City of Scottsdale council members vote to end DEI practices
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - The Scottsdale City Council voted to eliminate DEI programs and "ensure city employees are hired, evaluated, and promoted based on merit."
Residents are split on the issue, and council members refused to provide clarity before the meeting on why this was on their Feb. 11 agenda.
The backstory:
A lot of people were crammed into city hall on Tuesday night, and everyone had an opinion on DEI.
Before the meeting, not one council member would speak about why they put this on the agenda, or how this program adversely impacts the city of Scottsdale.
What they're saying:
The idea of getting rid of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Scottsdale elicits fiery responses.
"DEI was implemented, in fact, so that mediocre white men couldn’t hire more mediocre white men," Christopher Owens, founder and CEO of CultureHub said.
Scottsdale council members think, according to the meeting agenda, erasing the city’s DEI efforts will benefit residents by ensuring its employees are hired and promoted based on merit.
As the agenda item reads, "Ensure city employees are hired, evaluated, and promoted based on merit, protecting City of Scottsdale employees from unlawful and anti-meritocratic forms of discrimination, and ensuring that residents and taxpayers are served by the most qualified city employees."
Here's what some had to say about the issue:
"I don’t mind if people are different nationalities and different ethnicities, but they got to be equally qualified."
"There’s no proof that DEI is not merit-based."
Dig deeper:
FOX 10 wanted to ask council members to explain why they decided to take a vote on eliminating the programs and staff of the city’s diversity department, which includes Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations, but after numerous calls and emails, the item’s originator, councilman Adam Kwasman, refused to speak.
Scottsdale Vice Mayor Jan Dubauskas ran away when FOX 10 approached her.
Checking X though, a post from Kwasman read, "You can’t walk into Scottsdale City Hall without being bombarded with DEI. This poison will be rooted-out of our beautiful city. No matter one’s race, orientation or creed, we value content of character."
‘You’re simply exposing yourself for who you are’
"If you thought that Scottsdale was white now, wait until the weekend when this kicks in," Owens said.
He says DEI programs are meant to open doors, not just for people based on the color of their skin, but for white women, who make up a majority of the city’s population.
"If you don’t want us, it’s fine. You’re not hurting us. You’re simply exposing yourself for who you are, which is what most of us knew in the first place," Owens said.
Vote Ends DEI:
More than 40 people were signed up to speak during public comment, and they had a one-minute limit instead of the usual three, per Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky.
By 7:45 p.m., the council voted to end DEI, 5-2.
The Office of Diversity has been in place in Scottsdale since 1998. After Tuesday's meeting, that is not the case anymore.
Some at the meeting said their voices were not being heard.
Two council members called for a work study to be done looking at the DEI programs. Instead, it was a 5-2 vote to eliminate DEI.
The city’s diversity department is also responsible for Americans with Disabilities Act oversight, anti-discrimination, and Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations in the city.
Three of the council members that voted to remove DEI were just elected with their terms starting last month.
Once that vote was made to remove DEI from the city of Scottsdale, what was standing room only quickly cleared out, with many people chanting "shame on you."
A lot of that group gathered outside and talked about recalling some of these council members.
Of the 47 people that spoke during public comment, only two of them were in favor of removing DEI.
Big picture view:
President Donald Trump ordered that all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off, part of his efforts to eliminate affirmative action within the federal government.
The announcement came following the executive order signed on his first day in office that mandates a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. This could include everything from anti-bias training to funding for minority farmers and homeowners.
The sweeping executive order rolls back legislation dating back to the 1960s and it could have widespread impacts for the more than 2.4 million federal workers.