Without notice from mayor, some former members of DeKalb Human Relations Commission not reappointed

DeKALB – The fate of the DeKalb Human Relations Commission is uncertain as the committee tasked with reviewing city policies has been without enough members to meet all year, after the mayor chose not to reappoint multiple former members when their terms expired, records show.

For three former members – Lisa King, Norden Gilbert and Nadine Franklin – their terms came to what two of them described an abrupt end Dec. 31, 2023. Gilbert – who was reappointed in December 2019 for a four-year term – had been on the commission for more than three decades. Franklin did not return multiple requests for comment.

“I had been reappointed again and again and again,” Gilbert said. “It did come as a surprise. I mean, in the past, whoever was the mayor would call me and say, ‘Are you willing to continue?’ And I would always say yes. And for 32 years, that’s the way it had been.”

The commission is tasked with reviewing city policy to ensure it’s fair and equitable or provide referrals to agencies for alleged discrimination complaints. Among other things, the panel – made up of DeKalb residents appointed by the mayor – is meant to “foster a community that respects and supports the diversity and dignity of all people and promotes building strong relationships between its diverse citizens, groups, and organizations,” according to the group’s mission.

The commission does not have any policy-making power but can recommend action to the City Council for further review.

King, also a longtime commission member, said she can’t pinpoint why the mayor didn’t reappoint her to her position.

“I never asked the mayor why,” King said. “I think he has the right to make the decision. I didn’t see it [asking him why] a good use of my time. I don’t know where that conversation would go. I thought it would be more antagonistic than productive. … I respect the office and the powers that come with the office. The mayor didn’t contact me personally. ‘Hey, I’m thinking about not renewing the seat.’ That said, to me, he wasn’t comfortable having that conversation.”

Gilbert said he never chose to ask the mayor about the role either.

“I just accepted it,” Gilbert said. “No reason. I didn’t [ask why]. At the time that I wasn’t reappointed, the mayor wanted new blood. My frustration was that he hadn’t filled the position. It didn’t bother me at the time.”

Franklin could not be reached and did not return multiple requests for comment.

Asked why he didn’t provide notices as to why he wasn’t renewing everyone on the Human Relations Commission, Mayor Cohen Barnes said he thinks communication would’ve been better.

“That’s something we could definitely improve upon and I will going forward,” Barnes said. “There’s just a lot of commissions that we have out there and a lot of different people that are on them. … We could improve upon the process of when someone’s term is coming up, letting them know that their term is coming up and that there’ll be a decision made, a certain period of time whether they’re going to reappointed or not. We could improve upon that, for sure.”

Barnes said that he would like to see some new faces on the Human Relations Commission, however.

“It’d be good to have new people on,” Barnes said. “Norden Gilbert has been on there for 31 years. That’s a long time. … Ultimately, all the nonprofit boards that I’ve been part of usually there’s term limits across the board. Now occasionally you make exceptions depending on availability of recruits or someone brings something specific to the table that you may keep someone around longer, but ultimately, term limits are a good thing because you do want to have a fresh perspective. You want to have and you want to give people the opportunity to serve.”

King said she did “get an indication” that the mayor was looking to bring some new people onto the commission at the end of her term.

“I don’t agree with the mayor a lot,” King said. “What I’ll say is that others may have said if your term is coming up, ‘Are you interested in continuing?’ That is not what this mayor said. This mayor has been, in my view, I think, trying to minimize or alter the Human Relations Commission for some time. Terms coming to an end, seems like an opportune moment in my view.”

Gilbert said he’s concerned for the state of the Human Relations Commission.

“I’ve been very frustrated by the very few meetings we had in 2023 and now since we weren’t reappointed, the lack of a quorum,” Gilbert said. “There’s only, I think, three [members] on the commission.”

King shared that sentiment.

“It’s a concern of mine because I think that we do and have done some great work,” she said.

According to city records, the Human Relations Commission met seven times in 2022, three times in 2023 and has not met yet in 2024. The Commission is listed as meeting every other month, according to the city website, which also states it should have seven members. Three are listed.

Andre Powell, chairman of the DeKalb Human Relations Commission who also serves on the DeKalb school board, said he thinks it’s unfair to residents that the Commission has been unable to establish a quorum in order to meet.

“I believe that every meeting missed is a potential conversation missed,” Powell said.

Gilbert said he hopes the mayor lines up people who would make good picks for the commission going forward.

“He has said he is going to, in consultation with the aldermen, he’s going to come up with some names and appoint people to the commission,” Gilbert said. “I would hope that that will be enough to keep the Commission strong and active. [Commission member] Joe Gastiger is still on the commission and he was also a strong advocate for racial justice and other kind of things that we looked at. I’m sure he’ll be effective. I would hope that the mayor would appoint other advocates.”

Barnes said he anticipates bringing forward to the City Council for consideration some candidates who are interested in serving on the Human Relations Commission once the vacancy in the city’s 5th Ward aldermanic seat is filled. The City Council seat has been vacant since Scott McAdams resigned a month ago.

It won’t be long before a decision is made, Barnes said, though added he is not holding himself to a specific timeline.

“It’s just you want to find the right people and the council has been more and more vocal about getting the right people in on the commissions,” Barnes said. “When I have to go out and recruit people that takes time because you want to set up a meeting and actually sit and talk with them. You want to work through your list. It just takes some time to do that, but I’d love to do it as soon as possible.”