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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 14044 City of Palo Alto COLLEAGUES MEMO March 07, 2022 Page 1 of 4 (ID # 14044) DATE: March 7, 2022 TO: City Council Members FROM: Council Member Kou, Council Member Burt SUBJECT: COLLEAGUE'S MEMO FROM VICE MAYOR KOU AND MAYOR BURT: RECOGNIZING KEY DATES TO ADVANCE RACE AND EQUITY Issue The City of Palo Alto strives to be a welcoming and inclusive community for people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. In November 2020, the Council made an important commitment to the City’s equity goals by its adoption of an Equity Mission Statement1: The City of Palo Alto is committed to creating a respectful, fair, and professional workplace and city. We will identify prejudices, eliminate inequities, welcome many perspectives, and use a collaborative approach to create an environment that works for everyone. The City's commitment to achieve equity in Palo Alto is the shared responsibility of our residents, organizations, governments, and other institutions. To help meet those goals, the City should pursue opportunities to recognize and embrace our diversity and civil rights, and oppose hate crimes. As a next step, we should formally recognize and celebrate significant multicultural dates and months to promote equality, honor diversity and oppose racism. Background Discussion Unfortunately, we are too frequently reminded that significant challenges remain in our society, and some of the recent national political environment has undermined our mission of inclusion. Federal2 studies have shown a troubling growth in hate crimes nationally in recent years with hate incidents becoming an increasing concern locally and regionally. Recognition of historic leaders and events provides an important 1 https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/City-Hall/Hot-Topics/Race-Equity 2 https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-releases-updated-2020-hate-crime-statistics March 07, 2022 Page 2 of 4 (ID # 14044) opportunity to increase community awareness and for us to acknowledge the struggles and accomplishments of groups who have been fundamental to the development of American society. Juneteenth –On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation3 declared freedom for enslaved Americans in the Confederacy and that the war for the Union must be a war for freedom, codifying the moral force to the Union cause. The Emancipation Proclamation has assumed a place among the great documents of human freedom. June 19th, 1865 has become recognized as when freedom was obtained in the last locations of the south and Juneteenth has become a symbolic date of African American freedom. Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta - On March 28, 2014, President Barack Obama used his authority to proclaim each March 31st as Cesar Chavez Day, a federal commemorative holiday.4It celebrates the birth and legacy of the civil rights and labor movement activist, Cesar Chavez, and of the fight for Latino rights. With dedication and selflessness, Cesar Chavez and his full partner, Dolores Huerta, co-founded what became the United Farm Workers, along with Larry Itliong who led the Filipino farmworker movement on behalf of Asian rights. They fought for farm workers’ rights, economic justice, and civil rights. When President Bill Clinton awarded Chavez the Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1994, he declared, “The farm workers who labored in the fields and yearned for respect and self-sufficiency pinned their hopes on this remarkable man who, with faith and discipline, soft spoken humility and amazing inner strength, led a very courageous life” We want to recognize Dolores Huerta, one of our leading civil and women’s rights activists to this day, as a full partner in the movement with Chavez. They were farm workers from childhood who “possessed a deep personal understanding of the plight of migrant workers and labored all his years to lift their lives.” Chavez’s successor, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said, “Every day in California and in other states where farm workers are organizing, Cesar Chavez lives in their hearts. Cesar lives wherever Americans’ he inspired work nonviolently for social change.”5 October 11th Christopher Columbus Day change to Indigenous Peoples’ Day 3 https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation 4 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/03/28/presidential-proclamation-cesar-chavez- day-2014 5 https://ufw.org/research/history/story-cesar-chavez/ March 07, 2022 Page 3 of 4 (ID # 14044) On October 8, 2021, President Joe Biden became the first U.S. President to formally recognize the holiday, by signing a presidential proclamation declaring October 11, 2021 to be a national holiday.6 Palo Alto and much of our region are located on the traditional lands of the indigenous Ohlone people who were subjugated and often enslaved under the Spanish government in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, followed by oppression and massacres after California statehood. Asian American Pacific Islander (Native Hawaiian) AAPI(NH) May is Asian, American, Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. AAPI Heritage commemoration was first proposed in 1977 to observe the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States (May 7, 1843), and the completion of the transcontinental railroad, constructed mainly by Chinese immigrant workers (May 10, 1869). In 1978, President Carter made it an annual week-long event and President George H.W. Bush extended the proclamation to include the entire month of May. On May 28, 2021, President Biden established the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders7(AA and NHPI). This new Initiative is charged with driving an ambitious, whole-of-government agenda to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for AA and NHPI communities. Recommendation To promote our commitment to equality, honor diversity, and oppose racism, the City of Palo Alto can formally recognize and celebrate the following dates as continuing reminders of hard-fought freedoms and to promote racial reconciliation and that all persons are created equal. • June 19th as “Juneteenth” • May 31st as “Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Day” • October 11th as “Indigenous People’s Day”8 • Proclaim May as “Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month’ This memo does not propose new City holidays at this time. Staff advises that designation of City holidays may have fiscal and regulatory effects, as described below under “Resource Impact.” In order to allow staff to develop recommendations for how best to address these issues, we recommend that Council take the following actions: 6 A Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples' Day, 2021 | The White House 7 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/05/28/fact-sheet-president-biden- establishes-the-white-house-initiative-on-asian-americans-native-hawaiians-and-pacific-islanders/ March 07, 2022 Page 4 of 4 (ID # 14044) • Direct staff to return with a Resolution recognizing Juneteenth, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Day, and Indigenous People’s Day as dates of historic significance, and May as Asian American Pacific Islander Native Hawaiian Heritage Month. • Direct staff to explore with the City’s labor groups to agree upon appropriate means of recognition for these dates. Resource Impact There is no significant resource impact for renaming an existing City holiday or through observation of a commemorative month (besides any planned events within that month). Designation by Ordinance or Resolution would be appropriate and will be prepared for subsequent Council action. While this memorandum does not recommend determination of an additional holiday, the below information is provided for Council context and consideration. City holidays are designated in the Palo Alto Municipal Code Sections 2.08.100, and a designation as a City holiday determines whether “municipal business” is to be suspended. Staff estimates that total payroll on a holiday at current compensation structure and staffing level is approximately $635,000; it would be approximately $735,000 if fully staffed in all funds (approximately 67 percent of this would be General Fund). However, the actual impact of an additional holiday is the loss of a municipal business day plus the incremental financial cost of approximately $100,000 to $120,000 for holiday-specific compensation. In addition, City holidays typically suspend some on- street parking regulations as well as permitted construction and other noise-generating activities. Staff would meet and confer with the City’s employee bargaining units to determine effects on work schedules and employee benefits.