Multnomah County Oregon paid a consulting firm a quarter of a million dollars to help it develop a new mission statement. The result was 7 sentences.

Missy Manners was a member of the Mission Development Committee.

“This mission statement will guide the county into the future, and be the foundation for building a wholistic vision of the duties and functions of county government,” Manners said.

“Doesn’t the County Charter do that?” a reporter asked.

“What’s a charter?” Manners responded.

After being told that the County Charter lays out what the County’s functions are, Manners quickly adapted.

“But the mission statement we developed includes much needed language about diversity, equity and inclusion.”

When it was pointed out that the old mission/vision/values statement already had language about DEI, Manners explained.

“Yes, but we’ve included language that will unite county employees. Under the old language our DEI training was misunderstood and tended to be divisive and not uniting.”

When asked if the committee discussed highlighting fiscal responsibility in the new statement, Manners seemed puzzled.

“No. Why?”