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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-06-09 DITF Agenda TOWN OF TIBURON Tiburon Town Hall 1505 Tiburon Boulevard Tiburon, CA 94920 Tiburon Town Council Standing Committee: Diversity Inclusion Task Force June 9, 2021 5:00 p.m. TIBURON DIVERSITY INCLUSION TASK FORCE AGENDA CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) ADVISORY NOTICE On May 18, 2020, the Marin County Public Health Officer issued a legal order directing residents to shelter at home until further notice. The order limits activity, travel and business functions to only the most essential needs. Additional information is available at https://coronavirus.marinhhs.org/ Consistent with Executive Orders No. N-25-20 and No. N-29-20 from the Executive Department of the State of California, the Town Council Task Force meeting will not be physically open to the public and all members will be teleconferencing into the meeting. To maximize public safety while still maintaining transparency and public access, members of the public can access the meeting by following the meeting live at: Audio/Video Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/96563168170?pwd=QUY2Y0JNaWtkYnBvOTg5cElwOHB4dz09 Meeting ID: 965 6316 8170 Passcode: 362296 Call-in Number: 1 669 900 6833 Meeting ID: 965 6316 8170 Passcode: 362296 Instructions for providing public comment live during the meeting using Zoom are linked on the Town’s website. Members of the public may provide public comment by sending comments to the Town Clerk by email at comments@townoftiburon.org. Comments received prior to the start of the meeting will be distributed electronically to the task force and posted on the Town’s website. Comments received after the start time of the meeting, but prior to the close of public comment period for an item, will then be read into the record, with a maximum allowance of 3 minutes per individual comment, subject to the Chair’s discretion. All comments read into the record should be a maximum of 500 words, which corresponds to approximately 3 minutes of speaking time. If a comment is received after the agenda item is heard but before the close of the meeting, the comment will still be included as a part of the record of the meeting but will not be read into the record. Any member of the public who needs accommodations should email or call the Town Clerk who will use their best efforts to provide reasonable accommodations to provide as much accessibility as possible while also maintaining public safety in accordance with the Town’s procedure for resolving reasonable accommodation requests. All reasonable accommodations offered will be listed on the Town’s website at www.townoftiburon.org. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Town Council: Councilmember Fredericks (Vice Chair), Councilmember Ryan, Vice Mayor Welner, Mayor Thier (Chair) At-large Members: Noah Griffin, Anette Harris, Ruben Kalra, Karen Carrera, Leela Stake ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Persons wishing to address the task force on subjects not on the agenda may do so at this time. Please note however, that the task force is not able to undertake extended discussion or action on items not on the agenda. Matters requiring action will be referred to the appropriate Commission, Board, Committee or staff for consideration or placed on a future task force meeting agenda. Please limit your comments to three (3) minutes. DISCUSSION ITEMS DI-1. Presentation and Discussion with Police Chief Ryan Monaghan DI-2. Juneteenth Celebration and Update on Other Events DI-3. Discuss adding Diversity Element to the Town’s General Plan ADJOURNMENT GENERAL PUBLIC INFORMATION ASSISTANCE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the Town Clerk at (415) 435- 7377. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the Town to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting. AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION Copies of all agenda reports and supporting data are available for viewing and inspection at Town Hall and at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library located adjacent to Town Hall. Agendas and minutes are posted on the Town’s website, www.townoftiburon.org. Upon request, the Town will provide written agenda materials in appropriate alternative formats, or disability-related modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services, to enable individuals with disabilities to participate in public meetings. Please send a written request, including your name, mailing address, phone number and brief description of the requested materials and preferred alternative format or auxiliary aid or service at least 5 days before the meeting. Requests should be sent to the Office of the Town Clerk at the above address. PUBLIC HEARINGS Public Hearings provide the general public and interested parties an opportunity to provide testimony on these items. If you challenge any proposed action(s) in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the Public Hearing(s) described later in this agenda, or in written correspondence delivered to the Town Council at, or prior to, the Public Hearing(s). TIMING OF ITEMS ON AGENDA While the Town Council attempts to hear all items in order as stated on the agenda, it reserves the right to take items out of order. No set times are assigned to items appearing on the Town Council agenda. Diversity Inclusion Task Force June 9, 2021 Late Mail Written Comments Requests for Copies: Lea Stefani, lstefani@townoftiburon.org Dear Diversity Inclusion Task Force Members: Thank you for all your ideas at the last DITF meeting. We’re excited to see the Juneteenth event come together. Happy to roll up sleeves and do what it takes to help ensure this event is successful! We look forward to seeing the Police Chief’s presentation on bias-free policing in the upcoming DITF meeting and are encouraged that the idea of adding a DEI element to the town plan is included as an agenda item for discussion at Wednesday’s meeting. We also write to follow up on several issues raised at the last meeting and to share some additional ideas: 1) The California RIPA board report of 2021 is attached – as mentioned, this provides a great framework for a bias-free police working group, the types of questions we want to be asking about policing in Tiburon and management of police in Tiburon. 