Walsh gets mixed results on diversity
Mayor Martin J. Walsh has increased diversity at City Hall, but as he gears up for reelection the mayor remains short of his promise to build a municipal workforce that fully reflects Boston’s population, according to a Globe analysis of payroll demographics.
The data also show that the overwhelmingly white payroll of the powerful Boston Planning & Development Agency (formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority) has become less diverse during Walsh’s tenure, when 65 percent of new hires have been white.
Diversity in the city and its government played a defining role in Walsh’s 2013 campaign, when support in predominantly black, Latino, and Asian neighborhoods propelled him to a narrow victory. People of color have constituted a majority of the city’s population for nearly two decades, but the demographic shift has not been reflected in government.
The Walsh administration, after less than three years in office, says it has worked hard to diversify the city workforce, and pointed to what it described as an unprecedented emphasis on outreach and recruitment. City Hall has launched a new recruiting system and job fairs in Mattapan, Roxbury, Grove Hall, and other neighborhoods that are home, predominantly, to people of color.
“The mayor has delivered on his promise on a lot of things when it comes to diversity,” said Danielson Tavares, chief diversity officer. “We have a workforce of about 14,000. Obviously, that’s not going to change overnight, but I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
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