Community meetings for Culver City Equity Action Plan continue

Consulting firm Keen Independent Research hosted a pair of workshops Wednesday in conjunction with Culver City to solicit community feedback for the development of a Culver City Racial Equity Action Plan. While the plan's original intent was to focus on Racial Equity, conclusions drawn during the feedback process have led Keen to explore broadening the plan's scope to other forms of equity.

The Request for Proposal Keen Independent initially accepted in January 2024 was for developing a Racial Equity Action Plan. Plan documents like this help support the goals of the city's General Plan, with their topics ranging from Culver City's trees to guidelines that inform street and sidewalk development.

Keen Independent has worked on similar projects in the past. That same January, the firm uncovered racial and gender discrimination in St. Louis construction contracts and developed a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion plan for the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) in 2022.

Consultant Haley Adams, who worked on the OCTA DEI Plan, says that while similar elements will be present, the plan for OCTA was much more externally focused because the transportation authority is focused on service delivery.

While there is a significant external focus for Culver City's plan, Adams says that the emphasis here is more balanced and broad than for OCTA, concentrating on integrating equity throughout the city's internal and external programs.

The main product of this plan will be a series of recommendations that the city can use to guide its policies and practices. Keen staff also believe they will work with city staff to craft a Mission Statement similar to what was done in the OCTA plan.

This current period of external research was preceded by internal research that included interviews with employees and stakeholders related to Culver City's racial equity. While Keen provides perspectives that they have gathered through their work with other clients, Adams and Senior Consultant Dr. Nicole Yates emphasized that the plan needed to work for residents and workers in Culver City.

Wednesday's meetings featured a guided program with several stations meant to gather information on specific points. In addition to looking for suggestions for a potential name change, Keen also had participants define several buzzwords that are essential to formulating the plan.

These definitions were placed on post-it notes for other community members to consider. Four words considered "buzzwords" in the current climate were the focus: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

"[Inclusion means] opportunity, accessibility, inclusivity, and outreach," one comment read.

"[Diversity means] encouraging and nurturing our differences and celebrating them," another comment said.

Another activity presented to attendees was a more private exercise. Attendees were asked to write the answers to essential questions on an index card and place them in a manila envelope for Keen to review. These questions were more specific and personalized, such as "What does your ideal version of Culver City look like?"

A third activity had participants identify some of the events in the city spanning back several years that are part of current efforts around creating equity. These events included those focused on race, like Latino Heritage Month Celebrations in 2022 and 2023 and the Courageous Conversation on Race Relations, but also things like the 2023 Community Conversation on Ageism.

Residents were also given room to comment on those events, which demonstrated the importance of broadening the scope to include things like gender, age, and disability status.

"Love the senior center, love the trips and events," one comment read.

Community members will have several more opportunities to provide input for this plan. Two more meetings for this project are scheduled for Thursday April 24 at Four Points Sheraton Hotel at 5990 Green Valley Circle: one from 1 to 2:30 p.m. and the other from 5:30 to 7 p.m. According to city staff, a pair of meetings are also tentatively scheduled for next month at the Culver City Senior Center with a different format than what was seen Wednesday.

But some members of the community are hoping to see more. Culver City resident Solomon Namala believes the workshop wasn't as expansive or wide-reaching as expected.

"This feels like it's just a superficial thing," Namala said. "Part of me thinks they are doing this just to check off a box."

Namala, who feels deeply committed to equity following an incident where he says his son was handcuffed on the way to the hospital following a suicide attempt, told Culver Crescent that he was anticipating a larger audience. He hopes for an effort that more thoroughly encompasses the city to hear from all of its residents.

"I am not so sure this is an effective method," Namala said. "I was hoping to see more; maybe that is where my disappointment comes from."

The plan will enter its development phase over the summer. A preliminary draft review will follow, during which the public can weigh in on a more concrete version of the plan, including a potential new name proposed by Keen based on the community's suggestions.

Following this phase, the completed plan is expected to be presented to the city council in Fall 2025.

For those unable to attend, a link to an online survey conducted by Keen as part of the plan's community outreach can be found here.