After spending months embroiled in controversy, the county Human Relations Commission is putting its work on hold until an outside assessment can help figure out how it can get back to its mission of promoting positive human relations.
The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to pause commission meetings until key membership changes can be made to the body, including creating a training process to better prepare current and future commissioners.
Supervisors also agreed to hire a consultant to assess the commission’s structure and role — and approved up to $100,000 to fund the assessment.
The board’s decision comes after growing calls to overhaul the commission as it has struggled to function amid internal strife.
Chair Nora Vargas said she brought forth the item after speaking with commissioners and members of the community about how to strengthen the commission. She and other supervisors, after staying silent for months, recently began discussing the need to rethink the panel.
During Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners joined members of the public in voicing their concerns and hopes for its future. Many of the more than 40 people who spoke brought up the ongoing war in Gaza — illustrating one of the deep divides that the region is facing and why the commission is desperately needed.
Among them was Commissioner Mohamed Taha Hassane, whose reappointment sparked controversy earlier this month and public comments in opposition due to his comments about the war.
“The Human Relations Commission is a very important institution to the whole population of San Diego County,” Taha Hassane said at Tuesday’s meeting. “We cannot afford not to have a commission that talks about what’s going on in our county. However, I don’t think that a long-term suspension is going to be the solution.”
He said he supported the addition of cultural sensitivity training but also called on supervisors to engage in conversation directly with commissioners to find solutions.
More than a dozen others spoke in his support — including Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, who had nominated him for reappointment — and many called for supervisors to support Palestine or a cease-fire.
About a dozen also echoed his concerns about pausing the commission, contending that a long-term suspension of business would prevent it from facilitating important conversations and promoting positive relations
“I ask that we instead bring in an outside organization that is experienced in navigating conflicts and helping folks understand each others’ backgrounds and lived experiences,” said Commissioner Sarah Farouq.
Fewer than a dozen said outright that they supported suspending its work. One speaker who identified himself only as Jonathan said the commission had “failed to live up to its mission” and had worsened “a climate of rising hatred.”
Montgomery Steppe and Vargas said the pause did not mean that the commission would be terminated. “This is really about making the commission better,” Vargas said.
Tuesday’s decision by the board directs the county’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice to work with a consultant to recommend changes to allow the commission to better carry out its mission.
The commission had already begun working toward making some of those changes.
Last month, it unanimously approved updates to its bylaws that would strengthen the vetting of new members and require anti-bias and cultural awareness training.
Those changes were set to go before county supervisors next month for approval but will be postponed pending review by the consultant, supervisors said.
The county has already hired two separate consultants to work with the body since it was revived in 2020.
The first, Nonprofit Solutions, was awarded a $50,000 contract in 2021 to serve as an “as-needed facilitator for diversity and inclusion, conflict resolution and strategic planning” during meetings.
The second, Essential Partners, got a $74,200 contract in 2022 — months after a commissioner’s remarks about transgender people drew outrage — to help it build a more constructive culture.
The firm was tasked with developing interventions, focus groups and community listening sessions and providing training to help the panel “be an example of promoting positive human relations,” according to the contract. That contract was set to sunset in November of last year but has been extended through May.
The commission will pause all meetings until the board has received a written report from the new consultant.
The board will also start receiving periodic updates to monitor and guide the commission’s ongoing progress, milestones and maturation. Supervisors asked that the assessment be completed “as soon as possible.” A timeline for how long the process would take will be reported back to the board.
Ellen Nash, the commission’s chair, said during Tuesday’s meeting that she supported a pause, calling it a “reset.”
“Over the course of the last three years … we have had growing pains, but there has been a lot of work accomplished,” Nash said. But “there’s a lot more work to be done.”
