Latest Guides

Public Safety

Black, Latino Commissioners Could Make Up Majority of Police Oversight Commission

Women could occupy five seats

Published on Thursday, April 15, 2021 | 3:44 pm
 

[Updated]  If the City Council accepts the recommendations made by its Public Safety Committee on Thursday, a majority of members on the Community Police Oversight Commission could be people of color.

In addition, at least five members of the 11-person board could be women.

The City Council on Monday will finalize three community organization seats on the newly formed commission.

At that meeting, the council could approve the appointments Florence Annang, who is Black, and Juliana Serrano, who is Latina.

The committee could not decide on a third member and suggested the council consider two additional Black women Patrice Marshall Mckenzie and Alexis Abernathy, and former Board of Education member Mikala Rahn, who is white.

“I am humbled and honored to represent the NAACP Pasadena branch and be presented to the full council on Monday for hopefully approval. I am in awe of how my community came out and supported me throughout this process. I am so very grateful,” Annang said.

“I stay committed that the third seat should go to a woman of color. The solution can be found in those who are most affected and we are our own solution in the black and brown community. A woman who reflects the struggles, hurt and pain that people of color deal with on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see the other council members’ picks as well as the Mayor.”

At the April 26 City Council meeting, the eight community members chosen by the council and Mayor Victor Gordo will be announced.

In District 1, Councilmember Tyron Hampton said he selected Esprit Loren Jones, a Black woman, after Hampton interviewed applicants on Zoom on March 30.

On Thursday, Councilmember Felicia Williams confirmed to Pasadena Now that she had submitted a Latina woman to the city as her choice to sit on the soon-to-be seated commission. Williams would not reveal the name of her choice.

If the council approves Serrano, Annang and an additional woman, then Hampton and Williams’ choices guarantee that at least five of the 11 members of the commission will be women, two of them Black and two Latina.

Add that to District 3 Councilman John Kennedy’s selection, which Kennedy announced on Wednesday would be a Black man. Kennedy made the announcement after former District 1 Councilmember Jacque Robinson-Baisley lamented during public comment that there appeared to be no Black or Latino men in the running.

Kennedy’s choice, along with Raul Ibanez, who was appointed by Councilmember Jessica Rivas, means six of the commissioners would be people of color and five of them could be women. If the council chooses McKenzie or Abernathy, a majority of the commission would be made up of Black and Latino residents.

“I am hopeful that Council will be working towards making the commission not just representative of the community at large, but also reflective and inclusive of the lived experience of Black and Brown men who are over represented in police abuse cases and the justice system,” Robinson-Baisley told Pasadena Now. “It would be a disservice and mistake not to have them represented on the Commission.”

Other council members are still interviewing community members, including District 4 Councilman Gene Masuda, who represents the upper Hastings Ranch area in eastern Pasadena.

McKenzie lives in Masuda’s district, and Learning Works, the PUSD after-school program owned by Rahn, is located there.

District 6 Councilman Steve Madison, whose affluent West Pasadena district received the most applicants, is still interviewing candidates.

In District 7, Vice Mayor Andy Wilson told Pasadena Now he has narrowed his choice to two people, whom he would not identify.

Wilson empaneled a selection panel that included himself, Dr. Terrance Roberts of the Little Rock Nine, Northwest Commissioner Kim Douglas and former Mayor Terry Tornek, who lives in the district.

Wilson said each candidate has a different skill set.

“I think of the CPOC as more of a ‘team’ versus a set of individually capable people. So we are kind of in a chicken and egg circumstance. It was good to know at least two of the recommended community members,” Wilson said.

So far there is no indication on Mayor Victor Gordo’s choice either.

Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.

Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.

Make a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

 

 

buy ivermectin online
buy modafinil online
buy clomid online
buy ivermectin online