Orlando hires first equity official to target, curb systemic racism
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has hired his administration’s first equity official, a policy advisor tasked with researching and curbing systemic inequities in city government.
Merchon Green, 41, started work at City Hall this week after working as chair of the Equity Committee for the School District of Indian River County. Her new position was created as one of the city’s responses to mass protests over the summer against police brutality and systemic racism following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.
Dyer said he isn’t establishing specific goals for Green and said “nothing is off-limits” in her to review the city’s policies, programs and procedures.
“In the spring when the George Floyd incident occurred... we started looking harder at not just what our short-term solutions or things we could do would be, but how do we put something together that’s long term and looks at systemic inequity?” Dyer said. “We didn’t want to limit it in any way to any one aspect of the city.”
The role will function like that of Chris Castro, Dyer’s director of sustainability and resilience, who coordinates green initiatives with employees in each city department. Dyer said he hopes, over time, a network of city employees will similarly focuses on equity-related issues.
Initially, Green, who will oversee the city’s office of human relations and multicultural affairs, said she’s diving into city programs and policies to learn what is already in place.
“Locally, citizens feel the
impact immediately,” she said. “Citizens will feel what we’re doing here and know that we care.”
It was tragedy that drove Green into community-related work, she said.
In 2007, her uncle Byruss Green, who was mentally ill and off his medication, was killed by an Indian River deputy sheriff, according to TC Palm, a newspaper that covers the Treasure Coast. The deputy who fired the fatal shotgun blast wasn’t charged in the shooting.
In 2015, the same Sheriff’s Office solved the murder of her cousin, Reggie Davis, who was killed by two teens he thought were his friends who tried to rob him, she said.
“Those two were life-changing events for me,” Green said. “In one instance, we felt like the police didn’t do their job and we felt that our family was wronged. But in the other instance… we saw how important to have those police relations and build those relationships with officers.”
The experiences “opened my eyes to so many things,” she said, “… like, systemically, what we can improve with our police department, but also looking in the community and seeing how we also have room for improvement.”
The killing of Floyd in Minneapolis and the ensuing protests against police brutality forced cities to take action to address inequities within.
Leon Andrews, the director of Race, Equity and Leadership at the National League of Cities, said his agency is working with more than 500 cities across the country in addressing racial justice and equity. Issues addressed have been anything from a city’s fines and fee structures, parks and programming, policing, procurement and other areas.
“Government has been designed intentionally not to serve everyone,” he said. “Many times those policies happen intentionally, but many times now when we look at the present, they happen unintentionally.”
For the Orlando Police Department, the city has hired outside consultants to review protocols and identify improvements, as well academics to help train officers in community engagement. Last month, the City Council approved a plan to send teams of mental health counselors on some 911 calls. Within its budget, Orlando funded the equity official position and expanded its Parramore Kidz Zone youth program and the My Brother’s Keeper mentorship program into four more neighborhoods. But officials still faced criticism from activists who bristled at a rise in money to OPD.
Cities like Asheville, N.C., and San Antonio have established offices of equity and inclusion dating back years, while the new mayor of Baltimore just appointed a newly created chief equity officer in December, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Typically, when cities make these hires, Andrews said, the initial work is focused on assessing the city’s own understanding of equity. The hiring of an equity official “signals this is a priority for the city,” Andrews said.
“There is no one city that has this figured out,” he said.