On Tuesday January 21, 2025, the Albany City Council held a regularly scheduled meeting at which the council considered several agenda items, including forming a standing committee on social equity to take the place of the Racial Inclusivity and Social Equity (RISE) Commission. The goal of the discussion was to review an alternative proposal and new model being used in Albany for public safety oversight and matters related to public finance. Vice Mayor Peggy McQuaid said the proposed council subcommittee structure for RISE would be a way to expeditiously promote, elevate and review issues related to diversity and inclusion.

Other council members present included Mayor Robin Lopez, Council Member Jennifer Hansen-Ramero, Council Member Preston Jordan, and Council Member John Anthony Miki.

McQuaid spoke about transforming and sunsetting RISE from a commission with seven community members to a council subcommittee composed of two members. McQuaid said the new subcommittee would be in a much better position to efficiently address unanticipated issues at the council level, instead of continuing to situate them at the advisory body level.

Her suggestion that a new two-member subcommittee would also be a better use of people’s time compared to the seven-member commission was countered by Albany community members Margie Marks and Julie Ann Winkelstein. Marks said that in order to uplift and highlight diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), they must support RISE instead of sunsetting it. Winkelstein then said that a new two member subcommittee that meets in private would not follow the stated goals of the commission.

The following description of RISE found on albanyca.org states that “the charge of this Commission is to advise the City Council on the citywide priorities of equity, diversity, accountability and inclusivity to address the broad spectrum of intersectional issues across race and social equity within the City of Albany.”

Mayor Robin Lopez

After a moment of pause, Lopez gave an earnest plea to maintain the RISE Commission. He said sunsetting RISE would prove to be a major disservice, that it was crucial to Albany, and that the plan to make it stronger and more uplifting should be revisited. “I think maybe we’re steering away from something that could give us a much better pathway forward to really help hone in and serve our community,” Lopez said.

Lopez explained that while he acknowledged RISE was not a perfect commission and had its faults, he believed it was important to revamp it instead of eliminating it and creating the subcommittee to stand in its place.

As the only Brown member of the council, Lopez said he couldn’t overemphasize the importance of local government during this time and said, “my biggest focus is healing at the local level, we’re not insulated from what happens at the federal level and I know that from firsthand experience.” He said even advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion can put you on the hot seat right now, and that he was concerned about the mental health of many people in the community who were living in fear of how federal policy decisions could impact them and their neighbors.

Lopez said that although he appreciated learning about the proposal for a new structure, he believed the shared goal of making their efforts more effective and responsive to the diversity of needs and interests could be accomplished by improving the commission. The community needs to know there is a safe space to discuss DEI issues in this political moment, he said.

After listening to Lopez, Hansen-Romero said maybe there was an opportunity here to bring the community in to share their thoughts and needs, and say what they’d like to see. McQuaid said this was indeed the goal, to figure out a way to bring more helpful voices into the conversation.

Jordan said after reflecting on all that Lopez had to say, he thought it would be a terrible time to sunset the RISE Commission.

As the meeting began to wind down, Miki said, in general, it’s important to not only find ways to involve the community, but to clearly communicate about what commissions can and cannot do. This was absolutely essential, he said, so volunteer commissioners do not feel their time was wasted at the end of their terms of service. After some further discussion about forming an adhoc body to explore how to help meet the stated goals of RISE and other ways to restructure RISE to deepen its relationship with the council, Miki made a motion to maintain RISE and encourage more applicants.  After Jordan seconded the motion, the council voted unanimously to preserve the RISE Commission, with all council members expressing a desire to elevate its work and ensure it meets the needs of Albany residents.

–Tasya Xiao