear that we may have work to do

after the 24th, and I don't wanna preclude

the continued coordination and collaboration on that.

And so we may be back to the committee

on the third with an update,

or we may be back with a final,

because we don't know what it is yet

that we're gonna get on the 24th.

So just open to that.

I just don't wanna set any preconceived expectations

of something actually happening on the third.

So that, but I appreciate it and thank you.

And you know, just giving us grace

to continue to be flexible on that.

Thanks, thank you so much Assistant City Manager.

I do have some questions,

mainly questions for clarity,

just so that the public and my colleagues

can understand the work as well.

So if Nia and Ami can just both come up.

First, I wanna take this moment to say thank you

to the Alliance and city staff.

I mean, you have done a lot of incredible work

to get us to this moment.

And I know that, you know,

I've been chairing the racial equity committee for a while now.

We have discussed about moving at the speed of trust.

And it fills my heart knowing that there is a lot

of back and forth and deep consultation happening.

And so I think that's really important

as we continue to do this work.

And so thank you so much for modeling that.

I know that we are in the midst

of implementing the resolution,

the resolution that the community wrote.

And so that's really exciting.

And I know in the fall we had, again,

like I shared deep consultation between ODE staff,

between members of the Alliance

and also my staff as well in those trio meetings.

Just wanted to ask a question for clarity in particular.

I think I know the answer,

but I wanna make sure that my colleagues

and the public is aware.

In the resolution, it states the resolution

the community wrote states that the action plan would be presented to city council in 2026

which is what we you know held ourselves accountable to and but when I look at the

score work plan and I understand that it is a road map in terms of how we're going to do this work

the draft report says that the city-wide racial equity action plan will be presented to council

at the end of 2027 and so my question for you and just make sure that there's clarity because I do

I do think that's really important to distinguish

what is the difference between the two.

And if the racial equity action plan

will not be presented and done until 2027,

that means that the resolution we pass,

we may need to update that, right?

And so if you can provide clarity on the score work plan

and how that actually leads to the racial equity action plan,

that's important because I think there are confusion

around that and to just, I want that to be very clear.

So I don't know if you could, maybe I just stated it already, but like if you could reaffirm that because I have had a community member saying, hey, you voted for this resolution.

It says that you would bring back forth a racial equity plan in 2026.

We're in 2026 right now.

And you're telling me that we're not bringing this back until 2027.

But there's this other thing, the score work plan.

And so if you can talk a little bit about the difference, because I think that's important for us to articulate to the public and our community who will hold us accountable to the resolution that we passed that was created by the community.

Right. Absolutely. No, it's a good question.

And in fact, that was the focus of our meeting on coming together on November 17th, because I think there was confusion.

You stated it and described it very well.

It is an intended roadmap of accountability for us as partners to move and develop the citywide racial equity action plan.

The citywide, so it's the roadmap, it's the work that's doing, it's documenting also what actions, strategies, lessons learned,

but also holding us accountable around monitoring and reporting as we get to the ultimate goal called for by the resolution, the citywide racial equity action plan.

The SCORE work plan is not the citywide racial equity action plan, not at all.

It is, when you think about it, it really is about the tactical, and actually that's what I really appreciate about the recent additions from the Alliance is that there's a lot of strategy and tactics that are being named to get us to that.

So it is a document that, or a plan of work.

It's like a project management tool.

It's a roadmap that can be for the public.

It could also be used to focus our energies, be accountable in our transparency around reporting to the racial equity committee,

to the goal of the citywide racial equity action plan.

So it's going to morph.

It's going to change.

I absolutely imagine that that score work plan would look completely different in two years.

because it will have additions, it will have strategies,

it might have different partners,

it will help us understand dynamics

that we're facing as a city, that our community is facing.

So it really was meant to just help us forge our internal strategy

to get to the citywide racial equity action plan.

And if it's helpful at all, particularly for folks in our public

who are listening who are unfamiliar with how local government works I would say that when you

are when we're talking about policies or policies policy is just a collection of ideas right so when

we say racial equity policy we are talking about this generally it's the same way you want to think

about the citywide racial equity work plan right this is the larger general plan that the city

will take whereas the score work plan is a very specific contract that the ODE trio and the racial

equity alliances designing to ensure that we have success for that longer, wider and

more objective goal that we have of establishing racial equity in our city.

So if you're online right now and you're listening, that's an easier, simpler way to break it

down.

Citywide racial equity plan, big.

