Green Bay commission moves proposed revision to city civil‑rights ordinance (section 12‑11) to next meeting for legal review

At its Jan. 9 meeting the Green Bay Equal Rights Commission voted to carry further consideration of revisions to section 12‑11 of the city’s chapter 12 civil‑rights ordinance to the commission’s next meeting and to seek legal review and comparisons with other Wisconsin municipalities.

Chair Cherry Yang introduced the item as continuing work from a previous meeting and asked commissioners to review the ordinance and suggest changes. Several commissioners said a priority is revising the ordinance so the commission can receive and process complaints; one commissioner said that change was their "biggest thing" from earlier review.

Commissioners noted they had discussed the item at the end of the prior year and that the mayor had indicated he would review any formal proposal forwarded to city staff and city council. Commissioner Shelton suggested sending city staff to compile and compare complaint procedures used by the Madison and Milwaukee equal‑rights ordinances; staff member Andrea said legal review would be required and that she would run the matter by city legal (Joe) before proceeding.

The commission approved a motion to move the ordinance item to the next meeting to allow additional review and legal vetting. During discussion members agreed to continue refining the proposal and to return with proposed action steps for implementing a complaints process.

Why it matters: Amending section 12‑11 could expand the commission’s role by clarifying whether and how the commission may receive or investigate complaints, a change commissioners said would increase the panel’s ability to address discrimination concerns locally.

Next steps: Commissioners asked staff to gather comparative language from Madison and Milwaukee and to route a draft revision through city legal before the commission takes further action.