Vallejo to consider Equity and Inclusion role after ‘failed’ police chief selection process

VALLEJO – The city of Vallejo will consider developing a diversity, equity and inclusion plan and creating a staff position to advance the plan’s goals after widespread community frustration with the lack of African American representation on the community selection panel for a new police chief.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, City Manager Andrew Murray said that he is considering creating the diversity, equity and inclusion position in response to criticism over the lack Black representation on the panel.

Councilmember Diosdado “JR” Matulac had selected an African American community member as the District 2 representative on the panel but, according to a statement from Murray, the panelist did not show up on the morning Sept. 6 for the eight-hour review and the city was unable to contact him. Murray said that at that point it was too late to contact an alternate and city officials later learned that the panelist had a personal emergency that prevented them from attending or notifying the city.

Murray initially wrote in a letter to community members that it would be infeasible to redo the panel out of respect for the other volunteers. 

The city of Vallejo kicked off a national search for a new police chief in June with a series of town hall events to solicit feedback from the community. The city then convened a community panel along with panels composed of police chiefs from other cities and Vallejo city officials to vet the top six applicants. “It is very unlikely that the addition of a single community panelist would have changed the outcome of the panel process,” Murray said in the letter.

But on Monday, Murray reversed course and in a statement, said that the city would conduct a second community panel that “will be composed of at least two representatives of each of the African American, Latino, Asian, and Caucasian communities recommended by the City Council."

The Vallejo Times-Herald  reported that Murray said in an email to city councilmembers that he had met with the California Department of Justice, which is overseeing a Vallejo police reform program, after the state agency received complaints from community members about Black representation on the selection panel. Department of Justice officials recommended that the city repeat the community review process. 

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, several community members expressed disappointment with Murray’s initial response to those who wrote in with concerns about Black representation in the process of selecting the police chief.

Liat Meitzenheimer, president of Fresh Air Vallejo, said that Murray’s initial response prioritized efficiency on a controversial and sensitive issue. “To say that one person wouldn't have made a difference may or may not be factual but it translated into, ‘the community panel isn’t important,’ she said. “It may not make a difference to the city, but it makes a difference to the African American community to be at the table.”

Vallejo Museum resident historian Sharon McGriff-Payne said that Murray’s initial statement reminded her of the historical conditions that African Americans faced in Vallejo. 

“There was the omission of an African American from the committee, which was classic 1960s,” McGriff-Payne said. “There was the response from the city manager, which basically, he shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘Let's move on.’” 

Murray apologized during the meeting. 

“We designed a police chief selection process that we thought followed best standards, but it didn't have enough contingencies to make sure that it was fail safe,” he said. “As a result of the failure of that process and all of the communication that I have had with community members, I've learned an awful lot about how simply following some things off of the bookshelf as standard best practices, sometimes need to be better customized. So my heartfelt apologies for having failed the community on the selection process.” 

Jasmine Salmeron, the District 6 representative on the community selection panel who initially brought the representation concerns to the attention of the city and community members, said that she had requested a meeting to discuss the issue with Murray but he declined. 

During the public comment period at Tuesday’s council meeting, Salmeron was the first to express the need for an equity, diversity and inclusion position on the city staff.  “This person should have the authority to audit all city processes, publicly report findings, advise and drive change,” she said. “Please invest in equity, we cannot afford not to.”

In the council discussion after public comment, Councilmember Mina Loera-Diaz and Mayor Robert McConnell both agreed that a diversity, equity and inclusion role could improve city processes.

“I do like the idea of an equity officer being hired,” McConnell said. “There are now many of us on council who may not think of those things because of our background, that doesn't mean we're wrong, it just means that we're not informed, but the assistance of somebody with that skill set could make a substantial impact on how we think about and go about these processes.” 

Loera-Diaz requested that staff agendize a discussion of the position as soon as possible.

McConnell added that when the council selects community members for appointment to a board or a community panel they are limited to discussing their choices with more than two other councilmembers due to the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. He said this makes it difficult for councilmembers to know if the broad makeup of a panel equitably represents the community until after the appointments are finalized.

According to Murray, the second community panel will review the three finalists selected from the six candidates by the original panels and provide a recommendation on the selection of the police chief, which he will take into account in the final decision.  

Murray asked that councilmembers each nominate as many as eight residents within the next two weeks for the second community panel. “We'll take that list of nominees and form a panel with two members, at least, of various ethnic groups,” he said. “And it will also be representative geographically, of the city and also of other demographic groups, including the LGBTQ community and others.”

The panel will have a total of ten seats including eight members from the council’s nominees and two members provided by the Vallejo chapter of the NAACP.

There was some confusion among councilmembers about the large number of residents that Murray requested they nominate. Murray did not explain how the eight panel members would be chosen from the council’s pool of nominees.

“I have difficulty finding two community members to volunteer for a day-long panel let alone eight,” Councilmember Cristina Arriola said in an interview with the Vallejo Sun. 

Salmeron said in an interview that she was disappointed that Murray could not explain the process better. “If we are talking about diversity, it’s more than just race,” she said. “And we can’t talk about including each of the ethnic groups in Vallejo and not include those that are homeless as well.”

“There are so many experts in the Bay Area that could help us curate a process that would be equitable,” Salmeron said. “We should invest in that equity.”

Vallejo residents who are interested in serving on the second police chief selection panel can reach out to the council council member representing their district or any council member. Contact information for the city’s council members is listed here.