An appalling council evening
An open letter to Vallejo City Council members and city management staff:
I am appalled at the performance that transpired last night during your meeting. As a resident of D5, and having humbly lived in Vallejo for the past seven years, I have never felt so out of touch from this city council.
To start, I commend Councilmember Hakeem Brown for taking the time to focus his platform of elected service to better out city. What is troubling, though, was his lack of respect for his fellow council members, the code of Ethics and Conduct of the Vallejo City Council and the BIPOC City Constituency who vote to place him on that platform.
It was difficult to explain to my elderly mother why he was so far off on a tangent for persecution of the very people he needs to help move his personal agenda. I found it even more difficult to explain to her my interpretation and researching of the phrase “uppity kneegrow.”
To further compound this unique moment, I found his egocentric, childish display of poor character, turning his chair back while Mayor McConnell read the proclamation, to be the worst display of civil servant leadership he could have chosen. If we were in regular session, non-pandemic times, this behavior would never have been tolerated. I cannot imagine a council member getting up from their seat at the dais during a live meeting, let alone, turn their chair around and ignore the speakers!
Instead, his time could have been used better to discuss an actual solution for the problem he laid out, but unfortunately, what transpired was more than 20 minutes of emotional, baseless accusations that truly have no value or merit for the topic that was being discussed. Furthermore, his tone and choice of words did not promote inclusion on such a sensitive topic and further alienated him from the meaning of his own message.
I am most concerned that in his lengthy tirade, he never mentioned one of the largest factors contributing to systemic racism and distrust within our city: The infamous Vallejo Police Department and its puppet master, the Vallejo Police Officers Association.
I implore you to reach out to new members and organizations within the community, especially those with no ties to any of the current organizations “stewarding the journey of reform” in our city. They, too, have fallen short over the past decade to ignite and inspire real change within our city.
It is time to stop the repetitive narrative that has been plaguing you, council, from affecting change and progressing toward a more transparent, equitable and inclusive city. A city where residents can thrive, succeed and live without fear of the very systems that are meant to support and uplift us.
I thank you for taking the time to read this. Please feel free to reach out to me via email if further clarification is needed on any of the points I surfaced.
— S. Johnson-Spencer/Vallejo