The group talked about what is working well in the City and what is not. The Mayor and Councilmembers assured the group of the opportunity to address and rectify the situation. Follow up meetings with the group were held on May 23rd, June 22nd, July 11th and August 22nd which resulted in feedback from employees, action items and Council recommendations for improving diversity in the City of Sacramento.
Listed are the challenges and opportunities raised by the group:
- Lack of overall diversity. City workforce does not reflect the community
- Little or no representation in management
- Lack of diversity in public safety, particularly command
- Unfair treatment and discrimination. There are different standards
- Salary and pay equity issues
- Cultural challenges within the organization
- Diversity is not a priority
- Implicit bias in hiring decisions
- No mechanism to train or mentor individuals for positions
- No upward mobility
- People are not aware of management openings; don’t even try for promotions
- Lack of training inside and outside of City Hall for recruitment
- No way to monitor/track progress
- Lack of diversity in procurement and business contracting
- No infrastructure for employees to communicate or advocate to management
- Concern over new City Manager hiring process and understanding of his/her priorities
Opportunities
- Create an action plan;”Diversity and inclusion plan”
- Install accountability in the plan policies with goals,benchmarks, and timelines
- Create professional development and mentorship programs
- Develop trainings and recruitment programs
- Develop hiring panels for staff to participate
- Improve communications between management and staff
- Create a permanent 3rd part grievance system to ensure process
- Create ways to facilitate conversations/dialogue about staff issues
- Utilize all staff meetings to discuss diversity issues
- Create vehicle for African American staff participation to carry out plan and advocate
- Evaluate best practices within city departments
- Enhance outreach/recruitment at events throughout the city
- Utilize outside groups (Urban League, Observer, NAACP, SETA,colleges/universities)
- Become a model for other cities
- New City Manager and team must value diversity