10/16/01

 

To:  Humboldt County Board of Supervisors

 

From:  Larry Miller, Chairperson

Humboldt County Human Rights Commission

 

Re:  Annual Report

 

 

Our last annual report was submitted to you in August of 2000.   This report should reach you during the month of September 2001.  The period covered by the report is from July 2000 to July 2001.  Please be aware that any figure or percentages provided in this report are approximations based on a review of the information documented in the minutes of our monthly meetings and from the logs and notes of individual commissioners. 

 

Public Contact

 

The voice mail system continues to be the primary method of contact with the commission.  Commissioners received One hundred and ten (110) calls.  This represents a significant increase in utilization from last year.  Coming to our monthly meetings was the second largest method of contact with the commission.  During the year twenty-five (25) guests attended our meeting.  Some of them, for example, representatives from our local American Civil Liberties chapter and a handicapped advocate attended many of our meetings.  Personal contact in the community and correspondence were also used to communicate with the Commission.

 

Voice Mail System

 

Calls concerning law enforcement comprised the largest group of calls we received and ranged from forest demonstrators alleging the use of excessive force to individuals wanting help in filing a complaint.  Issues of discrimination were brought to our attention in a significant number of calls.  These included complaints of discrimination due to age, disability, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and ethnicity.  The majority of these incidents involved employment, housing or the actions of law enforcement personnel.

 

Our responses to the calls also varied significantly.  They ranged from referring callers to other agencies for help to setting up meetings with the callers to provide direct assistance.

A referral sheet with virtually every "helping " agency listed is provided to the HRC members when itÕs their turn to retrieve the phone messages.

 

Education and Outreach

 

The activities of the Education and Outreach Committee continue to grow with many commissioners volunteering their time and energy to this vital aspect of our mission.  During the year they; 1. Facilitated a presentation to the Commission on Tribal Sovereignty. 2. Developed a speakers bureau (see attachment A) which is a listing of HRC commissioners and other community members with an interest in and expertise on a specific human rights subject who has volunteered to speak to groups in the community.  3.  For the fourth year in a row, facilitated the HRC workshop presentations at HSU's annual Multi Cultural event.  4.  Responded to three specific incidents of negative stereotyping which occurred, two at local high schools and one at the community college.  5.  Again worked with local City and County governments to recognize human rights issues and activities during human rights month. Proclamations were received from the cities of Rio Dell, Eureka and Arcata as well as from the County.  6. Co-sponsored with Eureka City Schools a workshop for teachers on understanding and coping with homophobia in the classroom.

Another very important aspect of their work and one that greatly benefits the HRC as a whole is their energy directed at utilizing the services of interns from HSU's sociology department.  During the last year, Ms. Anna Decicco was our intern. Her skills, energy and focus on her work for the Commission manifested itself in, with the help from her friend, graphic artist, Lynn Gregory, a new HRC brochure (attachment C), a new HRC poster which was presented at HSU's Week of Dialogue on Race and a poster utilized by the Committee on Law Enforcement Matters (CLEM) to announce their services.   Anna also developed and distributed a survey to High School principals and Superintendents requesting information on their interest in and need for materials and workshops on Human Rights issues. Nineteen of sixty-five individuals responded.

 

Law Enforcement Matters

 

The Committee on Law Enforcement Matters, (CLEM) continues to work within the framework of the recommendations submitted to you Aug. 24th 1998. In May of 2000 a report of our progress was sent to you.  During the last year CLEM has modified its activities in the light of its experiences and has come to some conclusions concerning its activities.  During the year CLEM liaisons distributed posters and P.S.A. announcing their services as law enforcement department liaisons and complainant aids.  From the responses to these public outreach efforts as well as from our voice mail system and guest at our meetings we conclude that CLEMS efforts need to be focused on the larger departments.  There were no citizen complaints received by department liaisons from Trinidad, Ferndale or Rio Dell.  Fortuna and Arcata reported two each.  The majority of the complaints concerned the Eureka PD and the County Sheriffs Department, including the County Correctional Facility.   The volume of requests for our services at this time does not require a separate monthly meeting of the CLEM.  CLEM business will be handled within the context of the regular monthly HRC meetings with special meeting of CLEM called as needed.

 

While CLEM will maintain liaisons with all the departments, liaisons assigned to the smaller departments are now assisting with the larger departments.  Two new liaison positions have been created for the County Correctional Facility and for Southern Humboldt. (see attachment C). If we are fortunate enough to fill one of our current HRC vacancies with someone from Eastern Humboldt we hope to have a liaison for that somewhat isolated area as well.  One liaison has been eliminated.  CLEM has concluded that it is not necessary, at this time, to have a liaison attend the monthly Law Enforcement Chiefs AssociationÕs (LECAH) monthly meetings.  Contact with this organization will be through the liaison for the department who's chief is the current chair of LECAH.

 

Hate Crimes Information Network

 

The Hate Crimes Information Network has not held monthly meetings since serving as sponsor of the State Attorney General's Offices hearings to improve the reporting of Hate Crimes, in October 2000.  The network is, however, in place and able to respond when needed.

 

Community for Common Ground

 

During the preceding year, the activities of the Community for Common Ground were directed at working with the County Risk Manager, County Department heads and the County Personnel Department to, first draft an ordinance affirming a mediation first policy and then after its unanimous passage working toward it's actual utilization, which, as of this writing, has not yet happened.  In support of their efforts toward implementation they have also been requesting information from the League of California Cities on other entities that may be utilizing mediation first policies.

 

Neutral Observers

 

The Ad hoc Neutral Observer Committee began the year with a unanimous vote by the HRC not to give up on this very important service to the community and directed them to work with the County to address their concerns.  Individual commissioners also expressed their intent, as concerned, private citizens, to pursue legislative remedies to the primary expressed concern of the County, (i.e. the lack of protection from lawsuits because the activities of the N.O. were not covered by the State's Human Rights Legislation).  Both of these avenues were pursued throughout the year.  Our attempts to work with the county ended in a 3 to 2 vote by the Board of Supervisors not to allow your Human Rights Commission to provide this service.

 

The legislative avenue ended with the governor signing into law SB 381 expanding provisions in the state human rights legislation to cover the rights of not only all racial, religious and nationality groups but all,"groups of various race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic status or civic interest and people from other groups subject to prejudice and discrimination". 

 

In The Coming Year

 

During the coming year the Human Rights Commission intends to see its vacant positions filled so the commission can provide it basic function i.e. be here to hear the concerns of the community and to respond as resources and the situations allow. It is also difficult for a voluntary organization such as ours to develop and hone the tools found to aid in our mission without a full commission.  Commissioner burn out/ball dropping occurs less often if there are sufficient members to share the burden and take up the tasks when necessary.

 

We plan to revisit the issues surrounding our Neutral Observer Program in the light of the passage of SB 381.  We plan on continuing our relationship with the California Association of Human Relations Organization.  We will be fine tuning our voice mail protocols and exploring the development of a HRC web site.  We will be having our annual retreat to plan further the activities and direction of the Commission.  Finally, as always, we will be available to direct our attention to items and issues specifically requested by you.