NORTHAMPTON — The Human Rights Commission on Wednesday set about planning measures that fit into the mayor’s view of its duties as it moves forward after controversy over a would-be member’s Twitter activity and questions about its authority.
The calm meeting came during what Mayor David Narkewicz termed a transitional time for the commission. The body has lost five members since April 2015, some of whom cited concerns over the advisory role the commission was relegated to after the city adopted a new charter in 2013.
One of the three people named by Narkewicz to fill vacant seats, Tara Ganguly, said she was no longer interested in the post after some of her controversial tweets were published by the Gazette Tuesday.
Three vacancies remain on the commission. Narkewicz said there has been interest from the public to serve on the commission in the last few days and he hopes to have people nominated, approved by the City Council and ready to serve by the commission’s October meeting.
On Wednesday, members Laurie Loisel, Joel Morse, Natalia Muñoz, Carla Velez and newcomer Christine Young, discussed a path forward for the commission as an effective advisory and educational body. The other new member, Brian Barnes, was unable to attend.
Narkewicz outlined his vision for the commission. He said there has been unfortunate confusion about the commission’s role. Prior to the new city charter being adopted in 2013, the commission had the power to investigate potential violations of human rights.
There were problems with that power, he said, because privacy of those involved in investigations could not be guaranteed due to Open Meeting Law requirements. Also, the local investigations could inhibit the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination from launching its own inquiry, because the state commission can act only within a certain period of time after the incident. Plus, as an executive commission, its authority is limited to the scope of the mayor’s power.
“I don’t have the authority to create a commission to enforce state nondiscrimination laws or federal nondiscrimination laws,” Narkewicz said.
The commission should instead focus on creating programming and events, such as readings of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, awards for human rights-minded citizens and speaker series, Narkewicz suggested.
It should refer discrimination complaints to the appropriate authorities, the mayor said, and examine the city’s anti-discrimination measures to see if they could be strengthened.
“I think the whole idea is to keep human rights at the forefront of people’s minds,” Narkewicz said.
Muñoz suggested that the commission plan a “listening tour” in which members visit social service agencies for underrepresented populations, such as the homeless or those with HIV/AIDS.
From the audience, Susan Enz recommended the commission address the 51 refugees who are relocating to the city with the help of Catholic Charities.
Loisel suggested drafting a resolution in support of the refugees to be sent to the City Council. The commission hopes to meet with a representative from Catholic Charities in September to discuss the matter.
Discussion turned briefly to the controversy over Ganguly’s tweets.
Muñoz said it was unfair to judge Ganguly’s character based on a selection of tweets out of the over 2,000 that she has sent.
“The local paper seemed to have lost sight that this is a small community,” she said. “When you’re going to write a big story about somebody that’s so negative, it does have an impact on somebody’s life. I wish the Gazette had not done that.”
Loisel said the commission sometimes deals with controversial issues and it’s worth talking about how to best have civil discourse.
Morris agreed, saying he welcomed diversity of thought on the commission. “It’s OK to have a conflict, in fact, it’s healthy,” he said. “But it’s got to be constructive.”
One member of the public spoke about the issue.
“I did follow follow some of that Twitter stuff,” Diane Maden said. “I was highly offended — highly offended.”
She said her interpretation of some of Ganguly’s tweets was that the uneducated and indebted have “no right to have children, or basically live.”
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com.