Fresno is moving to eliminate racism from the actions of the local government. We thought that the 1965 Civil Rights Act ended racism. The Biden Administration. The guy who called Obama “a clean Negro” returned racism to government via DEI.
“The supervisor’s press conference stated the elimination of “DEI language” from county positions is already underway and should be complete in a matter of weeks, swiftly following the lead of President Donald Trump’s executive order dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the federal level.
Fresno County is working to remove all “DEI language” – or language invoking diversity, equity and inclusion – from county job descriptions, with newly elected Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld leading the charge.”
Fresno County eliminates diversity and inclusive language from hiring materials at one supervisor’s request
Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld said he didn’t feel the need to ask the rest of the county board for approval on his initiative, stating the removal of “DEI language” from county job postings is a matter of complying with federal law.
by Julianna Morano, Fresnoland, 2/13/25 https://fresnoland.org/2025/02/14/fresno-county-eliminates-diversity-and-inclusive-language-from-hiring-materials-at-one-supervisors-request/
What’s at stake?
The supervisor’s press conference stated the elimination of “DEI language” from county positions is already underway and should be complete in a matter of weeks, swiftly following the lead of President Donald Trump’s executive order dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the federal level.
Fresno County is working to remove all “DEI language” – or language invoking diversity, equity and inclusion – from county job descriptions, with newly elected Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld leading the charge.
The supervisor told reporters at a news conference Friday that he directed the Human Resources team to remove all such language from job applications, and some job descriptions have already been modified.
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“DEI programs unlawfully inject bias into hiring practices and government operations,” he said, “promoting preferences based on race, gender and identity, rather than merit and qualification.”
At the conference, Bredefeld provided an example of a job posting in the county’s Behavioral Health department with the diversity-related language he’s targeting, but didn’t provide examples of any local hires he believed didn’t deserve their positions.
“People have been hired and they’re here, and that’s not going to change,” he said. “I just think that from the future going forward, all the language needs to be removed.”
Bredefeld echoed President Donald Trump’s executive orders on diversity initiatives at the federal level, stating that the initiatives violate various federal statutes – though some of these orders are already being challenged in court.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Bredefeld said of Trump’s orders. “Diversity, equity and inclusion should be replaced with equality, merit and color blindness.”
The county’s HR team is conducting a full audit to root out any other language related to diversity, equity and inclusion from county hiring materials, a process Bredefeld expects to take only “a week or two.”
Bredefeld said he doesn’t need the rest of the board’s participation to eradicate certain language from county job descriptions, since it’s a matter of federal law.
“I didn’t feel the need to ask the board for anything,” he added. “This is against the law.”
In an emailed statement, county spokesperson Sonja Dosti affirmed that “individual Board Members do not have the authority to change policy, absent the majority of the Board of Supervisors” but added that “the county’s hiring policies have not changed.”
“However, the County appreciates Supervisor Bredefeld’s efforts that align with an ongoing review by Human Resources pursuant to changes in the Federal government earlier this year,” she said. “As part of this effort, several job announcements and descriptions were updated.”
Bredefeld echoes Trump
Bredefeld echoed some of Trump’s other talking points on diversity Friday as well, claiming that the public learned diversity, equity and inclusion can be “dangerous” from air traffic controllers.
After the Jan. 29 collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter near Washington that claimed 67 lives, Trump alleged – without providing evidence – that diversity hiring programs with air traffic controllers were to blame for the crash.
Friday’s news conference marks one of the first examples of a Fresno jurisdiction following suit in the wake of Trump’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Local jurisdictions, as well as companies in the private sector, have weighed whether to backtrack on diversity as well in recent weeks, while also scrambling to understand what constitutes “illegal DEI” under Trump’s order.
Fresno County supervisors weigh in on Bredefeld’s one-man show
Other county supervisors signaled varying degrees of support for Bredefeld’s actions Friday.
Supervisor Nathan Magsig, who briefly attended Bredefeld’s conference Friday but didn’t stay long, said he supports any actions that ensure the county’s following the law.
“I appreciate if Garry Bredefeld was able to find maybe where different departments had some postings or maybe an employee put some additional language in there that they shouldn’t,” he said. “That absolutely needs to be removed.
“The law does need to be followed,” he added. “Here at Fresno County, we receive both state and federal funds, and I recognize from time to time, the state can come into conflict with federal law, and that is a problem that absolutely needs to be addressed.”
Supervisor Luis Chavez, who also just joined the board alongside Bredefeld last month, also voiced concerns over whether Bredefeld’s initiative conflicts with executive actions from Gov. Gavin Newsom directing public agencies to recruit a more inclusive and diverse state workforce.
“One of the things that I want us to be very careful about,” he said, “and I spoke to our CAO about this, is that we don’t lose any funding for from the state because we’re not (in) compliance with the state diversity, equity and inclusion mandates that we also have.”
Chavez added that he hopes Bredefeld’s initiative doesn’t deter potential applicants from working for Fresno County.
“We don’t want to for one second convey the message that we don’t value diversity,” he said. “To me, they’re not mutually exclusive, by the way. You can have somebody that is qualified, absolutely, on merits for the position, and then also be from an underrepresented community.”
Fresno County Board of Supervisors Chairman Buddy Mendes declined to comment on Bredefeld’s actions in an email Friday, stating that he does not “comment on information or events that I didn’t personally witness.”
“Unfortunately, I was not aware that the Supervisor actually held a press conference today,” Mendes said, “and in such I did not hear his remarks.”
Marc Benjamin, the chief of staff for Supervisor Brian Pacheco, referred Fresnoland to comments on Bredefeld’s initiative from Dosti, the Fresno County spokesperson, stating his office is in agreement with them.
Which Fresno County departments will be affected?
Bredefeld said he and staff have found the most language related to diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring materials for the departments of Behavioral Health and Social Services.
At Friday’s conference, his staff provided reporters with an example of a job description that features the kind of language they’re trying to get rid of.
The posting, for an unlicensed mental health clinician job with the Behavioral Health department, had three paragraphs with examples of the kind of language Bredefeld is working to remove.
“We place a great deal of importance on having Behavioral Health system of care team members who possess lived experience,” the provided job description reads, “are reflective of our community, and have the expertise to ensure our workforce is culturally and linguistically responsive and maximizes our diversity to render quality services in the most responsive, affirming, and caring manner possible for the persons we serve.”
When asked whether he thinks current employees hired when diversity clauses were still part of hiring deserve their jobs, Bredefeld said his program is only focused on future hires.
“Everyone should believe that if you’re hired, it should be based on your merits, your qualifications, your experience,” he said, “not on the color of your skin, not on your gender, or not any other factor, other than (that) you are the most qualified person.”
It’s about time.