BROOKINGS Oftentimes, when a government entity seeks a change to its mandate, its to increase its influence. That, however, wasnt the case with the Brookings Human Rights Commission at Tuesday nights City Council meeting.
The BHRC currently has the authority to investigate, arbitrate or enforce complaints of discrimination. Those capabilities would go away and be replaced by a new focus to serve as a knowledgeable and accessible resource for community members, according to city documents.
First reading of the proposed changes, formally known as Ordinance 25-022, took place Tuesday night, and generated a bit of history and subsequent discussion. City Council action on it wont take place until the July 22 meeting.
Former BHRC member Lawrence Novotny spoke to the reasons why the BHRC was seeking changes to its powers: Namely, concerns regarding liability, due process and the handling of sensitive information.
The commission is hesitant to advertise the complaint process to the community because we are worried about overpromising something and then underdelivering what supposedly we promised, he noted.
Per city documents, the BHRC lacks the necessary infrastructure such as time, funding, formal training, and confidentiality safeguards to properly investigate, arbitrate, or enforce complaints.
Novotny provided something of history lesson, telling councilors that the Brookings Human Rights Committee was initially established in the 1970s. Its authority at the time centered on investigating discrimination complaints brought by citizens, making determinations regarding those complaints, and then offering recommendations. However, it had no power to enforce those decisions.
With an eye toward further improving the citys Municipal Equality Index score, an initiative of the Human Rights Campaign, Novotny noted that the City Council in 2016 changed the committee into a commission and expanded the BHRCs responsibilities to include the authority to investigate, arbitrate and enforce discrimination complaints.
That power hasnt been used much: Between 2018 and now, Novotny said one complaint was completely processed, costing the city approximately $1,000.
While the full use of the process has been rare, the BHRC has had these responsibility concerns for years. It hasnt been idle about handling them, either, as explained by current commission member Carla Gatzke.
She told councilors that a working group has labored over a roughly three-year period to reimagine a more practical and impactful role for the commission. Multiple parties were contacted including the city attorney, city staff, the Human Rights Division within the South Dakota Department of Labor, the Sioux Falls Human Relations Commission and other regional communities in an effort to advance this new role for the BHRC.
It could pay dividends when the ordinance proposal comes up for a vote on July 22, but before then it also got early support from councilors Brianna Doran and Nick Wendell, along with queries from Councilor Holly Tilton Byrne.
She asked if the proposed change would affect the citys Municipal Equality Index score. Novotny said it might cost the city two points, but that the overall score would likely remain at 100 because the city has scored bonus points in the past, putting its most-recent official score at 104, but the HRC cuts off scores at 100 no matter what.
Tilton Byrne noted that, based on the presentation, the public will still be able to file complaints with the BHRC. In turn, it will track them as a useful data points and, furthermore, advise people on who to contact for possible resolutions, including agencies, organizations or legal channels that are better equipped to handle such concerns.
I think its very important to make sure we still have useful resources so that folks that are experiencing any type of discrimination can go to a trusted resource like the commission to ask for that help, Tilton Byrne said. Im glad to hear that will continue to be a piece of the work done by the commission. Also, I definitely understand that this is a heavy lift, to enforce these kinds of things, and so I appreciate the diligence the group has gone through.
Brookings Marketplace
On a 7-0 vote, councilors approved an amendment to the citys 2025 budget allowing for a $2,250,000 economic development grant to Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies, which is currently developing the Brookings Marketplace land just east of Interstate 29 north of Sixth Street for new tenants, including Target, Aldi and Kwik Star.
The grant was formally approved on Nov. 12, separate from the citys 2025 budget, so this amendment basically makes it an official part of that budget. The funds originate from the citys general fund economic development reserves and will help with infrastructure and retention pond improvements. This is in addition to the benefits also being provided by TIF District No. 13.
City Manager Paul Briseno noted that the citys general fund economic development reserves still contains close to $2 million, and that theyre replenished through, among other things, investments and sales of city-owned land.
In other business at Tuesday nights meeting, councilors:
- Awarded the annual sidewalk maintenance project to Sioux Falls-based Brock Contracting for $52,738.75. The firms bid was approximately 53% lower than the engineers cost estimate of $113,125. The vote was 7-0, and councilors also learned that this is the firms first time working with the city.
- On a 7-0 vote, added a zoning amendment that allows for concrete, asphalt and rock crushing facilities as an allowable conditional use. Setback requirements were included as well in the amendment.
- Agreed to a zoning ordinance amendment, again on a 7-0 vote, that would extend the life of a conditional-use permit from one year to two years.
- Mayor Oepke Ope Niemeyer proclaimed July as Parks and Recreation Month, and offered his accolades to Parks, Recreation and Forestry Director Kristin Zimmerman and her coworkers for everything they do.
The next City Council meeting will be 6 p.m. July 22 at the Brookings City & County Government Center in the third-floor council chambers.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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