Officials in Clackamas County, Oregon, have pulled the plug on its nearly $830,000-a-year diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) office, opting instead to “focus on merit.”
“[We] believed that it was really important to focus on merit, fairness and equality, not to racialize the workplace and the county,” Clackamas County Commissioner Ben West told Fox News.
(Video: Fox News)
“We want people to all feel like Clackamas County is a great place to live,” he explained, “but here in Clackamas County we really value the merit, the talents of every individual, that every person has and brings to the county– every resident, every staffer. We value the individual.”
As a gay man, West was a plaintiff in the landmark case that legalized gay marriage in Oregon. His son is black.
“Immutable traits,” West said, “are not the things that make you unique and special to Clackamas County. It’s that individual spark inside you that does, that makes you a person.”
Doing away with the DEI office allows the county to focus on a “diversity of ideas” rather than identity politics, he argued.
“Diversity of ideas is important to us and has just become, at times, just a distraction,” he said. “And we didn’t want that in our county any longer. So we started to make a cultural shift about a year ago. It took about a year, but we dismantled that. It was costing the county nearly a million dollars a year and we no longer are investing in that ideology any longer.”
Clackamas County’s push toward equity began with a volunteer advisory council in 2004, Fox News reports.
Following the death of George Floyd in 2020, as “racial justice protests” consumed nearby Portland for more than 100 consecutive nights, Clackamas County “created a three-person Equity and Inclusion Office,” according to Fox.
Last spring, County Commissioner Mark Shull proposed defunding the office, arguing that it is an “unnecessary expense” that “only foments friction.”
Employees received a memo this month from the county’s administrator informing them that the office would close its door on Feb. 5.
The office’s two full-time positions would be transferred to other departments, the email said. They should feel right at home in their new jobs. One will be monitoring the county’s compliance with federal and state civil rights laws, and the other will support “community engagement and communications efforts that are accessible and inclusive for all populations,” according to the memo.
The move is more than a “cultural shift,” it’s a complete departure from the views of many of Clackamas County’s progressive mayors and business owners.
“At least five Clackamas County mayors previously signed onto an open letter urging the commissioners to expand equity and inclusion efforts, not cut them,” Fox News reports. “More than 700 other community members, business owners, organizations and politicians also signed the letter.”
“Clackamas County is one of three counties that make up the Portland metro area,” according to the outlet. “While its residents lean Democratic, they have favored Republican gubernatorial candidates in the past several elections.”
On X, support for the county’s decision is overwhelming.
There is hope for the Rose city that I once called home.
— Robrrarin (@below77324804) January 21, 2024
DEI is racism and needs to be dismantled nationwide.
— NAPWP (@NAPWP587902) January 21, 2024
First step to reclaiming Portland.
— John Wisniewski (@WhiskeyMD247365) January 21, 2024
Great, now WHEN do dei racists face the merciless punishment for what they have done to so many innocent white people?
THIS is all we want to hear about now.
— Destroy NWO now! (@BigEP1977) January 21, 2024
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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