Vallejo’s Police Oversight Commission appointed as union negotiations near completion

VALLEJO – The Vallejo City Council appointed eight members of the city’s new Police Oversight and Accountability Commission last week but the commission’s work cannot begin until negotiations with the Vallejo Police Officers Association that have been ongoing for over a year are completed.

The Vallejo City Council adopted the ordinance creating the police oversight commission in December 2022 but the city is required to complete a “meet and confer” process with the police union prior to implementing changes that can affect the working condition of employee bargaining units. Vallejo spokesperson Christina Lee said the process is now “almost complete.”

The newly appointed commission members will undergo a background check that will screen for crimes requiring registration as a sex offender, crimes involving child abuse and felonies that involve harm to a police officer. The commission ordinance also requires members to complete an extensive training process before participating on the commission, which could take as long as nine months.

Lee said that the city does not expect the unfinished police union negotiations to affect the timelines for commissioner training.

Independent oversight of the department was one of 45 reforms that were required by the three-year reform agreement with the California Department of Justice. When the term was up last June, the department reported that they had reached substantial compliance with only 20 of the 45 reforms. In October, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a new five-year reform agreement with the city of Vallejo, which placed the department under court supervision until those and other reforms are completed.

Councilmembers interviewed applicants for the police commission at a special meeting on Feb. 10. On Tuesday, each councilmember appointed a commissioner from a selection of eligible applicants from their district. 

Rozzana Verder-Aliga, District 1, appointed attorney Mike Nisperos to the commission. Nisperos formerly served as chief trial counsel for the California State Bar Association and a deputy district attorney for Alameda County. Nisperos served on the police commission for the city of Oakland and was a prominent member of the organization Common Ground which helped draft the ordinance for Vallejo’s police oversight commission. 

During his interview for the commission, Councilmember Mina Loera-Diaz asked him how racism affects people of color. Nisperos, who is Filipino-American, said he had personally experienced racism as a child growing up in the south, then in the U.S. Marine Corps and in law school. He said it has motivated his efforts for social change

“I will not tolerate it.” Nisperos said. “I will not tolerate it in any institution of government. It's an anathema. Especially in this commission, this commission needs to be absolutely pure. It's going to face a lot of criticism from a lot of different angles.”

Disodado “J.R.” Matulac appointed Cameron Clark to the Commission for District 2. Clark is executive director of the nonprofit Developing Organizing Visions for Everyone, which provides support for formerly incarcerated individuals as they reenter society. Clark was formerly incarcerated himself and in his interview he recalled that as anAfrican-American youth police officers automatically treated him like a criminal. 

He said that at that time he was interested in becoming a police officer, but that those experiences created a barrier in building a relationship with the police. 

At the end of his interview, Clark noted that the name of the organization he founded is an acronym made from the gang name that he was given as a young man. “While I was incarcerated, I said, ‘You know what, I'm gonna take this name. And one day, I'm gonna give it back to the community as a blessing.’ Because I [had] taken away from the community. I have to pay it forward.” 

For District 3, Loera-Diaz selected Richard Hybels who years ago worked for the courts conducting investigations for sentencing recommendations and as a probation officer. He then ran a cab company in San Francisco for many years. 

When asked what experience he would draw on to be impartial in considering police disciplinary matters, Hybels said that he had developed a reputation for being fair to drivers in a difficult industry. Hybels is also on the Measure P oversight committee.

Renee Sykes was the only qualified candidate for Charles Palmares’s District 4. Sykes was a community liaison for the Oakland Police Department for 27 years and she is also a member of Common Ground. 

In her interview, Sykes cited her experience working with Oakland’s Police Commission and said she learned how important it is for commissioners to receive adequate training so they can work within state laws as well as the labor contracts for both sworn and non-sworn personnel. 

“Just because you work for the police department does not necessarily mean you're always in agreement with what they do,” Sykes said. “But you try and have a conversation. And that, for me, required having a relationship.” According to Sykes, one of her successes in Oakland was developing a strong working relationship with the president of the Oakland Police Officers Association.

Peter Bregenzer appointed Derek Roy from a list of six qualified applicants from District 5. When asked what ways he could support the Vallejo Police Department in responding to the needs of the community, Roy said that as a member of the Washington Square Park Neighborhood Association, he would be able to understand and communicate many of the concerns of the neighbors. 

Roy described two events when he had to call the police, one when a bullet hit his and his wife’s home and one in which a car crashed into a landscaping wall in their yard. He said that he did not feel comfortable interacting with the police at first because of how it might be perceived by his neighbors.

Cristina Arriola picked John Lewis out of two qualified applicants from District 6. Lewis is a retired economist who worked for the U.S. Department of Labor where he assisted workers who had filed Equal Employment Opportunity complaints. 

When Lewis was asked how he could support the police department in responding to community needs, he said, “As the committee makes decisions on individual incidents, it’s going to give notice as to how the community wants the police to respond.”  

Lewis recalled national outrage over the police murder of George Floyd, which led to the prosecution of Officer Derek Chauvin as well as officers who stood by and did not act to prevent Floyd’s death. “This has put everybody on notice that it's not good enough to just ignore a situation, you have an obligation to step up,” he said. “And that comes about as a result of the community of people nationwide saying that we want the whole culture to change.”

Mayor Robert McConnell selected Naomi Yun, an applicant from District 3, as the at-large member of the commission. Yun previously served as chair of the Surveillance Advisory Board, she was also formerly employed as a legal secretary for the Vallejo city attorney’s office. She now works for the city of San Ramon as a paralegal.

In responding to a question on how the police reform movement spurred by deaths at the hands of officers would affect her role as a commissioner, Yun said that she would have to take a step back from the emotion around the topic and look carefully at the circumstances, the evidence and the data for each incident she reviewed. 

Yun said that it would be important to find a balance between the city’s need for officers and the need to change the culture of the police department so officers understand that they need to be held accountable. 

The council voted to select Melvin E. Jones as the commission’s alternate member. Jones, who uses a wheelchair, said that his disability has made him a better listener and it has helped him to have compassion and empathy for people from all walks of life. Jones said that he has also struggled with depression but participating in the Vallejo community gave him strength. He said that, as a commissioner, he could contribute his determination, understanding and willingness to be part of the solution. 

 The commission ordinance calls for one of two alternate members to be a youth member who must be between the ages of 18 to 25 but the city did not receive any qualified applications for the position. The city is accepting applications for the remaining youth member position. Vallejo residents between the ages of 18 to 25 can apply at https://cityofvallejo.formstack.com/forms/poac