As the Director of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Human Relations Commission, I have been asked to respond to a letter written to elected officials by Mr. Glen Kissel. In recent months, Mr. Kissel and a small group of people have been criticizing the Human Relations Commission for alleged improprieties. This letter is an opportunity to clarify the nature of the work of the Human Relations Commission and the positive contributions that it makes to this community. We feel confident that any fair-minded person who examines all the evidence will conclude that the charges that have been made against us are unfounded.
The mission of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Human Relations Commission is to promote equality of opportunity. The Human Relations Commission is also charged with assisting governmental and private agencies, groups, and individuals in reducing community tensions and preventing gender-based conflicts, or tensions between persons of different racial, ethnic, religious groups, persons with disabilities, or any other arbitrary differences.
Human Rights Commissions are engaged in three broad activities – enforcement, prevention, and training. The lion’s share of the work at the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Human Relations Commission is in the area of enforcement. Allegations of employment discrimination constitute the majority of cases filed with the Commission. The Commission provides training to government and private organizations on fair housing and employment discrimination laws. There is no cost for this training. The Commission provides administrative support to two advisory boards – the Evansville Commission on the Social Status of African-American Males and the Advisory Board on Disability Services. The majority of the employment discrimination cases received by the Commission are on the basis of race and disability. Moreover, the support that the two advisory boards receive from the Commission correlates with the overall mission of the agency.
Unfounded Charges of Misusing Money
In addition to supporting the initiatives of the Evansville Commission on the Social Status of African American Males and the Advisory Board on Disability Services, the Human Relations Commission has participated in, and supports, a wide variety of events and organizations in an effort to advance outreach efforts in the community.
The Commission considers funding requests that are consistent with the mission of eliminating discrimination and efforts that promote human capital. The sponsorships have gone to a variety of groups and causes. Furthermore, all funds of our supported events came from donations and federal funds specifically designed to provide outreach in the community, not funding furnished by city or county budgets as alleged. A total of $3,700 was spent on sponsorships to six organizations in 2011-2012. The Commission views these sponsorships as a form of agency promotion necessary to help educate hard-to-reach populations. Again, the sponsorships help to effectuate the mission of the agency to eliminate discrimination and promote diversity and inclusion. The Commission is developing a written policy on sponsorships.
Unfounded Charges of Illegality
This is one of the most surprising claims made by our critics, and it is the one that is most easily dismissed. The suggestion is that last November, the Evansville City Council passed an “illegal†ordinance that “criminalizes Christians.†(Of course, anyone can look around Evansville right now and see that it is not against the law to be a Christian. Indeed, religious faith is alive and well in our community, and that is a good thing.) It goes without saying that the Human Relations Commission would never dream of proposing an ordinance to outlaw Christianity, and the Evansville City Council would obviously never entertain the idea of passing such an ordinance. So, where does this outlandish claim really come from?
Opponents of the new civil rights ordinance passed last November have frequently argued that it will force churches to do things they disagree with, such as hiring gay, lesbian or transgender employees. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, it is doubly incorrect. The Indiana Civil Rights Statute states that churches and organizations affiliated with religious organizations are employers exempt from review by the Human Relations Commission. Moreover, the new ordinance has explicit language that makes clear that enforcement in these new areas will be entirely voluntary. The plain language of the new city ordinance reads as follows:
“With respect to complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, the Commission’s authority shall be limited to the power to accept such complaints, notify respondents of the complaint(s) and attempt voluntary investigation(s) and voluntary mediation(s).†(City Code 2.30.010)
Furthermore, the Indiana Civil Rights Statute includes a clear statutory exception for religious employers that read as follows:
‘Employer’ means the state or any political or civil subdivision thereof and any person employing six (6) or more persons within the state, except that the term ‘employer’ does not include:
(2) any school, educational, or charitable religious institution owned or conducted by or affiliated with a church or religious institution.†(Indiana Code 22-9-1-3)
The specific language in the ordinance regarding sexual orientation was modeled after the Bloomington and Fort Wayne ordinances. The Bloomington ordinance has been on the books since 1993 and has never been held to be illegal. To assert that what the Evansville City Council voted for unanimously last November was somehow illegal and criminalized Christianity flies in the face of all the available evidence. It appears that some have misinterpreted the facts and possibly unintentionally misled the people on this sensitive subject.
