City's human relations panel may take on more responsibility

Mar. 26—Terre Haute may broaden the responsibilities of the city's Human Relations Commission.

A city council committee on government affairs met Tuesday at City Hall with the stated reason of taking a look at removing the requirement that dictates party affiliation for members of the commission.

But the discussion led it to possibly broadening amendments to the City Code to give the commission more responsibility.

According to the City Code, written in 1968, the commission can include no more than four members of any political party, and the commission currently has four Democrats serving, meaning the council had to appoint a Republican or Independent.

Discussion of changing the City Code began at the March 17 meeting, when the City Council had planned to appoint a new member to the commission, but felt that the four applicants didn't seem as qualified as seven previous applicants better equipped to be on the commission — but who didn't meet that party affiliation requirement.

Councilpersons Anthony Dinkel, Amanda Thompson and Curtis DeBaun IV all questioned why political affiliation was a requirement for the Human Relations Commission, since no other city commission has a similar restriction.

They said it seemed the rule could prevent the best candidates from serving on the commission. The the issue was referred to committee, chaired by Dinkel, who said, "The requirement is hindering the commission from meeting its standard."

Thompson said removing the political affiliation requirement would "self-select people [applying for the position] who care about these issues."

Mayor Brandon Sakbun told the committee that people without housing and those with mental health issues fell under the rubric of diversity, equity and inclusion, but the City Code's passage on the Human Relations Commission did not place them under its purview.

So, the committee agreed to address those issues, as well.

Rewriting the code, therefore, could take longer as the committee would now be tackling a number of issues, but Dinkel said, "It's best to do it right rather than fast."

Commission Director Anne-Therese Ryan told the committee that the person currently serving and due to be replaced by a new appointee could continue to attend commission meetings until a successor is named.

Tammy Boland said, "If this won't hinder the commission and it will continue to function, this is the time to fix (the City Code)."

Dinkel and the other committee members agreed that the revised code could be written in time to present to the City Council at its May meeting.

Ryan said she was pleased the committee opted to take a deeper dive into City Code issues that could impede the Human Relations Commission's mission.

"That is what I appreciate most about this," she said. "I know it started as just looking at [the commission's] membership makeup, and I am glad that they're taking it really seriously to look at the scope of our work that we do. ... To be really clear in defining what our responsibilities are will be really essential to ensuring the longevity of this work."

In the two years prior to 2024, there had only been two meetings of the sundry council committees. There have now been two in the past two months.

Sakbun said the council is "taking full opportunity of what local government can do. ... It's a way to move more projects along, in my eyes."

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.