Assemblywoman Shirley Weber On Being Named San Diegan Of 2019 And Legislative Work Ahead

Speaker 1: 00:00 She served in the state assembly since 2012 representing California 79th district, which includes parts of San Diego, Chula Vista, national city, and all of lemon Grove in LA Mesa. Before that, she served as a board member at the San Diego unified school district and she's professor emerita of Africana studies at San Diego state. We're talking about Dr. Shirley Weber, who last week was named the 2019 San Diego of the year by the union Tribune. Dr. Weber joins us now to talk about her recent accomplishments and what's ahead. Dr. Weber, welcome. Thank you. It's good to be here this morning. Let's begin with that honor of being named San Diego of the year. I'd like to get your reaction to that. Well, I was somewhat shocked, uh, but really honored in many ways, not so much for me, but for those that I had worked so hard with for the past year and a half, those families who had lost individuals who had really put their trust in me and, and, and worked so hard with me, I was really honored for them. Speaker 1: 00:58 And so I was pleased that the union Tribune decided to name me as the, uh, San Diego of the year. Uh, they've been very supportive all year long. And so it was, it was quite a surprise, but at the same time, quite an honor and naming you San Diego of the year, the UT cited your bill that sets stricter standards for when police can use lethal force. Specifically the paper praised your approach of bringing all sides together to get that bill passed and signed. Can you talk to me a little bit more about that? Well, we really did this, this bill had over 240 some odd supporters of the bill in terms of organizations, not individuals, but organizations, thousands of individuals who had basically crafted this very simple bill that said that you should not use lethal force unless you absolutely have to because people have worked puzzled as to why so many unarmed individuals were being shot. Speaker 1: 01:46 And then the justification for the shooting. And it really went back to a why we, uh, how we train our officers, uh, what philosophy we have about the use of lethal force. And even the shooting of, of what they call a fleeing felon. All of those things were, were, were issues that were, uh, hundreds of you. One was over 140, some odd years old. So this group decided, we crafted a piece of legislation that was reasonable, that sensible, and we actually had funded it earlier. Uh, we probably as some said, could have gotten this bill out maybe with a squeaking 41 votes, uh, out of the assembly, uh, because we probably could have, we have enough Democrats, quote unquote, supposedly to make this happen. I didn't think this was just a Democrat bill. I felt this was a California bill. And, and so I worked very hard to meet with every, almost every Republican in the house to share with them what the bill was about, uh, to force them to actually look at themselves and look at the people that they represented and the people of California and to do what was necessary. Speaker 1: 02:45 And almost everyone came to the conclusion at some point that something needed to be done. And they then helped me to force law enforcement to meet because law enforcement has, uh, has the ability to not even meet with people and then to intimidate folks so that there's no voting. And so our members basically kept asking them, how have you been meeting with Dr. Weber? Have you had a conversation with them? And sometimes they say, well, we tried and they go sit, no, no, no. She said that you have not actually met with her. And they became a force to basically push law enforcement to the table. Uh, we also had supported the governor support of our speaker and our president pro tem. So we had the powerhouses behind us saying, this is a decent bill. Uh, we had the support of almost every newspaper in California, union Tribune, LA times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento, B, all of the major papers were saying this is a reasonable bill, that California has to do something that we can not continue to be the state with the largest number of shootings by police officers, the deaths by police officers, and over half of them being individuals who are unarmed and people of color. Speaker 1: 03:49 And so there was, there was a force that was a movement to push this. And I stayed focused on what we were there about because you sometimes people get all off the issue and all down in a different in the weeds. And I, and I said, no, this is what it's about. And we kept pushing the research, we kept pushing the data and we kept pushing and I've, I wouldn't give up. People thought we would compromise and give up and, and we can the bill to the point that it was ineffective. We gave up a few things, but not very much. We still had the issue of the mandate, the training, the state change in standards and all those kinds of things. And uh, and so it was, it was interesting because Jess, when folks thought we were going to give up, uh, law enforcement decided to come to the table because the force was really great to make it happen. Speaker 1: 04:31 And it shocked everybody because everybody felt this bill was dead on arrival. And yet when you listen to the tapes and the cut my colleague's comments on the floor for most of the Republicans that were talking about the bill, they all talked about the necessity of the bill, how this was a reasonable bill and it got out of our house with 85% of the vote, which was unheard of, and other progressive piece of legislation in the assembly. It also got out of the Senate with 85% of the vote, which means we had a lot of the Republicans on the bill. And so we did. We pushed it and I think it was important because I wanted a bill that when it came into existence that all of us were buying into, you know, sometimes you get a bill and you barely get 51% of the vote and therefore 49% of the people are constantly complaining about the bill and what is not going to do and how horrible it's going to be. Speaker 1: 05:20 And you don't hear that right now because 85% of the elected officials in California supported that bill. And I think it gave wings to people in our communities who have struggled so hard to be heard, to be understood and to get something done. Is this bill something you'll be building on? Well, we hope to implement the bill this coming year because we got Risa, we've got work in terms of training of officers and those kinds of things. I always would all my bills, see how they're being implemented and see, ah, and begin to assess the effectiveness of it. And if it's necessary we will do what we have to do to tweak it. But I want to make sure that the training being done properly and we have done that by increasing the budget I did or last year before the bill even passed, uh, I gave over 50% of the increase in