Diversity to play role in city hiring and general plan

Tiburon is set to consider diversity in its employment practices and updated general plan.

The Town Council directed staff at its meeting on Wednesday to work with O’Rourke & Associates, a Novato consulting firm hired to update the town’s 20-year general plan, to put together a cost and scope proposal for adding a separate element related to diversity and inclusion.

O’Rourke & Associates was hired in 2020 at an estimated total cost of $794,019 to complete the project, which initially did not include a diversity and inclusion element. The general plan is expected to be adopted in November 2022.

A presentation on the new element proposal will be made at the council meeting on Nov. 3 or Nov. 17, said Town Manager Greg Chanis.

The general plan is a document that guides Tiburon’s development over 20 years. The updated plan, through 2042, will address issues related to land use, housing, transportation, open space and other community issues.

The council also initiated the process of hiring of a separate professional diversity and inclusion consultant to review the town’s practices related to diversity in hiring, recruitment and advancement. The consultant might also review the possibility of hiring an employee specifically tasked with managing town diversity, equity and inclusion.

Chanis said the staff intended to put together a request for consultants and develop a short list of candidates. He said the town’s diversity and inclusion committee would likely participate in the selection process, though its exact role is undecided.

“We appreciate and value the work of the task force and we continue to look forward to working with them to make forward progress,” he said.

Chanis shared hiring demographics during the diversity committee’s meeting on Oct. 13. The data, which compared current gender and race/ethnic diversity with January 2016, showed small increases in both metrics.

Chanis said Tiburon is staffed for 38 full-time employees, though there are three vacancies. In 2016, there were also 38 employees, he said.

Women comprise 32.43% of Tiburon’s staff. In 2016, the number was 26.32%.

In 2016, Tiburon staff included 86.84% White employees, with the rest of Latino heritage. Now, the staff is 75.68% White employees, 18.92% Latino employees, 2.7% Middle Eastern employees and 2.7% Asian employees.

Chanis noted that the three vacancies are assumed to be in the “White” category because that was the racial background of the employees who occupied the positions.

Mayor Holli Thier said the diversity committee and the

Town Council were making “great progress” in addressing concerns.

“We have a lot more work to do, however we’re moving forward on important measures like looking at our diversity and inclusion in hiring,” Their said. “Our town is focused for the first time on creating a more inclusive

community.”

The diversity committee was formed following a racial controversy last year involving the Yema shop. On Aug. 21, 2020, police officers from Tiburon and Belvedere asked the owners for their identification while they were in the store at about 1 a.m. One of the proprietors, Yema Khalif, said he did not have to justify his presence in his own shop and accused the officer of racial bias.