Fort Worth diversity committees may be reorganized under Human Relations Commission

In an effort to streamline the work of two city committees that focus on diversity, accessibility and inclusion issues and programs, the city manager’s office has laid out plan to consolidate those groups under the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission.

Under the plan being considered by the City Council, the 15-member Mayor’s Committee on Persons with Disabilities, formed by resolution in 1981, and the 15-member Diversity Advisory Committee, formed by the City Manager’s office in 2003, will be dissolved, but reorganized as standing committees under the Human Relations Commission.

Each committee will be reduced to nine members, said Angela Rush, Human Relations administrator.

Rush said realigning the groups as committees under the Human Relations Commission will reduce duplication, improve efficiencies and provide better public service.

“There’s a lot of duplication of effort,” Rush said. “We’re working on the same issues, but we’re all over the place. I can assure you, the work will get done and in a bigger and more organized way. We won’t be stepping over each other.”

The Mayor’s Committee on Persons with Disabilities has been reorganized twice in the last 12 years, according to a city report. It includes volunteers and representatives from local social service agencies that serve people with disabilities. The committee promotes access for people with disabilities in employment, housing design and accessibility within the community and city government.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, coordinator of the city’s Human Resources Department staffs the committee.

The Diversity Advisory Committee is comprised of city employees who discuss such issues as LGBT issues, generational differences, and religion and bullying in the workplace.

The Fort Worth Human Relations Commission, formed by ordinance in 1967, has 11 members who advise and consult on issues with the City Council and city manager. Rush serves as a liaison to the Human Relations Commission, but also oversees 14 employees who comprise the Human Relations Unit, whose staff carries out the policy directives of the Human Relations Commission, such as investigating discrimination complaints and providing community education, among other things.

Rush said the work of the Mayor’s Committee on People with Disabilities, the Diversity Advisory Committee and the ADA coordinator are also being addressed by the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission and the Human Relations Unit.

Under the proposed changes, some current members of the Mayor’s Committee and the Diversity Advisory Committee, to be renamed the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, would stay on board. The ADA coordinator will begin reporting to the Human Relations administrator by July.

The City Council is being briefed on the reorganization Tuesday, but will vote later this month to formalize the changes.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Fort Worth diversity committees may be reorganized under Human Relations Commission."