(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) In one of the latest examples of woke ideology run amok, an elections director in San Francisco was effectively fired for being white.
The city’s Elections Commission voted 4-2 last week to not renew the contract of Elections Director John Arntz, according to Breitbart. Employee performance was not an issue, but Arntz’s white skin color didn’t fit with the commission’s goal to pursue the city’s “racial equity plan.”
Before being unceremoniously booted aside for a more race-friendly candidate, Arntz had received glowing work reviews and accolades, the Bay Area’s Local Mission reported.
San Francisco Elections Commissioner Cynthia Dai, who voted to axe Arntz’s contract, conceded that under his direction the city had run “free, fair and functional elections for 20 years,” but said it was time to open top city positions to meet racial equity goals.
In a 2021 report, the Elections Commission lauded Arntz’s service for running “one of the best elections in the country” and in 2020 wrote him a commendation for “for his incredible leadership.”
“The Department successfully ran two elections this year while facing significant challenges, including national threats to election security, mandatory vote-by-mail operations to all registered voters, anticipated increase in voter participation, budget cuts, and the COVID-19 pandemic,” raved the commission that just booted Arntz for being white.
City Supervisor Aaron Peskin blasted the decision to not renew Arntz’s contract, calling it “commission malfeasance,” and far-leftist Mayor London Breed seemed to agree.
“Over the last year John successfully ran four elections, while navigating a pandemic that thwarted San Francisco into crisis response — all without a single issue,” Breed said.
Arntz’s removal also drew fire from all of the managers in the elections director’s department, who “wrote a letter to the commission ahead of time pleading with them to re-appoint him,” Local Mission reported.
That input was reportedly disregarded by the commission, which was determined to push ahead with its discriminatory hiring practices to meet the city’s equity goals.
“Our decision wasn’t about your performance, but after twenty years we wanted to take action on the City’s racial equity plan and give people an opportunity to compete for a leadership position,” Commission president Chris Jerdonek wrote to Arntz. “We also wanted to allow enough time for a fair and equitable process and conduct as broad a search as possible.”
Arntz was also invited to reapply for his own job next year.
Headline USA’s Mark Pellin contributed to this report