Score work plan, small.

Yeah.

And then I would also bring up the important aspect of the resolution.

And we talked about this a little bit, I think, during the summer when the concern was brought up around pace and timing and how long things would take and what could realistically be done.

And so I think there was different strategies that were offered around changing some of the language of the resolution so we're accountable.

and that's something that we would talk with Assistant City Manager Laney and City Attorney's Office

as to what's the best so that we have the most flexibility in that resolution as well.

But yes, that conversation did come up in the summer around we're not going to make 2026.

It's not realistic at this time, so what is the impact?

And I think that was actually brought up by the Alliance first, the language around the resolution.

But I think that strategy, once we kind of have the work plan, I think then we'll be able to make any course corrections or shape of the resolution in a way that is meaningful.

Can I make a direction and a request that when the SCORE work plan comes to the racial equity committee on March 3rd, which we don't know if it will be completed,

it but I do think that there needs to be an update on March 3rd that in parallel that we bring back

that resolution as well to have a conversation about what those potential edits may look like

I think that's really important because I want to hold mayor and council to the resolution and if

those changes needs to be made I think in parallel we could attach that and discuss the ways in which

it may need to be re-edited because I want to hold ourself accountable to that and I think that's

really important because the community worked really hard on that and so that would be my

direction is to also bring the resolution back with the work plan to make sure that that it's

in alignment because if it's not in alignment that's not good either I want to make sure I

don't know if you have I think we started this conversation as Ami had mentioned in the summer

and it we still haven't reconciled as a group is it language that just offers flexibility without

to date certain or is it a date certain to ensure accountability and I still

think we need to finish that conversation but I think we can

certainly do that and come forward with a recommendation in March. Okay that

sounds great. I would appreciate I think that would be really great. The other

piece is something that I just want to recommend moving forward for these

presentations is that I love the oral presentation but I know some folks are

visual visual learners and I also want to make a recommendation for the staff

report as well because there has been a lot of great work done and hoping that

you know in the staff report on me and Larissa that we can actually add dates

of when the trio meetings happened you know when those consultation with

Alliance happened what were the what were the items that came out of those

meetings so that we can have I know that that y'all are doing that work

internally but I think that would be really important so that members of the

committee can can see and kind of monitor because our job obviously as a

racial equity committee is to also hold this this entire community holds this

work as well but as elected we hold this work and I think it's just important so

that we could see like the trio meetings happen where were the outcomes that

came from the trio meetings or the deep consultation what were some of the main

outcomes if that can be put in the staff report I think that's really important

so that community can see that.

Or they can always just tune in

and hear the beautiful oral report.

But I think that that documentation

is really important, right?

Because there's been a lot of great work done.

And so just wanted to add that.

And I see Lainey nodding her head like she agrees too.

We could offer definitely brief descriptions.

Yeah, just highlight like what came out

from those meetings, you know,

because there's great work being done

and I wanna make sure that we document those items.

So, and it's great to hear that we're on

a pathway. I mean, I know we're moving at the speed of trust. Maybe this is the first time where

Laney and I may not agree where she's like, my, you have to give it time. And I'm like,

you know, I want to hold myself accountable to the resolution 2026. We're already here,

right. But I understand that we need the score work plan in order for us to get

to the racial equity plan. I'm hoping that that item comes back together so that we can tighten

that up because there is a sense of, I'm not going to say urgency, but I'm going to say,

I'm going to say sustained commitment.

There is a sense of sustained commitment from me as a chair of racial equity

to make sure that like we're holding ourself accountable to that work.

And I know that both of you and the Alliance and city staff has been deep consultation,

but I'm holding myself accountable to that as the chair

because I'm getting questions from the community

and I want to make sure that we are ready to respond.

So with that, I'll hand it over to Mayor Pro Temgara.

Maybe I watched too much Law and Order asked and answered, you know.

So another concern, I think the point about seeing if we could go in parallel was the question I was going to ask.

And then in terms of the community meetings and the collective work we do, I guess sometimes I, here's the kind of the common strategy that I see.

We meet internally.

We do a lot of this work.

We go back out to the community.

We do that work that we go back to internally and we go back out again.

And each one of those, there's almost like a three-week delay, you know, four-week delay.

And so when you add those, that's how we get to this point.

Now, sometimes it's important to do that so that you can help guide and make sure you do, you know, the important work.

So I wonder, you know, or maybe a recommendation as we move forward, maybe ask the question,

Is this something where we don't have to have that back and forth?

