BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) — A new report released by the advocacy group Greater Boston Latino Network finds that Latinos are underrepresented in terms of position and power in city governments in Boston, Chelsea and Somerville.
Its release comes on the same day that Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced the city’s first Chief Diversity Officer to lead what’s called a Diversity and Inclusion Team.
Mayor Walsh called the numbers “disturbing,” and says the city clearly has more work to do.
FOX 25 political reporter Sharman Sacchetti asked him why now, one year after he took office, did he decide to create the team.
“We’ve been working all along right up to this point,” Walsh said. “We were working to put together a program in place that was going to be effective. I didn’t jump in and make decisions just for the sake of putting in a Chief Diversity Officer just to say, ‘Oh we have a chief diversity officer in the city of Boston.”
The mayor has appointed Shaun Blugh to the post.
Previously, he was director of due diligence for IMB Development Corporation, which is based in New York.
The team he’ll head up is expected to evaluate hiring and appointments to boards and commissions, set up benchmarks and identify talent across diverse communities to fill positions.
“It is a recruitment tool as well, but also it will advocate for policies as well so we’re looking at procurement, how we can boost city contracts spend within women owned and diverse owned companies as well,” Blugh said in a news conference at City Hall.
Mayor Walsh says it’s a job that will matter. When asked if the position would hold any sway or have teeth, he said, “This is going to have a lot of teeth and a lot of sway.”
Mayor Walsh encouraged the private sector to take note and follow suit.