Garza says reorganization ‘will in no way diminish’ offices of Civil Rights, Equity

Interim City Manager Jesús Garza has clarified his plans for reorganizing a handful of city offices, including the Equity and Civil Rights offices, which will be located in different buildings despite being part of the newly created Community and Business Equity Department.

In a memo released Monday, Garza said those two offices, as well as the office of Small and Minority Business Resources, would serve as distinct units in the new department, which is being created as part of the process for finalizing the city’s next budget.

The memo said the leaders of those offices will retain their current level of authority, adding that “this new department, devoted to all things equity-related, along with civil rights, will in no way diminish the existing offices.”

Leaders of a collection of community groups have criticized the move, which will also see the Sustainability and Resilience offices become part of the Planning Department. The criticism comes mainly over the lack of community input or notification of the change prior to the release of the draft budget last month, along with concerns that the Equity and Civil Rights offices could lose autonomy that many feel is necessary to do their work effectively.

In an initial response to the criticisms, Garza took a dim view of the city’s recent practice of prioritizing public engagement as one of the main components in designing policy and programs. He said his preference is for department heads and other executives to offer their best ideas for meeting city objectives, with the public then weighing in to fine-tune those options.

“There have been concerns expressed that the work currently underway by these offices would somehow be disrupted, redirected, subverted, or deprioritized,” Garza wrote in the memo. “Far from it, this reorganization is designed to ensure that advancing equity and protecting civil rights are continued and amplified with additional support and resources. Expressed objectives and work plans for Equity, Civil Rights and (Small and Minority Business Resources) will not only continue with no change but also be expanded.”

Garza also noted other major cities in Texas have similar groupings of offices, and he spelled out some priorities for the realigned offices if the new department is included in the city’s next budget. They include advancing racial equity in policies and processes of other city departments; enforcing federal civil rights statutes as well as the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance; and promoting and encouraging minority, female and disadvantaged business owners to participate in contracting opportunities with the city.

During City Council’s budget sessions last week, several members of the public spoke against the reorganization, including Brion Oaks, the city’s former chief equity officer who left that position almost a year ago.

“I really hope I’m not the last chief equity officer for the city of Austin,” Oaks said. “One of the things that was most disturbing about this proposal is that the chief equity officer’s position will be downgraded into a division manager, and as a division manager, it would be a nonexecutive position. The chief equity officer would struggle to get access to other executives within the city … and would no longer have access to directors’ meetings, and these are critical internal pieces to create change the city had a vision for when it established the office back in 2017.”

Kaiba White, a policy outreach specialist for Public Citizen, said the reorganization creates the perception that the offices’ work is not significant enough for them to remain distinct entities.

“These offices represent core priorities for this community and come from a long stretch of engagement with the community to create these as independent offices,” she said. “Their independence is critical, not least because they need to be able to work across all city offices and departments and put that work at the highest level of our city priorities.”

A letter signed by members of Hispanic Advocates Business Leaders of Austin (HABLA), LULAC District 7 and Latino HealthCare Forum came out in favor of the reorganization, arguing it will combine the offices’ resources into one department and help them work more efficiently.

“Offices like the Small and Minority Business Resources Department, the Civil Rights Office, and the Equity Office share similar goals and service communities. Unfortunately, these offices and staff are scattered throughout the City’s government structure and often report to different assistant city managers,” the letter read.

The letter continued, “We believe such a consolidation will create synergy, facilitate communications, improve accountability, and strengthen the significance of the work. When this occurs, significant leverage and expansion opportunities emerge, setting the stage for the achievement of racial equity in our community. Most importantly, this consolidation elevates the department to report directly to an Assistant City Manager with the authority to address larger organizational issues, accountability, and/or required policy changes.”

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