Published:  July 14, 2020

Words are not enough, but they are a start. This morning at the beginning of our meeting, we took a unified stand in condemning the hateful racist and sexist attack on County and local leaders that occurred recently during an online community meeting to address homeless issues. At a time when we are working to build up our community and assist our most vulnerable residents, these cowardly hidden individuals sought to divide us and undermine our commitment for change. They will not succeed. This attack, which included violent, sexist and racist images, was hurtful and underscored recent attention of how very far we have to go as a society and community to address systemic racism. Our hearts go out especially to our employees and community members of color who were targets of the attack. We want to assure all employees of our commitment to a safe and inclusive workplace environment, free from racism, overt or otherwise.  

Sonoma County is not the first area to be the target of these kinds of digital terrorist acts. Nonetheless, whether this happens in 1,000 communities or just one, the truth is the same – there is no place for this kind of racist and abhorrent attack in modern society. We are encouraged to hear that Santa Rosa police are investigating this intrusion for what it clearly was - a hate crime.  

We stand with all citizens of Sonoma County, particularly our Black, Hispanic/Latinx, Indigenous and Asian residents as well as members of our LGBTQI community who are too often targets of discrimination. What we cannot begin to condemn strongly enough in words, we must demonstrate in our actions, as a county, to build a better community grounded in equity, empathy and justice.   

Thank you for your efforts in helping us move forward on all of these fronts.  

Sincerely,  

Supervisor Susan Gori, Chair, Board of Supervisors

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, Vice Chair

Supervisor James Gore

Supervisor David Rabbitt

Supervisor Shirlee Zane