Government
Gov. Gavin Newsom Appoints African American Woman to Lead Government Operations
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Yolanda Richardson, 49, secretary of the Government Operations Agency. Sacramento insiders call it “GovOps” for short.
If the state Senate confirms Richardson for the role, the Democrat who lives in Roseville will oversee the administration of all state operations, including cross-agency functions like procurement, human resources, and information technology. She will also be responsible for directing the operations of the Office of Digital Innovation, a new department the state agency describes as a “startup in government focused on improving services for the people of California.”
The state also tasks the Government Operations Agency with streamlining government processes and programs to increase accountability and efficiency.
Richardson has more than 25 years of top-level experience in healthcare management, including serving as chief deputy executive director at Covered California from 2011 to 2016. Before that, she worked as chief operating officer at Cal eConnect from 2009 to 2011 and at the San Francisco Health Plan from 2007 to 2009. Since 2016, Richardson has worked as president of Teloiv Consulting, a private firm with expertise in healthcare. Her annual salary would be $217, 292.
The same day he appointed Richardson, the governor also appointed Lourdes M. Castro Ramírez as secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency and reappointed Vito Imbasciani as secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs.
Activism
COMMENTARY: My Sunday School Lesson with President Jimmy Carter
When I saw him, Carter was spry, quick-witted, and kind. The former president wore a bolo string tie anchored by an eight-stone turquoise clasp that dangled below the neck, as he began the lesson on the subject of grief and the death of his 28-year-old grandson. Drawing from scripture (on this particular day, a passage on the persecution of the Thessalonians), Carter said such moments were simply tests of one’s faith, endurance, and hope.
By Emil Guillermo
President Jimmy Carter, at age 100, didn’t make it to the new year, nor the next presidential inaugural.
I’ve always been a big Carter fan, so the news of his passing brought me back to a happy place.
Plains, Georgia, 2016.
I was visiting family not far from the land of presidential peanut farmers. I found myself the only full-blooded Filipino in the room at Maranatha Baptist Church, the spiritual home base for the esteemed No. 39.
President Carter looked fine that Sunday in Plains. But especially fine for his job on that day– to give the Sunday school lesson on what coincidentally was the 15th anniversary of 9/11.
Carter’s health made headlines in 2015 when he disclosed having both brain and liver cancer. It was thought he had just two or three weeks to live.
Everyone’s always underestimating Carter. After treatments, Carter’s forecast turned out not to be true.
When I saw him, Carter was spry, quick-witted, and kind. The former president wore a bolo string tie anchored by an eight-stone turquoise clasp that dangled below the neck, as he began the lesson on the subject of grief and the death of his 28-year-old grandson. Drawing from scripture (on this particular day, a passage on the persecution of the Thessalonians), Carter said such moments were simply tests of one’s faith, endurance, and hope.
“We lack inspiration, we lack the idealism to set our goals high. We’ve been satisfied with mediocrity. And I include myself,” Carter said. People want an average life, instead of aspiring to be, “outstanding, or superb or brilliant or exceptional.”
“I’m afraid that our country and its effect on people of other nations has suffered from the aftermath of 9/11,” Carter said. He “didn’t want to brag,” but said his goal for the country was always to be “superb and be a country that promoted peace and human rights…While I was in office, we never dropped a bomb, lost a missile, or fired a bullet.”
“Since 9/11,” Carter said, “we’ve pretty much abandoned our commitment to human rights as we reacted to terrorism.” He lamented that Afghanistan had become the longest war in American history, a direct outcome of 9/11, as well as the invasion of Iraq, which Carter called “unnecessary.”
Carter, whose administration took us out of an energy crisis, also pointed out how the U.S. is still suffering from a financial crisis that has exposed a deep inequality that has divided us as a people.
“We’ve become distrustful of people who are different from us,” Carter said. “We used to be a proud heterogeneous nation…and now we are fearful…and we’ve become poorer as a country.”
Carter won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002; a fact that belies how many conservatives view his efforts to find a peace in the Middle East as “anti-Semitic.”
Jimmy Carter’s worldview requires open minds to come together. Too often. these days, that seems nearly impossible.
About the Author
Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator He was the first Filipino American to host a national news show in 1989 at NPR’s “All Things Considered.” See Emil Amok’s Takeout on www.patreon.com/emilamok Subscribe to him on YouTube.com/@emilamok1
California Black Media
2024 in Review: 7 Questions for Sacramento’s New Mayor Kevin McCarty
During his time in the Assembly, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty authored over 90 measures that became law including the Universal Preschool Act, the American River Parkway Conservancy Act, Independent Investigations in Police Shootings, among others.
By Edward Henderson, California Black Media
In November, former California Assemblymember Kevin McCarty was elected Mayor of Sacramento.
He was sworn into this new role on Dec. 10.
Before becoming Mayor, McCarty represented the 6th Assembly District for 10 years. This district includes most of Sacramento and parts of Sacramento County.
During his time in the Assembly, McCarty authored over 90 measures that became law, including the Universal Preschool Act, the American River Parkway Conservancy Act, and Independent Investigations in Police Shootings, among others.
