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Palo Alto updates committee on wellness, belonging, CEDAW ordinance and religious‑tolerance trainings
Summary
Staff reported progress on the city’s wellness and belonging action plan, work on a CEDAW ordinance, RIPA data analysis with the National Policing Institute and planned religious‑tolerance trainings for staff and boards; committee agreed to forward the update to full council.
City staff provided the Policy & Services Committee an update on the city’s wellness and belonging initiatives, including a draft CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) ordinance, an analysis of police stop data under RIPA with the National Policing Institute, an employee demographics report, and plans for religious‑tolerance training led by two community organizations.
Deputy City Manager Chantal Cotton Gaines and Kojo Pierce, wellness and belonging program manager, outlined several completed and ongoing action items from the city’s equity‑and‑wellness action plan. Completed items include a process to advise the council on holiday scheduling in coordination with the Human Relations Commission and the initial release of a city workforce demographics snapshot. Staff said they will build an interactive dashboard for future demographic reporting.
Staff described work on action items that remain in progress: quarterly (previously bimonthly) interactive trainings for staff on inclusion topics, a new short orientation module on wellness and belonging for new employees, and an ongoing analysis of RIPA (Racial and Identity Profiling Act) stop data. The city is partnering with the National Policing Institute to analyze 2023–2024 RIPA data and plans to publish the institute’s report; staff noted federal funding terms require specific steps before final publication, but the report will be shared publicly when complete.
On anti‑discrimination work, staff said they had drafted an ordinance aligned with CEDAW principles covering priorities such as economic development, housing and transportation, and plan to return the draft to the committee in Q3 for review and then to council for consideration. "Our intention is to bring that draft to this committee for review, hopefully, within Q3," Pierce said.
Following Human Relations Commission recommendations, staff summarized plans to contract with two trainers — an organization identified as Project Shema and Islamic Network Group (ING) — to deliver religious‑tolerance workshops to staff, board and commission members and the city council. Staff said the trainings are expected in October, will be offered in multiple sessions to accommodate schedules, and are budgeted at roughly $10,000 per trainer for two sessions each.
Public comment included a request from a health professional to sustain city‑school liaison work and youth mental‑health partnerships. Committee members expressed support for the training plan and for the CEDAW ordinance draft; a council member requested staff share the employee survey cohort analysis and attendance trends for training sessions. Staff said training registration has varied by topic (examples: 118 registered for a gender‑focused session; 50 for a conscious‑conversations session) and that they will work with Human Resources to expand participation.
Committee members requested staff forward the update to full city council as an informational item. Staff agreed to do so and to return with the CEDAW ordinance for formal consideration once the draft is finalized.
