State Attorney Elect Jeff Ashton, called out by the Florida Civil Rights Association for his lack of diversity concerning announced senior level management appointments in his new administration, is asking that final judgement be withheld until he is able to fully implement his vision.
In a statement last Friday, the FCRA questioned Ashton’s announced appointments charging that they “did not include African American or Hispanic prosecutors, and ended the careers of several women as bureau chiefs.”
“Mr. Ashton’s all white senior management administration raises a disturbing red flag and calls into question his commitment to diversity and inclusion when it comes to racial equality,” the FCRA signalled in a follow-up statement earlier this week.
But Ashton, who campaigned on the value of diversity and was able to unseat a long-time incumbent State Attorney, reiterated his commitment to these values, in an e-mail to West Orlando News Online.
“My office will be committed to the value of diversity and my hope is that final judgement will be withheld until I am allowed to implement my vision for the office which should be completed within the first six months,” Ashton said in an e-mail.
Ashton also put the blame squarely on the current administration for the absence of diversity within the State Attorney’s office headed by Lawson Lamar.
“The historic failure, over the last twenty years, of the present administration to retain and promote persons of color to important positions within the State Attorney’s office will not be solved over night,” he said.
Ashton also said he would welcome “the assistance of FCRA or any other group of similar interest in recruiting talented and committed attorneys of color and encouraging them to make a career in prosecution.”
Ashton campaigned on a promise to work with leaders in the African-American and Hispanic communities, to help solve problems and identify solutions, for aiding in reversing the racial disparity in the criminal justice system in Orange-Osceola County.