McCarty and his wife Leticia have twin daughters, Victoria and Barbara.
California Black Media (CBM) spoke with McCarty as he concludes his term in the Legislature to reflect on his accomplishments this year as he enters his new role as Mayor.
Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why?
I had a bill that was an urgency measure that was signed in June. It creates a new class for high school students to learn about financial literacy; to learn about dollars and cents and what it means to be a young person today as far as credit cards, student debt, buying a house and all the things that come that come with being an adult. I’m excited that my bill became law.
How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians?
Black Californians are certainly a part of my legislative agenda. My Assembly district was very similar to California, way less than 10% Black population. But the issue is that education and health care and housing and poverty loom large — how they impact Black Californians.
What frustrated you the most over the last year?
We are in a downturn in our economy with our state budget. So, I wasn’t able to score some final victories on some of my top priorities like the middle-class scholarship to make college debt-free.
What inspired you the most over the last year?
There’s so much work to be done and this was my final year in the Legislature. So, looking at all of our successes and trying to be able to make a difference and help change people’s lives throughout California.
What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?
It takes time. This work is not easy. Look at this firestorm we’re in right now about reparations and what we did and didn’t do. This work is not easy. If it was easy, we would have done it a long time ago.
But it’s our job to continue to fight, push forward and keep at it.
In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?
Patience.
You know, we want some of these reparations policies to happen now. So, it’s hard to be patient. We want to see change now and so we just have to keep plugging along.
What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?
I won the race for Mayor here in my hometown, Sacramento.
So, I will continue work in public service, serving people and making a difference in people’s lives. Just a different vantage point being a Mayor versus an Assemblymember. But it’s always the same thing. It’s helping people, public service, making a difference, and remembering those who don’t always have government on their side.
Activism
New Report Shows Disparities in Police Stops of Youth in California
“Like those before it, the 2025 RIPA report provides actionable information to address bias in policing. This year’s report is particularly important with its focus on young Californians. The racial disparities of policing stops, searches and use of force of youth is alarming,” said Andrea Guerrero, co-chair of the RIPA Board and executive director of Alliance San Diego.
African Americans were stopped ‘126% more frequently than expected’
By Post Staff
The California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board this week released its annual report on police stops across California, analyzing 4.7 million vehicle and pedestrian stops conducted in 2023 by 539 law enforcement agencies in California.
The analysis, conducted as part of the Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA), shows disparities consistent with those observed in prior years’ data based on perceived race, age, and disability status.
The report finds that the disparity between the proportion of stops and the proportion of residential population was greatest for individuals perceived to be Black, who were stopped 126% more frequently than expected, followed by individuals perceived to be Latino, who were stopped 44% more frequently than expected.
In addition to providing an in-depth look into policing in 2023, the report contains a wide array of best-practice recommendations related to policing.
“Like those before it, the 2025 RIPA report provides actionable information to address bias in policing. This year’s report is particularly important with its focus on young Californians. The racial disparities of policing stops, searches and use of force of youth is alarming,” said Andrea Guerrero, co-chair of the RIPA Board and executive director of Alliance San Diego.
“Young Californians who are driving, biking, and walking and perceived to be Black or Brown are regularly stopped, asked to consent to a search, handcuffed, sat on the curb, put in a police car, and questioned for information that is recorded on a field interview card before being released,” said Guerrero.
“This is California’s version of stop-and-frisk that causes immeasurable harm to the community and erodes trust in law enforcement from a young age. In this report, the Board makes a number of recommendations that we encourage policy makers, law enforcement agencies, and community advocates to consider eliminating bias in policing and enhance public safety,” she said.
“The annual collection of RIPA stop data is one part of our broader effort to increase public safety for all Californians. Through the analysis of stop data and recommendations for thoughtful reforms, we’re continuing to strengthen trust between local law enforcement and the communities they serve,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Key findings of the report related to youth include:
- Actions Taken: Overall, Native American, Black, Latino, and multiracial individuals had more actions taken per average stop than other racial and ethnic groups. For youth ages 1-17, officers reported the highest average of actions taken during a stop for Black youth. And for those perceived to be 18-24, officers reported the highest average number of actions were taken for Black and Latino youth. Youth perceived to be 12-14 were more likely to be searched, handcuffed, and detained during a stop than any other age group.
- Search Rates: Native American and Black individuals were searched at higher rates than those who are white, and officers were less likely to discover contraband or evidence during searches of those individuals than they were during searches of individuals perceived to be white.
- Use of Force: For youth ages 12–24, officers were more likely to use force in stops of youth perceived to be Black and Native American compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Black and Native American youth also had the highest rates of handcuffing, and the highest rates of a firearm pointed at them during a stop. Youth with a perceived disability were more likely to be handcuffed as part of a stop than youth without a perceived disability.
- Results of Stop: Officers were also more likely to report ‘no action taken’ for stops of individuals perceived as Native American and Black. Individuals perceived as transgender were arrested at approximately double the rate of those perceived as cisgender or gender nonconforming.
The Board’s Report also contains a wide array of policy recommendations related to policing, with a particular focus on the impact of police interactions with youth, civilian complaint processes, accountability, officer decertification, and training, on racial and identity profiling.
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