Fairfax equity panel cedes openness to combat ‘hostility’

Town officials say the policing subcommittee does not have to conform to Brown Act requirements for meetings.

Citing public harassment, Fairfax’s racial equity and social justice subcommittee earned Town Council approval this week to remove Brown Act requirements for meetings.

The request, which was approved in a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Barbara Coler dissenting, led to hours of debate at the council’s meeting Wednesday.

Formed after Fairfax officials held forums in the wake of George Floyd’s death last year, the equity committee heard from non-White residents that “they do not feel welcome and safe,” said Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman. The body formed a subcommittee to study policing practices, but members of both groups say they received aggressive pushback from public commenters during meetings in May and June.

The committee asked the council to remove the subcommittee’s open meetings requirement, hoping to stem the tide.

“I resigned as the chair of the Police Practices and Public Safety Alternatives Subcommittee due to tremendously harmful comments and microaggressions constantly being made during my time as a member,” Alexandra Rosen said.

Rosen said she originally supported the subcommittee falling under Brown Act requirements for transparency reasons, but she said “public comment has become an open space for folks to be insulting and use microaggressions towards members of color.”

“Part of dismantling racism is to disrupt it,” she said. “If I sat there and allowed for members of the community … to display racist remarks, then I am contributing to systemic racism and oppression. When my speaking up caused more hostility within our meeting’s public comment sections, I chose to remove myself from the situation.”

Rosen and member Veronica Geretz agreed that allowing the subcommittee to work without Brown Act compliance enables members to work “in a safe space.”

The subcommittee is committed to posting minutes from the meetings, and any action taken must be publicly presented at the racial equity committee and Town Council sessions, Rosen said.

“Both meetings are under the Brown Act, therefore the public will still have the opportunity to hear what the PPPSA is working on and give feedback before any action is taken,” she said.

No other subcommittees are subject to the Brown Act, Rosen noted.

Town Manager Garrett Toy said the subcommittee does not have to operate under the same guidelines as its committee. Town Attorney Janet Coleson said this is because subcommittees are not legislative bodies, which are subject to Brown Act requirements.

Multiple commenters disagreed, some saying all committees should have to fall under the public meetings disclosure guidelines governed by state law. Others criticized the committee’s members and called for its disbanding.

Frank Egger, a former mayor, said the public should know what happens in the subcommittee meetings. Laurie Berliner said she thinks the council should consider “putting the whole thing on hiatus.”

Others, such as committee members Brian Poindexter and Lisel Blash, chastised critics for suggesting the effort be disbanded. “It actually seems like a strategic ploy to stall progress,” Poindexter said.

“Naming the inequity that exists isn’t creating division, it’s just naming what already exists,” Blash said.

Lisa Jimenez thanked Toy for supporting the group’s work and asked residents to “do deep listening to hear community members saying they feel harmed and they feel afraid, and are concerned about their own personal wellness.”

Coler said that because there is public interest in the subcommittee, it is “so important to make that part of the open meetings act.”

“I’m concerned the Brown Act is being seen as something that hinders work,” she said.

Councilmember Chance Cutrano, who serves on the committee, emphasized the need to hear committee members who say they have been attacked by commenters, and let the subcommittee get work done as other subcommittees do.

“There’s a lot of harm being done and we shouldn’t take it lightly,” he said. “I think we should honor that people have come forward and said they felt harmed by some of the comments that have come in. ”

Both the committee and the subcommittee need members, and the application period is open, Mayor Bruce Ackerman said.