The Deschutes County Commission will be nothing if it is not independent, searching, courageous. And it will be everything if it is. It failed that test on Wednesday.

Deschutes County Commissioners Tony DeBone and Patti Adair voted to terminate a county staff workgroup, the Diversity Equity, Inclusion and Access Committee. Commissioner Phil Chang voted to keep it.

DeBone said he didn’t see the need for the committee, because he and county government are committed to serving everyone in the county. He did not identify a problem with what the committee had done.

Adair said she was worried about losing federal funding because of President Trump’s statements about DEI. She also said she believed some of the committee’s work better belongs in the county’s human resources department. Adair also did not identify anything wrong the committee had done.

Any re-examination of DEI should not be about the rhetoric swirling around it. It should not be about stray examples elsewhere, where — like anything driven by humans — things have gone astray. It also should acknowledge that DEI efforts should be re-examined and consistently re-examined in the future.

Think about what the letters in DEI mean. Diversity is about ensuring in hiring and promotions that positions are truly open to all qualified candidates. Equity is about ensuring pay and benefits are equal for comparable work and ensuring there are not barriers in the workplace that make the otherwise capable incapable. Inclusion ensures everyone belongs.

The county’s committee made efforts to improve access to county services for people who had difficulty with English, Chang said. The committee also worked to ensure the county is meeting its obligations under federal law and state laws to not discriminate in its programs and services.

Is it terrible or even slightly misguided that some county staff would work together up to four hours a month on such issues?

We expect members of the disbanded committee and other county staff will work harder now to ensure the goals of the committee are accomplished without DEI attached. Commissioners should do that, as well.