Republican Revisits Controversially Changed Affirmative Action Plan

In 2016, Ald. Kristian Rosado (R-2), joined by former Ald. Louis Salvio (R-1) proposed changes to the city’s Affirmative Action Plan that many considered “gutting” the existing plan.

Now, “In light of recent nationwide events,” Rosado is proposing a resolution asking, “the Affirmative Action Office, Human Rights and Opportunities Commission and Human Resources Director review the Affirmation Action Plan to determine if it should be updated and report back to the Common Council.”

The changes to the Affirmative Action Plan Rosado pressed for the approval of were controversial when they were approved on December 14, 2016, during the 2015-2017 term of Council office, when Republicans held the Council majority.

Critics, then, said that the changes weakened the Affirmative Action Plan and removed the role of the Affirmative Action Officer in investigating and acting on potential discrimination. Proponents of the change said that the changes served to, “condense the fine print,” of the Plan.

In addition to transferring many powers away from the Affirmative Action Officer, the 2016 changes to the Affirmative Action Plan also removed provisions for monitoring the city’s Affirmative Action performance, such as a requirement of the mayor for, “Reviewing the Departmental Affirmative Action performance as an integral component of the Department Heads’ and Administrators’ Evaluation relative to an annual salary increment.”

Concerns continued to be expressed later about the diminished role of the city’s Human Rights and Opportunities Office.

With Republicans back in the Council majority since November of 2019, Rosado now holds the position of Council President Pro-Tempore, a position that is essentially the deputy mayor.

Rosado’s new resolution say that, “In light of recent nationwide events, it is in the best interests of the City of New Britain to review the Affirmative Action Plan to determine if it should be updated to ensure that it is in compliance with current legal requirement and that the appropriate steps are taken to diversify the pool of candidates for vacant entry level and promotion positions.”

The proposed resolution is on the agenda of the July 8, 2020 Council meeting.