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Subject: Equity Officer Update
Damian Evans advised that Payne & Frazier Consulting, LLC have conducted two trainings where he was able to connect and meet with city staff members that do not work with him daily and reported there were great turnouts. He also met with the new Wastewater Director Nate Tillis, and would like to invite him to meet and speak with the commission. Alder Peete commented that Wastewater has had negative image in the community, and he is excited for Mr. Tillis to come to a future AAHRC meeting.
Evans went over a draft packet outlining the city’s mission, four areas of focus and goals, race, and salary information and noted that salaries started to get thin at $85K and above. He requested that commission members review the draft. Jarrett noted that there are 37 black females compared to 130 white females and commented that the city has a lot of work to do. Alder Peete agreed and advised that more women are applying and working more over the last 10 years, and we need to make sure the city’s staff makeup is more inclusive for all. Evans advised that the structure of the workforce is like a pyramid, with the majority of people --based on salaries -- are at the bottom or middle. All variables go in there, so it looks skewed. Training and mentoring are the right direction to move. Kidd asked if the numbers were better since Mayor Mason took office, and Farrar asked if historical data can be pulled and shared. Cainion replied yes to both questions. Evans advised that many people leave city employment because there is a competitive market where people can go elsewhere and receive higher pay and more/better benefits.
Farrar shared that there are also people who don’t apply because of a college degree requirement. Cainion replied that Human Resources (HR) is currently reviewing and making changes to job descriptions to reflect that they are looking at experience and/or a degree. There is not much the city is able to change with regard to pay and benefits, but it can work on changing the culture. Carter advised that social media is the new thing and asked what the response has been to job notices via social media. Cainion said that HR is increasing the use of social media and it is helping to improve responses.
Evans went over goal #4: Develop a racial equity task force of city employees to provide insight of the climate and culture. There is a total of 753 city employees, but a lack of African American and Hispanic women. Farrar noted that she loves to see gender identity as an option. Lassiter-Ayers would like 'other' to be removed for inclusion reasons, and recommends using 'multi-race' instead. Cainion noted that there is an option for two or more races. Lassiter-Ayers would like to humanize it, as multi-race population does not want to be looked at as 'other'.
Evans stated that the city is building from the ground up to develop goals with each department using a smart goals framework, and he would like the goals to be measurable with a timeline attached. Mayor Mason would like to create a task force that would include at least one person from each department.