The Human Rights Commission discussed changes to the commission, as well as a potential case of discrimination based on a community member’s mental health. Submitted photo

The Human Rights Commission discussed upcoming changes regarding both the format and monthly meeting of the commission during a recent gathering.

During the meeting, Human Rights Commission Chairman Uvie Stewart Jr. announced that the commission will transition to a new meeting schedule starting in April. Moving forward, the Human Rights Commission will meet the first Wednesday of every month at 6 p.m. Stewart explained that the current meeting schedule had made it difficult for multiple members to attend the monthly Human Rights Commission meetings.

“Friday nights were getting too complicated,” he said. “Too many issues going on, so we thought it would be best for us to move this meeting.”

During last month’s Human Rights Commission meeting, Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo told the commission that by changing the day and time of the monthly meeting the commission could see a better level of engagement with the local community. In addition to increasing the likelihood of community engagement at the monthly meeting, Stewart believes the new day and time will make it easier for each of the current commission members.

“Everyone should be able to come to that meeting,” he said.

With multiple members unavailable for last Friday’s meeting, Stewart announced that the “debrief” for the Human Rights Commission’s sponsorship of the preseason Jamestown Jackals game would be delayed until April’s meeting when more commission members could be present.

Stewart also announced that the Human Rights Commission had voted to reduce the size of the commission, something the commission had discussed in previous meetings due to the difficulty of having enough members for a quorum to consistently be present at the monthly meetings.

“We voted to move it down to nine members, and the mayor is taking that before City Council,” Stewart said. “He thought it was a reasonable request also.”

The Human Rights Commission also discussed a potential discrimination case that a member of the community has expressed concerns about to Stewart. Stewart told the Human Rights Commission that a retired military member recently approached him claiming that he had been discharged from his employment due to “discrimination” toward his mental health struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder. While multiple member of the Human Rights Commission expressed interest in the man’s story, the commission agreed that more information would have to be disclosed before the commission could refer the case to the appropriate agency.