Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission

TOWN OF LOS GATOS MEETING DATE: 12/12/2024 DEIC COMMISSION AGENDA REPORT Minutes of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission Meeting October 10, 2024 The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Commission of the Town of Los Gatos conducted a regular meeting in person in the Town Council Chambers on Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. CALL MEETING TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 5:01 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Gordon Yamate, Vice Chair Diane Fisher, and Commissioners Varily Isaacs, Folake Phillips, D. Michael Kane, and Pradeep Khanal. Absent: Commissioners Carmen Lo, Aanya Singh, and Ryan Idemoto. Town Staff Present: Town Clerk Wendy Wood, Senior Management Analyst Holly Young, Economic Vitality Manager Monica Renn, and Events and Marketing Specialist Jessica Ertell. VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS Opened public comment. No one spoke. Closed public comment. CONSENT ITEMS 1. Approve the Draft Minutes of the September 12, 2024 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission Regular Meeting. Opened public comment. No one spoke. Closed public comment. 110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832 www.losgatosca.gov PAGE 2 OF 5 SUBJECT: Minutes of the DEI Commission Meeting of October 10, 2024 DATE: November 14, 2024 MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Kane to approve the consent calendar. Seconded by Commissioner Phillips. VOTE: Motion passed unanimously. COMMISSIONER/STAFF LIAISON REPORTS Chair Yamate reported that he met with Jennifer Lin from the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce to discuss the Commission’s potential restrictive covenant redaction project and attended the September 23, 2024 Democracy Tent meeting as a guest speaker with Commissioners Phillips and Kane. Commissioner Phillips reported that she also attended the Democracy Tent meeting and participated in a Santa Clara County Office of Immigration event. Commissioner Kane reported that he also attended the Democracy Tent meeting, saw the movie “Am I Racist?” and handed out business cards in the theatre. Vice Chair Fisher reported that she met with the Congregation Shir Hadash Rabbi and the West Valley Muslim Association Executive Director regarding inclusion at Town events and attended the October 7 Congregation Shir Hadash Memorial Service with Commissioners Kane and Phillips. Commissioner Isaacs had no report. Commissioner Khanal reported that he attended the KCAT Oktoberfest event in Town. The staff liaison reported that Commissioner Dornaz Memarzia, the DEI Commission’s Arts and Culture Commission member, submitted her resignation as she moved outside of the Town of Los Gatos. The Arts and Culture Commission will appoint a new member at its meeting on November 20. The staff liaison also reported that potential changes to the Commission Appointment Policy regarding attendance requirements will be considered by the Council on November 19 and that the November 5 Council meeting is cancelled as it falls on Election Day. OTHER BUSINESS 2. Debrief the Commission’s participation in the Town’s Screen on the Green event (Work Plan Item Regarding Town Events, Goal B., Item 1.a.). Opened public comment. No one spoke. PAGE 3 OF 5 SUBJECT: Minutes of the DEI Commission Meeting of October 10, 2024 DATE: November 14, 2024 Closed public comment. The Commission discussed the event and commented on observations. 3. Discuss the DEI Commission’s Participation in Los Gatos in Lights, the Town’s Annual Winter Celebration, Through Winter Messaging Displayed at the Event and Provide Direction to Staff on the Messaging and Display Options. Opened public comment. No one spoke. Closed public comment. Monice Renn, Economic Vitality Manager, presented the staff report. The commission discussed creating a subcommittee made up of Vice Chair Fisher and Commissioners Phillips and Kane to work on ideas for a DEI Commission banner at the Los Gatos in Lights winter celebration and bring the recommendation back to the commission at the next meeting. MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Kane to establish an [ad hoc] subcommittee. Seconded by Commissioner Phillips. VOTE: Motion passed unanimously. 4. Discuss a Potential Restrictive Covenant Redaction Project (Work Plan Item Regarding Developing a Community Learning Opportunity on Historic Inequities and Developing Diversity, Sensitivity, and Awareness Training Goal B, Items 3.a. and b. and Work Plan Item Regarding Annual Communications Campaign Goal D, Item 1.a). Opened public comment. No one spoke. Closed public comment. The Commission discussed the recommendations and suggested modifications. 1. MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Phillips to move the recommendations [from Attachment 2: 1) Create a Town webpage as a public service to alert and educate Los Gatos residents about racially or other discriminatory restrictive covenants in real PAGE 4 OF 5 SUBJECT: Minutes of the DEI Commission Meeting of October 10, 2024 DATE: November 14, 2024 property records and explain what residents can do about them and why they should be redacted. The webpage content would be mutually agreed to by the Town Council and the DEI Commission and would provide, among other information: (a) Steps on locating appropriate property records and determining whether a property record contains a restrictive covenant that is illegal and unenforceable; (b) A referral link to the Restrictive Covenant Modification (RCM) Program managed by the Santa Clara County Office of the County Clerk-Recorder, explaining how the County’s redaction process works; (c) A referral link to a nonprofit organization that can direct to local title companies and/or other real estate businesses requests for assistance in obtaining a title report at either a greatly reduced cost or without charge to Los Gatos property owners to determine if restrictive covenants exist on, or apply to, their properties; and (d) An email link to the Town’s DEI Commission for Los Gatos residents who have questions about the RCM Program or who would like to share information uncovered or discovered from inquiry into their recorded property deeds; and 2) Approve a Town Council proclamation in a form mutually agreeable to the Town Council and the DEI Commission, acknowledging and repudiating the use of racially or other discriminatory restrictive covenants regarding the sale, transfer or use of real property within the Town.] forward to the Town Council with a change to work with NUMU as the third-party collaborator, the idea of a six-month pilot project, and a modification to the language to include Commission input. Seconded by Commissioner Kane. VOTE: Motion passed unanimously. 5. Discuss a Listening Campaign for Outreach to Community Partners in the Categories of (1) Education/Schools, (2) Religious Groups, (3) Businesses, and (4) Non-Profits/Service Organizations (Work Plan Item Regarding Collaboration with Community Organizations Goal C, Item 2.a. Community- and School-Based Programming). Opened public comment. No one spoke. Closed public comment. The Commission discussed modifying the proposed outreach questions listed in the staff report attachment to remove questions two and four. MOTION: Motion by Vice Chair Fisher to move forward with the questionnaire as modified and move forward with the listening campaign. Seconded by Commissioner Khanal. VOTE: Motion passed unanimously. PAGE 5 OF 5 SUBJECT: Minutes of the DEI Commission Meeting of October 10, 2024 DATE: November 14, 2024 The Commission discussed the members of the ad hoc committees for the outreach efforts. MOTION: Motion by Commissioner Kane to add Commissioner Isaacs to the Non- Profits/Service Organizations ad hoc committee. Seconded by Commissioner Khanal. VOTE: Motion passed unanimously. 6. Explore Options for a Panel Discussion Event (Work Plan Item Regarding Developing a Community Learning Opportunity on Historic Inequities and Developing Diversity, Sensitivity, and Awareness Training Goal B, Items 3.a. and b.). No one spoke. The Commission discussed pursuing option three listed in the staff report. The Commission requested that the ad hoc subcommittee made up of Commissioners Phillips, Lo, and Kane to consider the options presented in the staff report and present a recommendation to the full DEI Commission for consideration at the November 14 meeting. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 7:01 p.m. This is to certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the October 10, 2024, meeting as approved by the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission. /s/Holly Young, Senior Management Analyst