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“Because we didn’t want
the administration to get into the Board,” said Floyd Rose
from his current home in Valdosta, Georgia. Rose was one of
those who fought to ensure the independence of the Board
years ago. “What would be the value of the Board now if any
decision they make could be vetoed?” he asked of the
possibility that such independence could be lost. “How is
robbing the board of its independence going to solve
anything?”
It’s a sentiment echoed by
others who were part of the struggle for Board independence
in the 1960’s in the aftermath of riots that devastated the
central city.
“We were working to
resolve race issues,” said community activist Bernard “Pete”
Culp of the reason the Board’s independence has been so
important in the years since. “Independence is very key when
we are trying to resolve issues of race relations.”
City Councilwoman Theresa
M. Gabriel, another veteran of those days, also spoke of the
need to maintain the Board’s independence. “Times have
changed but we still have some volatile issues between the
races,” said Gabriel. “I do not support or agree to
decomposing the BCR.”
The current full name of
the Board is the Board of Community Relations and
Affirmative Action. The Law Department has proposed dropping
the Affirmative Action part of the name and, in fact, there
is now a separate city government department responsible for
the internal monitoring of issues related to hiring and
equal treatment of employees.
Mayor Hicks-Hudson is
mulling over the Law Department proposals noting that the
changes have not come from her or her office.
“I want to hear from
members of the Board and get their input,” she said. “That’s
the way it should probably work and should be submitted to
Council.”
Hicks-Hudson did note that
she feels that the procedure for the appointment of the
executive director should probably not be changed – that is,
appointed by the mayor with the recommendation of the Board.
She is not yet as sure
about the elimination of the Board’s access to outside legal
counsel. “That historically made sense when the Board of
Community Relations and Affirmative Action were together,”
she said. “I am not sure how important it is to have access
to outside counsel given the current situation.
Part of that current
situation, the mayor said, is the fact that the Board was
originally “a creature of City Council under a city manager
form of government.” Now that a strong mayor form of
government exists, said Hicks-Hudson, “the whole idea is to
update the by-laws to follow in line with the structure of
the city charter.”
The proposed change to the
Board’s by-laws are part of a regular review prescribed by
the by-laws themselves. A section requires a review once
every five year primarily to ensure that the racial and
gender representation of the 26-member board reflects that
of the community.
The Board members, through
the office of Executive Director Linda Alvarado-Arce has
also forwarded its own recommendations on proposed changes.
Of overriding concern, said Alvarado-Arce, is ensuring that
the board incorporate those of the disability community and
the LBGTQ community.
However, Alvarado-Arce
expressed concerns about the two key changes proposed by the
Law Department. It’s important, she said, “to have an
outside voice” and that an executive director “doesn’t have
to worry about being fired without cause by the mayor.”
It’s also important, said
Alvarado-Arce, for the Board to be able to hire outside
counsel. She referenced the Flint, MI water situation as an
example of when a Board such as hers would want to reach
outside of a city’s law department in order to investigate
such an occurrence.
As she spoke of the
overall value of the Board with its current independent
status, Alvarado-Arce noted that such status enabled the
Board to reach out to the community in ways that otherwise
might not exist with a Board constantly seeking approval
from the administration.
“We’ve been able to bring
protesters into the mainstream,” she says of the Board’s
efforts to work with the BlackLivesMatter movement and the
LGBTQ community. “We are able to do something most cities
struggle with; we are able to be proactive not reactive.”
Over the next few days and
weeks, the mayor’s administration will be reviewing the
changes proposed both by the Law Department and the Board
while seeking further input from Board members.
“I worry about changes
without any justifiable cause,” said Councilwoman Adams
summing up the concerns many in the community will have
about altering the nature of the Board of Community
Relations. |