2) What if the Town were to repurpose budget/spend and hire a DEI expert in lieu of a replacement for Sgt. Ford who we assume is going to be terminated from the police force? For reference, on a per capita basis, Tiburon’s police budget/spend is around $400 annually. This is on par with LA where crime is many orders of magnitude higher (in Tiburon we average maybe seven arrests a month). The DEI expert would ensure that the Town of Tiburon is actively engaged in creating a community and environment where everyone can thrive. 3) We would love to hear from all DITF members as to what they think about holding one meeting once monthly and whether they deem that to be sufficient in order to make meaningful progress. For reference, please consider this timeline of how the last 12 months have unfolded in Tiburon. 4) Once again, we call for the creation of working groups to start making some meaningful progress. Working groups will address much needed transparency, accountability and depth of understanding around matters of police and town management. These groups would report back to the DITF. Please see the list on the next page for some of the areas that need to be reviewed with respect to bias-free policing. 5) We would like to discuss with the police chief and the Tiburon Town Council, the withholding of the independent report on the incident at Yema store last year. The report is available, the taxpayers underwrote it in the amount of $9,000. Does the DITF agree that transparency and accountability are key issues to police reform and that the report should be released? 6) Finally, we are concerned that Town Council recently rejected the idea of an Interim appointment of a Town Council member - in the name of democracy - when in fact three out of five Town Council members this year were originally Interim appointments. Does this mean that Town Council was not fairly and democratically constituted? This inconsistency is even more puzzling when the DITF, including its Town Council members, has repeatedly expressed desire to find ways to increase diversity and inclusion in the town staffing. To have an Interim appointee – one that is recommended by the DITF - would provide tangible evidence that our Town Council is committed to Diversity and Inclusion. As always, thank you for your service, time and consideration. Sincerely, Lorraine Gemigniani, Carol Korenbrach, Lynn Feinerman, Cheryl Caspi, Bronia Hill Bias-free Policing Working Group – Focus Areas Complete review of the police manual, policies and procedures To be reviewed, flagged and revised as required in order to eliminate racial bias/profiling as demonstrated in the RIPA data (through anti-bias policies, training and accountability measures). The RIPA stop data will provide measurable results. Building transparency and legitimacy Create a plan for this and provide comprehensive data across all areas to build community trust. Background checks and hiring practices How are these currently completed and by whom? How thorough are they? How often are they completed? What is the policy for socially equitable and diverse recruitment and hiring practices? Does the police recruitment and oversight process need to be revised in order to create more transparency and accountability? Training Exactly what de-escalation, implicit bias and antiracism training takes place, who is this facilitated by and how often are Tiburon police required to do this? What changes/updates need to be made to the police and MOU to address this? Bias by proxy (calling police on gardeners, etc.) How are bias-based calls currently managed by the dispatcher and responding police? What education of the public needs to take place? Budget Tiburon’s spend on police is among the highest in the nation. At ~$400 per capita we are on par with Los Angeles even though Tiburon experiences significantly less crime. More research is required on other Marin towns with an eye for the ratio of police budgets/overall town budget to see how we rank against these to determine if any changes to budget and staffing are required. Armed presence What can be done to reduce the presence and deployment of armed police officers in Tiburon? Evaluate how much of this type of enforcement is necessary in light of community needs and present recommendations for alternatives. Bias-based policing practices Full review of current practices such as plate reading software and police stops (review against RIPA data and RIPA best practices). Creation of a bias-free policing policy by the Police Chief The RIPA board report of 2021 offers a framework for this. Restorative justice What is the process for restorative justice for the police to mend relationships with community members when bias-based policing and racial profiling (which is illegal) occurs?