Local NAACP president: Eugene official asked us to center ‘white comfort’ in our event

The president of the Eugene/Springfield NAACP resigns from the Eugene Human Rights Commission. He says the city’s Office of Equity and Community Engagement (OECE) asked the group to center its event on “white comfort” rather than the BIPOC community. Demond Hawkins also expressed concern about “questionable circumstances” surrounding the termination of city employee Drae Charles.

A city executive said its HR department is investigating multiple complaints involving (OECE) Office Manager Fabio Andrade. On Sept. 17:

[00:00:34] Blake Burrell (Human Rights Commission, chair): Our next topic is Commissioner Hawkins’s resignation and the community impact. This may be an uncomfortable conversation, but I want to make sure everyone was aware that Demond Hawkins is the president of the NAACP, and over the summer months he did resign from the Human Rights Commission, largely around moral concerns around personnel decisions made in the Office of Equity and Community Engagement (OECE), and what he characterized as some ‘problematic communications’ with the NAACP, and has voiced some really significant grievances surrounding the termination of Drae Charles, who is our previous liaison with the city of Eugene.

[00:01:16] John Q: One commissioner said it’s just the latest example of long-standing discrimination at the city.

[00:01:23] Dr. Silky Booker (Human Rights Commission): For us to have the president of the NAACP resign is astounding, and it’s due to the treatment and the—what I call microaggressions—and racism that continues to plague this city and its employees within Eugene city government and positions therein. There is a systematic issue of discrimination when it comes to Black employees working for the city of Eugene.

[00:01:49] John Q: The city’s HR department is not alone in its obligation to investigate.

[00:01:55] Blake Burrell (Human Rights Commission): Our commission does have an obligation to look at acts of discrimination or potential discrimination and hear grievances of members of the public, as well as things that are voiced by city of Eugene staff.

[00:02:07] So for folks that are not familiar with Drae’s narrative, and what he perceives to be acts of discrimination by the city of Eugene, he has outlined his perspective through a tort notice that can be requested through public record.

[00:02:24] He was let go the day after he returned from paternity leave.

[00:02:28] I’m sad he’s not here. I’m sad and disappointed with the decision of the city of Eugene, and the experience that I’ve had with this from members of the community has been of shock and disappointment.

[00:02:40] John Q: One commissioner heard he’d been threatened personally.

[00:02:48] Dr. Silky Booker (Human Rights Commission): Mr. Fabio decided to jump on a social media platform, LinkedIn, and beginning to go line by line, calling me a fraud and tearing down my character for 10 minutes. This is unprofessional, discriminatory, and disgusting. The action ended with Mr. Fabio saying, ‘I’m not going to out him publicly as a fraud and a phony, as long as he doesn’t make any problems for us.’

[00:03:14] Mia (Cariaga), who holds the director of Central Services, is aware of several complaints, mismanagement actions that have been filed against Mr. Fabio, as well as the Human Resources department.

[00:03:29] So I want that to be on the record, that this is disgusting, and we will be following up on their inaction when it comes to Black employees and other members of this community. You failed to act. You failed to investigate. You can’t claim ignorance.

[00:03:47] Kianna Cabuco (Human Rights Commission): This is something that does make me upset and is one of the reasons why I joined the Human Rights Commission. I have multiple questions, like: Why wasn’t this brought up to us when it happened? I knew he was going on paternity leave and the fact that he didn’t come back, that’s extremely questionable. There are multiple reasons this is not okay. It concerns me for the well-being and culture of other staff.

[00:04:16] And so it’s just kind of astounding the way that this was handled. And I will be requesting information.

[00:04:27] Dr. Silky Booker (Human Rights Commission): So, I know Mr. Drae Charles personally, before he started working with the city. He has been exemplary in service to our community, his integrity and commitment to duty, his dedication to his liaison position and his role. And he is an exemplary father, an exceptional father and family man.

[00:04:47] We had great tone and tenor working with Mr. Charles as a liaison to the Human Rights Commission. Since he was fired, we’ve had an inability to reach out to the Office of Equity (and Community Engagement).

[00:05:03] Kianna Cabuco (Human Rights Commission): All of my experiences with Drae were very positive. He always searched for any answers to questions I had, he was very open to working with me in other community capacities and sharing the information and work that this office and the Human Rights Commission does.

[00:05:24] Blake Burrell (Human Rights Commission): He was one of the most effective municipal staff I’ve ever worked with, and had performed beyond expectations, and it would be unfair for me to hold this position and this position on our commission and not acknowledge the amount of effort and time that Drae put into developing this body and to get us where we are right now.

[00:05:50] Drae was an effective steward of this commission. It was exemplary service in my experience, and I think it’s a damn tragedy that he was let go, and I think that it outlines concerns I have around the accessibility of jobs in government.

[00:06:05] It raises concerns for our commission’s ability to effectively liaison with the Black community of Eugene.

[00:06:15] Mia Cariaga (Eugene, Central Services director): So, you know, certainly I can’t speak to specific personnel matters. I’m never going to be able to do that, certainly not in public meeting. And I will say, though, that any time a complaint comes forward in the city organization that Human Resources investigates and follows up.

[00:06:31] John Q: The latest complaint is ‘conflict of interest.’ Commissioner Booker will meet with Mia Cariaga to ask how Fabio, whose office oversees neighborhood funding, became a performer at a neighborhood event. It was his only response to the complaints.

[00:06:48] Fabio Andrade (Office of Equity and Community Engagement): Yes, I can speak to that. So that’s an Arts in the Parks grants through the city and we had an event for the Amazon Neighbors.

[00:07:00] Blake Burrell (Human Rights Commission): We need to seriously consider the damage this has on people who are living in this community—our relationship with the Black community, our relationship with the NAACP. Building trust in public government across historically marginalized groups, incentivizing historically marginalized groups to work at a government, a government that was defined and was created through colonization, a government that is an artifact of colonization of the Kalapuya ilihi; a government that has had historically exclusionary practices and employment and a government that has been working to improve that.

[00:07:45] But we have an example here where an individual in our community, who is a dedicated public servant, is not working with us anymore.

[00:07:53] John Q: The local NAACP president resigns from the Human Rights Commission after ‘unsolicited and problematic feedback’ from Fabio Andrade. The city says HR is investigating multiple complaints against Fabio, including an alleged threat against a human rights commissioner.

Demond Hawkins letter of resignation

See also: A People’s State of the City 2024: Still sweeping racism under the rug