San Gabriel First in SGV to Commit to Do Better on Racial Equality

Councilmember Tony Ding and protesters kneeling on June 6, 2020 (Photo – Cheryl Cabot)

By a unanimous vote, the San Gabriel City Council approved a resolution in response to the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests around the world.

By Cheryl Cabot

In the preamble of Resolution #20-31, paragraph 4 states:

“WHEREAS, San Gabriel is a diverse community that stands firmly for the equal protection of all individuals under the law and the fair and equitable provision of services and enforcement of the laws, regardless of any individual’s race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin or other protected status.”

Mayor Denise Menchaca and Councilmember Jason Pu attended a recent San Gabriel protest about the death of George Floyd, police brutality and racism. After talking to the student organizers, Elizabeth Campos and Gabriel Frank-McPheter, they discussed making a statement from the City of San Gabriel.

Councilmember Jason Pu said he “felt a lot of anguish over the killings, and felt inspired to do more.”

Upon hearing that the Police Association and Police Management were developing a public statement to address the recent events, Menchaca called City Manager Mark Lazzaretto and suggested the City do the same.  By that afternoon Menchaca, Pu, Lazzaretto and Police Chief Gene Harris had begun writing a resolution. Within 72 hours, Resolution #20-31 was complete and approved by City Attorney, Keith Lemieux in time for a special City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 2, 2020.

At the City Council meeting Mayor Menchaca stated, “I placed it (the Resolution) on the Agenda because there is an urgency and timeliness in taking a stand with a clear message. Every organization is or will be taking this on and we will be one of the first cities to adopt a strong position.  It is not intended to be prescriptive but it’s broad enough to allow us to move forward with a review process.”

Menchaca added:

The Resolution is an attempt to capture the sentiments in our Community to show the Council’s commitment to peaceful protest and policy review.  There is no reason to delay it.  We labored over the language and this is what we came up.  We believe it’s a good start for a conversation that will be ongoing in the months ahead.

After the reading of public comments in support of the Resolution, and a brief discussion by the Council, there was a unanimous vote of approval.

“We wanted to show our support for the protesters and set the tone for the community,” Councilmember Pu said. “This is just the beginning. We want the community to become more engaged with each other as well as with City staff, and elected officials.”

SECTION 4 of Resolution #20-31:

The City of San Gabriel hereby commits to an ongoing process of self-refection, examination, active listening and engagement with the community to review our current policies and practices, including policies and practices within the San Gabriel Police Department, to ensure the fair, even and equal administration and enforcement of its laws, to eliminate racism and discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin or other protected status in the City of San Gabriel’s policies and practices, to hold the entire organization accountable to these standards, and to adopt reforms necessary to do so.

SECTION 5: The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and hereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.

APPROVED and PASSED this 9th day of June, 2020.

The San Gabriel Resolution #20-31 is comprehensive and is one of the first, perhaps the most comprehensive thus far, such proclamation in Los Angeles County. It is hoped it will become a blueprint for other cities.