Mount Prospect puts money behind diversity efforts, plans to hire consultant
Mount Prospect has set aside up to $84,000 for a consultant to help the village address diversity, equity and inclusion issues.
The issues have been front and center amid a yearlong controversy over the village's police uniform patch, which critics argued contained imagery co-opted by extremist groups and was intimidating to people of color.
Village Manager Michael Cassady said diversity, equity and inclusion are a high priority in the village's 2021 strategic plan. Now the village is putting money behind that commitment and is seeking a professional consultant to review village policies, practices and initiatives.
Heidi Neu, the village's human resources director, said more than 20 potential consultants have been sent a request for qualifications.
Assistant Village Manager Nellie Beckner and Neu worked together on the request
"We received probably over 30 recommendations from staff, from the public (and) from the village board on who may be a good fit to respond, to be a consultant in our work with diversity, equity, and inclusion," Beckner said.
Candidates also were gleaned from organizations such as the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.
"We have already received responses back. not full responses, but saying, 'Hey, thank you for sending. I am very interested,'" Beckner said.
The village arrived at the $84,000 amount by tapping into what was available in the human resources and administration budgets.
"I want to thank the staff for finding the money to put into this resource, because that's no small chunk of change," Trustee Terri Gens said.
Vetting will be done internally by the village staff before a candidate appears at a board meeting.
Neu said the village also has focused its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on other areas, such as recruiting, updating job advertisement language with an inclusion statement, excluding salary history and including an equal opportunity statement on job application forms.
She also said hiring managers have been trained on limiting bias in recruiting.