In an 11th-hour decision on Tuesday night, the Albany City Council voted against ending its Racial Inclusivity and Social Equity commission — after an impassioned speech from Mayor Robin D. Lopez about racism and the threats facing marginalized people in a second Trump administration.

The RISE commission had been on the chopping block after councilmembers said it had been ineffective. But Lopez and members of the public argued that sunsetting the program as President Donald Trump has made it a priority to turn back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts was poor timing for marginalized communities in the small East Bay city.

“My biggest focus right now is healing at the local level,” Lopez said. “We’re not insulated from what happened at the federal level. I get that, and I know that from firsthand experience. I’m nervous for a lot of people in my family”

The earliest version of the RISE commission began 17 years ago, allowing members of the public to advise the city council on issues of equity, diversity, accountability and inclusivity. But both councilmembers and commissioners themselves had expressed frustration over the past two years at what they saw as a lack of concrete proposals coming out of it. In addition, the council received only three applications from the public to serve on the RISE commission this year.

Vice Mayor Peggy McQuaid recommended a standing committee of two council members that could act more responsively and be more flexible than the RISE commission. McQuaid explained her proposal Tuesday night, saying it would give the council the ability to take “timely and effective” action on long-term issues such as finishing its equity statement, which has taken two years for the RISE commission to complete.

”I’m just surprised that it’s been 17 years since SEJC started,” McQuaid said. “I think there could have been a better use of people’s time. Let’s see if this approach could be any quicker.”

Albany citizen Julie Ann Winkelstein said replacing the seven-member RISE commission that meets in public with two city councilmembers meeting in private would go against the commission’s stated goals.

“Uplifting and highlighting DEI will be supporting, not ignoring it,” Winkelstein said. “Albany is a sanctuary city. What does that mean for the immigrants in our city? What would they like the city to do to support them? The LGBTQ and Muslim communities need our support more than ever.”

In 2017, the council passed a resolution designation Albany as a sanctuary city, promising to protect immigrant residents from potential immigration crackdowns and refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Mayor Lopez, who wore an anti-colonization T-shirt, said now was not the time to end the commission’s work. The return of the Trump administration could threaten the safety of immigrants, people of color and the LGBTQ community, he said. He also described racist incidents in Albany where people had told him and his family to “go back where they came from.”

“I’m nervous for a lot of people in my family. It broke my heart that my daughter had asked questions about what’s going to happen to a family member,” Lopez said. “I think maybe we’re steering away from something that could give us a much better pathway forward to really help hone in and serve our community.”

Though Lopez acknowledged the deficiencies of the RISE commission, he emphasized the importance of the public seeing leaders who are unafraid to speak out in favor of DEI efforts. The council agreed to meet again and determine how the city can inspire more applications to the commission and find other ways to improve it.

“Maybe if they hear from their electives that, ‘Hey, it’s okay to talk about DEI in this community, it’s okay to talk about justice, equity, inclusion, diversity,’” Lopez said. “Right now a lot of folks are maybe scared to enter that arena.”