The City of San Francisco’s Elections Commission voted 4-2 last week not to renew the contract of its Elections Director, John Arntz, because he is white — i.e. to open the position in pursuit of the city’s “racial equity plan.”
The Mission Local website reported that Arntz was fired in spite of outstanding service over the past 20 years:
Elections Commissioner Cynthia Dai, who voted to not renew Arntz’s contract, said there was no performance-based reason for the commission’s decision. She did not dispute that San Francisco has run free, fair and functional elections for 20 years. Rather, she says, it was time to open up this position to a more diverse field; the city, she said, could not make progress on its racial equity goals without opening up its top positions.
“Our decision wasn’t about your performance, but after twenty years we wanted to take action on the City’s racial equity plan and give people an opportunity to compete for a leadership position,” reads an email sent from commission president Chris Jerdonek to Arntz. “We also wanted to allow enough time for a fair and equitable process and conduct as broad a search as possible.”