PLANNING COMMISSION DISCUSSES DIVERSITY PLAN

Drew Penner, Reporter

In August 2021, Councilmember Mary Badame, who is now Vice Mayor, made a motion to put $104,000 into justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) consulting work.

It was seconded by Councilmember Matthew Hudes and approved unanimously, splitting the pot between two vendors—with American Leadership Forum given $54,000 to focus on the Town’s partnerships with local organizations and the broader community, and ReadySet getting $50,000 to examine the Town’s internal structures.

And on March 22, the Planning Commission took a first look at the result of what ALF came up with.

The report was the result of 18 “discovery sessions” with 27 people from the ranks of nonprofits, business, faith communities and education, and it didn’t mince words about the challenges involved in putting the plan into place.

“The work of grappling with race and systemic inequities is hard and not quickly resolved,” it states. “It requires courageous and brave leadership, often in the face of strong opposition.”

After all, when the money was approved for the work plan, three community members spoke in opposition.

That reticence was in plain view at Planning Commission as Ronald

Meyer, in his blue National Rifle Association shirt, took to the microphone to express his bewilderment at why Los Gatos is devoting resources to tackling “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” issues.

“What is DEI going to do for the citizens of Los Gatos? The whole assumption and presumption is that we have a problem,” he said. “What is the problem? And quantify and qualify it for us. Because I see a lot of aspirational, utopian socialist ideas in this plan.”

He said he worries that the staff time going into this initiative will take away from “rightful services” being delivered to Los Gatos residents.

Later in the meeting, Commissioner Kathryn Janoff admitted finding metrics to monitor the progress of diversity work can be hard, but she said it’s not impossible.

For example, the Town can develop surveys, and the Chamber of Commerce can solicit perspectives from business owners, she said.

“There’s a lot of data that you can gather,” she said. “Whether or not it’s ‘success’ is another question. But you’ve gotta have measurements in place—not necessarily to measure success, but…are we moving the needle in the direction that we want to go.”

Commissioner Melanie Hanssen said, since she’s not a member of a marginalized group, she understands that it can be difficult to define what it means to feel “welcome” in Los Gatos.

“I don’t know what it feels like to not be welcome,” she said. “And so, for me, I know that we need to have safe spaces for people, for visitors, and for the workers that are here...I would hope that if we do go the route of having a Unity Commission, that that would be the first task that they would take on.”

The report urges the formation of a facilitated, community working group to build relationships and develop a “deeper understanding of JEDI concepts,” a plan it notes is already moving forward.

And it recommends using art and outreach to create “safe spaces for learning and expression.”

AFL is also pushing the Town to expand access to records and information to improve transparency, and it encourages the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department to strengthen its relationship with Santa Clara County’s Behavioral Health department.

Janoff said the diversity challenge isn’t directly visible to her, either.

“But I know it’s there,” she said. “I’m white, I don’t get told to leave town. Just because I don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. I know personally from my own family’s experience that my family members who aren’t white don’t feel comfortable in Los Gatos.