Buena Park officials have added “equity” to the city’s core values, approving a resolution reaffirming the town’s commitment to equal access for everyone in its programs and policies.

Editors’ Note: This dispatch is part of the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service, working with student journalists to cover public policy issues across Orange County. If you would like to submit your own student media project related to Orange County civics or if you have any response to this work, contact Collegiate News Service Editor Vik Jolly at vjolly@voiceofoc.org.

Previously, the values included excellence, communication, teamwork, commitment, respect, and integrity.

City Council members during a meeting in March discussed at length the language for the resolution. Ultimately, they elected to keep the original language drafted by the city’s human resources committee.

“I believe equity has always been a core value, but it hasn’t been addressed or stated,” said Mayor Pro Tem Sunny Youngsun Park. 

The resolution comes at a time when hate crimes against Asian Americans have increased across the country.

[Read: Orange County Cities Continue Discussion On How To Address Hate Incidents] 

The city defined equity as “justice, fair treatment, and providing people with resources and opportunities they need given their history and set of circumstances.”

The resolution follows a July 2020 council meeting in which Council member Art Brown requested a resolution addressing Buena Park’s racial inequities be up for discussion. The city’s human relations committee, formed in October, drafted a resolution meant to reaffirm the city’s “commitment to celebrating diversity, addressing social, and racial inequalities, and promoting equity in the community.”

The committee’s recommended resolution had several provisions, including:

  • The city will continue to create a community and government spaces where all people are treated with respect, feel safe, and are heard
  • The city will continue to study policies and practices that may contribute to inequality or a disparity among members of the public, and will rectify and supplement such policies and practices as needed

The City Council approved the resolution unanimously.

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