The City of Roseville is committed to taking tangible steps to normalize, organize, and operationalize racial equity principles and tools, with an eye toward impactful and sustainable outcomes that create a more equitable community.

Racial Equity

Racial equity is when race can no longer be used to predict success and outcomes for all groups are improved.

Background

In 2018, a team of 14 Roseville staff members representing every department at the city participated in a year-long racial equity training. The League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) and the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) facilitated the program.

To build on this training, the city has formed a Strategy Team. The Strategy Team is a group of diverse city staff members which will work toward:

• Providing guidance to the consultant on overall direction for the consultancy
• Supporting the effective participation of a broader group of Stakeholders in the consultancy activities as necessary, sufficient and appropriate
• Helping craft and review a citywide improvement plan
• Contributing to leadership adoption of the improvement plan

This Strategy Team will evaluate, recommend and help implement activities, programs, and campaigns that further the development and adoption of the equity strategic action plan for the City of Roseville. The group is responsible for evaluating the feasibility of proposed activities and for ensuring that all recommended activities align with the mission and philosophy of the city, its values, and its equity goals. The team will also help ensure integration of improvement efforts with other city initiatives, such as GARE.

Race is consistently a primary indicator of a person’s success and wellness in society and government has historically played a role in creating barriers and inequities. These actions have created racial disparities that continue to harm our community. Rectifying these disparities is critical to the development of a vibrant community and a high quality of life for all residents.

Goals

The City of Roseville is dedicated to creating an inclusive community where the predictability of success is not based on race or ethnicity. To accomplish this goal, all city departments will prioritize racial equity in their planning, delivery, and evaluation of programs, policies, and services. The City of Roseville is committed to taking tangible steps to normalize, organize, and implement racial equity principles and tools, with an eye toward impactful and sustainable outcomes that create a more equitable community.

Progress

• In March 2019, Roseville’s GARE team presented a long-term strategic Racial Equity Action Plan to the City Council that builds staff capacity and outlines meaningful and measurable results that will move the organization toward racial equity. The goal of the Racial Equity Action Plan is institutional and structural change developed under the guiding principle that “all people of Roseville are welcomed, included and respected.”
• Racial equity training was provided to all city staff in November and December of 2019 and new staff receive training as part of their onboarding.
• Future priority areas have been identified in order to begin building a foundation and sustainable effort within the organization to work on racial equity.
• Conversations are occurring within department meetings, in Commission meetings, at City Council meetings, and in the community as the city shares its commitment to racial equity as an organizational priority.
• In the summer of 2019, plans were initiated to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month with a celebration in Central Park. Unfortunately, the weather proved to be uncooperative but planning is already in place to host the event again in the fall of 2020.
• In June of 2020, the Roseville Police Department and city staff combined to produce an #8CantWait webpage detailing how revisions made to the department’s Use of Force Policy align with all eight of the recommendations made by the #8CantWait initiative.
• In July of 2020, the Roseville Police Department will launch the Multicultural Advisory Committee (MAC) to enhance communication and address racial disparities in policing to better serve Roseville’s diverse community. The MAC members will advise the Police Department on the current needs of the communities they represent with a focus on addressing racial barriers and inequities.
• On Monday, August 10, 2020, the Roseville City Council formally adopted the Racial Equity Narrative developed by the city's Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) team.

References and Resources

• Racial Equity Action Plan Highlights
• Racial Equity Action Plan Metric Progress
• City Proclamations
• Roseville Human Rights, Inclusion and Engagement Commission
• Roseville Department: Transparency and Data Sharing
• Imagine Roseville
• Anti-Racism Resources