Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett defended the county’s record for hiring minorities Monday while rolling out a new initiative that would formalize policies for recruiting nonwhites.
At a luncheon, Leggett compared the percentage of blacks and Hispanics working for local government with the overall percentage in the county, using statistics to illustrate that Montgomery is doing better than most other jurisdictions.
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Still, he and Human Resources Director Joseph Adler said there’s always room for improvement.
The new initiative does not significantly alter previous policies, Adler said.
“But we wanted to write this all out, so it’s clear,” he said.
The goal of the new initiative would be to establish specific outreach and recruitment plans while guarding against giving whites an advantage in promotions and training.
Montgomery County employs about 9,200 people.
According to the latest figures, 61 percent of employees are white, nearly 25 percent are black and 7 percent are Hispanic.
The county’s overall demographics indicate that Montgomery’s Hispaniccommunity is underrepresented in county government while blacks are a bit overrepresented. Blacks are 16 percent of the county population, Hispanics 14 percent.
The county executive said that minorities are increasingly being hired and promoted but that there are still strides to be made. “When we reach the point where we don’t have to talk about this any longer, we’ve reached our goal,” he said.
Adler said it’s been both a “blessing and a curse” that Montgomery is next to the nation’s capital. On one hand it’s helped to lure more competitive candidates, yet it also drives salaries up.
The average salary for county employees is $61,850, while the average salary for the 362 management-level workers is $107,712. While these amounts seem high, Leggett said affordability in Montgomery County continues to be a major obstacle.
Right now, about 40 percent of the county’s work force resides outside of Montgomery.
