(Matt Lamb, Headline USA) A top official in Portland said the Oregon city may need to cut “equity” roles due to a pending budget deficit.
The city is forecasting a $27 million budget shortfall starting in the new fiscal year, according to its official website.
This has led city administrator Michael Jordan to warn of cuts to “equity” jobs. That spells trouble for three new officer positions focused on “equity, communications, and engagement,” according to the Willamette Week.
“As we proceed through the assessment process, it is possible that there will be cuts,” Jordan told the local news outlet. Other cuts include communications and engagement budgets.
The city has regularly hired for DEI roles with nice salaries. For example, the Parks and Recreation Department advertised an “equity and inclusion coordinator” job that topped out at a $104,000-per-year salary. The job would research “racial equity and inclusion best practices” and provide advice to the bureau on “racial equity assessment tools.”
This job should not be confused with a 2023 posting for an “equity and engagement planner” job in the bureau of planning and sustainability.
That analyst position, with pay reaching nearly $150,000 annually, required a “subject matter expert on equity, diversity, and inclusion” who could implement “equity frameworks.”
The hire would also conduct “racial equity” studies on “land use, climate justice, waste systems and community technology.”
The Office of Equity and Human Rights is overseen by the city administrator.
The city leans heavily into LGBT issues as well. The equity office publishes an “LGBTQIA2S+ Policy,” noting that 11% of city workers identified as being on the sexually divergent spectrum, and 15% did not select male or female when asked for their sex.
The policy program “approaches LGBTQIA2S+ equity work with an intersectional lens, centering the most marginalized demographics within the community.”
Portland is now led by Mayor Keith Wilson. For years, Ted Wheeler ran the city, largely letting homelessness run rampant and overseeing violent crime from domestic terror group Antifa.
He also used pepper spray on his own citizen, whom he accused of harassing him in 2021 for not wearing a mask while inside.
“I clearly informed him that he needed to back off,” Wheeler told police.
“He did not do so … I pulled out my pepper spray and I sprayed him in the eyes,” Wheeler continued. “He seemed surprised, and backed off. He made a comment like, ‘I can’t believe you just pepper-sprayed me.’”
However, Wheeler previously prohibited police from using tear gas during the city’s riots in 2020.
