EEO advisory committee recommends San Joaquin County 2024–26 EEO plan, approves outreach and training objectives

The San Joaquin County Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee on April 2 voted to recommend the county's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Plan for the Oct. 2024'Sept. 2026 plan period to the Board of Supervisors and approved several implementation steps, including creation of an EEO plan subcommittee and a luncheon subcommittee to organize the annual Diversity Luncheon.

The recommendation followed a staff report and a discussion of plan objectives that center on recruitment, training, retention, complaint monitoring and public outreach. The committee approved the recommendation by voice vote after a motion from committee member Douglas Vigil and a second from Michael Sorensen; staff planned to submit the plan to the Board of Supervisors on the next available agenda in late April or May.

The plan covers countywide initiatives intended to reduce underrepresentation and strengthen EEO processes across 26 departments and roughly 7,500 county employees. David Davis, San Joaquin County DEI/EEO program manager, summarized recent work and said the office will streamline the complaint intake and invoicing processes. "We're also looking to improve our invoicing process for internal investigators so that we're able to provide a more comprehensive look as to the amount of monies that are being spent on a fiscal year basis," Davis said during the meeting.

Why it matters: The plan sets the county's official recruitment and training priorities for two fiscal years and frames how departments will report progress. Committee members emphasized the need for clearer outreach to EEO coordinators in each department, better on-boarding and automated exit interviews to improve retention data.

Key elements approved or discussed

- Recruitment: The plan directs Human Resources Employment Services to expand outreach to colleges, trade schools, community organizations and job boards and to rebrand employment web pages and recruitment brochures to better reflect workforce diversity.

- Training and career development: The plan instructs SJC Engage (the county staff development function) to publish an annual training catalog, expand apprenticeship and internship efforts and tailor unconscious-bias and civility-in-the-workplace training for managers and employees. Orianna Mahoney, staff development coordinator, briefed the committee and summarized the SJC Engage role: "SJC Engage is our internal ... staff development unit," she said.

- Complaint handling and monitoring: The EEO office will review and streamline the EEO complaint intake process, improve invoicing for internal investigators, and continue independent investigations that comply with Civil Service Rule 20.

- Events and outreach: The plan includes countywide diversity events (virtual and in-person), a speaker series and continued partnership with EEO coordinators and Employment & Economic Development (WorkNet) for employer-focused job fairs.

Staff report and recent metrics

Davis provided a multi-year summary of training and complaints. For the period discussed, he reported roughly 944 supervisors and managers completed harassment-prevention training, 5,240 non-supervisory employees completed prevention training, and 4,176 employees completed diversity/respect/inclusion training. He also reported 32 informal complaints and 85 formal complaints in the most recent reporting period discussed in the packet. Davis told the committee the EEO office has fewer than 10 new complaints so far in the current fiscal year.

Committee actions and next steps

- The committee voted to recommend the EEO Plan to the Board of Supervisors; staff identified either the April 22 or May 3 board meeting as likely dates for final consideration and asked members to attend when the plan is presented.

- The committee established an EEO plan subcommittee to review the plan text and suggest edits and implementation steps. The subcommittee will meet virtually and members indicated preference for evening meeting times to accommodate work schedules.

- The committee also approved the EEOAC co-sponsoring the 2025 annual Diversity Luncheon (proposed date Oct. 23) and established a luncheon subcommittee to start early planning. The luncheon is an employee-facing event with tickets, awards and a keynote speaker; the EEOAC will help lead programming while HR staff will handle logistics and ticketing.

Accessibility and process items

Committee members raised accessibility and participation issues. Members asked the EEO office to ensure future meetings include live captions and other accommodations; the staff turned on automated captions during the meeting. Davis and staff emphasized multiple reporting avenues for staff concerns, including anonymous complaint options, and described plans for improved onboarding materials for EEO coordinators.

Votes at a glance (from the meeting record described above)

- Motion to approve minutes from June 5, 2024: mover Douglas Vigil; second Dominic Biles; outcome: approved (one abstention recorded; name not specified in the meeting transcript).

- Motion to recommend the EEO Plan (Oct. 2024'Sept. 2026) to the Board of Supervisors: mover Douglas Vigil; second Michael Sorensen; outcome: approved.

- Motion to establish an EEO plan subcommittee: mover Douglas Vigil; second Dominic Biles; outcome: approved.

- Motion to co-sponsor and establish a luncheon subcommittee for the 2025 Diversity Luncheon: mover Dominic Biles; second Douglas Vigil; outcome: approved.

What the committee and staff said

- David Davis, DEI/EEO Program Manager: summarized training and complaint statistics and said the office will "streamline that process" for intake and invoicing.

- Orianna Mahoney, Staff Development Coordinator: explained SJC Engage's role in training and workforce development and confirmed a report on training metrics will be presented at a future meeting.

Meeting context and schedule

Committee members asked that future agendas provide documents earlier to allow ample review time. Staff said agendas are planned about five weeks in advance and encouraged members to use the SJCEEO inbox (sjceeo@sjgov.org) for agenda suggestions. The committee is scheduled to meet bimonthly; the next meeting listed on the planning calendar is June 4, 2025.

Ending note: The committee requested that staff circulate the final plan to members, verify email delivery for packet attachments, and confirm the board meeting date when the plan will be presented.