And since we've been working a lot, I mean, I think the TRIO committee and the alliance have done a lot on this already.

So just to avoid that and be conscious of that, because sometimes we do do that.

I know just staff-wise sometimes you don't want to go out unless you have the answers ready,

because then it could create confusion and ambiguity.

I understand that.

But I think we've gotten to that point to say that I'm excited we're getting to the action phase.

So if we could just take that into consideration, that would be my...

Are you saying less community input?

No, more community input, but less of the siloing, you know, less back and forth, you know.

So that's, you know, because I'm guilty of it too in my office.

I'm like, we have this meeting and then we go to the community and then we come back and it's back and forth.

And sometimes it's like, can't we just all meet at once?

And I think I hear what you're saying, Council Member Guerra.

I'm with you on that.

I think part of it for the alliance continues to be like, right, capacity.

I know capacity is always an issue.

It is, it is, yes.

We need bodies in the room to be able to produce this work so we can deal with some of these inefficiencies of time and scheduling that you're referring to.

And I think as we continue to build out that capability inside of our alliance, inside of ODE, inside of the rest of the city, we'll start to see some of those kind of delays heal themselves.

Yes.

Well, that's a great way of describing it.

And I was just leaning over to Leigh about that.

I was like, you know, operationally, how do we move forward?

So I appreciate that.

Well, I don't know if there's a motion needed because this is kind of a report back.

but I just wanted to just say thanks for everyone where we started and where we

are moving into action it's exciting you know it obviously to that point we had

set some timelines and I think trying to figure out how can we adjust to those

is important so just to say thank you for where we are to where we are today

and more to do. Council Member Jennings. I just want to also thank you for the

work that you've done. It's an incredible amount of work. There are many times that, for me,

I'm sitting up here listening to all the work that you're doing, and I'm trying to follow it,

and I'm trying to keep up with it, and I feel like I'm chasing to keep up with where you are.

And so I listened today to a lot of what was said, March 3rd dates, February dates,

all those kind of things.

If there's some way that we can have a work plan that is obvious for the public to see with these dates in it,

and it may exist and I just don't know it,

but if there's some way that we can have that so that the public can follow along with us

as we're trying to make these dates that we have committed to,

even if we need to change them, we change them,

but they at least know where the timeline is so they can follow along with us.

And so does that exist already?

I don't know if that necessarily exists already.

I imagine that for the racial equity Alliance over the next couple of weeks,

as we are approaching February 24th,

we'll begin doing our outreach and engagement.

As you are aware,

the racial equity Alliance has several city and community partner organizations

who we work with and who we will be outreaching to in order to get access to the

community leaders who we need to be at that meeting.

And I imagine that in the process of that outreach and engagement,

we'll send out a list with these timelines on it.

So our community members will be aware of how we are moving and what the

expectation will be in terms of process in the work.

That's what I can tell you right now as one individual.

Can I make, can I, sorry, coach, is it okay?

Is it possible on me that even this can be posted up on the website?

because I know that we have a site with you know the work that we're doing around this

yeah absolutely you mean the score score work that's on the ODE page yeah saying hey like like

a section on REA and here's the work that they're like you know these are some of the dates that are

coming up the website for the racial equity alliance exists there the resolution yeah and

And what I would add to also build upon Nia's answer to Councilmember Jennings is that that's

what I'm hoping the work plan is for is exactly that.

Is that we're putting in our strategies, we're putting in, you know, dates, we're putting

in key meetings, schedule of the trio meetings, that that work plan, once we get to that finalized,

that becomes kind of that public document and reporting document that where we can start

to not react but we can start to forecast okay yeah and I think that's what I felt when you and

when you ask that question it's exactly what I you want to start we want to start forecasting

that to me is one of the unintended consequences of the work plan right is that we start looking at

quarters we start looking at years we don't look at what's two weeks from now right or deciding

something it's it's like okay and we're doing that in consultation with part the

partnership that makes up this equitable table this co-governance model so that

meeting and we can also include them in the staff report as well so I definitely

heard that recommendation as well a little bit more precision a little bit

more narrative around the staff report so then you would see that as well being a

council member and then that would also be for the public's consumption as well

the key dates and actions and activities, needs,

and other resources and documents.

So I could see the website, I could see the score,

excuse me, I could see the staff report,

and in addition to the work plan,

once this finalized as well,

is becoming that central place for that information to flow.

