J
ust days after President Donald Trump took office, he signed a series of executive orders, including a push to dismantle federal programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, causing a dismissal of federal DEI staff and a closure of DEI offices.
While questions still remain about how this might impact federal funding for local municipalities and entities, Central Oregon is grappling with how to react to the federal actions.
In a preemptive measure, the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners made the first major decision locally around DEI on Feb. 5, voting 2-1 to discontinue its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access Committee. Commissioner Phil Chang, who voted to keep the committee, saw the decision as premature.
“I think that this is an entirely unnecessary decision and I’m extremely disappointed that it was sprung on me,” Chang told the Source Weekly. “It’s really unfortunate we’ve gotten swept up in national politics, and it will result in less good provision of services to Deschutes County.”
The County’s DEIA committee worked to address pay disparities between male and female employees and to improve language access for non-English speakers, among other accessibility initiatives.
The committee also aimed to improve staff retention in its 2025 draft work plan, specifically addressing a lower retention of women of color, which was identified in a recent internal audit completed within the County.
One of the main reasons the County voted to do this, according to Commissioner Patti Adair, was to combat the potential loss of federal funds.
“The County did not have to end their internal committee. That was a choice they made, and we’re not going to make that same choice,” Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler told the Source Weekly.
While the City of Bend plans to maintain its commitment to DEI, there is uncertainty about the loss of federal funding for various projects. According to Kebler, the apparent threat to funding comes from the continuation of DEI efforts.
“What it appears the administration may be trying to do is saying, ‘If you do any work in this area [DEI], you can’t receive other grants.’ So that is the threat that sort of seems to be out there,” she said.
According to Kebler, local programs and services receiving federal dollars could be under threat, including infrastructure projects like the addition of an air traffic control tower at the Bend Municipal Airport, the Hawthorne Pedestrian Bridge slated to connect downtown to the Bend Central District and the Reed Market Railroad Crossing aimed at improving travel flow, along with other federally funded services like public transit, firefighting and wildfire mitigation, among others.
“People maybe don’t realize how much the federal government and federal dollars are intertwined in our community and support basic services, along with projects,” Kebler told the Source Weekly. “To see that just get cut or frozen, it’s a huge deal and it’s going to affect everybody, not just a certain group of people.”
Kebler said the City’s DEI work, through its Human Rights and Equity Commission, will continue.
Funding Threats in Motion
While City officials are waiting to understand the legality of these federal actions, the threat of losing federal funding is already reaching schools. On Feb. 14, the U.S. Department of Education sent a notice giving schools and colleges until the end of the month to eliminate DEI programs or risk losing federal funding.
Locally, Central Oregon Community College stated last week that it remains committed to its work in DEI, asserting that diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are central to the college’s mission.
“As a higher education institution, we view DEI&B as essential to our work, ensuring all students have the opportunity to thrive. Our efforts align with our Principles of Community, emphasizing respectful engagement, inclusion and equitable opportunities while addressing barriers that have historically limited access to education,” Alicia Moore, COCC’s vice president of student affairs, told the Source Weekly.
Moore noted that the school’s DEI&B programs do not receive federal funding, and that the school will continue to regularly evaluate federal and state policies that may impact its operations.
OSU-Cascades also shared its commitment to continue supporting its students and staff.
“As the university works to understand and respond to these actions, it does so with its mission and values in mind. OSU remains committed to supporting the access and success of all students and employees. None of the recent executive actions have altered this commitment,” read a statement from Vice President of University Relations and Marketing Rob Odom.
While the results of DEI policies are pending, Allyship in Action, a local company that provides coaching and consultation to support belonging in Central Oregon, highlighted the importance of DEI work.
“At its root, this work — whatever people choose to call it — supports each person in our community to have their needs met with dignity and respect to support equitable outcomes,” LeeAnn O’Neill of Allyship in Action told the Source Weekly. “This work is so important because we have inherited the legacy of oppression of those who came before us, and to this day, it still permeates all aspects of our community.”
In response to federal actions, O’Neill is seeing organizations respond in different ways to continue supporting DEI work.
“For organizations that receive federal funding and are following the federal government’s lead, we are seeing the work go off the radar and being done more covertly and in resistance to federal mandates, often in silos,” said O’Neill. “We are seeing other organizations seeking to find ways to depoliticize the work and find bridges across difference. Others that do not rely on federal funding are leaning into their values and staying the course. And of course, there are those that are choosing to back away from the work.”
This article appears in The Source Weekly February 20, 2025.
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As the City of Bend is saying [“People maybe don’t realize how much the federal government and federal dollars are intertwined in our community and support basic services, along with projects,” Kebler told the Source Weekly.] why not dig as a reporter and find out how much money that is?
When do the politicians actually take polls and determine what the majority of the community’s inhabitants want? I am all for fairness with hiring and pay rates, even now as I’m aging I get concerned about getting too old to be hired, if I needed a job (Self employed most my life). When I look around though, our Central Oregon Community does not have much ethnic diversity. Why should government sponsor programs that don’t make sense here? OH Yeah…someone else is willing to spend the money (gov. grants) to shore up bogus programs. Please do better, come back to basic services as a governing body and do your ‘pet projects’ in your craft rooms and non-profits.
If you want more diversity ask the visitors association and other marketing firms we hire to promote tourism and businesses (Go EDCO!!) to develop programing for various demographics and ethnicities – thoughts?