DEPARTMENT: Office of the City Clerk and Office of Equity
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Leticia M. Vacek (OCC) and Alex Lopez (Equity)
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
Status report on Council Consideration Request (CCR) from Councilmember Viagran - Request to Review Processes and Outreach Strategies; Assess the Diversity; and Enhance Outreach, Increase Diversity and Reduce Implicit Bias Related to Board and Commission Appointments
SUMMARY:
On January 11, 2018 Councilmember Viagran submitted a Council Consideration Request (CCR) requesting that the City Clerk and Office of Equity complete an Equity Impact Assessment of the process related to Board and Commission Appointments. This assessment would consist of reviewing all existing processes and outreach strategies utilized to recruit, appoint, and train community members to serve on the City of San Antonio Boards and Commissions; Assess the diversity of past and current council appointments by district/councilmember; and Recommend concrete steps to enhance meaningful community outreach and engagement increase diversity and representation, and reduce implicit bias.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The City’s Equity Strategy maximizes the impact of City services towards the vision of prosperity documented in the organization’s mission statement-we deliver quality City services and commit to achieve San Antonio’s vision of prosperity for our diverse, vibrant, and historic community.
The Office of the City Clerk and Equity Office are conducting an equity impact assessment to the process associated with recruitment, appointment, and training of board and commission members. The equity impact assessment is a tool used by the City consisting of a set of development, implementation, and evaluation related questions that embed equity into initiatives and service delivery. The assessment results in decisions that are accountable to our residents needs and priorities. Through this process, the City Clerk and Equity staff have started the development of long term, intermediate and short term outcomes. The next step will be to develop concrete goals for FY 2018 and FY 2019 for each of the identified outcomes. The outcomes and goals will clearly delineate roles and responsibility at every stage of the process. Finally, an implementation plan complete with strategies to reach each goal will be developed. Staff anticipates completing all elements of this equity impact assessment by July.
ISSUE:
This briefing provides a timeline for completion of Councilmember Viagran’s Council Consideration Request (CCR) requesting that the City Clerk and Office of Equity complete an Equity Impact Assessment of the process related to Board and Commission Appointments.
FISCAL IMPACT:
A fiscal impact has not been determined.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends moving this CCR forward to the Health and Equity Committee, the results of the equity impact assessment and implementation plan will be presented to this committee.