MASON CITY – The Mason City Human Rights Commission met Thursday for its regular monthly meeting and is considering dissolution as one of the only means of moving forward after a severe budget cut from the Mason City Council.
According to the discussion at Thursday’s meeting, a working agreement being considered with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission would strip the local commission of its fact-finding duties. Fact-finding is one of the main tasks that members of the commission perform.
The need for a working agreement with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission is one of the only alternatives the Mason City Human Rights Commission has, as the allocated funding of $15,000 moving forward will not allow for a Human Rights Director and would not cover the costs of intake, investigation and writing of decisions regarding human rights violations claims.
See video for more on this discussion.
Moving forward, it appears that City Hall’s budget of $15,000 and leftover grant funds will pay for current Administrative Assistant Amy Simpson to continue to perform the job of taking claims for at least one year. Lionel Foster will no longer be the Human Rights Director as of June 30th, 2013, ending decades of duty in that position. Mr. Foster said at Thursday’s meeting he does not intend to retire.
According to discussion at the meeting, if a working agreement is ratified with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, it will pay $100 to the city for each human rights violation claim that is sent to Des Moines. The Mason City Human Rights Commission would then cede all fact-finding powers to Des Moines and have virtually no authority left. The commission noted it does not have the ability to write decisions after fact-finding.
According to information just received in our newsroom Friday morning from a Human Rights Commission in Council Bluffs, as a state bureaucracy, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has been “lobbying local governments” to ratify agreements by saying “local agencies are not needed.” The source goes on to say that “the ICRC has enough of its own workload with which to deal and is not capable of taking over all of our cases that the locals process, investigate, and resolve each year.
“Our Commission (in Council Bluffs) has not yet signed the 2013 (ICRC) Agreement, as we feel that it was changed unilaterally to the detriment of the local agencies and was strong-armed on the local agencies.”
At this time, there is new legislation at the statehouse in Des Moines being looked at that, if passed, would “give back some local control to our (local) agencies, rather than vest what appears to be almost total control in the ICRC,” according to the Council Bluffs source, who went on to call the chances of the new legislation passing “an uphill battle” after a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Michael E. Gronstal. “At least we have someone in Des Moines listening to and vowing to have his staff look into our concerns.”
The commission took no formal action on the agreement with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission at Thursday’s meeting, opting to wait until the next meeting to discuss further.
The commission also discussed the location of the Human Rights Office in City Hall. It was said that “the Blue Zones people” are moving in next door and that the Human Rights Office space might be used for the Blue Zone project. There have already been questions raised as to privacy of individuals involved in cases, with the Blue Zones personnel in such close proximity. In addition, there are sensitive files held in the office at this time, and it was said that by law, the files must be kept for a number of years.
Watch video:
what skills, degrees or knowledge or importance does mr. foster have that require his salary be over $50,000/yr.? (it’s my understanding his wage was more than that) what is the breakdown of expenses that says $150,000 is needed by hrc. i have yet to see proof that amt. is required to get the job of defending human rights in mc.
They should of got rid of HRC all together. We need jobs not them thats using Foster he is a trouble maker just ask them he has sued. We dont need none of them blood suckers uses HRC anyways. Let them move or make them move yes.
mercy2 – the City already has in place the oversight of housing law enforcement including an appeals board. Using HRC for a landlord dispute is misdirecting the complainant. If HRC gets such a complaint it should hand this off to the appropriate office, not pursue on its own.
Your newsroom reports that supposedly the HRC office in Council Bluffs asserts that the ICRC is “lobbying local governments” to ratify agreements by saying “local agencies are not needed.”
Further your source says ICRC is incapable of handling the workload and that the Council Bluffs HRC is resisting “strong arm tactics” being used to obtain agreement to the 2013 ICRC agreement, that it was changed to local HRC’s detriment.
Finally, you say some hope is being generated to return “local control” to HRC’s in legislation is at least listening to them even if it has an uphill battle.
Lest you all get too revved up on this “news”, please note that Gronstal represents Council Bluffs who, while majority leader in the senate, is decidedly lacking in the ability to accomplish more than blocking items he opposes. It appears to be spin about a lost cause.
For Mason City it is a matter of budgeting, not loss of “local control” – which I am fine with losing as long as we are eliminating spending duplicative tax dollars.
Even our own police officers had to use Mr. Fosters office when Jack Schlieper was police chief.
Anon, change your name to moron. It suits you. You are a wart on the a** of society. It is people like you that eat this garbage that the council produces that makes me sick. You actually believe what they are saying. Do you want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge? I’ll sell it to you. Take the time to think before you spread this manure you call a thought.
Have a good day!!!!
What a huge failure on the part of the city.
The Commission was appointed by the Council. How can the Commission dissolve itself? They could all resign, but what purpose would that serve? I have a lot of respect for these folks but if they all resign then they are quitters. I expect a hell of a lot more from them. They need to stay and continue to fight for those who’s civil rights have been violated.
“Mr. Foster said at Thursday’s meeting he does not intend to retire.”
What does he “intend” to do when the position is gone & he is no longer paid?
Looks like Beermiester ate to many chitling down thar in DC. Not from Mason- is his azz as big as his jowels ?
Slim balls in charge – buy more statues and qzzwipe – coprocephalic
Forgot to mention. That if the “city” gets sued it’s the taxpayers that are getting sued because it’s THEIR money that pays the HRC and the mayor and council (that voted on the “budget”) representing them. How many taxpayers do you think will be “against” the cut? sheeeeh. What have YOU been smokin?
The city better get ready for a discrimination lawsuite and he might just have a case.