Hello everyone 👋 and welcome to what's happening only in San José: a deep dive into the Constitutional Convention (2021 Charter Review Commission Constitutional), for those with a shared interest in the policy process of and amendments to our City Constitution (i.e. City Charter).
⚖️ What happened at the San José Constitutional Convention this week… our epic legislative saga continues, clocking in at 4 hours and 37 minutes, the Commission covered four topics in their study session on Policing Municipal Law, Accountability and Inclusion. However, this week the number of players increased beyond the 23 commissioners, as Council Member Jones and Jimenez stepped in with some memo wizardry during the 11th hour (figuratively speaking) in effort to shut down the Commissioners work on Policing and Municipal Law and Climate under the highly contested basis of redundancy that conflicts with actual statements from individuals participating in these other forums. With less than a month left to go, this legislative gambit, leaves much to wonder. The memo was submitted over the weekend, leaving the commission no time to adjust their upcoming agenda (due to Brown Act/Sunshine Rules) to discuss its contents. The memo goes to Rules and Open Gov Committee(Zoom Link) today at 2:00PM, where if passed it will be moved to the November 2nd Council Meeting, for Council Vote. For more on this TMZ plot twist check out the San Jose Mercury News report. Here's play by play recap, click on the names for a magical transport back into time to hear what they said:
🚓 Policing and Municipal Law… SJPD ranks highest in the Bay Area for rates of fatal encounters, above SF or Oakland, explained by our local and industry experts: Joseph Rios, City Auditor, City of San José and Robyn Rose, Internal Audit Manager, County of Santa Clara. Mark P. Smith, Inspector General, Los Angeles Police Commission, Office of the Inspector General. Mica Estremera, Deputy Public Defender, Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender; President of La Raza Lawyers local chapter, Steering Committee Member of the Reimagining Public Safety Community Advisory Committee
🙏 Land Acknowledgement… Gloria Gomez, Director of Development and Communications, Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley. Monica V. Arellano, Vice Chairwoman, Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area on how can we better connect with traditional stewards of this land and its history?
🤖 Artificial Intelligence… Dr. Lawrence Quill, Professor of Political Theory, San José State University. The Professor speaks on the state of Smart Cities, AI and the controversy of it replacing politicians!
🔥 Climate Crisis... Meredith Muller, science and math teacher and permaculturist on what would a Climate Action Commission look like?
*Disclaimer 🧐: all recommendations still need to go before Council discussion and vote on December 14th for approval before making its way onto the ballot for 2022.
Happening in the near future 🔮… a brief round up of only in San José events and what's in store next for the Constitutional Convention.
‼️ TODAY, October 27th, 2021 @ 2:00 pm (zoom link, agenda) Rules and Open Gov Committee will hear discussion and public comment on Council Member Jones and Jimenez’s memo about the Charter Review Commissions Workplan.
🍿 Monday, November 1st, 2021 @ 5:30 pm (zoom link, agenda) Charter Review Commission Regular Meeting: Discussion of Policing, Municipal Law, Accountability & Inclusion Recommendations (cont.)
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