CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the diversity, equity and inclusion recommendations
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DEPARTMENT: City Manager’s Office
SUBMITTED BY: Marcie Schatz, Deputy City Manager
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
NA
BACKGROUND:
Naperville strives to promote an inclusive community where people feel connected and valued. Individual differences are welcomed and supported regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, race, sexual preference, religion, disability, income or background. After multiple high-profile racial incidents in Naperville last year, the City set about to take action to emphasize the City’s commitment to a diverse and inclusive community. To that end, the City Council recently revised the City’s mission statement to reflect the true diversity and inclusive nature of Naperville. The City’s mission statement is now:
“To provide services that ensure a high quality of life, sound fiscal management, and a dynamic business environment, while creating an inclusive community that values diversity.”
With the revision of the mission statement, the City became more intentional about diversity and inclusion efforts in Naperville, recognizing the diversity of all backgrounds of people in our community makes us stronger.
Advancing equity and inclusion within Naperville is not a project, but a constant process of improvement. Naperville strives to be a more inclusive community that values diversity and responds quickly to racist and other intolerant incidents. Naperville also respects all its citizens and will engage with them to access resources and promote equal treatment and opportunity.
DISCUSSION:
In order to put action behind the City’s revised mission statement Council challenged staff to bring to Council for its consideration recommendations related to increasing the City’s emphasis on diversity and inclusion. Staff’s recommendations for Council’s consideration are:
• Workforce - Complete implicit bias training, pursue feedback from employees on equity and inclusion, review and enhance recruiting and retention practices.
• Human Relations Commission - Develop a Human Relations Commission, either by modifying an existing commission or creating a new commission.
• Engage with community partners - Join with the ongoing efforts of School Districts 203 and 204, Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce, advocacy groups, non-profits and other organizations to further equity and inclusion in the community.
Workforce
City employees work in accordance with the City’s established four “core values”, People, Respect, Trust and Pride. These values are the foundation of an environment where employees feel they belong and that they are respected and valued no matter their age, gender, ethnicity, race, sexual preference, religion, disability, income or background. Each of us within the organization has a role in advancing an environment of equity and inclusion for the workforce.
Training
City employees are required to participate in a variety of trainings (technical, safety, etc). Annual training is also required for Harassment Prevention, and Drug Free Workplace. Raising organizational awareness on the understanding and value of diversity is a priority.
Staff recommends the following additional training for City employees:
• Implicit Bias training - Recommended for all city employees and elected officials. Implicit, or unconscious bias, refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. This training will promote the awareness of implicit bias and also provide resources for moderating its effect. Police management and all police officers have already completed implicit/ bias free policing strategies within the last two years.
• Equitable hiring practice training - Recommended for anyone involved in the hiring process. This training will focus on diversity and inclusion knowledge, skills and abilities to enhance hiring managers ability to review applications, conduct interviews and assess candidates with nontraditional qualifications building on the implicit bias training for recruiting efforts.
Hiring and Retention
Local governments across the country continue to work towards the goal of having a workforce that is broadly reflective of the community that it serves. There are many factors that influence achieving this goal, not only City processes. Staff recommends:
• Identifying and pursuing opportunities to solicit perspectives and feedback from staff on equity and inclusion within the organization.
• Tracking and reporting on recruitment, retention and hiring data.
• Reviewing recruitment strategies to increase the diversity of our applicant pools. In addition, diversity on hiring panels should be encouraged.
• Reviewing job descriptions and minimum job qualifications.
Human Relations Commission
Staff recommends that a city Human Relations Commission, in some form, be considered for Naperville. While Human Relations Commissions are not uncommon, the scope of these commissions varies widely from community to community. Commission responsibilities often include community outreach and advocacy, educational programs, and community events. Human Relations Commissions also can receive and investigate discrimination complaints similar to the manner the current Housing Advisory Commission investigates fair housing complaints in conjunction with our legal department.
Staff continues to evaluate the possible scope and functions of a Human Relations Commission with assistance from a representative of the Department of Justice and guidance from other communities. At this time, we are considering two options: expansion of the size and scope of the current Housing Advisory Commission or creation of a new commission. The structure should be dependent of the scope of work of the commission. We plan to bring a report back to the July 21st City Council meeting with a recommendation on commission structure and scope.
Community
With the goal of advancing equity and inclusion across the community, we recommend joining our community partners who are actively working in this space including District 203, District 204 and the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. We look to partner with, learn from and leverage the work of these organizations in addition to others (North Central College, Naperville Neighbors United, Naper Pride, non-profits, advocacy groups, religious institutions, etc.) and the community at large to broaden the collective community impact. Staff recommends coordinating with and learning from these groups to build upon, and not replicate one another’s work and efforts.
Resources
A representative of the Department of Justice continues to be a resource to the City on the discussions of boards and commissions, we will continue to leverage his expertise and network. Staff continues to reach out to and leverage other communities experience and best practices on advancing diversity and equity initiatives in their communities.
The City will also be joining GARE, the Government Alliance on Race and Equity. GARE is a national network of governments working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all. GARE has resources and best practices that will be valuable to the City moving forward.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There will be a cost to the implementation of the implicit bias training and hiring manager training programs and staff time needed to develop and support these initiatives.