Portland's Office of Equity and Human Rights director is leaving, the mayor announced in a press release Thursday. Dante James's last day will be December 15.

James decided to leave the city so that he could pursue options in Denver, where his wife and son are, the director told The Oregonian/OregonLive Thursday. He turned in his notice at the end of last month.

"It was always my desire to lay the foundations and institutionalize this work, but Portland was never my next long-term home," James said.

Created in 2011, the equity office works with other city bureaus to create policies and best practices to break down systemic barriers for people of color and people with disabilities around the city and within the city's own workforce.

Former Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Amanda Fritz hired James in 2012.

James said his accomplishments at the city were not always quantifiable or policy-related. He's most proud, he said, of the dialogue that's been started.

"The conversation around racial equity and disability equity is now just a part of the norm," James said. "It's in the lexicon of how the city talks and evaluates everything that it does."

James will be the seventh bureau director to leave since Mayor Ted Wheeler took office in January. The mayor's office announced his departure in the same press release in which staffers disclosed that Portland Housing Bureau Director Kurt Creager is leaving.

"Dante's work was instrumental in creating the budget equity tool, and our plan to enhance equitable workforce development in city construction projects through the Community Equity and Inclusion Plan, which was unanimously adopted by (the) city council this year, among many accomplishments," Wheeler said in a statement. "His leadership at the helm of (the equity office) will be missed."

Koffi "Jean-Pierre" Dessou will serve as interim bureau director. Currently a program manager at the equity office, Dessou has worked for 23 years for public and private organizations, including for the U.S. Department of State at the American Embassy in Togo for 16 years.

"The office will be in good stead and continue to do its work under his leadership quite well," James said.

--Jessica Floum

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