“Woke” City Balks at Racial Justice
PRESS RELEASE
Future of Racial Equity in Jeopardy
Mill Valley Leadership Threatens to Silence BIPOC Voices
Background—Reputed to be a liberal bastion, Mill Valley is the Bay Area's eighth most segregated city in the State's most racially inequitable County, Marin. On June 1, one week after the murder of George Floyd, the Mill Valley Mayor proclaimed that Black Lives Matter was an issue "not of immediate local importance."
Amid the protests that the statement provoked, the City Council formally resolved to work "to eliminat[e] racial disparities, both inside government and in the community." Its first step was to appoint a Task Force on Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI Task Force), comprised of 22 local community members, half of them Black, to research, investigate and recommend "best practices" to Council for next steps.
The Task Force presented its 97-page Report & Recommendations to the City Council on December 7. The Report is centered around two foundational recommendations designed to provide the mechanisms for systemic change that would center racial equity in all City actions and decisions: (1) an expert-facilitated Racial Equity Plan; and (2) a DEI Commission with BIPOC representation to fill the City's void of dedicated DEI staff and leadership.
Edging Out BIPOC Voices—Since the Task Force presented its report, City leaders have continually held up the Task Force (the only BIPOC voices in the process) as evidence of their asserted commitment to racial equity. At the same time, however, the City has ignored and refused to agendize or discuss these two foundational recommendations, and has never consulted with the Task Force on these, or any other DEI measures.
When an article appeared in the Marin IJ commenting on the City’s apparent “foot-dragging” the City’s DEI Working Group, headed by the Mayor, convened at a private Zoom meeting with seven members of the Task Force leadership. There, on January 20, the Task Force members were warned at length by the City Manager and an attorney brought in for the purpose about the civil and criminal liability Task Force members would face if the Task Force continued to meet or communicate as a group to advocate for racial justice. According to the Working Group and its attorney, until the Task Force was formally released from service by the City Council, any future group communication by the Task Force would only be permitted at a public meeting arranged by the City in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Brown Act. The strictures were said to apply to email, social media, and all other modes of communication, including appearances at public open time at City Council meetings, and to prohibit the group from discussing the events of the January 20 meeting with other Task Force members.
The Task Force, whose member include three attorneys, explained at the meeting and in a subsequent letter that the Brown Act, which is designed to ensure transparency in government, contained no such prohibitions, noting: First, as an ad hoc advisory group that included no representatives from City government, the Task Force was expressly exempt from the terms of the Brown Act, even during our service to the City (Cal Gov. Code Sec. 54952(b); and second, the Task Force was formed for a limited time and purpose that ended with the presentation of its Report & Recommendations on December 7—six weeks before the Working Group decided to deliver its legal admonitions.
Staff Says Expert and BIPOC Assistance Unnecessary--The City Manager, who serves under the Mayor on the DEI Working Group, has just issued his official Staff Report on the Task Force recommendations which advises the City Council to reject the Task Force's two foundational recommendations (and most of the other more targeted ones). The Staff Report takes the position that racial equity will be served more effectively and efficiently by a "staff-driven" approach without expert or BIPOC intervention: “A thoughtful, appropriately scaled organizational process, driven by staff, with the involvement of elected and appointed City officials and community partners, will lead to a comprehensive, more transformational change.” Staff Report, p. 13.
Decision Time--The City Council will consider the Staff Report and address the Task Force's two foundational recommendations at its February 18, Zoom meeting.
Here is a Link to the Meeting.
Supporting Materials
City Council 2-18-21 Agenda and Staff Report (Item 5)
Task Force Letter to City Council Responding to Staff Report (Attached)
Task Force Report & Recommendations
Task Force Video Presentation
Task Force Membership, (Attached)
Task Force Flier, (Attached)
Thank you!
We are happy to provide additional information, interviews, etc. Please feel free to reach out to us at this email address: millvalleydei@gmail.com