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| by A. David Dahmer |
| August 22, 2012 |
City of Madison Department of Civil Rights' Marcus Miles
When the City of Madison Department of Civil Rights recently announced the hiring of Marcus Miles as the new Equal Opportunities Division Manager, they knew they were getting a man with plenty of experience and a long record that showed results.
Miles says that his mission for his new position is to ensure that all citizens live, work, and enjoy the city of Madison free of discrimination and racism. “There are various perceptions on the same issue within the community and it’s important to understand those [perceptions] and to take all of those into consideration when going forward with an issue,” Miles says. “I also think that it’s important for this office to understand and leverage the resources that are available in the community to help with the mission of EOD.”
The Equal Opportunities Division (EOD) is the primary City agency that has the responsibility for the remedy of discrimination complaints brought by individuals. Any remedy pursued by the EOD is based on the enforcement authority of the Equal Opportunities Ordinance which provides a fair and impartial process for resolving charges of discrimination. “We’re involved in a lot of things in the community. We try to be plugged in wherever we can,” Miles tells The Madison Times in an interview at the Genesis Enterprise Center. “For me, it’s all about having a very clear understanding of the perspective of the stakeholders. That is done by being involved in the community, doing a lot of listening and observation. We need to understand what their perspective is [and] not just what you think it might be or what you hear from the mainstream or what’s been put forward. I think it’s really important to get down to the grassroots level.”
The EOD also has the responsibility to provide community education and technical assistance in order for people to know and understand their rights and responsibilities under the law. It’s not always a case of what just the EOD can do for you. “There are a lot of community resources out there and a lot of competent organizations, [and] a lot of people with heart at the grassroots level. How can we plug into those to help with what our mission is? They have resources that help with what we’re trying to do at EOD,” Miles says.
Miles, who started on July 16, is excited about leading the Division through a transition in leadership. He is succeeding the beloved Ariel Hicklin Ford, who retired in June.
“She’s been a mentor. I met with her and talked with her and she shared a lot of information which I was extremely grateful for,” Miles says. “She laid it out for me and she answered all my questions. It was a good transition.”
Miles says he enjoys working for Lucia Nunez, the director of City of Madison Department of Civil Rights
“I find her to be one of the most gentile and knowledgeable people. I enjoy working with her very much,” he says. “The entire staff, in fact, has been very professional, very supportive, and very impassioned about what they do there. That’s been a cool thing about it.”
Miles, formerly the Affirmative Action and Civil Rights Compliance Officer for the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services, brings to the Department two decades of experience in the equal opportunities and affirmative action field.
“I was there for 19 years and I think that experience has helped me quite a bit at the new job,” Miles says. “Having that much experience, you’re able to look past some of the pretext and a lot of the subterfuge for discrimination based upon policy or employment rules. You can understand how the process works when you’re doing analysis on a complaint and come to a reasonable conclusion.”
Miles has spent a significant amount of his career working to promote equality in hiring practices and employment in the State of Wisconsin. He has developed some unique understanding and knowledge of his field over the years. “We realize that the laws and ordinances that we enforce have a real impact on people being able to do their jobs and to feed their families,” Miles says. “I’ve seen it from beginning to end. We have a lot of positive impact on people’s lives and it’s really gratifying to see that.
“We’re here to enforce these ordinances for everybody. So I want to be involved in the business community, the Hmong community, the Latino community, the African American community, the gay and lesbian community — all of those things,” Miles adds. “I have a whole list of different committees and commissions that I sit on. And I’ve picked up so much information. Understanding it from the stakeholders’ point of view — the grassroots position — that’s huge with me. You take that and that’s where you’re able to make visions and changes at the level where you are able to impact things. I never want to lose sight of that as I go forward in this job so that the stuff that we do is always relevant.”
At the service level it’s important that people understand that what the EOD does is an objective process. “The EOD office is an objective third party. We’re not in an advocacy role and we’re not anti-business and that’s probably the strongest message I’d like to get out there,” Miles says. “That’s what I’ve lived for the last 19 years at the State [level].”
Some people may mistakenly view the EOD as being “anti-business.” Miles disagrees with that and adds that in enforcing a lot of these laws, they are also doing the business community a service.
“I like to empower people with information so that they’re not being taken advantage of unfairly, but so that it benefits the business side and helps them be aware of many different things and to avoid litigation,” he says. “If you do the right things, you have good outcomes ... people are protected and employers stay away from areas that are problematic.”
Getting the community involved at the grassroots level and getting them to step up and speak up publically is also very important to Miles.
“We’re here for everybody in the city — through training, through outreach, through working with the Common Council and Equal Opportunities Commission to try to forward initiatives in the mayor’s office,” he says.
“I’m just jumping right into it and enjoying it,” Miles continues. “ It’s all the things that I’ve already been passionate about — empowering people with information and protection that everybody has. I have a lot more opportunity to get plugged into this wonderful, diverse community that we live in. That’s huge for me. I’m excited.”
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