{"id":2945,"date":"2022-05-08T16:59:16","date_gmt":"2022-05-08T20:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/?p=2945"},"modified":"2022-05-08T17:00:19","modified_gmt":"2022-05-08T21:00:19","slug":"norwich-dei-group-disbands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/08\/norwich-dei-group-disbands\/","title":{"rendered":"Norwich DEI Group disbands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Source: https:\/\/www.tuck.dartmouth.edu\/diversity-equity-inclusion<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group (DEI Group) put together by then Town Manager Herb Durfee is no more. The group first met in September 2020 and disbanded in May 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is dated news. But it is new to me and probably the general public, because the DEI Group met without public notice. I recently learned about its dissolution in a litigation document filed by the Town of Norwich in my Open Meeting Law suit. Further, the discovery document does not say why the DEI Group dissolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DEI Group <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The DEI Group started with great promise. In the Town Manager Report in the July 8, 2020 Selectboard packet<\/a>, Mr. Durfee wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Town Manager is putting together a group of \u201dexpert\u201d individuals in the spirit of a blue ribbon committee to advance racial equity while striving to strengthen the Norwich Community around related issues. The group will be independent from political influence or other authority, though the group will have no direct authority of their own. They will use their individual and collective expertise to issue findings and\/or recommendations for use by the Town Manager (and others) to conduct proactive, actionable items in the spirit of their charge. … At this time, participants include: Melissa Horwitz, Omer Trajman, Kate Barlow, Brie Swenson, Alex Northern, and Jennifer Frank with the possible insight from Emily Easenath-Smith and two other persons the Town Manager has yet to make contact with.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


I think the Town Manager put together an all-star group to address these challenging issues. But I don’t know if the DEI Group issued a report or made recommendations. I hope any valuable work sees the light of day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I differ with the DEI Group’s decision to meet behind closed doors. The Town of Hartford Committee on Racial Equity and Inclusion apparently complies with the Open Meeting Law<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my Open Meeting Law litigation, the Town’s lawyers originally said that the Open Meeting Law never applies to groups formed by the Town Manager, even if most of the group consisted of non-employees. The Superior Court, however, rejected that argument. The Court noted that the statute contains an exception for some<\/span> groups advising the Governor. But, there is no Town Manager exception.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group (DEI Group) put together by then Town Manager Herb Durfee is no more. The group first met in September 2020 and disbanded in May 2021. This is dated news. But it is new to me and probably the general public, because the DEI Group met without public notice. I recently learned about its dissolution in a litigation document filed by the Town of Norwich in my Open Meeting Law suit. Further, the discovery document Continue reading Norwich DEI Group disbands<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,9,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diversity-equity-and-inclusion","category-open-meeting-law","category-transparency"],"yoast_head":"\nNorwich DEI Group disbands - Norwich Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2022\/05\/08\/norwich-dei-group-disbands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Norwich DEI Group disbands - Norwich Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group (DEI Group) put together by then Town Manager Herb Durfee is no more. 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