For the last two years, a local committee has been chipping away at the town’s goals to improve the diversity, equity and inclusiveness of Belmont.
“We’re trying to develop a plan for some of the things we can’t do right away,” said Julie Wu, co-chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Implementation Committee. “And the things we can do right away, we’re trying to get those done.”
In February 2021, the Diversity Task Force was established following a series of racially-motivated incidents at both the national and local levels. Locally, that included the murder of Henry Tapia, a Black man who was the victim of a road rage incident in January 2021, during which Dean Kapsalis — who is now serving life in prison (with the possibility of parole after 15 years) — reportedly shouted racist slurs at Tapia before striking him with his truck, according to the Associated Press.
“This was the time when a lot of people were starting to develop DEI policies,” recalled Wu.
For about a year, that committee of residents and town officials developed a series of recommendations to pass on to the DEI Implementation Committee. The implementation committee has a three-year charge, according to Wu, who co-chairs the committee with Kim Haley-Jackson.
Broadly speaking, some of the task force’s recommendations included: hiring a diversity, equity, and inclusion director for the town; hosting DEI trainings; making restrooms more inclusive; increasing transportation access for the senior and disabled communities; and ensuring the business community is welcoming for both employees and consumers.
“Our charge was just to come up with a plan,” Wu said. “We did want to get something done in three years instead of just talking about a plan for three years. We’ve taken a look at all of the recommendations and the things that are more long-term, things that are more short-term, things that we could get done in the meantime that don’t cost money.”
According to Wu, the committee has been working with various departments to develop plans for accomplishing these recommendations. This year, for example, all municipal employees took part in a multi-day DEI training. More recently, Wu said, Facilities Director David Blazon is working with the committee on the recommendation to create all-gender single-occupancy restrooms.
“We figured that was pretty low-hanging fruit because it just involved signage,” she said.
At a recent Select Board meeting, Blazon told the Board that no physical changes would be required to accommodate this recommendation; that said, details need to be worked out with the town’s unions.
“That is in the works, so that’s a positive thing,” Wu said.
She acknowledged that some of the recommendations are less likely to happen in the immediate future, given their financial cost. In particular, she referenced the recommendation to hire a DEI director.
“On the other hand, [the School Department] did hire a DEI director for the school district,” she said. “She subsequently left, but they’re working on hiring a new one. We’re aware of that process and we can hopefully be in touch with the hiring committee and also with whoever they hire.”
In general, the committee hopes to see the town work toward diversifying its workforce. In 2021, 96% of municipal employees (not including the Belmont Public Schools) identified as Caucasian, 1.7% Asian, 1.06% Black, and 0.42% Hispanic, according to data from Human Resources. By comparison, data from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau showed that about 77% of residents identified as white, 17% Asian, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 1.5% Black, and 0.3% Native American.
“We would like to see [the workforce] more representative of the town,” Wu said. “They are trying to do that, but I understand there are obstacles to that. They have been forwarding emails to us so we can send them to our affinity groups, which is a very small step we can make without any particular funding.”
Currently, the committee does what it can without an actual budget, she said. But in January, the committee plans to create a budget to present to the Select Board, which would help to support certain actions such as offering a training session on the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the part of landlords, real estate companies, and lending agencies on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.
Though the recommendations were largely geared toward addressing needs within the town, the committee’s work also extends to the business community.
“We’re working on sending out a survey to businesses, asking about discrimination both on the business level — whether minority businesses have felt discrimination — and whether businesses have anti-discrimination policies, both in terms of hiring and for customers,” Wu said.
Housing is another area outside municipal government where the committee hopes to progress. She said this was particularly relevant in light of the Town Meeting vote next month on the MBTA zoning maps, which seek to create zoning for new housing (but does not require the construction of new housing).
“Part of wanting to get that passed is notifying all the different committees that have to vote on this — the Select Board, the Town Meeting, the Planning Board — that fair housing laws apply and that you cannot discriminate against protected classes such as families,” Wu said.
She said the committee plans to host public forums in the near future to offer residents the opportunity to provide input on topics such as housing, education, and business. She emphasized that the work of the implementation committee “isn’t just about race.”
“It’s about people with disabilities; it’s about people who have Section 8 (housing vouchers); it’s also about the elderly,” she said. “It’s for everybody.”
A full copy of the report can be found online at tinyurl.com/BelmontDEI.