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The Livermore City Council is set to receive the final report and recommendations from the city’s Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee and citizen working group on Monday evening.
Vice Mayor Trish Munro and Councilmember Bob Carling co-chaired the subcommittee for phase two, which kicked off in February. The concluding Equity and Inclusion working group meeting was held on June 15 and the subcommittee’s official sunset date was June 21.
During this second and last phase of the subcommittee, each subgroup of the citizen working group — composed of residents, working under the council subcommittee — was tasked with developing a culminating project. The council will receive an update on the status and progress of those various projects.
The goal for Subgroup A: Community Culture and Representations was to provide information to the subcommittee on ways to broaden community participation in city government, ensuring outreach, recruitment and appointments are inclusive of the whole community and to provide information to the subcommittee on ways to make the city’s communication, media and messaging welcoming, inclusive and representative of the entire community, according to the staff agenda report.
Subgroup B: Policing and Human Services completed part of its project in phase one, which was a thorough review of the Livermore Police Department’s use-of-force policies. In phase two, the group analyzed Livermore PD stop-and-arrest data with the help of a consultant and data expert. The group also worked to identify ways to integrate mental health clinicians with the police department to assist officers in the field on mental health crisis calls.
Subgroup C: Reaching and Inspiring Younger Generations invited a panel of youth to attend a meeting in May where they discussed their experiences with equity and inclusion in the community in an effort to provide insight to the subcommittee about how to better engage youth and make them feel welcome and represented.
Subgroup D: Housing, Workplace, Economic and Transportation Environments held a series of workshops on various affordable housing-related topics to gain a baseline understanding so the group could identify ways to engage the broader community about the complexities and opportunities for affordable housing in Livermore.
The information and suggestions gathered from the working group meetings and projects were refined by the subcommittee and compiled into a list of 10 recommendations for the City Council to consider, which can be implemented based on current staff resources and funding, according to the staff report.
The recommendations are listed as follows:
1. Key 2 City: Expand community awareness of the inner workings of local government and ways to provide stepping stones to leadership opportunities. Expand outreach and advertisement of participation and volunteer opportunities in furtherance of the above.
2. Youth Key 2 City: Create and conduct a Key 2 City specifically for youth.
3. Collaborate with Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (LVJUSD) and Livermore Area Recreation and Park District (LARPD) to create/implement complementary programming for youth.
4. Collaborate with the Livermore Valley Chamber of Commerce, Las Positas Community College and other business organizations on youth training/career opportunities.
5. Recruitment for advisory bodies, employment and other volunteer opportunities: Expand outreach and advertising efforts to reach all segments of the community.
6. Collaborate with LVJUSD, LARPD, Livermore Downtown Inc., Chamber of Commerce and other community partners on a calendar of cultural events.
7. Housing: Expand outreach to communities most affected by housing issues. Share information on housing-related matters with the community.
8. Police Department Stop Data Project: Invite Subgroup B to hear updates and provide input on the stop data project at milestones.
9. Police Department Mental Health Clinician Ride-Along Pilot Program: Explore ways to deploy police department resources most efficiently and effectively in response to mental health related calls for service.
10. Chief’s Advisory Group: Increase police chief and police department awareness of community policing-related matters.
According to the staff report, implementation strategies have been developed for each item. The subcommittee is recommending that staff move forward with the work programs and provide progress updates to the City Council this October and in April of next year, during the same meetings where staff is set to report on the progress of the city goals and priorities.
The virtual City Council meeting is set for Monday (July 26) at 7 p.m. More information and access links to join the meeting are available here.
