The Human Relations Board is a volunteer organization that is operated by the Equal Opportunity Administrator. The Administrator for Hillsborough County is Gail Williams. They hear cases related to the Human Rights Ordinance. The mission statement of the Ordinance is to “prohibit discrimination based on race, sex (including pregnancy and sexual harassment), national origin, age, religion, color, disability, and marital status in employment, public accommodations, procurement and contracting, and housing. Discrimination against families with children (familial status) is prohibited in housing.”
The Human Relations Board hears cases brought about by citizens of Hillsborough County who feel they’ve been discriminated against in one of the areas listed above. It is important to note that their jurisdiction only includes unincorporated areas of Hillsborough County, as well as Plant City. The Cities of Tampa and Temple Terrace have their own boards. Also, they cannot investigate another government body, so if a citizen feels discriminated against by the School Board or the Department of Transportation, they must file their grievances with that agency. Also, any club that requires membership is not considered a public area, and therefore exempt from the board.
Persons who feel discriminated against must file a written complaint to the board, who will then check to see if the complaint falls within their ordinance. If it is determined that they do, then they investigate to see if the complaint is valid. If it is determined that the complaint is indeed valid, then they work with both parties to resolve the dispute. They do not represent either party, and they are obligated to remain impartial.
When discussing cases, the Board must ask the public members to leave the meeting, to respect the privacy of the complainants. There were no cases at this particular meeting, so they moved on to discussion on possible updates to the ordinance, the first time they had done so since November 1, 2000. Most of it was simply clarifying legalese, and making sure the areas covered were in line with both state and federal legislation, and official changes had to be submitted by a subcommittee.
Board members serve three year terms, and three members discussed their leaving the board at the end of the year. The discussion turned to inviting new members to join the subcommittees, and then Gail Williams gave an impromptu overview of the history of the ordinance. Of particular note is the fact that sexual orientation was taken out, due mainly to former County Commissioner Ronda Storms. (Read: “County Commission Votes Against Gay Protection”)
Also of note was a caution to the new board members that even though they are volunteers, and not on the county’s payroll, they still must file financial disclosures. After the meeting, board member Raymond Reed talked a little bit more about the work that the board does.
Reed said that a good number of cases are people who are just disgruntled ex-employees who don’t want to hire a lawyer, and once the board looked into it, they discovered that the reason someone was terminated was due more to their performance issues than to an actual discrimination. But, he noted, “Every once in awhile you get to see justice done, and that’s a good feeling.” He encouraged me to check out a Board of County Commissioners or a School Board meeting if I wanted to see some real action, and also noted that coming out of school was a good time to get involved in public service. He discussed the Human Relations Board, or the Affordable Housing Board as good places to get started.
Meet You Further Up The Road,
Brentin.