Seventeen volunteers serve on the Metro Human Relations Commission, which is a city agency that studies and offers solutions around discrimination and other inequities.
In the past two years, they’ve proposed Mayor John Cooper add equity to his performance management system, studied diversity in the city government and held hearings about evictions.
All city commissioners are term-limited and appointed by the mayor, unless he misses a deadline. Then, the vice mayor gets to decide who should be on a commission.
Most times, people sail through and get their jobs back.
Earlier this month, there were five vacancies and six commissioners up for reappointment for their second three-year term.
The mayor proposed 10 new commissioners.
This idea would have replaced more than half the commissioners and eliminated institutional knowledge just as a new executive director is taking the job.
His unusual idea raised questions from the council and pushback from a commissioner.
“Just last week the city council approved the budget for 1.5 full-time positions to address the need for closer Title VI compliance controls and oversight,” MHRC executive committee chair Maryam Abolfazli wrote in a statement. “If the commission is loaded with nine new members that have no knowledge about the Title VI requirements or the role of the commission in supporting the fulfillment of these requirements, how can the executive director conduct affairs to build an office that is effective and lives up to the responsibilities bestowed upon it?”
Chief Communications Officer and Senior Advisor TJ Ducklo spoke with WPLN News via email July 5.
“The mayor has nominated a highly qualified and diverse slate to the Human Relations Commission who are excited to serve their city,” Ducklo wrote. “Coming out of the holiday weekend, because there are more vacancies than usual, we’re supportive of giving council members ample time and look forward to more conversations ahead.”
During this time, councilmembers and the vice mayor had unanswered questions about the mayor’s proposal.
So, the Rules, Confirmation and Public Election Committee delayed the council vote until the end of the month, “so the administration can do some work,” councilmember and committee chair Kathy Murphy said.
Since then, the mayor, some councilmembers and different people from the Human Relations Commission and department have been working together on a solution.
On July 19, the council confirmed 10 new commissioners. Two of them are replacing former members that weren’t consistently active.
At the first council meeting in August, the mayor will reappoint two executive committee members, and the vice mayor will appoint Abolfazli. This will fill all positions on the commission.
In a memo explaining the mayor’s decision, his director of legislative affairs says part of the replacement idea was to fix previous attendance issues. Mayor Cooper says so many openings came up at one time because of a clerical mistake from 1999 and more recently one-term mayors who didn’t get a chance to make their own appointments.
Abolfazli says she felt the mayor’s initial move disregarded the efforts of the dedicated volunteers. She points out the community support she gets as a single mother that allows her to work later nights on the commission.
“It almost felt like everyone that was supporting me as chair and being an active member on this commission was also supporting the mission of this commission,” she explains.
In the last few years, there’s been consistent conversation about whose voices are heard on the city’s commissions and how that impacts residents’ encounters with the local government.
After working with the mayor’s office, Abolfazli’s chalking everything up to confusion.
“Ideally, with more communication and collaboration between our offices — and I think that will be the case moving forward — this kind of stuff won’t happen,” she says.
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