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Rockville unveils draft JEDI strategic plan; staff and residents call for more outreach and language access
Summary
JEDI director Jean Booth and consultant Dr. Patricia Morgan reported early findings from staff surveys and community listening sessions: strong leadership support but notable gaps for frontline staff, limited training, inconsistent language services, and geographic inequities (notably Twinbrook). Staff sought council direction to expand outreach and finalize a five‑year roadmap.
City Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Director Jean Booth and consultant Dr. Patricia Morgan presented a draft five‑year JEDI strategic planning process and preliminary findings, and asked the council for permission to broaden outreach before finalizing a year‑one implementation roadmap.
Booth described the engagement to date: an organizational staff survey (210 completed responses), seven internal focus groups across 13 departments, and a round of external listening sessions. She said staff would synthesize the results into measurable outcomes and a one‑year roadmap to accompany the longer plan.
“We’re assessing current strengths and gaps so that the plan is actionable and not a report that sits on a shelf,” Jean Booth said.
Dr. Morgan summarized the headline findings: while a majority of staff report being valued by colleagues and say leadership supports JEDI priorities, disaggregated results show frontline employees consistently report lower inclusion, higher experiences of microaggressions and lower access to training. Language access emerged as a critical public‑facing gap; staff reported ad‑hoc use of bilingual employees and personal devices rather than a centralized, reliable translation system.
“Frontline staff—those closest to service delivery—are least connected to JEDI efforts and most likely to report discrimination,” Morgan said, noting that women, Black and Hispanic/Latino employees reported higher rates of microaggressions and lower access to advancement.
Community listening sessions also flagged geographic inequities: Twinbrook and areas west of I‑270 were repeatedly identified as less visible and less resourced. Faith organizations, nonprofits and disability advocates told staff that current outreach channels mostly reach residents already engaged with the city, and recommended more trusted messengers and culturally tailored communications.
Councilmembers voiced support for additional outreach to groups that the consultants had not yet reached in sufficient numbers and urged staff to convert findings into measurable commitments. Several councilmembers suggested direct outreach at community events and through nonprofit and faith‑based partners, and asked for a clear set of accountability measures so the city can track progress after plan adoption.
Booth said staff will conduct additional targeted sessions (including additional programming staff sessions, targeted disability and language‑access focus groups and mayor/council interviews), finalize cross‑tab analyses and deliver a draft strategic plan with a year‑one roadmap for council review in late July.
