Sanctuary City: Piedmont City Council Considers Resolution

PIEDMONT, CA — At its regular meeting on June 4, 2018 at 7:30 p.m., the City Council will consider a resolution declaring the City of Piedmont as a sanctuary city and affirming Piedmont’s long-standing practice of providing service regardless of immigration status.

The City Council has taken several actions over the past two years to quell the fear and anxiety felt by the community resulting from possible changes to federal immigration laws and enforcement policies.

On November 21, 2016, the City Council and the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education jointly committed to fostering a safe, inclusive and civil community through City and District policies, programming, and leadership.

On March 6, 2017, the City Council affirmed the action of the Alameda County Mayor’s Conference which had passed a resolution

1) Condemning violence and hate speech
2) Expressing solidarity with all those targeted for their ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, ability, or nationality
3) Expressing support of immigrants and refugees. In taking this action, the City Councilunanimously stated its support for the recitals and declarations made in that resolution.

SB 54, the California Values Act, which was signed into law by the Governor on October 15,2017, prohibits law enforcement from acting as agents of federal immigration authorities. Since 2014, the policies and procedures of the Piedmont Police Department have prohibited police officers from contacting, detaining, or arresting someone based solely on the suspicion that an individual is an undocumented immigrant.

The Council is considering this action after receiving requests from residents to do so at several City Council meetings. The text of the draft resolution is available on the City’s website.

Public comment is invited and encouraged at this meeting.

Written comments may be submitted to the City Council at citycouncil@piedmont.ca.gov or by US Mail to City Clerk, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611. All comments submitted will become part of the public
record.

The meeting will be televised live on KCOM-TV, Channel 27, the City’s government TV station and will be available through streaming video on the City’s web sitewww.ci.piedmont.ca.us.

-Announcement by City of Piedmont; Image via Patch Archive