Deschutes County Discontinues DEI Program

The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 on Feb. 5 to discontinue its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access Committee, which worked on issues including pay disparities between male and female county employees, improving access for hearing and visually impaired residents and other accessibility initiatives. The decision comes after orders from President Trump to shut down federal DEI efforts. These executive orders, however, do not specifically reach to state and local levels at this time.

County staff members, including Commissioner Phil Chang, and many residents who provided feedback to the Commission, see the work as important and the decision as premature. Chang also saw the decision as rushed, given that the discussion about the future of the committee was added to the Wednesday meeting agenda late Monday afternoon.

The Committee’s focus, since its creation in 2023, was to represent the diversity of the community it serves, while fostering a diverse, equitable, inclusive and accessible culture for all employees and community members, according to a county DEIA Action Plan.

At the board meeting, Commissioner Tony DeBone, who voted to dismantle the committee along with Commissioner Patti Adair, argued that the County already shares many of the DEI committee’s intentions in its goals and objectives. Therefore, he doesn’t see a need for continuing the committee.

Adair said most of the committee’s work should be happening within the county’s Human Resources department. However, the main driver for ending the committee, according to Adair, was the fear of losing federal funds.

“We’re following the president from the top… the federal government is in charge of a lot of funding that comes to Deschutes County, and I would hate to lose it,” she said at the meeting.

During the brief discussion, Commissioner Chang pushed back, questioning the purpose of dissolving the committee.

“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.”

As there are no specific DEI-related mandates for the county, and the decision seems to be based on concerns around a future push to eliminate local DEI efforts, Chang believes the county could’ve deflected federal pressures and continued the committee.

Before the meeting, Deschutes County Health Services Director Janice Garceau sent a letter to commissioners summarizing the committee’s efforts and importance.

The letter stated that the potential impact of the decision on staff and programs was significant and listed a number of achievements. They include improvements in language access for non-English speakers, improving access to services for hearing, mobility and visually impaired individuals and helping to address staff concerns to improve staff retention, among others.

The committee also worked to address issues identified in a recent internal audit completed within the county, which found continued pay disparities between male and female employees and a lower retention of women of color. The committee sought to prioritize those issues in its 2025 draft work plan, obtained by the Source Weekly.

Garceau called the decision premature, stating that there are no current requirements to get rid of programming at the state and local level. She noted that if President Trump’s executive orders on DEI are challenged, the county’s decision could potentially have to be rolled back.

“That seems like a reactive and unnecessary step, not to mention impractical in the long run,” she wrote in the letter.

While Chang said there may not be job losses as a direct result of this decision, he worries this “anti-DEI push” will result in less commitment to maintaining certain positions supported by the committee.

In response to the county’s decision, Bend City Councilor Megan Perkins addressed the attacks on DEI at a recent City Council meeting, stating that the City will maintain its work in diversity, equity and inclusion.

“I want to be clear: The President doesn’t get to decide or stop the important work that we are doing in our community,” she said. “None of the work that our equity department or the Human Rights and Equity Commission does divides us; it expands our views and makes us better. We will continue this work because it is the right thing to do.”

This article appears in The Source Weekly February 13, 2025.