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CCRPC executive committee reviews Equity Assessment and proposes new equity staff position
Summary
The executive committee reviewed an Equity Assessment recommending centering racial equity and proposed hiring a staff member to implement recommendations; members urged clarity about balancing racial and economic equity and agreed to present an executive summary to the full Board.
The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission Executive Committee reviewed an Equity Assessment Report at its Jan. 5 meeting and agreed to present an executive summary of the report to the full Board. Executive Director Charlie Baker described the report’s structure — executive summary, methodology, key findings and recommendations — and summarized the Creative Discourse Group’s three focus areas: centering justice, equity, diversity and inclusion across CCRPC work; prioritizing connections with people of the global majority and those who have been marginalized; and leveraging CCRPC resources to be a regional racial equity leader.
Committee members supported the recommendations while noting concerns about scope and language. Mike O’Brien, a member of the Equity Leadership Team, said he agreed with the recommendations but asked whether emphasizing racial equity might leave economic equity under‑addressed. Charlie Baker responded that some recommendations will take time to implement and pointed to the Americans with Disabilities Act as an example of reform that produced broader benefits, saying reforms intended for one group can also benefit others.
Charlie noted several near‑term actions the staff are already pursuing, including a proposed mid‑year budget adjustment to create and hire a new equity staff position and to improve interim equity assessment processes for projects. Jacki Murphy suggested producing an executive summary alongside the full report for the upcoming Board meeting so all members can review the material. Amy Bell, a VTrans representative attending the meeting, asked about sharing the draft; Charlie said the Equity Assessment Report is a public document and may be shared.
The committee did not take a formal action to adopt the Equity Assessment’s recommendations at this meeting; it agreed to present the report and an executive summary to the Board for further consideration. The Board packet will include the full report and the executive summary to support Board review at the next meeting.
