Mayor's Note (December 2022/January 2023)

Last summer and fall, the City Council began discussing the creation of an equity committee. The idea stemmed from our vision to be an inclusive community that promotes equity, diversity, and access in creating a meaningful quality of life for everyone. We decided to convene a planning group to help vision and launch the committee. 

We received over thirty applications from community members to serve on this planning group, and  appointed fifteen. We tasked the volunteers with reviewing data about the community and City Council initiatives, deliberating over things like committee membership and responsibilities, and making a recommendation about the structure of the permanent committee. The group met between June and November of this year, culminating in a presentation to the City Council on November 28.  

I sincerely thank each of the volunteers who spent their evenings digging into this work in support of our community. Thank you, Glendora Claybrooks, Stacey Dolezal, Jennifer Eidson, Rio Espinosa, Rachel Greenough, Valerie Holt, Lusi Hong, Shannon Huggins, Mike Mata, Maria Nguyen, Sharon Noell, Bryan Ortiz, BJ Park, Shane Skinner, and Isabella Raymond.  

I must also thank City Councilors Cyndy Hillier and Christen Sacco for serving as our liaisons to the planning group and our staff assigned to provide support.