(The Center Square) – The city of Federal Way could end up being sued by a consulting firm it had planned to hire before changing course with its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI, programs.
Federal Way has had three different DEI managers in the last few years. Mayor Jim Ferrell told The Federal Way Mirror that each of the DEI managers left for new career opportunities. Earlier this year, the city opted to put out bids for a contractor to handle DEI initiatives.
“On June 14, 2024, the City released a Request for Proposals for DEI Consultant Professional Services, advertising it in several recruitment outlets. The City received 40 responsive proposals,” according to an email from the city sent to The Center Square.
Staff from Human Resources, Community Development, and Public Works, along with the Diversity Commission chair, narrowed down the field to five candidates who were then interviewed. Mayor Ferrell did not take part in those interviews.
Chanin Kelly-Rae Consulting was initially selected.
Minutes from an Oct. 10 Diversity Commission meeting stated, “Community Service Manager Chris Grier discussed that after careful and thoughtful deliberation, the consultant chosen was Channin Kelly-Ray [Rae was misspelled in the minutes] from Channin Kelly-Ray, LLC., located out of Everett, WA. With a wealth of experience and knowledge, she is a welcomed addition. There are 5 other team members on her team as well, with a possible December 2025 start timeframe.”
The city of Federal Way sees it differently.
“Chanin Kelly-Rae was notified of the committee’s preliminary decision before the process was completed, but no contract was formally offered at that time. When the process was completed, MFR Coaching & Consulting was the only firm formally offered a contract,” stated the city in an email to The Center Square.
Kelly-Rae tells The Center Square how she perceived the sudden reversal.
“I was offered a contract, and we were negotiating for me to sign it, and then I got a call a couple [of] days later saying the mayor wants to decide and we’re going to take references,” Kelly-Rae said during a Monday phone interview with The Center Square. “I was thinking, ‘Why didn’t you check references before you hired me?’”
She was then contacted by Federal Way Community Development Director Keith Niven, who she claims told her off the record that the city is way behind on DEI issues.
“He said the city of Federal Way is literally 10 years behind everybody on DEI work and said the mayor and most of the city council do not support it,” Kelly-Rae explained.
She said she was told that when staff members showed Ferrell videos that are posted on her consulting firm website, he and others hit the pause button.
The videos were interviews Kelly-Rae did with Vox News and Fox Business News, as well as KING 5, discussing issues of racism and discrimination she allegedly witnessed after being hired as a global manager of diversity in Amazon’s cloud computing division in 2019.
“My hope is that other people don’t experience what I and many others, especially women of color, have experienced,” Kelly-Rae told Fox Business News. “It’s very different when you’re one of the people charged with effecting change when you aren’t empowered to effect change for yourself.”
Kelly-Rae told KING 5 essentially the same thing: “The only black people that I saw at Amazon were either opening doors or cleaning floors.”
When asked about those comments, Kelly-Rae said she never disparaged Amazon, suggesting it was more about initially being hired for one position but then downgraded.
“I was unfairly down-leveled, and we’re not talking about a difference of $50,000 or $80,000; we’re talking about a couple hundred thousand dollars I was being shorted,” she said. “That’s a lot of money I was being screwed out of.”
Kelly-Rae insists she was speaking for herself and her experience, not about anyone else’s experience with Amazon.
“Not once did I say Amazon is horrible; Amazon is deplorable; don’t work there,” she explained.
She said the comments in those interviews were apparently enough to raise red flags for Ferrell and other city staffers, who ultimately offered the DEI consultant contract to MFR Coaching & Consulting.
According to an email from the city, Ferrell was always going to be the final decision-maker from the beginning of the process.
“It’s regrettable that Ms. Chanin Kelly-Rae is making these allegations,” Ben Miller, communications manager with the mayor’s office emailed The Center Square. “She has materially misrepresented and mischaracterized statements from Director Keith Niven and about the process in general. We are confident in the firm we hired, and we are committed to getting this important work done.
At a Dec. 3 city council meeting, Saudia Abdullah spoke about her decision to step down from her role as chair of the Diversity Commission.
“These actions [events surrounding the hiring of the DEI consultant] echo tactics during the Jim Crow era, to deny black people the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” she stated.
Abdullah had some harsh words for Ferrell.
“You’ve chosen a path that suggests you believe that I will sit back quietly when an anti-black decision was pushed through this city,” she said. “Shame on you.”
Litigation is the potential next step for Kelly-Rae, who has been receiving public records from Federal Way related to the consultant search process.
“At this point, I am pursuing legal options,” she said, explaining why she also showed up at the Dec. 3 city council meeting and spoke during the public comment period. “What I said was I worked hard for my reputation, and I expected it to be restored, and what did the mayor do? He trashed me and implied I did something wrong at Amazon, so now he has slandered me in an open space with no proof.”
Kelly-Rae said she has also been in touch with the offices of the state auditor and state attorney general.
DEI initiatives remain a priority for Federal Way.
“The City is eager to move forward and advance this critical initiative,” Miller said.