Greenbelt City Council had a wide-ranging discussion of the city’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work at its June 1 worksession. Council had just approved a FY 2027 budget on May 26 that eliminated the DEI officer position as currently structured at Grade 15 but maintained the past year’s funding level ($150,000) to allow for further discussion about how DEI work would be restructured and carried out.
Councilmember Danielle McKinney presented four different options for restructuring the city’s DEI work: (1) a senior level DEI leader, (2) DEI role combined with Economic Development, (3) a manager-level role embedded within HR and (4) hiring an outside DEI expert as a consultant. These options range from (1) being the most expensive with the greatest chance for success to (4) being the least expensive with the lowest chance for success.
Mayor Emmett Jordan commented that where the DEI role was placed was only a matter of perception as long as council was fully behind the effort.
Councilmember Jenni Pompi noted that, based on weekly reports, the DEI office did less DEI work over time. She called for clearer goals and appropriate tracking and reporting going forward.
Several residents present at the meeting offered comments.
Bob Rand noted that the lack of DEI work accomplished by the DEI office might have been because DEI officer Tyra Smith’s work may have been “throttled” and that it would be good to get her story before moving forward.
Lois Rosado said she could only support option 1 as “HR is where DEI goes to die,” according to her research.
Bill Orleans noted that there would be a tension between the privacy needs of personnel issues and the desire for public communication if the DEI position was placed within HR.
Michael Hartman also noted the conflicts of interest that can arise with having a DEI role within HR and suggested DEI efforts should be expanded to include other groups, including those with disabilities.
Councilmember Amy Knesel echoed the concerns of residents that a DEI position would be “not effective” within HR. She expressed her desire to follow option 1 and hire a director position, but didn’t know if there was “fertilized soil,” good preparation, in place for a director to be successful. She called for council to review the past director’s
deliverables and bring in an outside expert to evaluate before a new director position was set.
At the close of the worksession Councilmember Kristen Weaver summarized what the council seemed to agree on: (1) council does not want to rush into hiring for this work, (2) hiring the right outside expert could help structure this position, (3) council wanted to get regular reports on this work so it can stay on course and (4) a resident advisory committee should be formed. McKinney added that (5) past data and documentation recommended from the 2024 Tribesy Consulting study (see June 26, 2024 issue) should be compiled so that it could inform the work going forward.