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To:  San Diego County Office of Equity and Racial Justice
cc:  Office of San Diego County Counsel, San Diego County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls

Good Afternoon,

Thank you for the opportunity you have afforded members of the community & civil society organizations to comment on the draft CEDAW ordinance you have crafted.

We have reviewed this document and will focus on several areas which require attention prior to presenting the ordinance to the Board of Supervisors for consideration at its April 26 meeting.

1.) Accountability through oversight
It is crucial that there be an independent mechanism for monitoring implementation of the CEDAW ordinance on an ongoing basis. The template ordinance formulated by Cities for CEDAW devotes almost an entire page to the “CEDAW Oversight Body.” In other counties/cities this role often is performed by the quasi-independent Commission on the Status of Women & Girls. In this draft, however, the government entity charged with implementation, Office of Equity & Racial Justice, is also charged with monitoring, which brings to mind the fox guarding the hen house.

In the public forum on March 22, several participants emphasized the necessity of strong oversight to assure that the process achieves the intended results:
- Professor Mary Hansel, UC Irvine School of Law
- Judy Hale, Gender Equity Commission, Pittsburg PA
- Nancy Bremeau, Assn of CA CSWs, & Santa Clara County CEDAW planning group
- Gail James, national coordinator, Cities for CEDAW

2.) Engagement of stakeholders
Another dimension emphasized by Professor Hansel & others is “ensuring robust engagement with local stakeholders, including organizations working on an array of social justice issues. Local stakeholders are really the experts on their needs & priorities. They should be provided with formal & regular opportunities to offer input, taking an active role in making the ordinance a meaningful tool for gender justice.” Included, certainly, should be representatives from the 18 incorporated cities in the County, as well as from areas with Native American tribal groups.

3.) Learning from others
The four experts cited in (1) above all called attention to the fine work executed over the past two decades by other counties/cities which offer examples to San Diego. Gail James mentioned Cincinnati & Pittsburgh. Mary Hansel recommended reviewing the accomplishments of the two jurisdictions which have led the CEDAW effort in California: San Francisco (1998) & Los Angeles (2003) (no need to reinvent the wheel).

4.) Two additional program areas which should be developed and added to Section 2, because they are essential & the County has considerable responsibilities:
- Education, broadly defined: Board of Education, Library, Parks & Recreation, Child Support & Welfare Services, etc.
- Environment: Department of Environmental Health & Quality, etc.

Thank you for your consideration,
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-Kim Knox, President (she/her)
League of Women Voters, San Diego
www.lwvsandiego.org