Rialto commission discusses its mission

Members of the city's newly created human-relations panel identify bilingual education, working with police and legislative actions as areas to pursue.

RIALTO—Rialto’s newly appointed 15-member Human Relations Commission moved one step closer Tuesday night to defining its mission.

The group met informally to discuss issues it would like to tackle as well as sort out ways it might choose leaders and function as a commission.

Besides talking about the internal structure of the group, commissioners identified bilingual education, working with police and upcoming legislative actions as areas they would like to pursue.

“Tonight is really the time to focus on what you want to be,” said Fred Persily, executive director of the California Association of Human Relations Organizations.

“All of this is to prepare for the next meeting when you’ve got to make lots and lots and lots of decisions,” said Persily, who was hired by the city to help develop the group.

The commission was established so Rialto would have a group of people specifically focused on settling disputes among neighbors, promoting diversity within the community and hosting multicultural events.

City officials have said they had wanted to encourage diversity in Rialto for years, but the idea for a special commission picked up steam last year after minority leaders alleged racism within the police department.

On Tuesday, commissioners discussed issues they said were important to community members as well as their mandated responsibilities, which include distributing information on diversity training and promoting accessibility to conflict resolution services within the city. Some of the larger issues could be assigned to subcommittees for further study, Persily suggested.

Commissioner Sylvia Hernandez, who works as a school psychologist, said she would like to see the group address Prop.

227, the voter-approved initiative to virtually wipe out bilingual education.

“I foresee some problems in the next year or so,” Hernandez said.

“I’m already seeing a heightened level of anxiety and concerns and not a lot of help out there. “

Commissioner Ted Nevills suggested that the commission could hold periodic awards banquets to recognize outstanding citizens.

“We need to look back into our community and acknowledge people for the (good) things they do so they don’t stop doing them,” Nevills said.

Commissioners also discussed what types of procedures they might establish for handling complaints, promoting their efforts, working positively with each other and conducting upcoming meetings. In addition, the group said it would like demographic data about the city, a breakdown by race, gender and type of arrests made by police and legislative information about laws pertaining to human relations.

“The challenge that we have to look forward to is taking all of these great ideas and structuring and prioritizing them,” police Chief Michael Meyers told the group. “I think the commitment is there on the part of the city. We’re ready to roll. “



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