By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service
Now’s not the time to pick a fight.
That’s how Genesee County Manager Matt Landers is handling a situation involving President Trump’s Executive Order on diversity, equity and inclusion, and the AmeriCorps Senior RSVP Program which is run through the county’s Office for the Aging.
Earlier this week, Landers reported that the federal government directed the county to change the wording in the program’s description to fall in line with Trump’s stand on DEI.
According to an email from County Compliance Officer Pamela LaGrou, “Specific and targeted language pertaining to diversity, equity and inclusion was changed to broader descriptive phrases or simply removed.”
Per the email, wording was changed to “… we recruit members with a wide range of skills and experiences including geography (urban/rural), economic (upper/lower income) and work experience (factory worker/teacher, secretary),” rather than:
“… we recruit members to ensure diversity of geography (urban/rural), economic (upper/lower income) and work experience (factory worker/teacher), secretary, etc., while also seeking to represent diversity in race, ethnicity, sex and veteran status.”
Reference to specific groups was removed: “RSVP has connected with the Pride Center of Buffalo, an LGTBQ advocacy center.”
Also, the following was removed: “Genesee RSVP is inclusive of older adults, or all races, ethnicities, abilities, sexual orientations, political and religious affiliations and we ensure the same of our stations via conversations at the time the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) is signed.”
LaGrou wrote that all language changes were made to ensure compliance with the President’s Executive Order.
Landers said he agreed to make the changes but emphasized that “it doesn’t change how we’re going to run the program.”
“We’re going to run it still the same way we’ve been running it for 40 years,” he said. “But if we make the change and it still keeps the funding coming, then I’m not going to jeopardize the program. So, we simply made the changes to the satisfaction of the feds.”
Noting his responsibility to the citizens and taxpayers of Genesee County, Landers said this wasn’t the time or place “to take a stand like Erie County is – a principle stand — and potentially jeopardize the funding.”
Continuing, Landers said, “I don’t want to say it’s a nothing burger because it is interesting in the sense that here’s an example where the federal base is saying make this change or your funding will be jeopardized. So, it did the same thing to Erie County, but Erie County is like, ‘No, we’re not changing the wording.’ Well, I’m not going to win a battle and lose the war. I want to ensure that the funding continues.”
Landers noted that the county receives around $6 million to $7 million in federal funding for various programs and services.
The RSVP program reportedly gets $50,000 annual in federal funding. It’s three-year funding cycle ends on March 31.
Per the Genesee County website, “The program provides county residents 55 years of age and older with information on volunteer opportunities in the county, and matches them with agencies based on their skills, hobbies, interest, and available time. Assignments are numerous and diverse. Volunteering has been proven to be an excellent way to improve general health, both mental and physical. Some benefits to the volunteer include travel reimbursement, supplemental insurance coverage, and annual recognition.”