[Excerpt]

Organizers who worked for years to pass police oversight are optimistic that it will start the process of reforming one of the more violent police departments in the country.

The Vallejo Sun spoke with several members of Common Ground, a non-partisan group of religious and non-profit organizations in Solano and Napa counties, about their thoughts on the ordinance aimed at holding accountable a police department which has killed 19 people since 2010.

“When you listen to the residents, you hear people say they started this process 20 years ago,” said Renee Sykes, a member of Common Ground. “If you look at 20 years ago, and if you look at now, we now have something in writing, we have something concrete.”

....The city council is expected to officially establish the three-prong oversight approach, including outside investigations of serious police incidents, a Community Police Oversight Accountability Commission, and a police auditor.

Common Ground Optimistic about Vallejo Police Oversight Model, Vallejo Sun

Vallejo City Council Officially Passes Police Oversight Model, Times-Herald

Vallejo Police Oversight Model Expected to be Adopted Tuesday Night, Times-Herald

Vallejo City Council Votes to Introduce Police Oversight Ordinance, Times-Herald

Common Ground ‘Pleased’ With Police Oversight Draft Ordinance, but Lists Number of Omissions, Times-Herald

In San Jose and Campbell, Silicon Valley Sponsoring Committee(SVSC) held an action with 255 people after the tragic death of Jacob Villanueva, a 3rd grade student at Castlemont Elementary School.  Beginning with a mass in a San Jose neighborhood, and then a march to St. Lucy's parish in Campbell, the action culminated in an assembly inside the church to which the family belonged. 

SVSC has been organizing for over a year in the Cadillac-Winchester neighborhood to address issues of safety including street lights and basic infrastructure. In the assembly, leaders gained the commitment of current City of San Jose Vice Mayor Chappie Jones and Councilmember-Elect Rosemary Kamei to work on getting stop signs installed around the school and street lights fixed in the neighborhood.

This was the first action with officials in the City of San Jose and SVSC looks forward to an on-going working relationship.

Campbell Readies to Rally for Pedestrian Safety, Patch [pdf]

Neighbors March for Safer Streets, Campbell Union School District [video]

[Excerpt]

"When COVID-19 came to California, the California organizations of the Industrial Areas Foundation, the nation’s largest and longest-standing network of local faith and community-based organizations, immediately sprang into action. They began organizing virtual meetings at the local level — hundreds of community members gathering every week primarily to share how they were doing....

In the summer of 2021, the California IAF organized an action. Six hundred leaders from over 100 parishes and community-based institutions gathered together virtually to call on the state to extend its eviction moratorium and reform its housing relief program....

The organizing work of the California IAF around housing has revealed two truths that should be held in tension with one another. First, government must do more to address the housing crisis. Public policy and investment are necessary to make housing more affordable.

But, second, government can often be disconnected with how things are working in communities. Effective government depends on the local expertise contained by those who are seeking a decent home. Solving the housing crisis in California hinges on the involvement of our parishes continuously working to ensure that government intervention matches the local needs of our people."

[In Photo: Bishop Oscar Cantú of the Diocese of San Jose.  Photo Credit: Tyler Osburn, CNS]

The Fight for Fair Housing in California, and How the Industrial Areas Foundation Helped Residents, The Dialog [pdf]

Last Sunday, One LA-IAF leaders from Clínica Msr. Oscar A. Romero and La Placita Church worked together to enroll over 115 low-income residents into healthcare programs including My Health LA and Med-Cal. Many of these undocumented seniors will now have access to healthcare services in Los Angeles County for the first time.

My Health LA is a program that was created with the support of One LA-IAF to allow low-income and undocumented immigrants to access health services in Los Angeles County.

After two weeks of intensive mobilizing by COPA (Communities Organized for relational Power in Action), leaders secured a nine-month, $1.59M extension of the VIDA community health worker (CHW) program in Monterey County.  The 4-1 vote by the County Board of Supervisors extended the VIDA program at current levels to the end of 2022, preventing a reduction from 48 to 18 CHWs by the end of the month.

Prior to the vote, COPA leaders met with their district supervisors, telling stories about the impact of VIDA and asking that they support the extension.

At an online event drawing over 100 leaders, two County Supervisors and allies including the Community Foundation of Monterey County and the Grape Growers & Vintners Association, leaders taught attendees about the effectiveness of the program.  

Fr. Lucas, a priest from King City, shared how he narrowly avoided infecting 200 parishioners at a weekend retreat because Maricela Acevedo, one of the CHWs, and a member of his parish persuaded him to test everyone prior.  When one of the women on the kitchen crew was found to be positive, Maricela went to her house to test other family members.

Another woman, who speaks only Mixteco (an indigenous language in Mexico) got her questions about the vaccines answered only because one of the CHWs, Claudia, speaks both Mixteco and Spanish.  Claudia not only helped the woman register for a vaccination appointment, she came to the house when called weeks later to administer rapid tests and help infected family members quarantine. 

