Published: August 24, 2008 11:05 pm      

FALLS: City’s human rights group calls for more minority hiring.

Rick Williams wasn’t surprised when residents spoke out about the lack of minority hiring in Niagara Falls during a public forum last month.

It’s the same concern he’s been trying to spotlight for years.

While the lack of diversity is apparent in the city’s workforce, especially among white-collar positions, the hiring of African Americans as the last two city administrators and promises made by current Mayor Paul Dyster makes Williams believe progress is being made.

“The human rights commission is forcing the city to look at the issues and see how we can do better,” said Williams, who’s head of that group.

“We have a long way to go, but we have people thinking about the problem and that’s what we need.”

Williams said the pattern of hiring non-minorities to top positions stretches over numerous mayoral administrations. He said mayors often hired friends, family or volunteers from their campaign, while blacks, women and other minorities did no better than part-time jobs. Being placed in those spots limited their chances of promotion or earning equal pay raises.

“That type of pattern has been going on in this city for decades and will not be changed overnight,” Williams said. “But I think we’ve been making progress in (Dyster’s and former Mayor Vince Anello’s) administrations.”

Williams points to Anello’s hiring of Bill Bradberry as city administrator when the position became vacant in early 2007. Bradberry continued as acting administrator while Dyster conducted a national search for applicants upon taking over as mayor. That search resulted in the hiring of former Atlanta Public Works Deputy Commissioner Donna Owens, who is the city’s first minority woman to serve as administrator.

Though he’s held the city’s number two position, Bradberry agrees much more needs to be done in regard to minority hiring. During his time at City Hall, he worked on a workforce diversity initiative that targeted city positions and workers on construction projects. In particular, any development the city helps finance, like the ongoing courthouse construction, should have a workforce that’s representative of the city’s population, he said.

Approximately 24 percent of city residents are non-Caucasian, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. Every four years, the city must submit hiring and staff reports to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“It’s evident by looking at those reports there’s a gross need for African Americans and minorities in high-end positions,” Bradberry said. “The middle-management ranks are particularly void of a fair representation on the city’s workforce.”

The city’s courthouse contract with Ciminelli Development says 10 percent of its workforce must consist of minorities — a requirement that is being met, Bradberry said. However, that percentage would only put three minorities to work in a shift of 30 employees and still doesn’t put a dent into those in dire need of jobs, specifically unemployed African Americans, he added.

Bill Williamson, who once served on the city’s advisory committee for the courthouse project, expressed concerns about minority hiring practices at the site during last month’s community forum attended by representatives of the attorney general’s office. Williamson questioned whether the hiring mandate was being fulfilled.

“You can drive right by and see no people of color working on the building,” Williamson said at the meeting.

Pointing to the abundance of city-funded construction projects coming up, Bradberry said the city needs to insist upon a larger percentage of minority workers. He added the city school district needs to take similar measures.

The human rights commission plans on approaching the City Council this fall and request money be spent on a workforce analysis. In addition, it will request a more concise list of hiring procedures and polices be put in place and the reinstatement of an equal opportunity employee coordinator position cut from the budget years ago.

“It used to be taken seriously, but has sort of faded away,” said Bradberry, a member of the human rights commission. “The lack of minorities being hired only garners attention when a crisis arises. Nobody’s full-time job is to monitor this.”

Before the city can enforce more minority hiring on construction projects, however, it needs to lead by example, Bradberry said. Besides Owens, the city currently only has white employees in administrative positions.

“It’s very important for the city to take the first step,” Bradberry said. “It has failed to do that and it’s time to step up to the plate. I would hope we could get to the point where it doesn’t matter what color you are. We’ve got a long way to go, but why not start now?”

Diversifying the city’s workforce is one of the campaign promises Dyster stressed while running for mayor. He believes his administration has already taken steps in that direction over the past eight months, but acknowledges more needs to be done. He said one of Owens’ main tasks is reviewing all of the city’s past and present hiring practices.

“This is a very high priority for my administration, we take it very, very seriously,” Dyster said. “In our national search to fill positions, we wanted to make certain that women and minorities were strongly represented in the pool of candidates.”

The mayor said a strong focus has been put on attracting minorities to city job fairs and police recruitment initiatives. The results haven’t been encouraging so far, he added, but efforts will continue.

Alphonso David, deputy attorney general for civil rights, said during last month’s forum that his office found it surprising there are just four minority police officers on a force that includes more than 156 officers.

Dyster said the city is taking the attorney general’s concerns seriously and will take steps to better monitor hiring compliance and recruitment. He also welcomes suggestions from the human right’s commission.

Williams credited both the administrations of Anello and Dyster for making an effort and said the commission will stay active in its quest for equality.

“Do minorities need more work in the city? Yes,” Williams said. “But I believe we are moving in the right direction.”