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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-001 - ResolutionRESOLUTION NO. 2021-001 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIFORNIA, FORMALIZING THE CITY'S COMMITMENT TO EQUITABLE AND INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WHEREAS, the City of Rancho Cucamonga, through its Healthy RC initiative, has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to innovative community partnerships and is already a recognized leader among cities that prioritize engaging with residents; and WHEREAS, in February 2019, the City of Rancho Cucamonga finalized a five-year Strategic Communications Plan to help streamline community engagement initiatives and facilitate effective community outreach efforts; and WHEREAS, in March 2019, the City Council of the City of Rancho Cucamonga adopted the following goal: "Building off the Strategic Communications Plan, develop a Community Engagement Policy with a health equity framework to ensure RC's diverse community perspectives are included in shaping City policies, practices, programs, and services"; and WHEREAS, health equity is about attaining the highest level of health for everyone in our community; and WHEREAS, to promote health equity, efforts need to be made to ensure that everyone has equitable access to opportunities that help them lead healthy lives; and WHEREAS, addressing health equity means seeking ways to remove barriers to achieving good health, and creating opportunities to address the social determinants of health (i.e. education, income, employment status, social support, neighborhood and built environment, gender, culture, race/ethnicity etc.) by decreasing inequities that exist among certain population groups; and WHEREAS, a focus on equity is essential to any community engagement process in order to engage, serve, and improve outcomes for all community members, especially for priority neighborhoods or populations that have a higher risk of experiencing health inequities than the rest of the community; have a high percentage of structurally disadvantaged people; have been historically underserved and deprived of investment; or have been identified as "disadvantaged communities" by the California Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Section 39711 of the California Health and Safety Code; and WHEREAS, studies show that community engagement initiatives can have a positive impact on health outcomes and health behaviors if they are effectively designed and implemented; and WHEREAS, successfully engaging community members in governmental decision making can foster connectedness, build public trust in government, increase residents' leadership capacity, and improve government operations; and Resolution No. 2021-001 - Page 1 of 3 WHEREAS, as the composition of Rancho Cucamonga's population continues to change, the City needs to continually revisit and expand its community engagement efforts in order to ensure that growing demographic groups are represented in governmental decision making and barriers that discourage people from participating are mitigated; and WHEREAS, the City of Rancho Cucamonga recognizes that residents have skills, experiences, and knowledge that are vital to developing policies, programs, projects, and services that meet their needs; and WHEREAS, the City of Rancho Cucamonga desires to formalize its long-standing commitment to community engagement by implementing consistent practices across all City departments and by directing the City's outreach staff and other public engagement resources to activities that are inclusive and effective and that encourage participation by a broad range of community members; and NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA HEREBY RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS: 1. That the City of Rancho Cucamonga affirms its commitment to equitable and inclusive community engagement to advance health equity. 2. That the City of Rancho Cucamonga directs staff to develop an administrative policy that ensures equitable and inclusive community engagement practices are implemented across all City departments. Resolution No. 2021-001 - Page 2 of 3 PASSED, APPROVED, and ADOPTED this 6th day of January 2021. E'De)v is Michael, Ma r ATTEST: 14 rr-,�i6 - - STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO ) ss CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA ) I, Janice C. Reynolds, City Clerk of the City of Rancho Cucamonga, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly passed, approved, and adopted by the City Council of the City of Rancho Cucamonga, at a Regular Meeting of said Council held on the 6th day of January 2021. AYES: Hutchison, Kennedy, Michael, Scott, Spagnolo NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAINED: None Executed this 7th day of January, 2021, at Rancho Cucamonga, California. ps. - C. Reynolds,- i Resolution No. 2021-001 - Page 3 of 3