STORY BY CARLY HELTZEL, PHOTO BY EMILY MCNALLY

The Mountain View City Council tonight appointed seven individuals to the newly formed Public Safety Advisory Board, a group of Mountain View residents who will advise the city council on public safety matters — specifically the police department.

The council appointed residents Cleave Frink, Derek Langton, Joan Brodovsky and Kavita Aiyar to four-year full terms. Eva Tang, Jeannette Wang and Kalwant Sandhu were appointed to two-year half terms.

Last year, the city council created the Ad-Hoc Subcommittee on Race, Equity and Inclusion dedicated to guiding the city’s efforts toward achieving its vision of racial justice in June of 2020 — “ad-hoc” meaning the committee only stood for a limited term, unlike a standing subcommittee which continues indefinitely.

The advisory board serves as a more permanent solution to police reform, although it serves in a purely advisory capacity; the city council may choose to toss any of its recommendations.

In the coming months, the advisory board — which serves as a liaison between the community and police department — will primarily focus on community outreach and serve as a forum for public discussion before presenting any recommendations to the city council. 

“I’m here as a mediator to take the raw emotion and anger from the community which you have heard over and over in public comment,” Tang, one of the appointed individuals said in her council interview in March. “And take that and do the dirty work of digging in and actually turning it into something tangible for the community.”