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i’ve missed all of the human rights commission meetings since the appointment of this batch of commissioners - they’re usually at the same time as county school board meetings. they’re having a midday work session today, though!
i’d forgotten how limited their scope is - they can only investigate discriminatory employment practices for employers within the city of charlottesville with 6-14 employees & only if the complainant has already been terminated. everything else gets referred to EEOC in richmond.
today’s work session is focused around defining the issue areas they’ll work on as a commission. number one on the list is police policies - it’s unclear how this will overlap with the work of the civilian review board (assuming the city lets that board survive)
other issue areas the HRC is looking at: becoming a FEPA (which would allow them to investigate a broader range of employment discrimination cases) and getting FHAP status (which would entitle them to federal reimbursement for investigating housing discrimination cases)
commissioner chantelle asks how the HRC can be a mediator between the police department and the CRB. that’s an interesting proposition. i’m not sure what that would look like.
chantelle says her background is in community organizing, so the idea that the board needs “teeth” to make a real impact doesn’t resonate with her. she wants to HRC to be looking at policies, engaging with the community, and making policy recommendations to council.
the staff member present says there have been no cases in the last two years of complaints based on sexual orientation. a member of the commission says she has personally been fired for her sexuality and was told by the city she had no recourse - VA does not protect LGBTQ status.
another commissioner says maybe they could look specifically at city employment policies (this would be within their scope but would obviously only affect people employed by the city) re: transgender/gender non conforming people.
the person who lost a job for being gay says they know at least three other people who have lost jobs in the city of charlottesville for being LGBTQ and there really is nothing they can do under virginia law.
there is concern about the office of human rights lacking sufficient data about discrimination cases - many people don’t know they exist and those that do are aware of the limits of their investigatory powers and may not bother filing a complaint.
“regardless if something is able to be done or not,” the office of human rights hopes to collect data about instances of discrimination.
commissioner kathryn brings up the recent series of meetings held to gather community input about race & criminal justice. i made it to one:
kathryn is concerned that these meetings weren’t widely publicized or well attended. as a member of the human rights commission, she’s upset she didn’t even know about these meetings. seems relevant to their work.
charlene green, the director of the office of human rights, seems a little defensive about this, which i’m having trouble understanding? kathryn is making a very valid point that the HRC should’ve been aware of those meetings.
(i was making a best guess about the spelling of commissioners’ names, but it’s shantell, not chantelle, my apologies!)
back to the list of issue areas, they’ve divided up “police policies” into three subcategories: bias, constitutional matters, and use of force.
commissioner elliott asks where the crossover with the CRB is going to be on this. charlene says the CRB hasn’t asked for a joint session with the HRC yet, but she has met several times with one member of the CRB.
commissioner kathryn says that if their charge includes reviewing & making recommendations in policy, they need a standing policy committee & a process for doing this work, including bringing in subject matter experts.
“there are things about white supremacy and racial bias that policies touch... and things that they do not,” says shantell, the only black member of the human rights commission. she says in charlottesville especially, you can’t divorce socioeconomic status from race.
shantell wants the HRC to be a guiding voice, to facilitate racial healing. “i would really love HRC to have a commitment to racial healing,” they need to address not only policy, but culture.
kathryn again states the importance of having a committee devoted to policy review to keep that work from taking over their meetings. (there’s a lot of sort of vague procedural disagreement about the need for standing vs ad hoc committees - they’re still finding their way)
the committees they’re proposing are policy & community outreach. charlene advises them to think through their community engagement process, saying any time you ask the community to share with you, you need to have a strategy to address the concerns people bring.
there is a real fear in government about just listening. it’s a common thread. the words “town hall” always sound like they have scare quotes around them.
charlene green says charlottesville is third in the state in HRC’s municipal equality index study of gay friendly cities. i’m trying not to roll my eyes.
a commissioner asks to add food justice to the list of potential issue areas - how can the commission explore food justice as an equity and human rights issue? she wants to look into the city’s work on the issue.
kathryn raises the question of whether the commission “gets the most bang for its buck” by focusing on issue areas that are already getting a lot of attention locally (naming policing and housing) or if they should focus on areas that aren’t hot button issues right now.
commissioner elliott asks sarah from the civilian review board (who is observing the meeting) if the CRB is looking at police policies, she says yes, the hired professional their bylaws propose would do this.
commissioner olivia asks if it would make sense to invite community groups already working on these issue areas to come talk to them about the work already being done in the community. until the HRC finds its footing, they may be better off amplifying the work already happening.
commissioner shantell wants them to stop talking about the limitation of their power. she says people of color have historically seldom had a lot of power, just because the system is set up to minimize your power doesn’t mean you don’t have a voice.
olivia agrees, reiterating the idea that the commission should stand with and amplify the work being done by issue focused groups in the community.
shantell, the commission’s chair, names three black women in positions of power locally who inherited systems that are less than perfect - mayor nikuyah walker, police chief brackney, charlottesville city schools superintendent dr rosa atkins.
shantell: “yes our power is limited,” but they need to move past that mental space and work effectively with the power and position they have.
i’m hopeful this bodes well for an HRC that can move past hand wringing and navel gazing.
i’m hopeful this bodes well for an HRC that can move past hand wringing and navel gazing.
work session adjourned. commissioner rob, who holds aggressively anti communist views, is a member of a church that fundamentally denies the humanity of queer people, and sent me a series of increasingly weird demands to meet him for a drink last summer didn’t say a word.
and a correction about an unclear tweet above: shantell was the only black commissioner present at today’s work session & spoke candidly about her experience as a black woman, but there are additional commission members of color who were not at the optional work session.
i love and appreciate that commission members reached out to me with clarifications about the work session. this is collaborative community work!
