Mayor Cooper Reinstates Human Relations Commission Members

Mayor John Cooper will reinstate three members of the Metro Human Relations Commission's executive committee for another term. In June, the mayor planned to appoint 10 new commissioners, and not reappoint any of the six whose terms ended in April. Three of those members — chair Maryam Abolfazli, secretary Ben Tran and treasurer Irwin Venick — were among those who expressed interest in being reappointed but were not. 

The Metro Council was scheduled to consider the nominees at its July 5 meeting; the appointments were deferred. On Friday, Mayor Cooper informed the council that he will reinstate Abolfazli, Tran and Venick.  

The Scene obtained a memo sent from the mayor's office to the Metro Council Friday afternoon that cites District 16 Councilmember and Human Services Committee Chair Ginny Welsch and Vice Mayor Jim Shulman for their help offering resolutions. 

The office explains that the reason the commission had 10 vacancies at once was due to "a decades-old lapse" in staggered vacancies because errors were made in appointment lengths in 1999. In addition, appointments can be terminated and new commissioners appointed when a new mayor takes office, and this was the case in MHRC. 

The memo also notes that the mayor asked members whose lack of attendance "indicated an inability to fully participate" to step down, and they did so willingly. This left vacancies open for Cooper and Shulman to reappoint Abolfazli, Tran and Venick.

The memo states: "Councilmember Welsch, Vice Mayor Shulman, and Mayor Cooper are in agreement that the loss of these members’ institutional knowledge was not ideal." 

Abolfazli had previously expressed dismay about the prior appointments. She offers the Scene the following statement about Friday's news: 

I'm delighted to be able to carry out my second term on the commission along with Commissioners Tran and Venick, who I've worked so closely with as part of the Executive Committee over the last six months. I appreciate the incredible solidarity and support of council members and those in the mayor's office to ensure that the institutional memory isn't lost. We will miss the members that couldn't be reappointed at this time. Look forward to the partnership of everyone involved as we move forward in addressing the equity needs of the city moving forward.

The new appointees are Edubina Arce, Genma Stringer Holmes, Marcus Buggs, Kosar Kosar, Dan Cadenas, Larea Kwakye, Amy Charlton, Charles Traughber, Dakota Galban and Alecia Wynn. The council will consider their names at its July 19 meeting.