Human Relations Commission schedules May town hall to walk residents through complaint form

The Ypsilanti Human Relations Commission voted April 27 to hold a town-hall-style meeting on May 21 to introduce commissioners, show residents how to find and complete the city’s discrimination complaint form, and host a question-and-answer session.

Commissioner (speaker 3) said the event should “introduce ourselves” and explain where people can find the form online. Committee member (speaker 4) volunteered to draft a flyer in Canva and circulate it by email for edits, and the clerk, Clark Boudreaux, said the city could post the flyer on the city website and social media if administration review found no issues.

Commissioners agreed the meeting will include short commissioner bios, a brief explanation of the Human Relations Commission’s role, a live demonstration of the complaint form and how to submit questions in advance. The body also discussed using a QR code or Google form to collect questions ahead of time to tailor the presentation.

The commission authorized a modest funding request for refreshments to encourage attendance; commissioners discussed a $100 request as reasonable within internal limits and the clerk said the funds would be reimbursable with receipts and forwarded to council for final approval.

If the city attorney cannot attend the town hall, commissioners said they would still like to share clear guidance on how long complainants should expect to wait for a response. The commission asked the clerk to circulate the finalized flyer and to prepare a short information sheet to post online ahead of the event.