Fractured group's future uncertain

Contra Costa Times

Article Launched:09/09/2007 03:05:33 AM PDT

IT'S GONNA TAKE a lot more than a group hug to save Contra Costa's Human Relations Commission.
Civility on the board deteriorated so badly this summer that County Administrator John Cullen shut it down indefinitely pending an investigation into allegations of dysfunction, dissent and discrimination.

"We felt it was appropriate to call a time-out while we assess whether or not this group should continue," Cullen said.

Funny, but squabbling is not mentioned in the commission's mission: "To foster peaceful relations in the interest of preserving the public peace among citizens of different races, religions and national origins."

Cullen's unusual move came after four members resigned in disgust, its sole staffer quit and a fifth member filed a formal discrimination complaint with the county's affirmative action officer.

A read of three months' worth of minutes and interviews with a half-dozen former and current commissioners reveals a deeply fractured group polarized by mutual distrust, clashing personalities and conflicting views over the board's mission.

What does this board do? It historically runs programs funded almost entirely with donations.

It holds a poster contest for children. Eighty or so children submitted posters in this year's competition, which asked middle school students to illustrate their dreams in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr.

It also hands out "Bridging the Gap" and "Random Acts of Kindness" awards to recognize groups or individuals in the community that promote positive human relations.

Despite these innocuous-sounding awards, the board members split into competing camps that quarreled incessantly.

Among their many disputes, they disagreed on how to run and fund their awards programs. They also accused each other of political and racial bias over the interviewing of prospective new members.

Tensions boiled over in the board's final meetings in July and August as members sparred, among other things, over a resolution in support of either undocumented people or illegal aliens, depending on one's perspective.

The hostilities drove four members to resign and prompted Commissioner Sureya Sayadi to file a written complaint.

She alleges that Chairwoman Maxine Chan told her to shut up on several occasions but failed to interrupt other commissioners in what Sayadi considered the ill-treatment of speakers during the immigration debate.

"Never once have I said 'shut up' to anyone in these meetings," replied Chan, who denied mistreating anyone. "But with Sureya, I do interrupt her because she tends to go off on rantings. ... I would politely say, 'Thank you,' and move on. She didn't like it."

There's more, but trotting out the sad details feels like dancing on the commission's grave.

The county may well strip the commission from its roster. Last year, the Board of Supervisors ordered a review of its 82 advisory councils, and staff expects to present its findings by the end of the year.

"The Human Relations Commission has done a few feel-good things and handed out a few awards, but some of the things that they might have done are being overlooked because of their inability to work together," said Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg. "I question whether this commission has provided any value."

It's too bad.

Fourteen California counties and 56 cities have human relations commissions, including a dozen in East Bay communities. These organizations offer programs such as dispute-mediation services, school curricula that promote tolerance, and networks to prevent and respond to hate crimes, gang activities and racial tensions.

It's not as though Contra Costa, whose population recently topped 1 million, lacks work for such a panel. In August alone, an Antioch mosque was burned in an arson fire, and the home of an African-American family in Brentwood was ransacked, burglarized and spray-painted with racial epithets.

Granted, the county shut down the commission that same month, but even if it had been meeting, the group's track record suggests that it's unlikely it would have played a major reconciliation role in these incidents.

Dedicated and passionate people serve and have served on this panel, but in its 20-year history, the county has failed to provide its appointees a clear mission or funds. (The county pays for a 20 hour-a-month staff person, but all other programs are paid for with donations.)

And former members say the commission has always suffered a tug-of-war between those who sought to fight social injustice and discrimination and those who preferred behind-the-scenes tasks that kept them off the front page of the newspaper.

"I was told that the commission's job was not to do anything that embarrassed the Board of Supervisors," said one commissioner.

No wonder the commissioners felt unappreciated.

Robin Toma, president of the California Association of Human Relations Organizations and director of the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, urged the county to adopt successful commission models and try again.

"If a commission doesn't have clarity from the elected officials, not just in its mission but in its work plan, and realize that it is a critical agency that will help provide the glue that will keep a community focused on working together, then it will founder," said Toma, who admits that he benefits from a full-time, paid staff of 24.

Clearly, county supervisors must decide if they want this commission, who they want to serve on it, how much to invest and what role they want it to take.

In the meantime, the county may want to avail itself of the dispute-mediation training that Toma's organization offers.

If the Human Relations Commission can't mediate its own conflicts, it will never be of much use to anyone else.

Lisa Vorderbrueggen covers politics. Read about political happenings every day on her blog http://www.cctextra.com/blogs/politicsblog/. Call her at 925-945-4773 or e-mail her at lvorderbrueggen@bayareanewsgroup.com.


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