Sandusky won't fill open DEI position
Duties reassigned
SANDUSKY — When Marcus Harris walked out of City Hall for the last time in April 2025, he wasn’t replaced.
“As with all positions within the city, when an employee leaves employment, the positions are evaluated, especially administrative positions,: city manager John Orzech said. “I didn’t fill this position because of the salary costs savings to the taxpayers, we have an employee in HR that has assumed some of the duties, and others were a duplication of services that other agencies or entities are already doing the work.”
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Harris, the city’s first diversity and economic opportunity manager, confirmed that his former job remains vacant. a recent interview.
That leaves Sandusky without a dedicated officer overseeing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at a time when such positions are under political attack nationally.
Harris said the work is essential but only effective if backed by top leadership.
“This work can’t be effective if it doesn’t lie within the top authority structure,” he said. “It may not have to be a position per se, but it has to live within that organization and that structure.”
Since joining the city in 2021, Harris helped modernize hiring processes, expanded applicant pools, and built training programs for city staff. He emphasized outcomes over ideology.
“I wasn’t really a champion of some of the divisive concepts centered around racial identities or sexual identity,” he explained. “The way I approached the work was focused strictly on outcomes — setting up processes that help an employer achieve the result of everyone having an opportunity.”
Now, Harris worries that political climate could discourage cities like Sandusky from continuing the work.
“When we start policing language in that way without understanding the foundational concepts, it’s dangerous,” he said. “Intellectually we cease to grow. It’s very concerning to me. It’s going backwards.”