Parvez Ahmed will stay on Mayor Donna Deegan's staff as chief of diversity and inclusion

A dispute between Mayor Donna Deegan and the City Council Finance Committee over creating a chief of diversity and inclusion in the mayor's office seemed like it might boil into a replay of past controversies that saw council members object a decade ago to a Muslim joining the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission and try to eliminate that commission entirely.

As it turns out, the 2023-24 budget that comes up for a vote Tuesday has enough wiggle room for everyone to get something.

City Council members who think the city doesn't need to create the position on the mayor's staff will be able to vote for the $1.75 billion budget without endorsing that post. After the budget kicks in Oct. 1, Deegan would be able to use her authority as mayor to transfer money in an amount as needed to cover the cost of keeping Parvez Ahmed as her diversity chief.

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"Mayor Deegan is keeping the promise she made to voters to appoint a chief of diversity and inclusion," city spokesman Phillip Perry said. "There are many ways to fund this position, and there is broad agreement that it's necessary for a diverse, fast-growing city like Jacksonville.”

Deegan announced in June that Ahmed would be chief of diversity and inclusion. The appointment does not require City Council confirmation, but the council's Finance Committee cut Deegan's proposed budget for the mayor's office by about $232,000 which is the same amount as Ahmed's nearly $190,000 salary plus benefits.

The 4-2 vote by the Finance Committee shifted that money into the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission so it could add two more employees to its seven-member staff and put the rest into the Department of Public Works so it could add another position.

City Council President Ron Salem said the type of outreach work done by Ahmed has value that would be "best served within the Human Rights Commission."

"I think for the long-term success of that effort, it would be better if it were in a department where it would have longevity," he said. "The position in the mayor's office will likely disappear whenever a new mayor is elected, whether it's in four years or eight years."

Even as the Finance Committee shifted around the money, it didn't cut the number of positions that Deegan can fill in the mayor's office, which means she still can keep Ahmed in that post.

Ahmed said other large cities in Florida and the Southeast already have diversity officers because "creating a culture of collaboration across our differences" is essential to the city's future economic growth.

"It's about creating and projecting an image of the city that signals people with different backgrounds, people with different cultures, ethnicities, races, sexual orientations are all welcome here," he said. "Particularly now when businesses are facing major labor shortages, that becomes even more urgent."

In 2010, Ahmed was in the center of the storm when Mayor John Peyton appointed him to the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission. He won City Council confirmation on a 13-6 vote after facing questions such as whether he would support, protect and defend the U.S. Constitution.

During that confirmation that drew national headlines, then-council member Don Redman asked Ahmed, who is Muslim, if he would "say a prayer to your god" and wanted to know if public prayers invoking Jesus offended him. Redman later apologized to Ahmed for that line of questioning.

Ahmed went on to serve eight years on the Human Rights Commission, which is an unpaid position, while he was a University of North Florida finance professor.

The Human Rights Commission's core mission is to investigate complaints of alleged discrimination and unfair practices. The commission, which dates back to 1968, also has the authority to undertake the types of activities that Ahmed would do as diversity chief. For instance, the commission in the past sponsored study circles for small-group discussions on race and ethnic relations. But staff cuts over the years narrowed the Human Rights Commission's work to investigating specific discrimination complaints.

The Finance Committee's support for two additional posts for the Human Rights Commission would be the biggest staff increase for the department in years. The commission had 22 staff positions in the 2005 budget and then underwent repeated cuts that dropped it to six positions by 2015. The city boosted it to seven positions in 2018 and maintained it at that level in the following years. Deegan's proposed budget would have kept the staff at seven positions.

None of the budget floor amendments filed by City Council members by a noon Monday deadline would make any changes in the Finance Committee's budget for the Human Rights Commission or for the mayor's office.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan will keep diversity officer on staff