Sonoma County’s Office of Equity at a critical juncture amid leadership change

Among the questions hanging over the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors as it prepares for formal budget hearings in June is how to shape the future of one of its newest departments, the Office of Equity.

The office was established in 2020 after the large social justice street protests that year and in response to long-standing calls for stronger local government action to rectify institutional inequities within and beyond county government.

Its mission is to root out racial inequality in county government by way of recommending new laws, crafting policy and adjusting how services are delivered to prevent disparate racial outcomes.

On April 24, Melissa Valle, the office’s interim director, led a staff presentation of the office’s proposed $2.5 million budget, a significant increase over its current $1.4 million budget.

About four years since its creation, however, the office is at a critical juncture — it is due to deliver several long-awaited projects, is undergoing a leadership change and its staff say the department needs more investment in employees and programs to sustain the office’s work.

“We've been able to move it from response and reactiveness into identifying what we really need to continue to exist as an office and we have identified positions and research needs by listening and learning with our department partners and with you and from your direction,” Valle told the board.

Earlier this year Alegría De La Cruz, the office’s inaugural director, notified the board that she would be leaving her post for an executive position with The Dolores Huerta Foundation, a community organizing group based in Bakersfield. Her last day will be May 6.

De La Cruz’s impending departure has raised questions about whether the office will remain independent or be folded into another department like the County Administrator’s Office or Human Resources.

The possibility drew a few public speakers to address the board on April 24 where they asked supervisors to preserve the office as an independent department.

“It's critical that you allow it to continue its work, otherwise, the board's words, anti-racism, support for immigrant communities are really empty,” said Linda Evans, a Santa Rosa resident and coordinator of the Immigrant Defense Task Force.

Bernice Espinoza, a local immigration attorney, delivered an impassioned plea and told the board the Office of Equity had been key in helping immigrants and marginalized residents find housing and justice resources.

“The Office of Equity does important community engagement so that these public comment lines are not so long and people are not pounding on your doors,” Espinoza said. “And so I'm asking you to keep it independent.”

Espinoza is a former deputy public defender with the county.

“If the Office of Equity was here when I was a county employee maybe I would not have left,” Espinoza added, beginning to cry. “And maybe many of the other marginalized employees of this county would still stay here instead of leaving to other places.”

In March, after De La Cruz submitted her resignation, Supervisor David Rabbitt, board chair, raised the possibility of moving the Office of Equity under another department like the County Administrator’s Office or Human Resources.

On April 24, following the office’s presentation, Rabbitt stood by his interest in such a move.

“I know that I'm one of five, so it may not matter,” he said. “But I do want to make sure that we're always being as efficient with the dollars that are available and always getting the biggest bang for the buck, because those bucks are gonna be shrinking and the pressures on the General Fund I think are only going to be growing.”

De La Cruz, in her response at Wednesday’s meeting, said the Office of Equity was established as its own department based on research of equity offices and divisions across the country.

“We did some really important research to reach the status of the Office of Equity as a stand-alone, executive-led department,” De La Cruz said. “We're happy to bring that research back.”

This budget cycle, department heads submitted $46 million worth of requests, and the supervisors submitted $8.5 million in requests. Before the board votes on the budget in June it will have to determine how much of the total $54.5 million in requests to fill.

County finance leaders have already said the county does not have enough funds to meet all the requests.

The Office of Equity’s budget request includes money for staffing and for implementation of its language access and community engagement plans. The staffing requests include four positions covered by one-time funds that will soon run out, Valle said.

The board’s other sitting members did not ask questions or indicate where they stood on the funding requests or Rabbitt’s interest in moving the department. Instead the supervisors took turns thanking De La Cruz for her work to build the fledgling office.

“It takes a lot to bring something into existence and then a lot to raise it up through those formative years,” Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said to De La Cruz. “So thank you so much for your dedication, for your stewardship and for what I know you will continue to bring great things to our community and to our state.”

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.