DEI: Left is not right

My response to Shelly Williams re DEI [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion]. I respectfully disagree with her opinion. As someone with common sense, I speak as one who has lived for over 65+ years and have been in Leadership and Management positions for decades. Under my purview I have interviewed, hired and fired people. Yes we should have equality in our places of work.

However, when DEI is the initial and dominant criteria for hiring someone, that is where our society and culture are compromised.

When I am looking to hire someone, more weight is attributed to their qualifications and merits for the job and not what color their skin is. If a person meets the education, skill, and experience for the job description — THAT is the one you should hire. If that person happens to be a person of color or a different nationality, that is inconsequential. The hiring process for workers today is skewed.

Senator Toews is an outstanding man in our local community and represents the people of Idaho with integrity and actually does “promote free speech.” He is not discriminatory in any way. So let’s be clear, Mr. Toews does not tolerate “hate speech” but rather invites fairness and respect for all regardless if they are male or female [only 2 genders] or whatever ethnicity they represent. To digress to accusing him of “hate speech” is punitive at best. He is not stripping away or devaluing anyone’s voice. He is fair and balanced and has been a phenomenal leader for decades in our community. Thank you Senator Toews for your wonderful example of leadership for the State of Idaho.

STEPHEN A. KNOLL

Hayden