JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The finance committee overseeing Mayor Donna Deegan’s proposed 2024-2025 budget on Friday voted to defund the Chief of Diversity and Inclusion position, currently held by Dr. Parvez Ahmed.
The vote came following an amendment introduced by Councilman Rory Diamond earlier this week. According to city auditors, the position held a salary of over $189,000, plus $42,000 in benefits.
Diamond told fellow committee members he intends to add a second step to the process following the decision Friday.
“I’ll have another amendment later, which says you can’t use any city money for that,” Diamond said. “Even though we remove the position you can’t, like, play games with the money.”
Diamond said DEI initiatives are unpopular among constituents and they do not belong in city government.
“So, DEI across the country is specifically set to try and give people like an advancement based on their immutable characteristics, their color, their gender, you know, who they go home to,” Diamond said. “It’s one thing to go out there and listen to folks, to try and get a good sense of what community members need from their government. It’s another thing to try and advance certain city employees based on the way they were born.”
MORE: NAACP urges student-athletes to reconsider Florida colleges after state eliminates DEI programs
While Mayor Deegan was not present for the discussion with the committee, her chief of staff, Darnell Smith, applauded Dr. Ahmed’s achievements. Smith said Dr. Ahmed was the driving force behind last year’s joint Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast. Previously, the city held dueling breakfasts which took place at the same time, making the unified event the first of its kind in several years.
“At the end of the day, ladies and gentlemen, it’s really about, ‘how do we unite this city?,’” Smith told the committee. “And how do we make certain that everybody in this city feels like they belong in this city?”
Councilman Nick Howland pointed to the city’s Human Rights Commission, saying that entity already works hard to unite. The commission has a staff of nine and a proposed budget of about $1 million.
“We all share the same goal and that’s unifying our city,” Howland said. “But we don’t want it to be redundant. And I don’t think this spending was necessary.”
During a gaggle with local reporters, Deegan called Diamond’s amendment “a political move.” She reiterated the sentiment in a post on “X” following Friday’s committee vote, writing:
“I’m proud of Parvez’s incredible work bringing diverse voices into City Hall. This morning’s action was pure politics. It will not stop us from championing Jacksonville’s diversity. Public opinion and the business community is solidly behind this work. I sincerely wish we could focus on building things, not tearing them down.”
If Dr. Ahmed’s position as Chief of Diversity and Inclusion were to be reintroduced, two-thirds of the full council would have to approve it to bring it back.
Smith suggested during Friday’s meeting Dr. Ahmed could work in an economist capacity. He is part of the accounting and finance faculty at UNF, according to his bio. In which case, Smith said his title could be changed to “Chief of Analytics and Strategic Engagement.”
