The diversity, equality, and inclusion committee, which was established to enhance the city’s outreach to underrepresented groups and provide advice to the city council, was dissolved by the Estacada City Council on Monday.
Estacada is at least the second municipal government in Oregon to reverse its diversity and equity efforts since President Donald Trump took action to stop federal programs that support such efforts when he took office last month. The committee was disbanded by a 5-2 vote. On February 5, the commissioners of Deschutes County disbanded its DEI committee.
Councilor Matthew Blevens, who voted to disband Estacada’s committee, stated that while he agreed with the organization’s initial goal, diversity, equity, and inclusion had turned into the antithesis of that goal, and he cannot support it.
Before Monday’s meeting, about 100 community members signed a petition requesting that the council refrain from disbanding the committee. Dozens of locals also came to the meeting to discuss the merits of the committee.
Several city councilors who supported disbanding the committee claimed that diversity and equity were hurting Estacada citizens and that they had become too politicized and polarizing. They added that maintaining the group might make it more difficult for the city to get federal assistance.
Nonetheless, a number of community members who testified on Monday and city councilors who opposed the group’s dissolution pointed out that its detractors offered no instances of how the committee negatively impacted Estacada citizens.
Councilor Heidi Prokop, who voted to retain the group in place, stated that no one was citing instances of the real harm the committee was causing to our community. I’m hearing strange, out-of-the-ordinary justifications for getting rid of it. Everyone is bringing up national concerns that are unrelated to the committee’s work or its true objective.
According to committee members speaking at a workshop before the municipal council meeting, the seven-member group was formed in October 2020 with widespread support from Estacada residents and city councilors.
It came into being months after Sean Drinkwine, the mayor of Estacada, declared on social media that he was making every effort to disperse public protests in favor of the Black Lives Matter movement. After receiving a lot of criticism, he apologized. He voted to disband the DEI committee on Monday.
According to its members, since the committee’s founding, its members have offered input on city policies, invited community group speakers to its meetings, collaborated with public health organizations to provide drug overdose reversal kits, raised public awareness, and suggested ways to make city facilities more accessible.
On Monday, several committee members said that municipal councilors have frequently questioned them about the group’s work. Instead of disbanding the committee, they requested that the municipal council think about renaming it something less contentious.
According to committee member and former city councilor Kimberlee Ables, the purpose of this committee was not to split us apart. In either case, it wasn’t founded on the most extreme aspects of any political program. It was founded on the straightforward but potent idea that everyone should have a sense of belonging.
State politics and government are covered by Carlos Fuentes. You may contact him at [email protected] or 503-221-5386.
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