Hutto City Council voted to rename the city’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Commission as the Community Services Commission, shifting some DEIB programming to the library, and tasking the new commission with identifying gaps in services for residents.
The discussion
The council voted 4-3 to rename the commission and to form a subcommittee to redefine its purpose.
The members of the DEIB commission will transition to the Community Service Commission, and will work with a City Council sub-committee to develop a new ordinance for its operations.
The restructuring aims to shift specific DEIB programming to the library while refocusing the commission on identifying community service gaps, such as support for neurodivergent individuals and non-English speakers.
“In my mind, at the end of the day, I think DEIB has served its course in Hutto, but I think what the DEIB has done is uncovered gaps in our community,” Mayor Mike Snyder said. “We can utilize some of that in the library and work to come up with a different community board.”
The other side
Three council members, including Corina Zepeda, voted against changing the commission's name. Zepeda said the DEIB commission is doing the work it was created to do.
“I would caution this Council to not be so quick to dismiss or be shy of the term DEIB just because there’s some political tension around it,” she said. “I think as a city, we’ve done a fantastic job of maintaining a commission that’s focused on making sure people feel included and completely keeping the politics out of it.”
