The Scotsdale Municipal Council voted to end the DEI office. Why this Soviet woman voted to keep it – kjzz

Ever since President Trump took office for the second time, there have been three letters that have become synonymous with everything in the president’s wording – from wasteful government spending to inefficient air traffic control: DEI.

Dei means “diversity, justice and inclusion”, an umbrella term used to describe programs that supporters say help to balance the historical insufficient presentation of marginalized groups in academic, corporate and governmental lives. But Trump has done his best to ban such federal policies and threatened to cancel federal funding from organizations that have DEI programs.

Trump’s threats seem to have resonated in offices outside government competence, as various private corporations such as Target, McDonald’s and Harley-Davidson have canceled or canceled the initiatives of DEI.

Last week, we saw the local impact of all this when the Scotsdale Municipal Council voted to close his office on Dei.

Solange WhiteHead, one of the members of the Council, who voted to hold him open, joined the show to discuss.

Conversation

Sam Dingman: Tip, Good Morning.

Solange WhiteHead: Good morning. It’s nice to be here again.

Dingman: Thank you for being here. So bring us back to this vote. How did the ordinance appear that will close the office before the Council?

Whitehead: Thus, the ordinance appeared in a very unusual way. Usually regulations make a public contribution, a certain need, a justified need and then public discussions, public work and public discussions at the level of Council. So none of this has happened to this, and the ordinance is really based on the false prerequisite that by adopting the ordinance the city would create a hiring of merit and, of course, necessary.

And the goal was this very small office for diversity and I say an office of diversity, because the city of Scotsdale has been in 1989. It has many names, but the goal has always been the same and has nothing to do with HR.

Dingman: Yes, this is an interesting aspect of the service for diversity or diversity of Scottsdale, the inclusion of justice, since it has been called different things over the years. But, unlike many places that create similar programs after George Floyd’s protests in 2020, Scottsdale’s office is open to, I believe it has been since 1998, right?

Whitehead: Oh, since 1989

Dingman: Sorry. I’m sorry. So almost, so many, very long.

Whitehead: It was, yes.

Dingman: Tell us some of the things the office has done that have some practical impact on the lives of the people of Scottsdale.

Whitehead: So I think as a whole, I think that when people think of diversity, they consider it black or white or some question in the race, and our diversity is very, very wide and very nuanced. So we have economic diversity. We have eigeism, we have different, we have workforce and not only in the city government, but also more, you know, in our hospitals, in our other companies that are diverse.

So what this department did, you know, it is 30 years that it has created a safe and welcoming culture in the city and I think this is the basis of our success. Last year, we had 11 million visitors from all over the world came to Scottsdale and they were safe and they enjoyed themselves and this is part of what this department did.

Dingman: Well, and if I’m not mistaken, it’s one of your concerns and one of the reasons you voted in favor of holding the office is the announcement that you think, closing the office, sends people who come to visit Scottsdale S

Whitehead: Yes, I think extremism has hurt the country in many ways, so there have been some abuse of Day and I am absolutely agree with it. But in Scotsdale we had extremism on the other side, which I don’t think there is one side or the other. Extremism is bad. Not left or right.

Dingman: Yes, that’s the same opportunity.

Whitehead: Equal opportunity, wrong. And so in Gosh, 2004, a bomb was found in the diversity office. Three employees who were seriously injured and it was extremism. So this is the type we are trying to stop. So, if you have an extremist passage for an ordinance that downloads posters that just show the variety of people who live and visit here, it also sends a message.

Dingman: Yes, well, so obviously, you know that you are talking from your own point of view what you think of the importance of this office, but if we are not fooled, you have also heard from a large number of voters who did not want the office S

Whitehead: Oh God, I’ve been at an office for six years and I’ve never received so many emails. None of these emails were the same, and only hundreds of emails absolutely opposed it because it was the wrong moment in our country to end the discussion. This is the wrong time to separate.

In this country we have such a common position. And we have to stop leaving the extremists on both sides from preventing us from talking about what we agree with, and this is the message we have. We need to continue to talk to each other. And in fact, we agree on most issues as a nation.

Dingman: Well, let’s talk a little more, then how we got to this point. We only have about a minute left here and what do you see as a way forward? This conversation, as you have seen it becomes very inflamed.

Whitehead: Yes, so I received emails from both sides when I released an email saying that I am disappointed that this office is closed and we do not know what it means, but it covers everything from ADA to the LGBT community.

But what I was interested in is the people who wrote in support of the end of literally a few $ 100,000 funding for the people who have absolutely opposed, said the same. Everyone in the city, as far as I can understand, want a stock -based rental, renting merit. We do this and everyone wants to be safe and everyone wants to be welcoming and continue to flourish.