October 4, 2017 The Skanner Page 9
News
County Makes Deadline to Combat Racism in Workforce
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
A
fter one of Mult-
nomah County’s
highest
ranking
African American
officials, Tricia Tillman,
was ousted last month
from her job as public
health director — fol-
lowed by the retiring of
Health Director Joanne
Fuller, along with more
than a dozen people tes-
tifying to the practice
of systemic racism in
the county workforce —
Chair Deborah Kafoury
has turned up the pres-
sure.
Last Thursday, the
chair set a spring 2018
deadline to improve
progress in workforce
equity and review the
county’s human resourc-
es structure that could
be attributing to institu-
tional racism.
During a quarterly
meeting last week with
Health Department lead-
ership and Chief Oper-
ating Officer Marissa
Madrigal, Kafoury stat-
ed, “We know there is
institutional racism at
Multnomah County. This
is an organization that
was built on the backs of
people who didn’t have a
voice.”
“It will be long, hard
process,” continued the
chair. “It’s going to take a
lot of open conversation
and reflection. I do know
that we are committed,
your board of commis-
sioners is committed.”
Kafoury’s plan is to
hire a national consult-
ing firm with practice in
dismantling structural
racism in public institu-
tions. To do so the firm
would have to scrutinize
the county’s existing
human resources frame-
work, examine policies
and practices from hir-
ing to termination, and
most importantly, eval-
“
This is an organization that
was built on the backs of
people who didn’t have a
voice
uate the complaint and
investigation
process,
using the dismissal of
Tillman — who called for
a probe into racist prac-
tices at the county — as a
case study.
In response to bringing
in an outside consulting
firm, Tillman told The
Skanner, “I’m hopeful
that this firm has been
well vetted by diverse
community leaders and
staff with expertise in
structural racism — and
that they have the op-
portunity to look beyond
overt acts of racism to ad-
dress impacts of implicit
bias.”
The county’s chief hu-
man resources officer,
Travis Graves, recently
concluded an inquiry
into Tillman’s termina-
tion using more than
Pathway 1000 – a Portland
Community Reinvestment Initiative
campaign to mitigate displacement
and reclaim the historic heart and
soul of Portland’s African-American
community in North and
Northeast Portland. The
purpose of this initiative
is to build prosperity
for African-Americans
and others displaced
from Portland’s
North and Northeast
Neighborhoods
by creating 1,000
affordable homes,
thousands of living wage
jobs, buisness growth, and
development over the next decade.
Please RSVP at
pathway1000@pcrihome.org
120 pages of documents,
including texts, emails
and hand-written notes.
In his summary letter,
dated Sept. 25, Graves
said he “did not find any
evidence to support the
conclusion that Ms. Till-
man’s race or protected
leave were negative fac-
tors in her continued em-
ployment.”
“The record shows that
both subordinate man-
agers and Health Human
Resources began receiv-
ing a number of com-
plaints concerning Ms.
Tillman’s management
over the organization be-
ginning over a year ago,”
Graves wrote.
He added that Till-
man received feedback
regarding her perfor-
mance from multiple
sources – including from
her supervisor, human
resources, peers, and
from at least one consul-
tant – on what appeared
to be her lack of clear di-
rection.
Yet Tillman’s 2016 per-
formance records — re-
leased through a public
records request by the
Portland Tribune — show
a different story, one
where the public health
director received entire-
ly positive reviews.
“The process by which
the inquiry was conduct-
ed, analysis, conclusions,
and release all serve to
reinforce the reasons
why I asked for an inves-
tigation of systemic rac-
ism,” she told The Skan-
ner.
In exchange for not su-
ing the county, Tillman
received a settlement of a
year’s salary, plus a sum
of $25,000 and a letter of
reference.
Commissioner Loretta
Smith, too, was dissatis-
fied with Graves’ findings
and held her own press
conference the day after
the HR officer concluded
his investigation. Smith
was joined by Oregon’s
first African American
woman legislator, for-
mer Sen. Margaret Car-
ter, as well as Sen. Lew
Frederick (D-Portland),
one of three Black state
senators, to publically
address the recent events
of racial bias within the
county’s
employment
practices.
Smith — who was also
the subject of a county
investigation earlier this
year — asked the chair
for an outside investi-
PHOTO MOTOYA NAKAMURA/MULTNOMAH COUNTY
The county chair is hiring an outside consulting firm to advise on structural racism
Chair Deborah Kafoury speaks at Permanent Supportive Housing
summit on Sept. 14, 2017
gation into institutional
and structural racism.
In addition to the con-
sulting firm, Kafoury is
calling for all racial com-
plaints to be taken direct-
ly to the chief operating
officer and department
directors. As it stands
now, employees register
complaints by calling
the good government
hotline, or by talking to
their supervisors.
The county will also
collaborate with commu-
nity members and the
office of diversity and eq-
uity to develop the new
strategy.
In the meantime, Mad-
rigal said a national
search will be considered
in hiring a new health
department director and
has urged employees
to reach out about con-
cerns.
As for Tillman’s future,
she told The Skanner she
is “committed to continu-
ing to work for racial
justice. I will start work
again this month and I
am considering other op-
portunities.”
