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Staff recommends delaying a standalone Hispanic advisory commission, urges expanded outreach
Summary
After consulting the equity roundtable, staff recommended not launching a separate Hispanic Advisory Commission now, citing representativeness and staff capacity concerns; the committee supported stepped‑up outreach to Latino organizations and tracking input through existing equity structures.
City staff recommended against forming a separate Hispanic Advisory Commission at this time, telling the Boards and Commissions Appointments Committee that the equity roundtable favored retaining intersectional input through existing structures and raised concerns about representativeness and staff capacity.
Gretchen Bennett reported the equity roundtable’s feedback: Salem’s Hispanic/Latino population is diverse across neighborhoods and interests, and the proposed commission model raised questions about whether a single advisory body could fairly represent that diversity. The roundtable also questioned whether the commission’s proposed event‑focused model matched community priorities.
Committee members supported stronger, targeted outreach as the immediate step rather than creating a new commission. Suggestions included building contact lists and connecting with established local organizations — members mentioned Mano a Mano, the Latino Business Alliance and the Salem Kaiser Coalition for Equality as potential partners for recruitment and outreach.
Staff will retain the equity roundtable and work to integrate Hispanic/Latino priorities into existing advisory processes, and will return with outreach plans and any code language if the committee decides to reintroduce a commission proposal in the future.
