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Humboldt County Human Rights Commission to hold outreach listening sessions across rural communities
Summary
The commission approved a plan to hold listening sessions in outlying Humboldt communities and with local service organizations, revising its introductory script and circulating a volunteer preference form to assign commissioners to visits.
The Humboldt County Human Rights Commission on April 2 approved plans to expand outreach and hold listening sessions in outlying communities to gather local perspectives on human-rights concerns.
Commission Chair Rick (role: Commissioner) said the commission wants to meet residents and local service providers in Bridgeville, Garberville and other underrepresented areas, and to "introduce ourselves and to have a listening session to find out from their perspectives what are some of the issues that they're facing." The commission will use a standard introductory script drawn from the county web page and circulate a form for commissioners to indicate first, second and third choices of organizations and regions to visit.
Members debated wording in the script that describes the commission's authority. One commissioner argued the phrasing that the commission "has no direct authority to solve human rights things" could be toned down, suggesting language that emphasizes advising the Board of Supervisors while keeping expectations clear. Commissioners agreed to edit the paragraph (adding phrasing such as "encourage and stimulate" or clarifying "advise the board and inform the public") before finalizing the outreach statement.
The commission also discussed renaming the Sanctuary Ordinance Committee to reflect outreach duties, suggesting options such as "Outreach and Engagement" or "Listening and Outreach." The committee will finalize the name and the visitor script and return with a proposed schedule. At least two commissioners will be assigned to each visit where possible.
The commission said the listening sessions will be primarily for the commission to learn from local groups and service organizations rather than to direct their activities. Commissioners emphasized the importance of being explicit in outreach invitations that the community group sets the agenda at local meetings.
Next steps: commissioners will submit their preferences on the circulated form and the outreach committee will draft the final script and assignment plan for the next meeting.