COPA first proposed the VIDA program to the Monterey County Supervisors, who voted unanimously in December of 2020 to allocate $4.9M to hire 100 CHWs.  VIDA is administered by the Community Foundation of Monterey County.

[Photo Credit: Daniel Dreifuss, Monterey Weekly]

As It Heads to the Board of Supervisors to Request Additional Funds, Here's How the VIDA Project has Impacted People's Lives, Monterey County Weekly [pdf]

Local Organizations Seek County Support to Extend VIDA Community Health Worker Program, Monterey County Weekly [pdf]

One LA brought together over 115 parish leaders from across Los Angeles County to learn to heal the worst effects of the pandemic through conversation and broad-based action.  The Most Reverend David O'Connell of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles joined One LA's Recognizing the Stranger training and addressed the leaders and encouraged them in the development of a relational culture.

The training was sponsored by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, One-LA, and Organizers Institute. 

Additional photos

Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) has for several years worked toward developing permanent housing solutions for unsheltered people.  That goal was advanced Tuesday, as the Marin County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to accept a state "Project Homekey" grant and move forward with a site in an abandoned nursing home, creating permanent supportive housing for 43 people.

Hundreds of leaders from MOC member institutions signed and shared the petition in support of the project, wrote letters to the Board, and spoke at the Board meeting both in person and over Zoom. While the project faced significant opposition, MOC demonstrated to elected officials that MOC leaders support and believe in this project. 

[In photo: Former nursing home to be converted into permanent, supportive housing. Credit: Shary LaVars, Marin Independent Journal]

Marin Voice: In Support of ‘Housing First,’ Supervisors Should Push for Larkspur Homekey Site, Marin Independent Journal [pdf]

One LA leaders from Temple Beth Am played an important role in the Los Angeles Planning Commission's decision to reject a redevelopment project that would have eliminated 12 units of affordable housing in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, a desert for subsidized housing units. The proposed plan would have resulted in the demolition of 6 commercial properties and 12 units of rent stabilized housing to construct a 7-story hotel in their place.

Temple Beth Am leaders from One LA have been working with city officials to mitigate the loss of precious affordable housing.  While not opposed to the redevelopment of the area, they expressed concerns about losing housing in a neighborhood where the local city council district office had confirmed that it did not have any housing units that could benefit from the city’s linkage fee program.

Nancy Goldstone, a leader with One LA and resident of Pico-Robertson said,

“This hotel project was going to eliminate affordable housing in an area where there is very little to none. 

As a One LA leader it was important for me and our team to organize and have conversations with city officials to let them know that this project did not serve the interests or general good of the neighborhood.”

City Planning Commission Rejects Pico-Robertson Hotel Development, Urbanize Los Angeles

After engaging over 350 Watsonville residents in conversation about public safety and the quality of interactions with police, COPA leaders presented their findings to the Watsonville City Council.  Their findings, rooted in the experiences of hundreds of people from diverse walks of life and ages, were quickly integrated into an official report by an ad hoc committee on Policing and Social Equity. 

COPA pointed out that policing and safety are not necessarily equivalent terms, and that systemic investments in mental health, youth and family programming, and budget alignments in city and police spending would go a long way towards making Watsonville safer -- particularly for youth of color.   

Prior to the pandemic, over 100 COPA-IAF leaders had convened with the Watsonville Police Department Chief and Santa Cruz County Supervisor to address identified concerns about engagements between police and community.  Soon after, the City responded with an invitation to participate in an ad-hoc committee on Policing and Social Equity.  But COPA leaders first wanted to include more residents in the discussion, and with the support of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), COPA engaged hundreds more residents in substantive conversations about direct experiences with Watsonville police and what restorative justice can look like. 

COPA's reported findings have so far been met with a positive reception by Watsonville elected officials.  Leaders plan to persist in their efforts as the City identifies a new Chief for the Watsonville Police Department.

[Photo Credits: (top) Tarmo Hannula, Good Times; (middle) courtesy of COPA]

Watsonville's Policing Committee Releases Report, Readies Recommendations,  The Pajaronian 

South County Residents' Mixed Response to Watsonville Police Department, Good Times 

Watsonville Committee Calls for more Police Accountability, Santa Cruz Local 

City of Watsonville Report, Watsonville Ad Hoc Committee on Policing and Social Equity

Report on Police Reforms Filed by Watsonville City Council, Santa Cruz Sentinel [pdf]

Wrapping Up My Term as Mayor, The Pajaronian [12/2020]

A Deep Look into the Watsonville Police Department, The Pajaronian [08/2020] 

Watsonville Police Oversight Committee in the Works, The Pajaronian [07/2020]

Watsonville, Santa Cruz to Start Police Reform Committees, Santa Cruz Local [07/2020] 

New Committees Address police Reform in Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz Local [02/2021]