Unfounded Charges of Incompetence
It has been suggested that the Human Relations Commission blundered when it asked that protections against age discrimination be added to the local ordinance. It is claimed that this language conflicts with existing federal fair housing regulations regarding the treatment of senior citizens, and this supposedly puts the city in an embarrassing position. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Human Relations Commission acknowledges that there are clear exceptions in the Fair Housing Act that provide for senior citizen discounts and the availability of rental properties for senior citizens only. Even in the unlikely event that a local government acted to prohibit senior discounts, federal law would trump the local government prohibition.
Some concerns have been expressed by a few property owners about this perceived conflict between the city ordinance and the federal guidance in this area, and we have been working collaboratively with them to address their concerns. Our belief is that the explicit exception for senior citizens already exists in the housing law, so it is unnecessary to restate it in our local ordinance. (This, in fact, is exactly what Indianapolis has done.) However, we have no objections to modifying the language of the local ordinance if this helps to clarify it.
The broader charge of incompetence is deeply offensive. Our small office has a trained staff of professional investigators who are required to keep up with developments in civil rights enforcement. Moreover, we have a dedicated and conscientious group of commissioners, all of whom are appointed by the city and county governments. The last time our commissioners were called upon to hold a public hearing to rule upon a discrimination case, they reached a unanimous verdict after careful examination of all the evidence. When their judgment was appealed in court, the decision was upheld by Vanderburgh Circuit Court Judge Carl Heldt and the Indiana Court of Appeals. (Whirlpool Corporation v. Vanderburgh County, City of Evansville Human Relations Commission and Harriett Layne.)
It is apparent that the allegations against the Human Relations Commission come on the heels of and are a result of adding sexual orientation and gender identity to its enabling ordinance. It is also troubling how race appears to be used to confuse and divide the community. While everyone has a right to their opinion, misinformation and misguided viewpoints should not be allowed to strip away gains made to ensure that all have equal opportunity and dignity in public life. Certainly one viewpoint should not be the final opinion on what constitutes civil rights and fiscal responsibility as it relates to government agencies.
No Human Relations Commission is perfect. We continually strive to provide good service and we are always open to any constructive criticism. Our objective is to serve the entire community, and we are committed to giving the best possible service to all the residents of Vanderburgh County, whatever their background may be.
In conclusion, the history of our Human Relations Commission goes back to 1948. A committee of white and black leaders was formed under Mayor William Dress to address the problems of blacks and their struggle to overcome the obstacles of discrimination in all facets of life. The Human Relations Commission became a city agency in 1965, one year after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In 1982, the long sought effort to expand jurisdiction to include Vanderburgh County was realized. An inter-local government agreement was passed by the City Council and County officials, giving the Commission jurisdiction in all of Vanderburgh County. Civil and human rights have evolved since 1948 and laws and regulations now offer protections for groups historically discriminated against – namely women, people with disabilities and sexual minorities.
Unfortunately, discrimination still occurs in society and the work of the Commission continues to be needed. We simply ask individuals and groups that have concerns with the Human Relations Commission come to the table and discuss their concerns. Any hostile effort only works to thwart the work of the Commission and does nothing to promote positive relations between groups in the community.
Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “The arc of the moral universe is long but bends toward justice.†We believe it bends toward justice because of the collective efforts of people of goodwill. The Human Relations Commission is calling on all people of goodwill to come together. We cannot afford to be divided.
If anyone would like further information about the work of the Human Relations Commission, we invite you to contact us at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Diane Clements
Executive Director
Evansville-Vanderburgh County Human Relations Commission
This response from Ms. Clements is posted without edit, opinion, or bias.
Like I told a good friend last week, always two sides to a story.
Thank you Diane for stasnding up and defending the mission of your agency.
Wonder what Joe Kiefer and Marsha Abell has to say now about you and the mission of the HRC?
People at the Civic Center are really pleased that Ms. CLements have finally publically stood up to Marsha Abell.
Can’t wait to see how Marsha Abell is going to spin Ms. Clements comments. Seems like Marsha Abell has finally met her match!
Let the budget hearings begin.
Looks like Marsha Abell better get ready for the biggest political storm of her career.
Looks like Abell is now going to be forced to defend her comments about about Clements and HRC! Of course Joe Kiefer shall run and hide from this issue and leave Marsha standing alone.
Can’t wait to watch this situation unfold during upcoming budget time.
Let the public debates begin.
Two strong women with two strong opinions about the same subject matter means the truth shall prevail.
Does the HRC handle cases about elected officials who fails to speak for and represent the voters?
