The Charles Jordan Standard
In 2010, The No Hate Zone approached then Portland Or. Mayor Sam Adams with an idea of adopting the N.F.L. “Rooney Rule”, which had just become law in Oregon colleges. The proposed ordinance would require the city to interview at least one qualified minority candidate prior to hiring for any of the 26 Bureau Director positions within the city, such as Parks or Police Directors.
For whatever reason, the proposal never got off the ground.
In 2015, The No Hate Zone reached out to City of Portland Commissioner Nick Fish who asked us to “do some homework” on the issue and report back to him. Thereafter, Commissioner Fish became the first City Council member to support a Charles Jordan Standard .
The No Hate Zone also reached out to the family of Charles Jordan, specifically his daughter Trish and son Dion, to ask permission to name the new Diversity Policy after their late father, who was the first African American City Commissioner and Bureau Director for Parks in Portland Oregon’s history. The Jordan family gave their blessing.
Lastly, TNHZ reached out to the Mayor of Portland, Charlie Hale’s office, and worked with Josh Alpert and Diane Nunez, who were critical in gaining the support needed to pass the new city ordinance. Prior to it passing, there was discussion among the City Council and they all agreed to amend the ordinance to include one qualified woman and one qualified person with a disability to the interview process.
The City Council voted unanimously to adopt the Charles Jordan Standard, making Portland the only city in the country with such a policy.
In 2016, after the passing of Daniel Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and author of the “Rooney Rule,” the City of Pittsburgh also adopted the “Rooney Rule” for city jobs.