In shift to the right, Sammamish nearly eliminates DEI
The impact of last year city elections reverberated to this year’s city council retreat, where several newly elected and more conservative council members nearly overturned the city’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
During the Feb. 7 retreat, council members met to establish goals and set priorities for the upcoming year. Among the various initiatives considered, Sammamish’s goal of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) barely survived in a 4-3 vote.
DEIB generally refers to increasing the representation of different backgrounds within the community and workforce (diversity), efforts to address barriers that may affect groups differently (equity), creating environments where individuals feel welcomed and able to participate (inclusion), and fostering a sense of value and connection within the community (belonging).
The current DEIB goal states the city will “advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in a measurable way throughout the community and in the City government’s policies, projects, and services.”
DEIB was adopted in July 2022 as one of the council’s top priorities in a unanimous vote.
Afterwards, city staff developed a strategy that addresses various forms of marginalization. Two years later, in July 2024, the council again voted unanimously to expand upon those initial goals by approving a Racial Equity Commitment and Vision statement, pledging to eliminate racial inequities in city government and within the community.
During the retreat, it was clear that DEIB’s unanimous support no longer existed.
The debate emerged as council members considered whether to eliminate DEIB as a standalone goal, or reframing it as an operational value. A standalone goal includes defined objectives and measurable benchmarks used to track progress, while an operational value simply functions as a guiding principle with no real outcomes measured.
Mayor Josh Amato and council members Pam Stuart, Amy Lam, and Roisin O’Farrell voted to keep DEIB as a standalone goal. Deputy Mayor Debbie Treen and council members Kent Treen and Michael Boyer voted against it.
Kent Treen said that by establishing too many priorities, the council risks stretching its capacity too thin.
“I’m not devaluing DEIB or disrespecting anyone,” Treen said. “But, as a council, we have a finite ability to do and impact things. To make the city better, I would take out two goals and bring it down to 4 to 5 goals.”
He also noted that the city already integrates DEIB principles into a range of existing policies, including its hiring practices and procurement policies.
Boyer said that designating DEIB as a formal goal would be redundant.
“They’re all backed up by federal laws with punitive measures on top. I’m not wanting to repeat things that are already in what we’re expected to do,” Boyer said.
In reality, the opposite has been happening at the federal level as the Trump Administration is actively working to dismantle DEI policies within the government, at universities, and throughout the private sector.
The council members who voted to keep DEIB argued that eliminating it would carry consequences.
“If you don’t measure it, you’re not managing it. Removing it from the list would send the wrong signal at this time,” Stuart said. “It’s important for our community, especially as now the majority of our schools are non-white.”
Lam, who is Asian American and the only person of color on council, referenced President Donald Trump’s attack on diversity initiatives.
“We see what’s happening in the federal government,” Lam said. “I don’t think the [city] government should be removing DEI, it sends the wrong signal.”
She added that 35% of Sammamish residents are people of color. She was disappointed the council was even debating its removal.
Amato supported keeping DEIB so long as there are quantifiable benchmarks.
“I want to keep it if we have measurable outcomes we can drive towards. I don’t want DEIB to sit there so we can feel good about ourselves. I don’t want it to be a placeholder,” Amato said.
The narrow 4-3 vote margin means DEIB remains a measurable council priority for now. But the debate underscored how much the council has shifted to the right, and the potential for other city policies to flip as well.
