JANUARY 07, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
It wasn’t easy, but Keizer’s diversity
committee is ready to get to work
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI
Of the Keizertimes
Councilor Shaney Starr made her fi rst
notable decision as part of the Keizer City
Council by selecting Anthony Rosilez to
join Keizer’s newly formed Community
Diversity Engagement Committee.
Rosilez’s appointment Monday night
fi nalized the nine-person committee and
followed more than a year of work by the
city council.
Like many cities in 2020, racial jus-
tice reform was at the center of atten-
tion during many Keizer City Council
meetings throughout the year. As both
community members and city council-
ors spoke out about improving equity
and inclusion in Keizer, the city council
worked to develop their “statement of
values” that addressed justice, equity,
diversity and inclusion late in 2020.
The statement of values, among other
things, condemned any discrimination
and outlined a commitment to being a
city that welcomes every person regard-
less of race, sexuality, religion, gender or
any other identity.
At a Nov. 9, 2020 work session where
the council was working to fi nalize their
statement, Benny Williams, the president
of the Salem-Keizer NAACP, addressed
the council on their proposed resolution.
“If we are going to be progressive, we
have to understand progress is when we
all come together. And when we come
together, not only do we see progress,
we progress together. Nobody is left
behind,” Williams said. “We have that
opportunity starting tonight as this body
has been working towards coming up
with a resolution to have everyone in this
city recognize that we are all equal. We
will continue to have diff erences but we
will not marginalize any of us.”
The city’s statement of values, fi nal-
ized at a Dec. 7, 2020 council meeting,
was seen as a step in the right direction
but was also only “an aspirational state-
ment” and did not “create any legal call
of action or modify any existing rights.”
Impact hindered by council debate
While the statement of values pro-
vided the city with an outline, the council
struggled at times in 2021 to fully imple-
ment its values.
At a meeting in June, councilor
Roland Herrera inquired about hanging a
LGBTQ pride fl ag in city hall for LGBTQ
Pride Month. Herrera said the fl ag would
show the city was “walking the walk”
after its December value statement.
Ross Day, who was a councilor at the
time, said if they were to hang a pride
fl ag, which he said was a “viewpoint”,
the city would have to allow any fl ags
because "we're not allowed to discrimi-
nate based on viewpoint."
“What if someone wants to fl y a
Confederate fl ag up there?” Day said.
“The government can’t pick sides.”
“The hard part gets to be who gets
to fl y (a fl ag) and who doesn’t. I think
rather than make that decision we are
better to have a display that’s here for a
couple weeks or a month,” Councilor Dan
of the Week
presented by
KIM STEEN
Where and how do
you volunteer?
Supporters of the LGBTQ community wave Pride flags on the corner of River Road in June of
last year.
FILE PHOTO, Keizertimes
Kohler said at the time. “That’s a better
way to go then to fi ght about whose fl ag
we put up and whose we don’t.”
The council decided to formally cre-
ate a Community Diversity Engagement
Work Group to determine next steps for
meaningful implementation of the city’s
value statement.
The work group, which included coun-
cilors Laura Reid, Roland Herrera and
Elizabeth Smith, met four times between
June and September of 2021 and ulti-
mately recommended the permanent
implementation of a Diversity, Inclusion
and Equity committee (DEI).
DEI committees have been formed
in many Oregon cities, including
Wilsonville, Beaverton and Corvallis, and
act in an advisory role to the city council.
Reid, Herrera and Smith recom-
mended that Keizer’s DEI committee
be named the Community Diversity
Engagement Committee — which was
once again met with pushback.
At a Nov. 1 meeting, Day objected to
including the word “diversity” in the title
because of the power it would give com-
mittee members to call others racists,
homophobes and bigots.
“The fi rst time someone looks cross
eyed at someone, the fi rst time someone
doesn’t hold the door open for some-
one, one of these committee members is
going to feel like they have the author-
ity to go out and write a letter to the edi-
tor,” Day said at the time. “I can promise
you, there’s going to be a Trojan Horse.
There’s going to be someone that’s going
to get on the committee and going to go
out there and use their position to attack
someone.”
Day resigned following the outburst at
the Nov. 1 meeting, but his concern about
the diversity committee was shared by
others.
Kohler said following the meeting that
Day’s comments about the committee
being used to attack other’s was a “valid
concern” but that “it could have been
expressed in a shorter period of time and
probably a little more eloquently, how-
ever, it is a concern for me.”
Committee ready to get to work in
2022
The council also decided at the Nov.
1 meeting to give each councilor the
power to select one committee mem-
ber. Although 17 community members
ultimately ended up applying for the
diversity committee, councilors weren’t
restricted to make their selection from
this pool.
The nine-member committee, fi nal-
ized with Starr’s selection on Jan. 3,
includes six community members, two
city councilors and one student advisor.
Only two of the six community mem-
ber selections came from the group of
applicants.
While the background of each candi-
date is unknown, available information
indicates that the council assembled a
diverse committee. Committee mem-
bers include multiple people of color,
a paralympic athlete, a local business
owner, a former Keizer City Council, a
board member from Mid-Willamette
Valley Community Action and the
executive director of Oregon Teacher
Standards and Practices Commission.
City Recorder Tracy Davis said that
she is still working to set up the fi rst
meeting for the committee and that it
will be up to them if they want to meet
once or twice a month.
Community Diversity Engagement
Committee meetings will be open for the
public to attend.
"I’m the current chair of
the Keizer Public Arts
Commission and we are
tasked with selecting, placing
and maintaining public art
in Keizer. It’s been so fun to
watch our art projects come
to life! Seeing the positive
reactions has been really
rewarding."
Why do you
volunteer?
"Volunteering is a great
way for me to connect and
give back to my community.
I’ve owned a small business
in Keizer for 30+ years.
The Keizer community
has supported me and my
business and volunteering is
a great way for me to make
a small difference and give
back."
What does
volunteering do for
you?
"Volunteering gives me a
stronger connection to my
community. It’s been a great
way for me to give back to a
community that he been so
supportive of me. Through
volunteering, I’ve met lots
of wonderful people that
have enriched and positively
impacted my life. "
How would you get
others to volunteer in
their community?
"There are so many ways
to get involved. To start, I
would encourage anyone to
go to Keizer.org and check
out the many opportunities
available to support our great
community!"