this, in the budget for training of officers. Speaker 1: 06:08 We increased it this year again, so that we've increased about 80 some odd, 87% of the, the training budget for officers. We've increased, uh, we see some changes up and down the state in terms of people taking the bill now and, and beginning to look at it even locally, our district attorneys and some others. Uh, so we want to make sure that's done and we want to make sure that that's being done and it's been adequately monitored. Our attorney general is also working with us to make sure that he has the resources and things to make it happen. So a bill like this is not something you just put out there and walk away. We want to make sure it's happening. And of course the honor itself didn't come without controversy. Many people in the community took issue, including the NAACP with the UT depicting you with it, a cartoon illustration rather than a photograph. Speaker 1: 06:53 Is that something you took issue with also? I did not. You know, um, everybody knows who I am and know what I look like and, and cartoons are, are, are really interesting things. They can be things that are negative and denigrating. Interestingly enough, I, you know, uh, most of my family and friends thought the, the cartoon was great. Uh, cartoon sometimes can also do a bigger message. And that's sometimes what we have to understand because you could've just had my picture and that would've been it. But to have a cartoon with me as a serious cartoon, not one that is depicting me as a, as an evil or crazy or, or comical person having him, me and in that cartoon with a young African American boy shaking my hand and saying, thank you, Dr. Weber. It spoke to the heart of the bill. It spoke to the future of the bill. Speaker 1: 07:41 It tough talked about the impact of the bill. So interestingly enough, I can understand the NAACP and others because there's a sensitivity about how we're treated as individuals. And I really appreciate the fact that they felt like a, she's a woman of honor, you know, and I think I am a woman of honor. Um, but at the same time, I'm not so honorable that I can't also see myself in multiple label levels at the same time. And this was not a negative cartoon. This was a really positive, uplifting cartoon. And, um, and interestingly enough, my staff loved it. Uh, my family in LA, I went to LA. They loved it. They didn't even hear about the controversy. They just said, what a powerful message of a little boy looking up at this older black woman and saying thank you for my future. That's going to be better. Speaker 1: 08:25 And so I wasn't upset by the NAACP or the individuals who raised the issue cause those issues should be raised occasionally. But I was not offended by it. Um, my family was not, and I was actually honored that somebody wanted to do a little bit more than just my picture. That's often in the, in the newspaper. You know, three years ago, you and your fellow state legislators passed a law giving people the right to challenge their inclusion in a gang database used by law enforcement and prosecutors to document and track suspected gang members. Since then, not many people have tried to get off the list. And of those who did not, many were successful, uh, will you be revisiting that issue in the next legislative session? You know, we, we constantly monitor that, uh, to make sure it's true. And, and interestingly enough, even though some haven't challenged it, several had been taken off without a challenge. Speaker 1: 09:16 It's a real, quite interesting. And in fact, a young man sent me a copy of the letter he got taking him off the list and he sent me a thank you note saying thank you. Look what this is doing. So we're finding that to be true, that some are coming off, some have not challenged it because they're not aware of it. Uh, others have challenged and, and have a longer challenge to go. But we also have had some individuals even in our local jurisdiction who have gone through the list and have taken individuals off. So we're forever monitoring that particular reality. Yes, we do. And, uh, speaking of the next legislative session, the issue of education accountability is on your radar. Can you tell us exactly what that means and how it relates to civil rights? Well, I was, I was told maybe about 20 years ago that the next civil rights issue is education. Speaker 1: 10:00 And that is so true that with all of our efforts to try to change the nation and to create opportunities, if we don't adequately educate that population that we have traditionally left out, they will not be able to access it. They will not be able to access the opportunities that are available to them. So we did a couple of years, I was seven years ago, six, seven years ago, changed the funding formula for schools and made sure that um, kids who are in greater need would get additional money, 40% more money. Um, that has not happened in, in an effective way. We have created the opportunity, we have created the pocket of money. We have given it to districts, but we have not held them accountable for the use of that money. And so I've been raising this issue for the last five years with, with the past governor. Speaker 1: 10:44 He didn't want to deal with it. He says, I'm surely you, you want to watch things too much in which I do because you know, I'd like to be a believer. But having lived in this country for 71, that's the state for 71 years. I'm not a believer without information. Okay. And so I then had it audited this year. I had, I ordered an audit of the funds and fortunately after all these years we got the audit done and the audit shows that that money by and large had not been used for the kids that it needed to be used for. So we have not got to go back, we're having a hearing, but I've also have legislation that will create greater accountability for the use of those dollars that those kids who are at the very bottom deserve that money. And we put that money there to close the achievement gap. Speaker 1: 11:27 And so it is an issue of civil rights because they need to have additional resources so that we can eventually close the achievement gap and not be so concerned about it and create greater opportunities for the kids, uh, in our communities. Uh, I'm a strong believer that education is the American equalizer. It did it for me, a kid out of the projects of the pueblos of Los Angeles. I had a great educational system and public schools went to great universities and it changed my life. I have a responsibility to make sure that those opportunities are available to every kid in California. I had been speaking with assembly woman, Shirley Webber, the union Tribune, San Diego, one of the year for 2019 Dr. Weber, thanks for joining us and congratulations again. Well, thank you so very much and I'm truly honored and I thank the union Tribune and the people of San Diego for honoring me.