WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The diversity committee this week discussed the need for the town to make a long-term financial commitment to training for employees and members of town boards and committees in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion.

 

"There has to be, especially around budgeting, when we talk about this work, some consistency," Noah Smalls of the Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee said at its Monday meeting. "I'm struggling to imagine a scenario where you put aside money for training, and it's really a one-off, it doesn't come back in some form annually or quarterly or there's some line item in each department to work with.

 

"I struggle with it. … That is, in its own way, an undoing. It's one time. Without some consistency and work on the horizon and checking in on it, it goes to waste."

 

Smalls said that he sees a willingness among people who work in town government to build a more equitable and inclusive community but said past discussions about budgeting for training to support that work have bogged down.