The Sunnyvale Sun

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Sunnyvale to form an advisory group to focus more on cultural diversity

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

Sunnyvale has boards and commissions to cover building code appeals, child care and aging, but in 2006, when less than half of its residents are Caucasian, the city still doesn't have a board or commission to focus on multicultural or diversity issues.

"There are issues that need to be addressed that we have not been dealing with," said Vice Mayor Otto Lee.

With the start of the next fiscal year, Sunnyvale will have its first multicultural advisory group, reporting to the city council, to help guide programs and policies.

In addition, the council will look at the possibility of creating a body similar to San Jose's Human Rights Commission in December to handle diversity beyond just ethnicity or cultural background.

Assistant to the city manager Coryn Campbell said while staff planned to address a multicultural advisory group--as was proposed--members had not prepared to look at a group to tackle all diversity issues. Because of that, the group was limited to race and cultural issues, and the council will entertain a separate study of establishing something akin to San Jose's Human Rights Commission, that could handle discrimination complaints or program reviews.

"If we get a human rights commission established, I think those needs will be addressed," Lee said. "When you talk about diversity, it's not just race. There are so many other issues--women's issues, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, disabilities issues--things that we certainly could use good advice from residents on."

Campbell said the idea of a new advisory group has been in the works for at least four years, since the city council first set out to improve its outreach. At the time, a multicultural outreach taskforce was formed to address the issue, and one of its 18 recommendations to council was the formation of a new board, commission or advisory committee.

Beyond the needs of Sunnyvale's diverse community, there is also a wide gap between the ethnicity of the city and a breakdown of applicants for city boards and commissions. While Sunnyvale's Caucasian population accounts for 46 percent of the community, 77 percent of all applicants are Caucasian. The only exception is that blacks make up only 2 percent of the community but 4.5 percent of the applicants.

One of the primary functions of the advisory committee would be to encourage a more diverse pool of applicants. Because it is unlawful to appoint people based on their ethnicity, Campbell said the only way to encourage a more diverse cross-section is through the applicant pool.

As part of his 2003 campaign, Lee--the second Asian-American elected official in Sunnyvale behind fellow councilman Dean Chu--talked about encouraging other minorities to get involved in the city. He said he is proud to see it finally happening, and anyone with suggestions or questions can contact him at otto@ottolee.org.