On October 19th, 2021, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will be hearing 2 items together to improve inclusion for residents with disabilities in the County’s broader equity efforts. (click for the agenda) Your support is needed to ensure the adoption of the Disability Inclusion and Equity Pledge(Item 10) and to address the administration’s report to the Office of Disability Affairs referral from June 22, 2021 (Item 9). These items will be heard no earlier than 10 am.
These items will be heard together. These items help improve the representation of disabled people, advance equity, uplift communities, and ensure justice and prosperity for all residents.
To attend the meeting and address the Board in public comment, please review the Public Comment Instructions, then access the teleconference at https://sccgov-org.zoom.us/j/96632791414 (recommended) or (669)219–2599, meeting ID 96632791414# (participant ID not required).
Please show your support for items 9 and 10 on Tuesday, October 19th. We ask you to please do one or all of these:
- Call into the Board meeting and speak on the items.
- By Monday, October 18th, send emails/letters of support to:
Board Operations: BoardOperations@cob.sccgov.org;
District 1: Mike Wasserman mike.wasserman@bos.sccgov.org;
District 2: Cindy Chavez cindy.chavez@bos.sccgov.org;
District 3: Otto Lee supervisor.lee@bos.sccgov.org;
District 4: Susan Ellenberg supervisor.ellenberg@bos.sccgov.org;
District 5: Joe Simitian supervisor.simitian@bos.sccgov.org - By Monday, October 18th, call your support to:
District 1: Mike Wasserman (408) 299–5010
District 2: Cindy Chavez (408) 299–5020
District 3: Otto Lee (408) 299–5030
District 4: Susan Ellenberg (408) 299–5040
District 5: Joe Simitian (408) 299–5050 - Use social media and share this call to action with others
- Sign onto a petition that will be delivered on Monday by 4 pm.
The County’s response to the June 2021 referral to create an Office of Disability Affairs has been slower than we had hoped for with the staffing plan, structure, and budget proposal for the office to be postponed until February 2022. The work plan proposed is appropriate for this stage in the process. The important elements in the report include:
- A robust stakeholder engagement process that contracts with a disability-aware and ideally, a disability-led consulting firm.
- The Advisory Board is essential as a stand-alone group that can assist with the mentioned Commissions and Boards but the needs are not fulfilled by the existing Commissions and Boards within the County.
- The elements presented in the Administration’s report do not adequately convey gaps in service within those areas (housing, employment, aging-in-place, health equity, language equity, community-based services, alternatives to incarceration, etc.).
A quick and easy action to show your support is to sign the petition.
To find a template for a letter of support, go to https://michelemashburn.medium.com/item-17-9-28-2021-santa-clara-county-6e8ac6f6714f
A short script for calling into the meeting or when you call the Supervisors:
“As a person with a disability (or parent of a disabled child or an ally of the disability community), I strongly support the referral to amend the Resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara regarding the use of principles of equity in policy and budget decisions adopted on August 25, 2020, to include the principles outlined in the Disability Inclusion Equity Pledge.”
Thank you for valuing disability equity in Santa Clara County.
