By Michael Hernandez
VENTURA—The City Council is set tonight to adopt a racism resolution written by Deputy Mayor Sofia Rubalcava and City Councilmember Lorrie Brown that declares Ventura stands for racial justice and acknowledges Black lives do matter. The resolution declares “Racism as a public health crisis” and condemns “police brutality.”
The resolution in-part states and adopts Mayor Matt LaVere’s #8CANTWAIT Policy Recommendations for the Ventura Police Department:
“WHEREAS, the killing of Black men and women, including queer and transgender persons of color, is an unacceptable violation of the human rights due to all people; and
WHEREAS, the Black Lives matter movement, like the civil rights and other movements before it, has effectively articulated the injustice that exist at the intersections of race, class, and gender; including mass incarceration, police brutality, poverty, unaffordable housing, income disparity, homophobia, gender inequality, poor access to healthcare, and educational outcomes, demanding that action be taken to end this violence; and
WHEREAS, acts of racism, are an undeniable part of this nation’s history, continue to plague our country despite many pleas for change and has resulted in centuries of brutalization and dehumanization of Black people and people of color from slavery to Jim Crow to the criminal justice system;
WHEREAS, these are not isolated events and the list of names and number of similar tragedies is unconscionable long, we denounce racism, condemn police brutality, acknowledge implicit bias and believe that Black lives do …
(Editor’s Note: To see Agenda Item 12B go to: https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/22228/12B.)
The Ventura City Council’s meeting (starts at 6 p.m.) will also give a COVID-19 status update (Agenda Item 4A), review COVID-19 and Temporary Outdoor Business Expansion (Agenda Item 8C), and give a response to the Ventura County Grand Jury on Human Trafficking in Ventura County (Agenda Item 8I).
The City Council invites comments via email by 4 p.m. today. Please submit your comment to the City Clerk using this form:
https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/1829/City-CouncilMeeting-Electronic-Comment-
or send an email to [email protected] (up to 1000 characters). When sending an email, please indicate in the Subject Line, the Agenda item number (i.e. Item No. 12B for the racism resolution). Your form/email will be read by City Council and placed into the item’s record at the meeting.
Join a WebEx meeting LIVE: https://cityofventura.webex.com/cityofventura/onstage/g.php?MTID=e1e7e7f904a613974b786518bf9fb1f66 NOTE: WebEx link only works while meeting is LIVE. Join with only an “audio” connection: 1-408-418-9388 / Access Code 126 228 9208 or Watch live streaming or an Archived Video https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/718/Videos or Cable TV – Channel 15.
Michael Hernandez, Co-Founder of the Citizens Journal—Ventura County’s online news service; editor of the History Makers Report and founder of History Makers International—a community nonprofit serving youth and families in Ventura County, is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor. He worked 25 years as a middle school teacher in Monrovia and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. Mr. Hernandez can be contacted by email at [email protected].
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