ANOTHER VIEWPOINT: City’s need to diversify is immediate

<p>Community soul-searching should be a positive outcome of George Floyd’s death at the hands of officers of the Minneapolis Police Department. An accounting of a demonstrable commitment to diversity and inclusion is beginning to happen elsewhere; it must happen here, as well.</p><p>Fort Wayne attorney Tim Pape, a former city councilman, pushed the city into the debate earlier this month with a letter to Mayor Tom Henry.</p><p>“The energy that has ignited the Black Lives Matter movement presents an opportunity to correct an injustice in appointments to four of the most powerful boards within local government: Redevelopment Commission, Legacy Fund, Capital Improvement Board and Plan Commission,” Pape wrote. “Currently, there are no black citizens appointed to any of these highly influential, highly visible, critically important boards. These boards make choices on community direction, strategy, policy and funding. This is where inattention and insularity can lead to disconnection and denial.”</p><p>The mayor’s initial reaction, in an interview with WPTA-TV ABC 21, was to say the city tries, but “we don’t get a lot of people interested.”</p><p>Lack of interested or qualified applicants isn’t a valid excuse. The same day we published Pape’s appeal for more diversity, members of City Council nominated two black men to the Economic Development Commission, voting 6-3 to appoint Quinton Ellis as their representative to the commission. In an interview, the Fort Wayne attorney said he was recruited by newly elected council members Michelle Chambers and Sharon Tucker.</p><p>“I didn’t express an interest before, but a lot of people probably don’t know that you need to go online and fill out an application to serve on these boards and commissions,” Ellis said. “I think the public needs to be educated, as well as the minority community specifically, that there’s a process to make it known you want to serve.”</p><p>But he also noted that, in practice, city appointees don’t apply for their posts – they are tapped by city leaders.</p><p>New attention to the deeply ingrained practices resulting too often in all-male, all-white boards seems to be making a difference. In addition to City Council’s appointment, the mayor released a statement acknowledging Pape’s criticism is valid.</p><p>“Currently, we do not have enough minority representation on City of Fort Wayne boards and commissions,” Henry wrote. “It’s a top priority of my administration to have more diversity on the volunteer boards and commissions. We’ll continue to be proactive in encouraging minority residents to submit applications to be considered for future opportunities. We welcome their participation, and our city will benefit as a result of having diverse voices at the table making important decisions.”</p><p>The city’s website will be updated to include a list of appointees to city boards and commissions, according to John Perlich, public information officer for the city. It should follow the lead of the Allen County Public Library’s Board of Trustees, with dates of appointment and term expiration. Allen County and other units of local government should do the same.</p><p>The community benefits when its leaders look like the community itself. An enduring commitment to diversity and inclusion must begin today.</p><p><em>Send comments to <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>.</em></p>