In the months after the City of Mill Valley’s 22-person Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Task Force issued in 2022 its full report and recommendations in the form of a 93-page document that spanned the full breadth and depth of equity-related issues facing the city, policing drew the lion’s share of the discussion. Police Chief Rick Navarro and his team largely focused on the community’s interest in making Mill Valley a safer, more welcoming place for all residents and visitors, framed within the larger, national conversation around police killings of Black people, particularly the killing George Floyd, whose death sparked a series of peaceful protests both here in Mill Valley and all over Marin and the world in the spring and summer of 2020.
Much activity followed on the heels of those efforts, including AB 953: The Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA), which requires California law enforcement agencies to begin “collecting and reporting data on complaints that allege racial or identity profiling,” as well as “perceived demographic and other detailed data regarding pedestrian and traffic stops. Here’s a comprehensive list of the actions taken to date. Those efforts and much more were part of the City’s DEI Work Plan.
In 2024, the City of Mill Valley Hired Tammy Herndon as Management Analyst with Focus on DEI. She has an extensive resume of volunteer work, demonstrating her strong dedication to community service. From serving as the DEI Chair for the Mill Valley School District’s PTA Council and It Takes A Village – Special Education PTA, to her involvement with organizations like PAASS (Project Awareness and Special Sports) and MVFREE (Mill Valley Force for Racial Equity & Empowerment), Tammy has consistently demonstrated her commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and empowerment within the community.
John Porter, executive director of the Southern Marin Lacrosse Club, said DEI initiatives have become a top-down priority for the sport’s governing bodies on a national basis. The club recently partnered with Play Marin, a Marin-City youth sports advocacy organization, to promote its DEI goals, he said. “For us to be able to reinforce the importance of the message as a whole puts us in a position of leadership for the entire lacrosse community,” Porter said.
Risa De Ferrari, deputy director of the Mill Valley Arts and Recreation Department, told the Marin Independent Journal the program was expected to reflect positively in the mentorship of the many thousands of student athletes in the city. “As far as I’m aware we are the only recreation department in Marin County and possibly through the state that is spearheading this type of DEI initiative,” De Ferrari said. “We’re excited to make this work.”
Now comes word that the ever-aggressive Trump administration’s U.S. Department of Education has put Marin school districts on notice that they risk losing federal funding if they use diversity, equity and inclusion programs to give advantages to one race over another. The department has also cautioned the school districts regarding the alleged misuse of two laws meant to protect the privacy of students.
In a letter sent to educators, Linda McMahon, the former professional wrestling promoter whom President Trump appointed secretary of education, wrote that the laws are being misapplied, “turning the concept of privacy on its head to facilitate ideological indoctrination in a school environment without parental interference or even involvement.”
The laws involved are the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment. “COVID-19 opened parents’ eyes to the pervasive indoctrination taking place in many classrooms,” the letter said. “Families across the country saw gender ideology and critical race theory taught on-screen at their own kitchen tables.”
On March 27, the U.S. Department of Education announced it had launched an investigation into the California Department of Education for alleged violations of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA.
John Carroll, the head of the Marin County Office of Education, said similar requests were sent to school districts in all 50 states. In Marin, he said, “I think they went to all the school districts.”
Carroll said that federal money, which accounts for approximately 10% of local schools’ total funding, is not used for DEI efforts. Carroll said the California Department of Education has not heard back from the federal government since issuing its responses. News of the ultimatum to Marin schools surfaced during the April 15 meeting of the Marin County Board of Education. Carroll provided members of the board with a brief summary of the DEI issue as part of the report that he provides at every meeting. The matter wasn’t agendized for discussion.