Minutes 11/11/1975 - Laserfiche WebLink

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250 ~ys. None 75-509 Councilman James W. Holley presented the following letter: "AN OPEN lETTER TO THE PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGEMENT There are two aspects of the Mayor's remarks that I would be pleased to comment on. Wherein his statement that the non-white population (in this instance which means Blacks) is subjected to expect the same degree of competency as the white population. May be consider ~d unfair by many Blacks; I, however, consider it to be a fair statement, but only if it is ap- ' fairl where Black comp~tencyis evident. However, this seems is not always the case and ~lled ..... Y . -' ........ + ~olid case were a Black in our City Planning Department ~h~ i wou±~ ................ ,Az~hn~r any advancement. This indivl~ua± nasI ha ~ ¥ ........ : ........ s an Urban Plannin~ Analyst contributing s~gn~z- I bee p y ' ' 'cataon Flood Insu lm ut to the following city projects and programs:. Model C~t~es appl~ . , -~ cant ' p ...... a ~-+~-~ .... v~ect. He has served faithfully under six deput~ .... - ~- ~ ~ ~ ^~-~ ~n~nce when that ~ositzon was vaca~e~ ~n~uug~ ~ ..... / plannlngw rd mobllltv.a~r~c~°r~neanUwasZ~-~i~^~S~l~l ~u~u~ ~om~ete~t~ to fill the vacancy~ wh~le' ~h? searc~ conr up a ~ ~ ~' ~- ~-' .... ~ ~n~ a white to fill this often vacant pos~t~on, wh~le tinue~ always ±OOKlng, see~l~g ~u ~ ~ right within the department a competent Black who existed. At present this same position has been vacant for several months and once again while the search cycle is in progress this~individuat continues to physically and mentally perform all the iob descriptions of this position, without title and compensation. To fu.rther ex- emplify ~ow incredible this applied competency for Blacks only has been espoused, the immedi- ate past Deputy Director supervised this Black individual f~m a lower salary scale than his own. The present Urban Planner has a total of 22 years of public service, 13 years as a public housing administrator and 9 years in the same position, I note with the Planning Depart mont. During this long and loyal tenure he has applied for the following City positmon vacancies; Director ef Comprehensive Planning, City Real Estate Agent, Coordinator of Special Programs, Manpa~er Coordinator, Deputy Planning Director, and Assistan~ City Manager. It is ridiculous to me that an individual with this vast degree of ability, experienced with an abundance of Mayor Davis's cliche' competency did not merit an upward mobility step into one of these past vacancies, apparently so because he is Black, while at the same time the fol- lowing management annointed appointments of so inferred competency was continuing at its customary pace with ease and grace. An example in case: The Senior Citizen Director --- Manpower Coordinator --- Criminal Justice P~anner --- Analyst Management and on and on and on. It is interesting to note that all were from the White population. It may be pointed out that my concern is an isolated instance and I agree with that con- tention, but it would be many more similar cases of inquiries if the percentage of white collar Blacks in municipal employment was not a present less than one percent. This system- atic exclusion of Blacks from middle and upper management positions in city government has another serious implicat~nn ether than supervision and race. It is a process and practice of locking in competent Blacks in a position with a salary ceiling. Admitte~ly'thisldesSgn has done more through the years to minimize the earnings of competent Blacks in government vs. competent Whites. All of us are cognizant that one can find incompetency in government at all levels and ours is not exceptio'n'; since ours is one that is nearly all white and with some evidence of incompetency~ why then is it considered so impractical to employe incompetent Blacks; if we are sincere in equal employment opportunities then this standard must be applied. For every incompetent White found, dismiss and hire another competent White or if one is not available, hire an incompetent Black. At best we would end up with this picture, 1/3 competent Whites, 1/3 incompetent Whites, 1/3 incompetent Blacks. Note: No competent Blacks are in these figur, s, since it is obvious that management is adverse to hiring any, under the pretense that none exist. In conclusion, Mayor Davis indicated that Councilman Elliott's previous charge wa~ serio~ It is a serious contention when tax-paying Blacks are only employed in short phrasle, one time Federally Funded Programs, while the permanent and protected positions which are funded from the general fund of all taypayers go to Whites only. To paraphrase Mayor Davis, I think it is time now as we approach the eve of the Bicentennial of this Democracy, for this Council to direct our management to discard this two hundred year old practice against Blacks and insti- tute an effective affirmative action program of fair employment for ~ our citizens." Motion of Mr. Holley and seconded by Mr. Elliott, the meeting adjourned at 11:45 p~a. APPROVED City Clerk