Portland City Council to hold diversity, equity and inclusion workshop [Video]

The Portland City Council will meet on Monday night for its first workshop evaluating the city’s diversity, equity and inclusion work.

The meeting comes as the city is without a leader for its new racial equity department after Umaru Balde resigned in May.

Mayor Mark Dion said the focus of the workshop will be on internal hiring practices and how the city can create a more inclusive work environment for its staff.

“I want to make sure our house is functioning the way it’s supposed to before we offer opinions on how other organizations within the city should function,” said Dion.

Councilor Kate Sykes, however, said she has bigger goals when it comes to making Portland a more diverse and inclusive place. She said she hoped the meeting would not focus exclusively on internal hiring.

“I would like to have every piece of legislation that we pass have an equity component to it, to have …