HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-15; City Council; Resolution 2022-071c.
MATT HALL: Mayor
RESOLUTION NO. 2022-071
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD,
CALIFORNIA, APPROVING THE DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION WORK
PLAN
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California has determined that reinforcing
the values of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are foundational to the City of Carlsbad Community and
Organizational Values; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad offered support in June 2020 to provide the
resources necessary to hire a Senior Program Manager dedicated to develop and oversee a Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion program; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California has determined that the Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion Work Plan supports areas of growth from the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Survey
Report.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, as
follows:
1.That the above recitations are true and correct
2.That the Diversity, Equity and Work Plan (Attachment A) is approved.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of
Carlsbad on the 15th day of March 2022, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Hall, Blackburn, Bhat-Patel, Acosta, Norby.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
4 —
-AV FAVIOLA MEDINA, City Clerk Services Manager
(SEAL)
Attachment A
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Proposed Work Plan
During its spring 2021 goal setting process, the City Council established diversity, equity and
inclusion as foundational to all city work plans. Developed by the city's Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion (DEI) Committee, this Work Plan reflects the mission and purpose of the Committee
as articulated in the adopted DEI Committee Charter. The Work Plan incorporates feedback
from the DEI Employee Survey (September 2020), the DEI citywide MS Teams Channel and DEI
Committee members and applies best practices from the International City/County
Management Association (ICMA) Equity and Inclusion Toolkit and the Government Alliance on
Race and Equality Racial Equity Action Plan Guide. The goals and strategies described in this
proposed Work Plan are:
•Systemic in dismantling structural barriers to achieving DEI
•Intentional in both creating a sense of belonging and amplifying marginalized voices
within the organization
•Scalable and sustainable over time with variable resources
The Work Plan strives to achieve the following outcomes by improving on areas identified in the
DEI Employee Survey:
•The city organization continues to make progress with diversity, equity, and inclusion
initiatives.
•All employees feel like they belong within the city organization.
•City leadership models and enforces diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and
practices.
•Diverse individual perspectives and/or opinions are invited and included in decision
making.
•Employees feel encouraged and empowered to voice a contrary opinion without fear of
negative consequences.
•City leadership is diverse and representative of city employee demographics.
This initial Work Plan is intended to cover a time frame of approximately two years with
timelines to be set toward achieving goals and meeting accountability measures. The Work Plan
is to align with the term of service of current DEI Committee members, per the adopted DEI
Committee Charter. Additional resources needed for implementation will be requested during
the city's regular budget cycle, or as prioritized by the DEI Steering Committee. Continuous
improvement will be measured through formal evaluation of the Work Plan through
development of performance metrics that will be reported on in a DEI Annual Report compiled
by the DEI Committee.
Successful implementation of this Work Plan will ensure DEI remains an underlying value that
guides every decision that is made in the city, from budgeting to staffing to programming.
December 1, 2021
March 15, 2022 Item #8 Page 6 of 34
Goal 1— Organizational Assessment and Readiness
1.1 Assess current state of DEI in the city organization
•Establish a data collection task force to collect baseline data related to DEI.
•Determine current status of DEI efforts by applying an existing assessment tool
appropriate for local government.
1.2 Collect research on best practices from the field and assess applicability to Carlsbad
•Create central location and establish a curator role to collect best practices and research
accessible to all city employees on the city intranet.
1.3 Build internal capacity to implement DEI initiatives
•Establish a mandatory DEI training curriculum to begin with city leadership and
management focused on addressing implicit bias, having difficult/challenging
conversations and creating a sense of belonging.
•Identify opportunities to incorporate DEI concepts into existing mandatory trainings for
all employees, when feasible.
•Develop and implement a communications plan to increase all employees' awareness
of DEI goals, expectations, roles and performance measurement. Include strategies for
communicating with leadership, employees, and the community on a regular basis about
the purpose of this process, updates, results, and indicating points of contact for anyone
with questions.
•Establish and define roles for DEI Champions/Change Teams in each city department.
December 1, 2021
March 15, 2022 Item #8 Page 7 of 34
Goal 2 - Diverse workforce
2.1 Recruit and retain a workforce that reflects the values of diversity, equity and inclusion
•Recommend process improvements to eliminate bias in the application screening
process.
•Provide guidance to hiring panels on avoiding implicit bias and recommend process
improvements to diversify selection of hiring panels.
