By EMMA BARTLETT

Cranston’s new diversity commission is figuring out how to take their work to the next level after the former commission’s accomplishments in equitable police and fire hirings. One of the commission’s goals is to increase diversity, equity and inclusion training.

City Personnel Director Daniel Parrillo, the commission’s chair, said the first meeting on March 7 went well and served as an introduction to catch everyone up on what has been done and what can continue to be worked on.

Former Council President Michael Farina first introduced the diversity commission as a resolution in 2019 and created an advisory board of individuals to give advice on how the city could better reflect diversity, inclusiveness and equality in city policies and departments. The resolution, however, did not give the committee permanency, causing the City Council to sponsor an ordinance in 2021 that would make the commission permanent.

In early February of 2022, the commission received its last member, Victoria Madrid, from OneCranston Health Equity Zone, which enabled the commission to hold its first meeting. Some of its members were on the previous committee – including Parrillo, Major Todd Patalano (police), Chief Jim Warren (fire) and James Vincent (NAACP).

While looking at the successful changes that were previously made, such as their police and fire hirings which were made more equitable, Parrillo said the commission asked themselves how they could take it to the next level.

The city would like to see more diversity, equity and inclusion training for city personnel, but with a $10,000 budget, it is difficult to pay for the training of 600 individuals. Instead, there are thoughts of sending several people to training sessions so they be educated and return to teach those within the city; this action would save the city money.

Parrillo said that Vincent has implemented this training method before with RIPTA by sending one individual for training and having them come back and train several others internally.

Parrillo said the members are also looking into how they can use the contacts they have to their advantage. The commission planned to nominate a vice-chair for the commission on March 7, however, only seven of the nine commission members were present, so they were unable to take a vote.

Moving forward, the diversity commission has not scheduled a meeting. Parrillo is looking to find a time that all members can attend, saying it can be difficult to coordinate a day and time with nine schedules.