County adopts new affirmative action plan

Advocate says it’s the best attempt to bridge gap between minority and white communities

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — Sullivan lawmakers have adopted a new affirmative action plan regarding the hiring of county personnel. It’s the first update of the plan in 20 years.

Members of the Black and Latino Democratic Committee (BLDC) of Sullivan County, who began urging lawmakers to update the plan nearly two years ago, were largely responsible for the update.

The plan essentially underscores laws and regulations in place at the state and federal level that forbid hiring discrimination based on gender, race, color, religion, national origin and age. The policy also stipulates that notice of civil service examinations, which are required for many county jobs, will be sent to organizations such as the Sullivan County National Association of Black People and the Sullivan County Business and Professional Women’s Association.

Sandy Oxford, a member of the BLDC, said one of the more important effects of the plan’s adoption is that county officials will make a more concentrated effort to reach out to minority communities when filling county positions.

She said the BLDC would have liked to include protections against discrimination for gay and lesbian members of the community, but they were not able to get that into the plan.

Beyond that, Oxford said one big area that needs improvement in county government, and that the plan will address, is the number of bilingual employees who can interact with the growing number of Spanish-speaking county residents. Two years ago, a Spanish-speaking woman called 911, and was unable to get help for two days because of the language barrier. Oxford said since then, some departments, such as the sheriff’s office, have made progress in dealing with the language barrier, but other county agencies are still lacking in that area.

Oxford said another change brought by the plan is that Puerto Ricans will no longer be asked to show green cards when applying for licenses at the county bureau of motor vehicles as they were in the past. Puerto Ricans are American citizens and, said Oxford, asking them to show green cards is not appropriate.

In her remarks to lawmakers at the meeting at the government center on July 19, however, she struck a friendly note when she said, “This is the first time I’m speaking in favor of something the legislature is doing.”

Other members of the BLDC also commended the legislature for adopting the new policy. Eric Monroe called the plan “the best attempt to bridge the gap between the black and white communities.” Henry Belser said the plan “addresses the needs of the changing demographics of the county.” Douglas Bowman specifically thanked the county personnel committee for “living up to its promise.”

While the plan has been adopted as county policy, in the next month or so, lawmakers are likely to give it even more weight by passing it as county law.