•Continue to diversify recruitment outlets.
•Continue to develop and refine strategies for retention, including mentorship, pathways
to career succession, advancement and professional development opportunities.
•Expand multilingual pay to include additional languages such as American Sign
Language for all employee bargaining units and non-represented employees (ex.
Management, part-time).
2.2 Develop skill sets for working in an inclusive and respectful manner with one another and
with the community
•Create a roster of available multilingual and American Sign Language
proficient employees who can assist with customers and service needs that is available to all
city employees, and a way for customers to easily identify multilingual employees. Train all
city employees on how to obtain multilingual assistance.
•Incorporate strategies for effectively defining, addressing and stopping
microaggressions into the existing mandatory Respectful Workplace training for
all employees.
•Reinforce how to create a sense of belonging by offering training to all employees on
key topics such as inclusion frameworks and strategies, effective bystander training,
addressing implicit bias and having challenging conversations.
•Continue to implement strategies to remove barriers and improve accessibility on how
to provide superior customer service and accessibility for persons with disabilities.
December 1, 2021
March 15, 2022 Item #8 Page 8 of 34
Goal 3 - Equity in service delivery
3.1 Apply an "equity lens" approach
•Develop a DEI Lens/Impact Assessment rubric that proactively identifies barriers and
opportunities in policies, plans, practices, programs and services, and a framework for
applying the rubric to key decisions to ensure DEI is considered in all areas of city
operations.
3.2 Ensure accessibility to city services for all
•Develop a list of ways to improve inclusivity and accessibility for everyone to be
considered when developing materials for employees and the public.
•Evaluate existing training materials for city employees to ensure they are inclusive, such
as offering various languages, addressing accessibility and other potential barriers to
comprehension. Recommend a plan for making necessary adjustments.
•Recommend ways to provide forms and materials in other languages city-wide that are
distributed to the public.
•Evaluate all communications from the city, such as e-mail and website, to consider
inclusivity and accessibility for everyone such as offering accurate
translations in various languages and eliminating other potential barriers to
comprehension.
3.3 Diversify procurement and contracting
•Review and update existing Council policies, Administrative Orders and municipal
code provisions, and professional services agreement templates on procurement and
contracting as applicable to ensure systemic incorporation of DEI in existing policies and
practices.
•Benchmark organizations in the region to ensure the city improves upon current best
practices.
December 1, 2021
March 15, 2022 Item #8 Page 9 of 34
Goal 4 - Environment of inclusion that welcomes and respects
everyone
4.1 Develop and implement policies that reinforce DEI as a value
•Formally adopt diversity, equity and inclusion as organizational values and promote
them on public platforms such as the city website.
•Create a DEI Statement to be included on all recruitment materials.
4.2 Encourage diverse representation throughout the city
•Continue to support the ability for employees to add pronouns to official city email
signatures, business cards and employee name tags/ID badges.
•Evaluate all current city holidays, such as Columbus Day, and apply a DEI lens to ensure
all recognized city holidays are respectfully inclusive, i.e. Indigenous Peoples'
Day, Juneteenth, Cesar Chavez Day.
•Pending future City Council action, enhance the City Council's efforts to support the
I.GBTQIA+ community by displaying the Rainbow Flag during Pride Month. Pursue
additional opportunities for representation and allyship practices.
•Define and develop a Native American land acknowledgement statement that
can be used as appropriate to recognize past and present regional culture while showing
promise towards a shared, inclusive future.
•Evaluate images and photography on current city communications materials
and recommend opportunities to respectfully model diversity and inclusion.
•Organize, support and participate in city-sponsored activities and
events for employees and the public that celebrate cultural diversity, amplify marginalized
voices in the community and create a sense of belonging.
4.3 Create a welcoming, non-judgmental environment for people to share their stories
•Schedule recurring roundtable for employees throughout the organization to share
open dialogue with leadership about DEI issues.
•Continue to encourage citywide employee participation in the MS Teams DEI Channel.
•Host listening circles on a regular basis in various formats for employees
to respectfully share thoughts and ideas on DEI at all levels of the organization.
4.4 Recognize and Celebrate Successes
•Create an Intranet page for the DEI Committee to gather input and share updates,
results and points of contact.
•Highlight articles and stories celebrating DEI within the organization by establishing a
regular DEI Column in the employee newsletter.
December 1, 2021