The Orange County Board of Commissioners will host a listening session Tuesday night on the issues of policing, racial justice and equity in the county.

The virtual session, which is also a partnership with in partnership with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Orange County Human Relations Commission, will be held from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The end time flexible depending on the number of speakers. The goal, according to the county, is for leadership to hear resident’s concerns and comments regarding racial justice, equity and treatment in Orange County.

Orange County commissioner Penny Rich spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck about the session. She said it was sparked by the international reaction to the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.

She said attendees should feel free to share all thoughts, but she also said to not expect for the leadership to respond on Tuesday night.

“It’ll give everybody an opportunity to come on and express their concerns,” Rich said, “and we’ll take those and will respond to them at another time. We’re not going to have a back-and-forth conversation. We have a capacity of 500, so the more people that come speak to us, the better we feel we’re giving everyone that opportunity [to discuss these issues.]”

Rich also said depending on the size of participants, the board may set a time limit to each speaker, similar to a public comment portion of its public business meetings.

Individuals who wish to attend and those who wish to speak may register for the Zoom webinar at the following link.

The session will include a short introduction by the Chair of the Orange County Human Relations Commission. It will then open up for public questions and comments from attendees. Questions and comments will be recorded by the Board of Orange County Commissioners for future discussion and action.

The full agenda for the upcoming listening session can be found on the Orange County government website.

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