Pittsfield Hires North Adams Councilor as Chief Diversity Officer
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday appointed a chief diversity officer for the city — but not without pushback.
Michael Obasohan's appointment as head of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was approved with Councilor at Large Karen Kalinowsky and Ward 2 Councilor Charles Kronick voting in opposition and Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren abstaining. All three councilors were newly elected in November.
Obasohan himself is a newly elected city councilor in North Adams. He is a graduate of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and has worked in a number of administrative positions at the college, most recently as the associate director of college readiness and success at the Center for Student Success and Engagement.
During the FY22 budget season, a six-month budget of $99,760 was passed for the office. The chief diversity officer is on an M7 pay scale and was budgeted for $51,610.
Kronick boldly stated that the position is not needed.
"I am not in favor of filling this position because this is a position that's going to do absolutely nothing for the city of Pittsfield but soak money from much-needed public projects and raise our taxes. It will do this by expanding and establishing a new bureaucracy in the city of Pittsfield and secondly, I want to say that the HR department is the proper area for dealing with issues that they are describing," he said.
"Now we're talking about diversity, equity inclusion, as the reason for this position, there is actually a much simpler way to say this: ‘fair hiring practice' fair hiring practice is demanded by federal labor law."
Councilor at Large Earl Persip III was taken aback by Kronick's remarks. He pointed out the inherent privilege of navigating Pittsfield as a white man as opposed to a person of color.
"I've heard some things in this these chambers before have shocked me, this is probably number one," Persip said.
"To say we don't need this position from a lens of a white male, I kind of understand a little bit, but as a person of color, who's experienced this city in a different way and a person who has had highs and lows in the city, some of it because of my race and my name, to say we don't need something like this, yeah, from your view you might not think we need something like this how you experienced this city, there are many people of color who have experienced it differently, who have had troubles finding a place to find a job within the city or kind of policies within the city that don't represent them and there are plenty of people out there that this job, in this position, will help put them in positions to be a voice in the city, that they didn't have before."
Kronick later told Persip not to be "sanctimonious" and said he has "lots of identities that he can pull out of his sock."
"We have a diverse workforce, is it 50/50? No, but it's proportionate," he added.
"But let's just skip to the crux of the matter, what do the people of Pittsfield want? My constituents don't want this position filled, they don't want to pay for it, it's their tax dollars, not a Fortune 500 company that wants to look good on print, they don't want to pay for it, I represent them."
According to an Affirmative Action Annual Report from 2020, 91 percent of the city's 473 employees are white and 75 percent are men. Five percent identified as Black and 9 percent total were persons of color.
Ward 7 Councilor Anthony Maffuccio was "embarrassed and appalled" that the council was even having a discussion on this appointment, as the office and position have already been established by the council.
Maffuccio commended Persip for his sentiments.
"We need fair and justified practices the whole world needs to have this nowadays, there's been enough segregation and qualified people turned away from positions because of color or race," he said.
"I supported this at budget season and I can't wait for this office to be up and running and I fully support this appointment this evening."
Kalinowsky also believes that DEI efforts should be handled through the human resources department.
Warren abstained from the vote because he said he wasn't sure how to handle it and did not have a lot of time to think about it. He had checked with City Solicitor Stephen Pagnotta prior to the meeting to OK this action.
In tune with Monday's Ordinances and Rules meeting, Warren said he believes the position was not properly created through the city's ordinances.
"It's my professional opinion that your position was not properly created pursuant to our ordinances, it's along with others that I have been arguing against, and there are two viewpoints on that, others disagree," he said.
"And so I find it hard to appoint someone to a position that I don't believe is created, I would say and state for the record, that I would definitely support you and vote for you if it was created in the way that I think the city ordinances provide."
The appointment was met with applause from city staff present at the meeting and Mayor Linda Tyer welcomed Obasohan.
"I want you to know that we welcome you and we are excited to have you join our leadership team," she said.
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