DORMONT TO DRAFT ‘ROONEY RULE’

Dormont Council has approved the first step in creating more diversity in the borough as council voted Monday to authorize the borough manager and solicitor to create a draft “Rooney Rule” for the borough to minimize employment barriers to people of color.

The Rooney Rule, first established in 2003 in the National Football League, is a policy that requires teams to interview minority candidates for coaching and football operations jobs. It was named after the late Dan Rooney, the former Pittsburgh Steelers owner and chairman of the NFL’s diversity committee, which pushed for the rule.

Council member Joanna Bouldin explained that drafting a Rooney Rule was discussed at a recent meeting of the borough’s planning, sustainability and inclusion committee.

“We were discussing strategies to address the lack of diversity that we see in our employee makeup as well as on our boards and commissions,” Ms. Bouldin said. “The reality is that these bodies do not reflect the diversity that we have in our community, such that it is, and we should take steps to address that.”

Ms. Bouldin added that the borough manager and solicitor would be tasked with evaluating Dormont’s hiring procedures and policies to identify barriers to employment for people of color and then correcting those policies.

Borough Manager Ben Estell said one of the steps that Dormont could take would be to change the way it advertises for employment and board positions by possibly advertising in publications like the New Pittsburgh Courier. He said the administration will also look at how the civil service commission operates.

Any recommendations the administration and solicitor have for the borough regarding the Rooney Rule would have to be approved by council.

The borough will hold a public “listening session” to hear from residents regarding its police department during a July 20 public safety and building and code enforcement meeting.

The purpose of that meeting will be to listen to residents “so they can bring their questions, concerns, ideas, research — anything that’s on their minds regarding various questions about the operations of the police department.

Council Vice President Jen Mazzocco said Monday that at a previous public safety meeting the committee discussed the hiring process, training and use-offorce policy with residents.

Ms. Mazzocco said the plan following the July 20 meeting will be to take whatever information is gathered and review it with council at an August workshop meeting.

“We do foresee this taking longer than two months,” Ms. Mazzocco said.

The June public safety meeting is available to watch on the borough’s website at http://boro.dormont.pa.us.

The July 20 meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Information on how that meeting will be conducted, which likely will be via Zoom, can also be found on the borough’s website.