About Just San Bernadino Collaborative

Overview

These organizations, with the help of local communities and residents, have been on the front lines of local movements for the development of education and criminal justice reform, restorative justice and policing practices, at-risk youth engagement, fighting the environmental and social impacts of the region’s logistics/warehouse industry, the development of low-income housing, the creation of job and entrepreneurship opportunities in the region, as well as working to increase accountability within public policy and leadership. These organizations also serve as critical resources for groups that have been excluded from the labor market such as the formerly incarcerated and people with limited work experience. These organizations have been an important part of the grassroots organizing within the San Bernardino community and have a track record of positive results. 

Solutions for the City

We believe that the lessons we have learned through the people’s plan community process here set a path for a robust and powerful community engagement process. We believe that the current level of community engagement in San Bernardino is reflected in who has benefitted from this situation. 

We call on the city to establish equitable planning principles in its community engagement. Without engaging deeply with highly impacted communities the needs and priorities of the most vulnerable are unlikely to be taken into consideration. Processes like door to door surveys, online engagement and community events have proven to be much more effective than the traditional tools that the city uses to engage the community.

We call on the city to take on issues holistically rather than breaking them out by department. We know that issues of economic opportunity manifest in a variety of ways in our city, as this report details. Without talking about them collectively and with all related stakeholders and departments, these problems will not be adequately understood, let alone addressed.

Finally, we ask the city to partner with organizations like those in Just SB to ensure that there are trusted community partners engaging in outreach alongside the city. As trusted and skilled community partners, we can utilize cultural and class competency to gain trust with community members who may be reluctant to engage in a process run by the city. We hope to benefit the city and its administration through such partnerships in order to create a truly representative community engagement process. 

Michael Segura
Communications Strategist