By ELLEN SCHMIDT/Murphy News Service
The city of Richfield Human Rights Commission (HRC) decided on changes to its recruitment process during a months-long effort to equally represent the city’s population by diversifying city commissions.
A July 2015 report on the HRC’s examined categories of diversity such as age, race, gender, and sexual orientation. It found that 85 percent of the commission is white compared to 69 percent of Richfield’s population.
Race isn’t the only aspect of diversity that the report aims to expand.
“When we talk about diversity, its not just racial,” Human Rights Committee Vice Chair Debbie Eng said. “We’re talking age, gender, race, and experience.”
While the commissions are well balanced in gender, they need more minority members and young people, she said.
A 2014 Board Chairs Committee Meeting and a 2015 community meeting spurred the report, with voices at the gatherings saying the commissions didn’t adequately explain how to get involved.
The report called for changes in how clear the application process is, language accessibility, stipends for members who may need child care to attend meetings, and building stronger relationships with the community. The document identified a problem, and provided a possible solution for each one.
“[The city of Richfield] has become increasingly diverse,” Richfield City Council liaison to the HRC, Mike Howard said, adding that the report is crucial to making changes for the city’s future. “Now, how do we take this information and operationalize it?”
The Richfield City Council is planning to form an “action plan” to address diversity issues in the city’s commissions, Howard said. The RCC doesn’t have a set due date for the plan, but he said it wants to get a start on the plan before more openings are available at the beginning of the year.
Human Rights Commission Chair Mark Westergaard said some people feel the need to be an expert to join a commission, but interested community members need only time and in the case of the HRC, a passion for human rights.
“We can’t just forcibly make [commissions] more diversified, but what we can do is educate people about the commission,” Westergaard said. “Really we want thoughtful adults.”
Attempts to include a variety of Richfield residents include the commission’s presence at the 2015 Fourth of July parade and Pennfest. The commissions are beginning to engage community members through social media, churches, and schools. The HRC has two high school students as members this year.
Swopnil Shrestha, 16, is a junior Richfield High School who serves as a voting member on the HRC. She joined the commission after her school’s vice-principal let students know about the opportunity.
“I wanted to get my voice out there,” she said. “It’s interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes of the community instead of what I see from day to day.”
Shrestha didn’t know Richfield had commissions before joining, but said the experience is eye opening and fun. Coming from Nepal at age five, Shrestha said she that while growing up she didn’t have the same privileges as other kids in the community. Joining the commission helped her realize she wants to help others facing adversity in her future.
“We give the commission a fresh mindset and new opinions from a youth outlook,” she said.
The HRC isn’t the only group in need of diversity, Westergaard said, but it is best suited to facilitate the efforts because diversity falls under its human rights focus.
Another report will likely be conducted next year, he said, because progress toward increased diversity will need to be monitored.
Reporter Ellen Schmidt is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.