El Segundo council approves DEI committee work plan, keeps monthly meetings and lowers quorum

El Segundo City Council on Feb. 4 approved the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee’s 2025 work plan, amended the committee bylaws to require a majority of seated members for quorum and agreed to end a pilot program for school-district seats in May while keeping monthly full-committee meetings.

The vote followed nearly two hours of public comment in which multiple residents and former DEI committee members urged the council not to reduce the committee’s meeting frequency or weaken its membership. Speakers described ongoing incidents in local schools and community settings and urged continued city support for DEI work, including community education, partnerships and events.

The DEI committee chair, Christabel Valena, presented the committee’s proposed work plan and described three subteams — data and resources, community relations and city engagement — and prioritized public-safety briefings, community education events and business engagement for 2025. Vice chair Sean O’Brien and other committee members outlined specific projects, including a renewed United…