Comments about last month's meeting were shared, including one of the commissioner's by the name of Munro sharing a link of a YouTube video from Thomas Sowell about Equity, which had community members upset. They also go into talking about the annual report, the 2025 calendar for the HRC, community forum series, subcommittees, amending their bylaws, and reviewing discrimination complaints.
Public Comments
One individual came up to share his comments to the commission. He comes from Ypsilanti township, and was in attendance at the last meeting that didn't meet quorum. He comments about the video from Thomas Sowell shared by the commissioner.
He goes by Corin, and he expressed displeasure with the agenda item from the last meeting. He believed it reiterated that certain individuals shouldn't be on a committee if they share views or ideology that go against the function of that committee. He said, "I will say that seeing that agenda item, defining equity as a thief of [human potential]. To me, just really reiterated that certain individuals have no business being on a commission whose directive it is to eliminate prejudice and discrimination in a historically black city, in a historically racist country."
He goes on to ask for the commissioner in question to step down as an ethical and moral obligation to the community. He also points out that the commission does have the power to remove the commissioner if they so choose through a 2/3 vote. There was also stressing the importance of the committee needing to try to know more about their appointed commissioners.
Annual Report & HRC 2025 Calendar
After public comments were given, the commission went to talk about the first item of the agenda, which is the annual report. They have to do this report every year to provide an update on what HRC has been up to, the meetings they had, how effective they were, and where they would like to improve. The report would specifically include who was on the committee, how many times did they meet, if applicable, any goals, and more.
They discuss annual report, and how to best report it through proper procedures. The report can be both a written and oral report. In the report, it would include their goals of creating subcommittees, developing a community forum series with YPAC and doing that within HRC instead, and doing an amendment request for changing the complaint process which is being tracked through the city attorney's office. They've also voted to approve the fair chance housing ordinance, and wrote a letter in support of drug checking, and more.
For the HRC 2025 calendar, it is just to approve the monthly meetings for the commission. Confusion arose about approving the year's meetings, but it was quickly resolved. The next meeting will be on January 16th, 2025.
Community Forum Series
For the community forum series, the commission reported that the city attorney Barr wrote a memo about the community series. He detailed that the initial concept of the forum would be out of scope because of its use of the word health in the language, however the commission disagreed with that assessment because the focus of the forum would be on public safety, housing, and mental health under the scope of equity and discrimination.
They attempted to do the series in a partnership with YPAC. However, they hit a series of roadblocks that made the series more complicated. They had to have special meetings, approve the partnership in those meetings, and then coordinate. The series would have taken even longer to develop, and in Barr's opinion, the series wouldn't have been approved because of its scope. The commission agreed to have the community forum series under the umbrella of the HRC to deal with less of the roadblocks, and to make sure that the series is within scope.
Subcommittees
Back in September, the commission established three subcommittees. The subcommittees are policy and systems change, community engagement and education, equity and access. Katherine Layton, the chair commissioner of the HRC, said that at the meeting they were told it was possible to invite people to be participants of these committees. However, shortly after, the commission received an email stating that people could not participate on the committees but could be invited to subcommittee meetings.
The commission went on to decide on who is going to be a part of these subcommittees, what days are good to meet, and what specific tasks each committee needs to focus on. The focus of the policy and systems change subcommittee is on addressing and influencing local policy, systems and institutional practices. It would encompass advocacy, legislative review, and work closely with the HRC to provide support.
The community engagement and education subcommittee would focus on building relationships within the community, educating the public and promoting awareness of key issues relating to human rights and equality. It would foster collaboration among diverse groups of people, organize public forums, and lead educational initiatives on topical issues.
The equity and access subcommittee would focus on ensuring marginalized communities have access to resources, services, and opportunities. It would also address barriers that historically underserved groups face, advocate for expanded access to housing, mental health services, employment opportunities, and more. They would more than likely oversee a resource hub that people could access anytime.
Amend HRC Bylaws
The next item of the meeting is the amending of HRC bylaws. Specifically, Article 5 and sections 1, 2, and 4. You can find the Bylaws here.
Section one of Article five states that all regular and special meetings, hearings, and records shall be open to the public. The State of Michigan's Open Meetings Act dictates how HRC meetings are conducted.
Section two of Article five states that the commission shall hold a minimum of one meeting each quarter. The concern that future commissions might interpret this differently, along with a desire for the commission to be more effective for the community. This item has been tabled to the next meeting.
Section four of states that the order of business of meetings shall be as followed in order: call to order, roll call, approval of minutes, public comment, old business, new business, public comment, proposed meetings for next meeting, commissioner comments, and adjournment. They would like to add a commissioner feedback to public comment, and having a section for presentations which would likely be under new business.
Discrimination Complaints
On the final item of new business, the commission reviews the discrimination complaints submitted by residents. They've also reviewed the City Attorney's memo response to one of the complaints.
They also take the time to discuss about the complaint form, and how it could be improved for future use by the residents.
