||| FROM NECIA QUAST for LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS |||
The council reviewed the results with their consultant of the Diversity Equity Inclusion Belonging survey among county employees. One hundred fifty-seven employees of 260 responded to the survey, which sets a baseline to measure future changes. High levels of equity and belonging result in better recruitment, productivity and retention. Overall, the county scored well on most issues, especially on co-worker inclusion.
The county has a broad mix in terms of age and tenure and representation of a range of groups across sexual orientation, neuro-divergence, disability, religion, first language, religion and military background. There are more women than men and some non-binary employees. Though women are well represented among elected officials, among direct hires women were under-represented in leadership positions. There was little racial diversity reflecting the limited diversity of the county population, with Hispanics the most underrepresented in relation to county demographics.
While the workplace culture was generally good, there were concerns there was a “good old boys club” who did not take DEI seriously, and about sexism, misogyny and a fear of speaking up about it. There were concerns about transparency on pay equity, promotions, and decision-making processes. People who self-identified as either non-binary or having invisible disabilities expressed the most concerns about not being heard or seen or feeling safe. The next step will be to form a taskforce of volunteers to create a roadmap.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization encourages informed participation in government. The Observer Corps attends and takes notes at government meetings to expand public understanding of public policy and decisions. The notes do not necessarily reflect the views of the League or its members
Thank you as always, LWVSJ, for your candid reports of the county council meetings.
“There was little racial diversity reflecting the limited diversity of the county population, with Hispanics the most underrepresented in relation to county demographics.”
I wonder how our always under-represented Native American brothers and sisters would feel about such a statement?
We go to great effort to honor them at the beginnings of our meetings, but in reality that is just token acknowledgement of a tragedy, (just another genocide), that we would like to forget, one that we feel is in the distant past… even though it’s ongoing today.