Committee Report CR-5

The Civic Unity Committee held a public meeting on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 for the purpose of continuing the discussion of the City’s affirmative action policies.   The meeting began at eleven o’clock and three minutes a.m. in the Sullivan Chamber, and then moved to the conference room in the City Council Office.

Present at the hearing were Councillor E. Denise Simmons, Chair of the Committee, Councillor Michael A. Sullivan, Duane Brown, Director of Affirmative Action for the City of Cambridge, Dr. Kharis McLaughlin, Affirmative Action Director for the Cambridge Public Schools (CPS) and City Clerk D. Margaret Drury.

Councillor Simmons convened the hearing and explained the purpose.  She noted that the City will be losing two African American department heads, Harold Cox, Chief Public Health Officer and Ronnie Watson, Police Commissioner.  The City has also lost school principals who were persons of color and they have not been replaced by persons of color.  She emphasized the need for the City of Cambridge to commit to upholding the importance of a recruitment process that will ensure that persons of color are well represented in the pool of final candidates.

ORDERED: That the City Council go on record recommitting itself to a diverse workforce in light of the fact that the City is losing department heads and school principals who are persons of color.

The motion passed without objection.  Councillor Simmons expressed her hope that the City and School Affirmative Action Directors will play key roles in keeping the city and the schools on track in their commitments to a diverse workforce.  Dr. McLaughlin stated that the hiring process at CPS has changed.  There was a time when the Affirmative Action Director sat on every hiring committee.  That is no longer the case.  The reporting has changed drastically.  When she took this job, she reported directly to the Superintendent.  Now she is part of the Human Resources Department and that has meant a significant reduction in power.  She used to sit in on every administrative hire; now she does not sit in on any.

Councillor Simmons said that nationwide there has been a very troubling trend to relocate affirmative action officers from executive offices to personnel/human resource offices.  Mr. Brown said that he reports directly to the City Manager, just as he always has.  With respect to the fact that his office is physically located within the Personnel Department, there are pros and cons.  The most important plus is that he is right there where all of the recruitment steps take place.  The downside is that the location can be uncomfortable for persons who want to discuss problems with their jobs.

Councillor Simmons said that when high level positions that do not turn over often are vacant, it is critical that a great deal of attention be paid to every avenue for developing a diverse pool of candidates.

She also noted that the City’s Organizational Chart does not properly delineate the reporting structure of the Affirmative Action Director.

Mr. Brown said that for every hire on the administrator and official level (01 and 02), he, as Affirmative Action Director, must be consulted at the time that there is a vacancy.  He is usually involved in the process, either giving them resources for advertising or participating in the screening and hiring committee.

Councillor Sullivan expressed concern about Cambridge not having enough teachers who are persons of color.  He said that one reason for that is that the hiring committees for teachers do not reflect the racial diversity of the city or the students.

Councillor Simmons said that out of 12 principals, only two are persons of color.  When the present Superintendent began his job in Cambridge, there were five principals who were persons of color.

Dr. McLaughlin said that it all comes down to what the goals are.  The goals must be in place, and evaluation of progress toward reaching the goals is essential to the success of the goals.  She also said that recruitment for a new principal for Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School (CRLS) has been extremely difficult, in large part because of the demands for accountability and improvement are so much higher.  It is also higher to recruit people from other parts of the country, like the southern states, to come to the northeast.  The south is no longer a place that people want to escape.

Councillor Simmons stated that for her the question is how to keep the City moving towards diversity.  That is why it is important to look back and to pay attention to what has changed over time.  She thanked Mr. Brown for submitting a copy of the first affirmative action plan, and requested that the City Clerk inform those on the notification list for these meetings that the plan is available in the City Clerk’s Office for anyone who would like to look at it or have a copy.

It was agreed that Mr. Brown would provide an analysis and comparison of the first City of Cambridge affirmative action plan and the current plan, and that Dr. McLaughlin would provide the same information relative to the first CPS affirmative action plan and the current plan.

Mr. Brown announced that the Affirmative Action Committee has lost three persons, is now recruiting and has seven applicants.

Councillor Simmons stated that she would like to see this committee contribute to shaping the affirmative action and diversity goals of the City Council.  The Council changed its formulation of its priority for diversity by moving it from an overarching value to a goal.  Now the challenge is to develop measurable specifics for the goal.  EEO compliance is important, but in itself it is not enough for Cambridge, where the citizens have been very clear about the importance of the diversity of their city.  Dr. McLaughlin and Mr. Brown agreed that they would meet before the next committee meeting to discuss specifics that could be helpful in formulating goals.

Councillor Simmons set the next meeting for Wednesday, July 11, 2006 at 11:00 a.m., as a follow-up on this affirmative action discussion.   She thanked those present for their participation.  The meeting was adjourned at eleven o’clock and fifteen minutes a.m..