Because that is what we want to do.

We want to start forecasting,

so when we are reaching out to care holders,

we're all actually saying the same,

providing the same information and in the same manner,

and then tweaking it for their own unique needs as needed.

And it allows us to move at the speed of trust.

And that's what we've been talking about.

So those meetings that I mentioned in my visual slide there

about what is that looking like,

I think that's huge.

That's part of the question.

That's like the question that the Racial Equity Alliance

and ODE is wrestling with.

And we do, I think we're gonna need

our other city leadership partners.

We're gonna, it would be great to make sure

that we have council representation

and city manager representation

and because that's the partnership.

And so while we're moving, I have, you know,

just we were talking about how city leadership is organized.

I have a reporting line that I am to ensure

that I consult with before I bring anything publicly.

And that's very real

and I think that's real for any city staff person.

So how do we build that in to make sure

that that leadership is aware

that their input is given in that process,

but in a way that doesn't burn people out?

Yeah, and that's what I was gonna come back to again

and say Council Member Jennings,

unfortunately I have a similar answer

that I gave Council Member Guerra.

As we continue to kind of struggle with the capacity, right,

I know that Ami mentioned burnout.

Burnout is very real for our Alliance members

who are constantly kind of chasing this work.

And so as we continue to kind of build both our physical and financial capacity inside of the alliance to be able to output, engage, and produce these types of documents that will have this update information that individuals need, I think we will continue to kind of see improvement there.

I think right now we are struggling with those two questions at the same time, which sometimes prevents me and maybe perhaps others feel this way from receiving and getting to that success that we want to see more quickly.

So I heard February 5th plan meeting, February 24th meet with community leaders, March 3rd next meeting.

That's what I heard.

And so now I guess I have to ask you the last question is,

do you feel you have the capacity to be able to make all those meetings happen?

We are planning and we're moving with it right now.

I'm just saying, I want to know, do we have the capacity to make all that happen?

The February 24th meeting? Absolutely.

But going back to that March 3rd meeting, we might need to reschedule that out.

We might not be able to have the work plan completed by then.

But we will definitely have an update.

Absolutely.

As to how the February 24th met.

and we might have to plant the seeds

for the next racial equity committee

because you all are probably going to need

to look at that work plan as well.

Yes.

Right, and deliberate and discuss

and it might need to be at the next racial equity committee.

Just again, that forecasting.

But I believe the capacity is there as well.

Yeah, the capacity for that February.

Because we've also built with those conversations in the fall,

I think we're really helpful.

Yeah, the March 3rd racial equity committee

is absolutely happening.

If the work plan is not done

based on the feedback from the leaders.

That's okay.

Bring it back anyways,

because I do think that we need to

have an in-depth conversation about how it went

and provide any additional-

And the resolution piece.

And the resolution as well.

Bring the resolution back with the draft work plan,

because I want to make sure

we hold ourselves accountable to that.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Jennings.

I see Garrett-

I already went.

Oh, you already went?

Okay, great.

Any other comments?

Okay.

I think this is it.

It looks like there is still a lot of work ahead

and looking forward to the March 3rd.

I would also recommend to my colleagues

that we do have TRIO meetings.

In those meetings is my staff, city staff, Laney,

and also the Alliance.

So I would encourage my colleagues,

if they, I would encourage my colleagues,

if they have the capacity in their office,

to send a staff from their office

to be part of that space as well,

to kind of hear what's happening, how they can support.

So just wanted to make that ask to my colleagues as well.

That way you can, your staff will have a deeper

kind of understanding what's happening with the trio space.

Because I know Susan and Alex have been in that space.

Mayor of staff, I want to acknowledge Mayor of staff,

Cheryl that's here today too,

representing the mayor's office, they've been in that space.

But I think the more staff from our offices are,

you know, engaged, it also really helps

with the direction as well.

So just wanted to make that ask to my colleagues.

Okay, I think that's it.

Thank you so much.

All right, thank you.

Okay. Next item on the agenda is a chair, a vice chair. Do you have anyone in the queue?

Okay. I'll go with Council Member Jennings and then Council Member Guerra.

So I have been the vice chair for the last year, correct?

and I have really enjoyed this opportunity of being your vice chair and working with you.

I love your passion in the work and what you're doing, and I'm not saying that's going to stop.

But I do want to always look to my colleagues to see who else may want to be in the leadership position.

