Quincy Mayor Koch Forms Committee On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion

Press release from the City of Quincy:

March 24, 2021

Mayor Thomas Koch announced that he is establishing a Mayoral Commission to study the city’s performance on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The committee will be tasked with investigating the city’s recruitment and hiring practices, public outreach efforts to all populations, access to public facilities, enhancing relationship and communication between City government/departments and the public, the need for a full-time Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Officer, and maintaining/creating a welcoming environment for all people.

“For more than a century and a half, Quincy has been a city where immigrants from around the world have settled,” said Mayor Koch. “We are a melting pot of different national origins, ethnicities, religions, races, and languages. Its important that we regularly self-assess our performance to ensure that we continue to meet the evolving needs of all the people whom we serve.”

The committee will be tasked with investigating particular areas of importance and making recommendations for how the city can best serve its entire population. Mayor Koch will request that the committee conduct their work through the Spring and Summer and have recommendations available for implementation not later than this Fall

Added Mayor Koch, “Quincy’s greatest asset is its people, whether they be lifetime Quincy residents, first-generation Americans, or anywhere in between. Our schools benefit greatly from our diversity as students absorb different cultures, traditions, perspectives, and experiences as part of their own education inside and out of the classroom. Our business community also benefits greatly from the entrepreneurial spirit of many of our first-generation Americans. We want to make sure Quincy remains a welcoming community to people from around the globe.”

Quincy’s diverse population includes 41% of the population that identifies as either Asian, Black, Native, Hispanic, or multi-racial. More than 60% of the Quincy Public School students identify as an ethnicity other than “white” according to QPS and DESE data, making Quincy a State-recognized “majority-minority” district.

Statistics show that 38% of households in Quincy have a language other than English spoken in the home. More than 33% of Quincy residents were born in another country, which is more than double the State average and one-and-a-half times higher than the greater Boston/Cambridge Metro Area.

Added Koch, “My goal for this Mayoral Commission is not just to make meaningful improvements in how we serve the public but to also send a message that all residents are valued in our community. I think we do a decent job with that now but we can always improve. I want to thank the folks that volunteered to serve on this important commission and I look forward to their recommendations.”

This press release was produced by the City of Quincy. The views expressed here are the author’s own.