County of Clarke issued the following announcement on Sept. 20.
The Legislative Review Committee (LRC), a committee of the Mayor and Commission, is currently discussing recommendations for the composition and mission for a Human Relations Commission (HRC) that will be situated to provide support to the Inclusion Office. Mayor Kelly Girtz assigned this topic to the LRC to discuss at the August 3, 2021 Mayor and Commission Regular Session meeting following adoption of an unlawful discrimination ordinance. The LRC was asked to bring a recommendation back to the full Mayor and Commission for consideration within 60 days.
The committee has discussed this topic at their August 26, September 9, and September 16 meetings and requested that staff create a summary of discussion to date. Videos of each meeting, which were held virtually, are available online. The public will have an opportunity to provide input on this topic as an agenda item under consideration at the Tuesday, September 21, 2021 Agenda Setting Session and Tuesday, October 5, 2021 Regular Voting Session of the Mayor and Commission.
Members of the public are able to provide public input on the HRC directly to any member of the LRC (Commissioners Allison Wright, Jesse Houle, Carol Myers, Mariah Parker, and Ovita Thornton) by contacting the commissioner(s) directly or by submitting written feedback through the Mayor & Commission Agenda Item Comment Form, which is sent to all 10 Commissioners and Mayor Girtz.
The LRC plans to continue discussion and further refinement of the HRC structure at their September 23 and September 30 meetings in preparation for the recommendation to be considered at the Tuesday, October 5, 2021 Mayor and Commission Voting Session.
Legislative Review Committee (LRC) Meeting Summaries
Discussed the Mayor’s charge, the process to complete the task within the timeframe, and need for work in between meetings. The first step for the LRC was identifying: (1) criteria to keep in mind; (2) key questions to ask throughout the process; and (3) establishing shared expectations. This meeting focused on foundational educational content, including scope, expectations, support, reporting, member selection process, outreach, and education. At the end of this meeting, LRC members agreed on the title of Human Relations Commission and there was general consensus on this body being advisory in nature.
In the second of five meetings, the LRC heard from local government representatives from four different localities who shared local background, context, experiences, progress, and lessons learned on the creation of a Human Rights/Relations Commission within their jurisdiction.
During live interviews, LRC members learned important details about membership selection, member onboarding and training, scope and mission, expectations, steps to ensure functionality, development of work plans, resources, and necessary staffing support. Also, there was valuable information provided on the establishment and operationalization of a Nondiscrimination Ordinance. LRC members provided feedback indicating that the local data, context, history, and direct experiences were valuable.
The following localities presented:
- City of Raleigh, NC
- City of Atlanta
- City of Asheville, NC
- Buncombe County, NC
This third meeting (in a sequence of five meetings) focused on listening to, and directly gathering LRC member feedback on the specifics they want to see in the Human Relations Commission. To assist LRC members in sharing these details, they were supported through a facilitated guided dialogue focused on the following areas critical to forming a recommendation to take back to the full body of Mayor and Commission: scope; expectations; selection; communication; reporting; training; and support.
Each of the four LRC members present provided direct feedback and input in response to questions asked by staff across each of these subject areas. The purpose of this meeting was to gather the input and feedback necessary to begin building the framework of a recommendation that directly reflects LRC member input.
Original source can be found here.
Source: County of Clarke
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