The push to “keep Camas, Camas” and retain the city’s vaunted “small-town feel” may be alienating many Camasonians who do not identify with the city’s white, cisgendered, heterosexual or Christian communities.
“Some families and individuals are experiencing a different version of Camas,” Camas Mayor Ellen Burton recently told Camas City Council members.
This was the gist of a report Burton and other members of the city’s Equity Steering Committee — city council members Greg Anderson and Bonnie Carter — presented to the council during its workshop on Nov. 1.
“These are our friends and neighbors who live in similar houses to ours, drive similar cars, work similar jobs and whose kids attend the same schools. However, they don’t necessarily feel safe and represented,” Burton said. “The ‘small-town feel’ that we continuously strive to create becomes one of alienation and anxiety. Opportunities available to some, are limited for others.”
When it comes to issues of equity in Camas, Burton said, “there is a strong cry for the city and local businesses to take a stand.”
“The city not coming out with a statement (during the height of the Black Lives Matter marches following the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020) made us look like we stood with extremists,” Burton said.
The city established an equity advisory committee in December 2020 to address real and perceived inequities in how the city serves its community. The three city officials appointed to the equity steering committee held listening sessions earlier this year with diverse members of the Camas community — including many residents who identify as Black, Indigenous and people of color, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.
“It was an honor to listen to our citizens … and we pulled common themes from those listening sessions,” Carter said.
Burton said the committee also reached out to other partners in the area, including the Camas School District, to better understand how other jurisdictions and government agencies were approaching equity, diversity and inclusion.
“We wanted to understand what worked, what to expect,” Burton said.
The equity steering committee recommended several strategies to move the city forward in its equity, diversity and inclusion work:
- Increasing awareness of all in the community.
- Supporting diversity using visual cues like flags and stickers supporting equity and diversity.
- Hosting staff training on issues involving diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Updating the city’s value statements to be more inclusive.
- Recruiting and training diverse staff, board and commission members.
- Creating more opportunities for personal connection.
- Partnering with community and cultural organizations and hosting community events to further support efforts of equity, diversity and inclusion.
- Expanding partnerships.
- Building community awareness.
The city officials also recommended creating, recruiting and supporting an Equity Advisory Committee as an ad hoc group in 2022, with the possibility of creating a standing committee in the future. It would consist of seven to nine members diverse in their socioeconomic levels, ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations, life stages, nationalities and races; be supported by city staff; and be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by city council members in 2022.
The steering committee members said they would like the Ad Hoc Equity Advisory Committee to focus on four themes: safety, representation, small-town feel and opportunities.
“A ‘small-town feel’ is where people look out for each other and develop deep, personal connections,” Burton said. “How can we do more to create a welcoming environment for each and every one of us?”
