Members gather for first meeting of new group

The members of a new social equity committee formed by the Sonora City Council met for the first time over a digital conference call Monday afternoon to share personal stories on their familiarity with racism and set the stage for an ongoing discussion on how to address it locally.

“That’s why I’m here. That’s why this committee means so much to me. That’s why I’m willing to take the hits I’ve actually been taking,” said Councilwoman Colette Such, the leader in the formation of the committee.

The meeting was largely introductory to the members and the institutional parameters governing a committee under the auspices of the city council.

Meetings will be held at 4 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of the month until a “deeply meaningful and robust resolution” is written, Such told The Union Democrat on Monday.

The five members of the committee, who were selected by each member of the council out of 12 who applied, are Nikki Coleman, Darren Duez, Nathan Morales, Sylvia Roberts and Mercedes Tune.

The committee has garnered some controversy and criticism due to a proposal that racial sensitivity training might be required for the council and city staff, and philosophical divides between the members revealed themselves at times due to differing backgrounds.

However, all members professed mutual respect and an openness to plumb the disposition of racism and prejudice as it appeared in Sonora today.

Such began the meeting by disclosing

she was raped at knifepoint by a home intruder when she was 15. She said her rapist was a white man, but even the most progressive and liberal people in her life inquired whether her rapist was black.

“The trauma of that experience, but more importantly the effect it had on me that was completely unconscious,” she said, was the conclusion that “black men rape.”

She said she hoped her past experience would reveal the importance of the committee, that dialogue and discussion could reveal unconscious prejudices which could be overcome through understanding.

Sylvia Roberts said her perspectives on race were shaped in her formative years, growing up with her slave-descendant grandparents in San Antonio in the early years of integration.

“They never talked about race, and we were in the height of Jim Crow when everything was segregated,” she said. “I didn’t question it, I was a kid.”

She said she felt a divide between her and her black peers in a newly integrated school because they were prepared for “the horrors of racism,” and she was not.

“It set me on a very different path in my life,” she said, but after many years of consideration she found an understanding that her sense of social isolation stopped her from commiserating with the truth of their shared experience.

“I’ve always believed as an adult, communication was a way of crossing that line,” she said.

Roberts said in her committee application she is retired and a Tuolumne County resident for the past 28 years. She said she was the 2017 recipient of the Motherlode Martin Luther King Jr. Committee’s Humanitarian Award and a director of the Motherlode Black Heritage Foundation.

“Though it is by and large a conservative community with little diversity, and I have certainly been made aware that it is not prejudice-free, I believe that, overall, county residents would be receptive to information that promotes understanding of cultures of which they have little exposure or knowledge,” Roberts said in the application.

Roberts was selected by Such for the committee.

Committee member Darren Duez described himself as “born and raised trailer trash” from the Big Hill area, who developed an “active commitment to fairness, justice and equality” in his community.

He said he experienced vitriol in Tuolumne County due to having black friends and his participation with the committee.

“I hate pigeonholing a community … except when it comes to racism,” he said.

“Doesn’t bother me as long as we can have an honest conversation about what’s truly going on,” he said of his participation on the committee.

Duez said in his application he was the owner of a local business known as California Bat Exclusion. He said he was previously a firefighter, worked often with Interfaith and operated a Facebook page associated with community philanthropy.

“I was a firefighter here in Tuolumne County for years. There is a lot you can see that can and should be changed. As a firefighter you work to solve problems, critical think in a very short time,” Duez said in his application. “I believe I excel at helping, working hard and love my community. We as people have to ensure Sonora will be an amazing place to be for many years.”

Duez was selected by Mayor Matt Hawkins.

Nikki Coleman, a Sonora resident for the past 13 years and a philanthropy officer at Adventist Health Sonora, professed a desire to find common ground and act as a peacekeeper for disagreements.

“I always feel we have more in common with each other than we don’t,” Coleman said. “I want all of us to get to know each other pretty intimately.”

She addressed Councilman Mark Plummer’s vocal opposition to the committee, noting she wanted to “honor that truth,” but also bridge the gap to find mutual understanding.

“This committee has the potential to make incredible, impactful change in Sonora that will last for generations to come,” she wrote in her application. “This change has to happen, without question. Change of this magnitude will not happen with loud opinions. It will happen though intentional conversation, respectful connection with one another, purposeful actions and accountability.”

Coleman added in her committee application that her native Hawaiian heritage and being a person of color has made her the target of racial slurs.

“As much as I have a deep love for Sonora, I have also witnessed first hand the racism, supremacy and privilege that exists in our community,” she said.

Coleman was selected for the committee by Councilwoman Ann Segerstrom.

Nathan Morales described his Mexican heritage and the occasional prejudices it engendered while growing up in Tuolumne County. He said he attended Summerville Elementary School and Summerville High School, but additionally struggled with poverty and homelessness.

“I think we can all learn to be kinder, and to be more understanding and to be open to the conversation,” Morales said during his introduction. “I’m interested in hearing the stories and sharing and contributing in any way that I can.”

Morales said in his application that he was a pastor and real estate agent. He said his community involvements included Hilltop Church, Love Tuolumne County and Interfaith Legal.

“As a real estate agent I meet a large number of Bay Area people who move to this county for the first time, most of whom are diverse in their ethnicity,” Morales wrote. “I want to be part of a solution by offering a stable voice and perspective amid all the chaos.”

Morales was selected by Plummer.

Mercedes Tune grew up in Mexico and said her occupational history both inside and outside the county familiarized her economic inequalities which transcended race. With that in mind, she added, people of different races confronted additional trials and obstacles due to their ethic or national background.

“I really value that we all can understand, in one hand, it’s true that communities of color… suffer more inequalities in some ways, but the inequalities have no color,” Tune said. “I felt pain when I heard some of the stories we heard today, because when one person suffers, it affects all of us.”

Tune said in her application she was a Sonora resident and a resident of Tuolumne County for 20 years. Her occupation, she said, was a Capacity Building Program Specialist with the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence.

“We all hold implicit bias that permeates institutions as well as individuals’ behaviors. It is my hope that the committee work will take steps to find common ground, build bridges and make space for everyone in the community,” she wrote in her application.

Tune was selected by Councilman Jim Garaventa.

One public commenter inquired about the goals of the social equity committee as it pertained to other marginalized groups in the community outside of race. Another, a history teacher, suggested the importance of finding a goal that could educate faculty and students about the importance of socially conscious speech and behavior.

Garaventa noted he filled a position as a city council representative on the committee because Plummer decided to step down.

Garaventa said “epithets” and “blatant racism” were more common in Tuolumne County when he was a child due to the largely homogeneous ethnic makeup of the county. He said he has seen a positive shift in the county since his youth, but noted there is still additional work to be done to ease misunderstandings.

“I deal with a lot of young people who feel that their voice isn’t being heard, and I can relate to that,” Garaventa said.

Garaventa also educated committee members on the Brown Act, a California law which allows public participation in government meetings. Garaventa warned committee members their correspondence related to the committee could be made public through a Public Records Act request, which could result in some form of legal censure.

He said information related to the committee had already been requested through a Public Records Act request, but declined to identify who made the request until the city attorney finalized the disclosure.

Such asked the members to think of a purpose and mission statement for the committee when they left the meeting on Monday. They will reconvene on Oct. 12.