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OGDEN — Ogden's Diversity Commission, an advisory body tasked with representing the city's "diverse communities," faces change to comply with the law approved earlier this year by Utah lawmakers that targets diversity, equity and inclusion programming.
The proposed changes per HB261 include tweaks in wording — elimination of the word "diversity" in the program's title, for instance — and removal of a provision calling for consideration of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other identifiers in picking members for the body. The Ogden City Council briefly discussed the proposal during a work session Tuesday, with some members expressing concern over the possible changes.
"The concerns that I'm hearing is that this affects probably the marginalized people in our community more than anyone else and underserved people in our communities. So to me this is kind of a big issue," said City Councilman Shaun Myers.
Councilwoman Angela Choberka echoed the worries.
Janene Eller-Smith, who heads up the City Council support staff, tried to allay the concerns. The city's legal team proposed the adjustments to the Diversity Commission ordinance to avoid running afoul of HB261, which applies to Utah's public universities as well as public schools, cities and other public entities.
Yes, references to personal identifiers are removed as factors to consider in picking board members, Eller-Smith said, "but that doesn't mean that representatives from those types of communities still can't be included in the discussion." She said Mayor Ben Nadolski shares the concerns of Myers and Choberka.
Utah lawmakers passed HB261 during the legislative session earlier this year stemming from worries that diversity programming, by focusing on aiding people of color and those from other traditionally marginalized groups, leaves out others who could also benefit from assistance. If aid programming is to be offered, HB261 proponents say, it should be available to all who can benefit from it, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other personal identifiers.
In response, officials at Utah's public universities worked through the spring and summer to change their diversity, equity and inclusion programs to comply with HB261. The changes at the University of Utah and other universities, which went into effect on July 1, have received the most public attention. But entities like the Ogden Diversity Commission also face change, and the proposed tweaks could come up for continued discussion by the Ogden City Council next week.
The Diversity Commission, formed in 2016 and made up of volunteers appointed by the mayor, is an advisory body to the mayor and City Council. As stated in current ordinance, it's tasked with creating "a collaborative connection between the city of Ogden, individuals, institutions and organizations working toward meeting the needs of our diverse communities." More particularly, it's been aimed at connecting Latinos, other people of color, those with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, those in poverty and others with city government.
"Diversity is a great issue. I think it's something that we need to continue to address, and maybe that's not allowed or is allowed. I'm not sure how the state law affects us as a city or as a City Council," Myers said at Tuesday's meeting. Ogden has one of the most diverse populations of Utah's cities with Latinos accounting for around 30% of the city's residents.
Among other things, according to the proposal put forward by Ogden's legal representatives, the name of the group would be changed from the Ogden Diversity Commission to the Ogden Community Engagement and Opportunity Commission.
Instead of working to assist "our diverse communities" — which ostensibly takes in a range of racial, ethnic and other subgroups in the city — the body would be focused on aiding "our diverse community."
As is, members are to be appointed factoring "areas of expertise, advocacy experience, community involvement, student status, profession, education, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, religion, ability, economic diversity and geographic identification." Per the changes, members would be picked just to create representation "from a reasonably broad spectrum of the community."
Eller-Smith tried to dial back worries that the changes would represent a stark shift in the function of the advisory body. "I think that the Diversity Commission's ... purposes aren't changing, just their name," she said.
Likewise, Councilman Ken Richey expressed hope that any change wouldn't be too dramatic. "I'm hopeful that with these changes, we can still address those areas and have those communities represented, and we can still do all that," he said.
