Ex-official calls out city for ending equity group
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — In the summer of 2020, after racial justice protests roiled Klamath Falls and many other American cities, the Klamath Falls City Council created a task force to examine local issues of racial and social fairness and advise city government on ways to make the city more equitable.
Last week, the mayor and city council decided not to continue the group.
The city’s former liaison to the task force – former assistant to the city manager Eric Osterberg – has criticized the decision, telling Jefferson Public Radio that failing to continue the task force’s work will make it harder to make needed changes in Klamath Falls.
Osterberg, who is Black, is calling out the move by the council and mayor to not form a permanent equity committee. Osterberg took a job as city manager in Ferguson, Missouri, last month.
“The decision-makers, the people who create policy, really should be being advised by people that government institutions have historically not engaged with,” he said.
Osterberg said the intent of the task force was to produce a final report, followed by action by the city council to then establish a permanent equity committee advising the city on such issues.
But a letter dated Sept. 10 and signed by Mayor Carol Westfall and all five members of the city council thanks members of the task force for their work, and says their work under the city’s jurisdiction is complete.
Osterberg said he received messages from members of the task force earlier this week about the letter, following his departure from the city government.
Joey Gentry, a member of the task force and a local activist, was among members who reached out to Osterberg about the city’s action. Gentry and other task force members of the group were surprised by the move.
“I tried initially...