The directive for Improving Race Relations and Equality in Edwardsville

1. The City of Edwardsville should refine and repeat the Race Relations and Equality Survey every two years. This was the first citywide effort to engage the public on the topic of race relations and as a result, there was input that spanned decades of concerns. By hosting a public forum and updating the questionnaire every two years, progress can be measured. This summary can be used as a baseline.
2. The City of Edwardsville should continue to hire more employees from diverse backgrounds and to hire individuals who support the City’s strength in diversity goals. We found, and a majority of our residents shared the concern, that the current city staffing lacked diversity and was not reflective of the community as a whole. Only 4.5% of the current employees identify as being from a minority group, while blacks alone make up more than ten percent of our residents. Some positive changes have already occurred within the hiring processes, directed by the Human Resources Department, resulting in the hiring of two African-American candidates in the Public Works Department and a Native American hiring. The City Council approval of the three-day Diversity Workshop for all elected, appointed, and managing positions. This is highly commended by our group. Follow-up sessions to monitor the progress from these sessions is requested. Union leadership, from the six separate unions in the City, should do more to recruit minorities for job shadowing and apprenticeships.
3. The City should re-activate the Human’s Relations Commission and modify commission membership and duties to create a truly diverse commission. We recommend membership be expanded to a minimum of ten members and include the City’s Human Resource Director, an employer, an administrator or educator from District 7, a member of the clergy, a person from the LGBTQ+ community, a person with disabilities awareness, a current SIUE student leader, a person from NAACP leadership, a social service organization, an alderman, and a law enforcement representative. Like most city commissions, the group should meet monthly and submit a quarterly report to an aldermanic committee. To volunteer for the Human Relation commission please contact your alder-person. Info Here Elected Officials
4. The Police Department should host an annual community forum to include an opportunity for citizen input, provide a summary of the use of force statistics, and describe specific training or programs to address and promote positive community relations.
5. The Mayor should appoint individuals to serve on a Crisis Communication Team. This team should create a plan of action for communicating with the public and media for a wide variety of events.
6. The City should create a quarterly newsletter to inform the public about the ongoing projects and progress being made in the City.
7. The Edwardsville-SIUE Community Destination Group should be tasked with partnering with SIUE organizations that are working to improve diversity and race relations on the campus. An annual event should be initiated by this committee to highlight the work of these organizations.
8. The city council should ask the City Planner and the City Plan Commission to review rules and fees associated with housing development that impact the total cost of construction. Access to affordable housing has been cited as a major deterrent to diversity within the community.
9. The City’s Economic Development Director should work with local businesses to promote hiring and encourage participation with minority members. A registry of local minority-owned businesses should be kept and any concerns regarding access or services for minorities should be directed to the Human Relations Commission.
10. Lastly, this must be a community-wide effort. We are blessed to have a wonderful community to live, learn, work, and play. We have accomplished this by a COLLECTIVE EFFORT of all of our residents, city employees, and volunteers. When the City Council acts on the findings of this directive and the residents take personal action improving race relations, we will become even a better and stronger community than we are today. Our slogan is “We all have a responsibility to end racism!”