Oregon’s most diverse county weighs rolling back DEI policies to comply with Trump administration

Oregon’s

most diverse

county could become the first in the Portland-metro area to rescind its diversity, equity and inclusion policies to comply with the Trump administration’s

demands

that governments end those efforts.

A proposal before the Washington County Board of Commissioners would overturn a

2020 resolution

that required the county to support and strengthen equity and inclusion in its “programs, practices and policies.” Officials said they fear the federal government could pull over $64 million in housing assistance and grants if the guiding principles aren’t repealed.

The loss of funds would be devastating for the county, which is already reeling from five years of

budget shortfalls

. Board members also said they don’t have the resources to bring legal action if the federal government does withhold funds.

“We do not have the current resources to ‘fight’ the way some in our community are asking us to,” Chair Kathryn Harrington told commissioners in a public meeting Tuesday.

The board was initially set to vote to repeal the ordinance Tuesday, but Harrington tabled the vote until next week after hearing little support from her fellow board members. Commissioners Nafisa Fai, Pam Treece and Jason Snider all signaled that they wanted more time to work with community members to alter the proposal.

Commissioner Jerry Willey said he’d support the proposal to rescind the equity resolution as-is, and added that the county could work through any complications afterwards.

“This isn’t: we make the decision and then it’s done and we walk away from organizations, from individuals, from the vulnerable — we’re not doing that,” Willey said. “We begin the next dialogue of how best do we function in this political environment.”

President Donald Trump signed executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs shortly after taking office in January. Those executive orders mostly target diversity efforts within the federal government, but Trump has also threatened to pull federal dollars or contracts from local governments, schools and universities and private companies that don’t revoke diversity and equity policies. His orders have met legal challenges across the country.

Washington County would not be the first Oregon government body to rescind diversity policies in response to the federal funding threats. The

Deschutes County

Board of Commissioners voted in February to dismantle its diversity, equity, inclusion and access committee. The Port of Portland

revoked

its social equity policy in April.

Multnomah County has made no moves to revoke or amend its diversity and inclusion protocols, and officials have restated their commitment to such efforts on several occasions. Clackamas County

eliminated its equity office

last year, but the move was unrelated to the Trump administration. The county has not made any changes since that time, according to spokesperson Scott Anderson.

Coalition of Communities of Color Executive Director Marcus Mundy and several others testified against the proposal to rescind Washington County’s equity policies during public comment Tuesday.

“I’m happy to say this has been tabled,” Mundy said. “My organization and a lot of our members are anxious to work with this commission on a go-forward resolution that is useful to both the members of the community and Washington County.”

Washington County has the highest diversity index in Oregon, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The index is a “measurement of the probability that two people chosen at random will be from different race and ethnicity groups.”

The proposal to revoke the Washington County’s diversity initiatives would also rescind the government’s 2024-2028 strategic plan brought to the board last year. At the same time, the proposal still includes a renewed commitment from the board to advance “civil rights and access to county services of all Washington County residents regardless of their race, color, religion, sex,” or other factors.

Fai opposed the proposal, and asked that the board leave the equity resolution in place and adopt a separate ordinance to address the federal situation.

“I don’t see the need to rescind the equity resolution,” Fai told the board Tuesday. “I do see, though, an alternative solution is needed.”

— Austin De Dios covers Multnomah County politics, programs and more. Reach him at 503-319-9744,


adedios@oregonian.com


or @AustinDeDios.

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