Jamestown Human Rights Commission meeting (May 10, 2023)

The Jamestown Human Rights Commission will begin work on creating policies and procedures for handling complaints.

Commission Member Isaiah Rashad said his understanding is that complaints would first go to HRC Chair Uvie Stewart and then to the City’s Liaison Police Captain Scott Forester, “What I’m proposing is to create from scratch a Policy and Procedures form of how we are to conduct our investigation, and where that information goes step-by-step, so that we are uniform, and that we look professional in everything that we’re doing to the public.”

Rashad also recommended that members of the HRC begin attending various public meetings again, “There’s a lot that we don’t know, especially as a small group. There’s a lot that we do not know. We only hear things as people bring it to us. But, if we’re out there, if we’re putting ourselves out there and we’re going to these meetings, we’ll understand a lot more about what’s ebbing and flowing throughout the city. And it’s important for us because when there’s chaos, that’s when people need us. And we need to make sure we’re prepared.”

Rashad was given the approval to move ahead with developing the polices and procedures form for complaints. The group also agreed they need to assign members to attend various public meetings including City Council, Jamestown School Board, the IDEA Coalition, and more.

The group also discussed holding fundraisers to raise money for the commission to supplement what is received in the City Budget. However, according to the State Office of the Comptroller, municipalities may not solicit monetary or material gifts nor conduct fundraising activities. The commission was allocated $6,000 in the 2023 city budget.