And so with that, I'm going to throw out a name or two, and I'm just going to test to see where they are.

Let me say I'll throw out a name for now, okay?

But I want to throw out the name of pro tem Eric Guerra to be the vice chair if he is willing to look at his schedule and seeing if this is work he can fit in.

Well, vice chair, thank you.

Thank you very much, vice chair.

Well, you know, I punched up to nominate our vice mayor to be the vice chair.

And let me just say, I enjoy this work.

And, you know, I'll be here.

I'll continue to be here.

You know, it's been great to be involved from before it was a committee and when we started moving this concept.

So thank you for that recognition.

But I do believe in building, you know, also leadership and being engaged in this.

And so I think our vice mayor, you know, I want to nominate our vice mayor here to be the vice chair of the committee here.

Thank you. I was going to nominate Steve.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

I'll gladly accept and I'll be the vice chair for chair.

Thank you. Thank you so much, Vice Mayor Talamantis.

And I do, you know, in addition to,

because we're going to vote on this,

is I do, you know, encourage vice chair and my colleagues,

if they can also send their staff to the TRIO meetings.

And I say that because as we're implementing this work,

it is taking a lot from the city manager's office, ODE,

and my office.

And I think the more hands we have,

it makes the work incredibly more light

because it is a heavy lift that we're all lifting.

And so really excited about that.

And so hopefully, you know,

you can send someone to the TRIO meetings.

But with that, we have a motion on the table to have Vice Mayor Talamantes be Vice Chair.

Do I have a second?

You have a second.

All right.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Okay.

That item passes.

Congratulations.

All right.

Any, I see Council Member Guerra.

Oh, no.

That was it.

Yeah.

Okay.

Oh, and then, yeah.

Public comments.

Thank you.

Do we need to officially have the, was that for you to remain Chair or does there have

to be a chair?

No, it's appointed by the Council.

Oh, Chair's appointed by the Council.

Okay, yeah.

Thank you for item three. Can I have Lambert please come up for public comments.

Thank you.

if she sticks with what she has presented to the public.

Now, I was just listening to the exchanges here.

And first of all, I can see where President Donald Trump has affected this agenda.

This is the first time City Chairman Vang, I believe, that there's no comments not on the agenda.

See, right there is a double standard.

It should be that way.

In the November meeting that I attended, and I looked at it today, it is there.

So that should always be there.

If somebody comes here from the public at 11 o'clock in the morning, you should have the respect to at least let them speak after all of this, whatever you just did.

Because a lot of people don't come here.

I bet you as I look in this audience, most of these people are on the payroll.

And if they're not, they're on somebody's payroll.

Some people can't come here.

And the only reason I come is I'm getting it on the record because I'm on a mission as a native to find out what's going on here.

An example is to the Bay and Bay cheesecakes during the holidays, the millennials.

millennials, this is what's called action after you meet.

There's too many meetings, too many retreats.

Once you have a meeting, you have to implement it.

The millennials took us not only viral, but they took us global.

And I didn't even understand global until they showed it to me a couple of weeks ago.

And that's what's called action.

and you will best believe that my family would run me out of town if I had a structural deficit.

Thank you for your comments. We have no further public speakers.

Thank you so much. Do we have any comments from my colleagues? No comments? Okay, I just wanted

to close it up really quick. Before I adjourn this meeting, I just wanted to take a moment

because it's the new year. This is the Racial Equity Committee, and I know yesterday all of us

celebrated, all of us in the city and the nation celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King.

And as we were reflecting about his vision and reaffirming our commitment yesterday and today and hopefully 365 days a year,

I just wanted to take this moment just to hold space for residents in our community that is feeling the heaviness of what is happening across our country.

and just let everyone know that, especially in these moments,

that Dr. King's teaching was not just bound by history,

but it was actually made for this moment.

And that now more than ever,

especially we're seeing the federal administration

unleashing ice on cities,

I also know that we're doing everything we can

to hold the line and protect our residents.

And I just wanted to share this

because as we are all governing,

working together with our residents,

I really do wanna just uplift Dr. King's teaching

because now more than ever, we really have to meet the moment.

And I know that my colleagues feel the same as well.

And just wanted to reaffirm that as a chair of the racial equity committee,

that we have some tough months ahead of us, tough three years especially,

but that there is a commitment from this committee and from this mayor and council

to do everything we can to love on and protect our residents.

So just wanted to reaffirm that to folks who are listening.

and with that this meeting is adjourned.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.