Diane , I have no problems with any person of a different ethnic background ,,,,, were all the same . My comment is why do we still have a need to have different names for people of color , African American , Mexican American , I have been asked what I was a mix of before. ( ????? ) by a black woman , my skin tone appears to be peachy …… My opinion is labeling groups of different backgrounds keeps racism around ,,, can’t we all just be red blooded Americans
If I’m understanding you correctly, I agree with this. Constantly pointing out racism only promotes it. Starting a campaign to “raise awareness” of racism actually just raises racism. Placing ANY label upon yourself only serves to separate you from the other people who do not have that label.
Advertisers figured out this psychological principle a long time ago and stopped de facto promotion of their competitors in ads. Whereas they used to attack their competition by calling them out by name, they began just calling them “the leading competitor” instead. Why do half your competitor’s job for him by acknowledging him by name, or yourself as the anti-whatever.
The appropriate response to bigoted and racist people is to hold their ideas up for ridicule, not go start your own brand of racism by putting a racist label on yourself voluntarily.
Looks like it’s time for County Commissioners Abell, Kiefer and Melcher to put “Gay and Lesbian” issue back on the agendy for discussion and a up or down vote.
Is it true that the Vanderburgh County Commissioners are anticipating a lengthy session at their next meeting on August 14? That the Commissioners discourage and avoid lengthy meetings and both Marsha and Joe get quite grumpy and antsy when one of their meetings begin to go long, rolling their eyes, mumbling to each other and interupting the speakers with hurry-up prompts? That the Commissioners must have good reason to anticipate a long meeting on the 14th because today they announced that the meeting will begin at 4:00 p.m. rather than at its usual time of 5:00 p.m.?
If they are doing that, start filming them doing it and we’ll put together a montage of eye rolling and disrespectful behavior that I’m sure the CCO Editor will be happy to publish here for everyone to see.
Might be hard to get reelected if that sort of thing started circulating.
Word at the Civic Center is that the Pro Consolidation people don’t want the “Gay and Lesbian” discussion and vote until after the November election because they know it would hurt their chances with the rural voters.
MARSHA ABELL AGREED WITH THEM AND SHALL TRY TO IT HOLD THE VOTE UNTL AFTER THE ELECTION!
“The mission of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Human Relations Commission is to promote equality of opportunity.”
======
Translated that means to force their agenda on employers. This article is nothing more than a puff piece, that did not dispute the factual allegations made by Mr. Kissel. Also will the HRC have County-wide jurisdiction if consolidation passes?
This just goes to show how damaging a strawman argument can be.
Glen Kissel was right to question the HRC, unfortunately he asked the wrong questions. Instead of asking why they were “supporting gays” he should have been asking why they exist at all.
If, by their own admission in this letter, the HRC’s chief objective is enforcement of discrimination codes, why can they not simply be disbanded seeing as we already have a mechanism for such enforcement, i.e. the justice system?
Wouldn’t it be a lot more efficient and a lot less costly to taxpayers to get rid of such a redundancy and instruct any charges of discrimination to be directly toward a civil court? Or perhaps the Indiana Civil Rights Commission (ICRC), which does the exact same thing as the Evansville HRC? Or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which again does the exact same thing?
The argument here should be directed at the useless bureaucracy, NOT the minorities for whom the HRC works to protect. That is a stupid argument to make, because ultimately, it is a losing argument. Glen Kissel’s rant probably did more harm than good to those of us wanting less bureaucracy.
If memory serves me correctly, the following is not correct:
“…With respect to complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity…”
It was stressed in previous reporting that the term which was used was “PERCEIVED gender identity.”
To me this would mean a cross dresser could claim discrimination no matter what he/she claimed to be.
Can anyone clarify my memory? Please do so. Ms. Clements would be the perfect person to do so.
If HRC closed its door by the end of the week the only one that would notice it would be Diane Clements. All the little touchy feely things done by HRC could easily be accomplished by organizations ran by volunteers of special interest groups. This will probably be one of the last make believe jobs eliminated.
I’m gonna start cross dressing so I can go into women’s restrooms and check out some fine ladies
Marsha Abell are you going to take a stand on the “GAY and LESBIAN” issue by allowing it to be put on the County Commissioners agenda for an up or down vote? Are you going to do what your “right wing” buddies told you to do and not bring it up until after the November election?
What are Joe Kiefer and Steve Melcher views on Marsha Abell’s move to keep this issue off the agenda?
Oh, Melcher and Kiefer are on the November ballot. Why don’t we just protest by not voting for them.
Comments are closed.