Permit Sonoma announces Equity Working Committee membership

Permit Sonoma today announced the names of 20 individuals selected for a new Equity Working Committee designed to help shape land-use planning through an equity lens. More than 125 people applied to participate on the committee that will assist in developing Permit Sonoma and Sonoma County’s environmental justice policies and risk-reduction planning for wildfire and other hazards by centering the expertise of under-resourced communities.

The committee will help Permit Sonoma integrate the experiences of low-income residents, communities of color, communities experiencing disproportionate poor health outcomes, and people with disabilities to improve policy making, planning and public participation programs. The committee will advise Permit Sonoma in key policy efforts such as the Environmental Justice and Safety Element updates to the General Plan. The Equity Working Committee will also assist in identifying ways to improve community engagement with fire prevention grant programs.

Members of the working group are as follows:

The new updates to the Environmental Justice and Safety Elements of the General Plan will help provide the guidelines needed to develop land-use policy that would protect the public from hazards and to prioritize the needs of environmentally burdened and under-resourced communities. Together, these efforts are critical to advancing public health, resilience, and climate adaptation, and ensuring that everyone gets to access environmental benefits such as clean air and parks.

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Media Contact:
Bradley Dunn, Permit Sonoma Policy Manager 
Bradley.Dunn@sonoma-county.org 
(707) 321-0502
2550 Ventura Ave.
Santa Rosa, CA 95403