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    5.    
PUBLIC PROTECTION COMMITTEE
Meeting Date: 02/06/2023  
Subject:    Staff Update on Appointments for Racial Justice Oversight Body
Department: County Administrator  
Referral No.: n/a  
Referral Name: Referral on Racial Justice Oversight Body
Presenter: Paul Reyes, Senior Deputy County Administrator Contact: Paul Reyes, 925-655-2049
Information
Referral History:
On July 24, 2018, the Board of Supervisors adopted the "Racial Justice Task Force - Final Report and Recommendations", which included the recommendation to create a Racial Justice Oversight Body tasked with the periodic review and reporting of racial and ethnic disparities in the local criminal and juvenile justice systems, as well as the ongoing support and monitoring of efforts to implement recommendations to reduce the disparities.

Based on this action, the Racial Justice Oversight Body is composed of the following 18 representatives:
  1. A representative from the Superior Court, as a non-voting member;
  2. The Sheriff or his designee;
  3. The Chief Probation Officer or his designee;
  4. The Public Defender or her designee;
  5. The District Attorney or her designee;
  6. A representative from a local law enforcement agency, nominated by the Contra Costa County Police Chiefs’ Association;
  7. A representative from the Contra Costa County Office of Education;
  8. A representative from a Local School District (Rotation: Mt. Diablo/West Contra Costa/Antioch)
  9. A representative from Contra Costa County Health Services Department; and
  10. Nine community-based representatives, including:
    1. Community-based Representative, Seat 1 & 2: two members nominated by the Contra Costa Racial Justice Coalition
    2. Community-based Representative, Seat 3 & 4: two individuals with prior personal criminal or juvenile justice system involvement
    3. Community-based Representative, Seat 5, 6 & 7: three representatives from community-based organizations (CBO) that work with justice involved populations, including at least one person who works directly with youth
    4. Community-based Representative, Seat 8: one representative from a faith-based organization
    5. Community-based Representative, Seat 9: one representative that is either a school age young person, or from a CBO who provides services to school age youth

On February 28, 2022, the Public Protection Committee (PPC) approved a 3-week application process to begin in Fall 2022 to fill all nine (9) open Community-based Representative seats with terms expiring on December 31st, 2022. The approved timeline for the recruitment and application process is as follows: (1) Issue press release on Sep. 19th; (2) Application Deadline set for Oct. 10th (3 week application period); (3) Applicant Interviews with PPC scheduled for Oct. 24th; (4) BOS consideration of nominations scheduled for Nov. 8th.

On September 19th, 2022, the County Administrators Office issued a press release and the Office of Reentry and Justice (ORJ) at the Probation Department released an e-newsletter alert to announce the recruitment of nine (9) open Community-based Representative Seats. The ORJ received a total of 15 applications prior to the October 10th, 2022 deadline and three (3) applications received after the deadline.

Of the 18 total applicants, eight (8) are incumbent members seeking a second two-year term. All 18 applicants were invited to public interviews conducted by the Public Protection Committee on October 24th, 2022.
Referral Update:
During the October 24th meeting, it was incorrectly communicated to the Committee that one of the incumbent membersof the RJOB, Tamisha Walker, was no longer interested to serve on the RJOB. During the October meeting, the Committee recommended the following appointments:
  • Seats 1 & 2 – Chala Bonner & Melvin Willis (nominated by Racial Justice Coalition)
  • Seats 3 & 4 – Ronell Ellis & Michael Pierson (persons with prior personal criminal or juvenile justice system involvement)
  • Seats 5, 6, & 7 – Y’nand Burrell, Alisha Jackson, and Cheryl Sudduth (CBO representatives that work with justice-involved populations)
  • Seat 8 – Gigi Crowder (representative from faith-based organization)
  • Seat 9 – Stephanie Medley (CBO rep that provides services to school age youth)
Following the meeting, staff was notified by Ms. Walker was still interested in serving on the RJOB. Today's item provides the Committee the opportunity to reconsider the appointments given the corrected information.
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
ACCEPT an update on appointments to the Racial Justice Oversight Body and PROVIDE further direction to staff.
Attachments
Attachment A - Applicant Summary
Attachment B - All Applications

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