One Resident’s Nightmare with City of San Diego Hiring

By Katrina Hamilton

Nearly two weeks ago, a representative from the City of San Diego announced on ABC 10 news that the city was hiring.

Throughout my career I’ve never really been interested in working for the city as an official government employee. However, after watching how ABC 10 news has diversified its staff to include phenomenal talents like Wale Aliya, Nia Watson and Moses Small, I figured that if a large media conglomerate like ABC could practice DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), then I am sure applying to the City of San Diego would be a step in the right direction.

After all, in 2021, the City created the Office of Race and Equity. With one of its intended goals “to end racial disparities within City government by advancing fairness in hiring and promotions,” little did I realize that my application process would rapidly turn into an absolute nightmare.

Five California Cities

Sign First Partner’s Equal Pay Pledg e

Last week, California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom announced five cities — Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Long Beach, and Fresno — have signed the California Equal Pay Pledge.

“The California Equal Pay pledge is a partnership between the Office of the First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, and the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency to turn the strongest equal pay laws in the nation into the smallest pay gap in the nation,” according to the governor’s office.

Kimberly Ellis, Director of the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women, said closing the gender gap is something California “must do.”

“From building credit to building wealth, we know that the wage gap has greatly hindered progress toward actualizing women’s equality,” says Ellis. “The City and County of San Francisco is proud to support the First Partner’s initiative and look forward to doing our part to making pay equity a reality for all women in the Golden State.”

Siebel Newsom said public and private partnerships are essential to closing the gender gap.

“Pay inequity stems from a patriarchal system that was not built with gender equity in mind, but instead built to keep money and power in the hands of few men in control,” she said.

California Black Media is following up with a report on gender and employment that focuses on data specific to Black women.

See PLAYBACK page 6

First off, the city had an opening for a Literacy Coordinator’s position. I decided to enthusiastically apply since the possession of a Masters Degree in Education or Social Sciences would substitute for the job required experience.

I’ve had my Master of Arts in Education for years. As a matter of fact, with my additional two years experience for this particular position, it appeared that this was a perfect match.

However, to my surprise, I received an email one day after the position closed stating that my application was ineligible to move forward based on me not meeting the minimum requirements. Baffled, I made certain to call ASAP since the correspondence stated I only had five days to respond with any questions.

See NIGHTMARE page 6