Mayor’s human rights commission charge examined by Springfield City Council

Springfield City Council is considering a change to the mission of the now-toothless Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights.

At its July 20 workshop meeting, council heard a report on the proposed changes to the commission, established in 1960, from Assistant City Attorney Joy Latimer. What is proposed is removing the commission’s obligation to investigate claims of discrimination.

In her presentation, Latimer explained a 1990 decision by the Missouri Supreme Court that found the Springfield Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights did not have the authority to issue orders regarding discrimination.

The case, Yellow Freight Systems Inc. v. Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights, centered on a commission finding that an employee of Yellow Freight had been discriminated against. The commission ordered Yellow Freight to rehire the employee and to provide back pay. Yellow Freight sued, Latimer said, and the Missouri Supreme Court issued its ruling.

Following the court decision, city code was modified to remove the commission’s ability to issue orders, Latimer said, but the code retained language requiring the commission to investigate discrimination complaints. Now, if a complaint is found to be valid, the commission is required to try to mediate an agreement between the two parties, Latimer said.

“Prior to this case being decided, they had the ability to issue orders,” Latimer said, calling it a quasijudicial commission.

The commission continues to receive discrimination complaints to this day, Latimer said, and its charge to mediate remains in effect.

“Despite the commission being required to investigate these complaints, there was absolutely nothing requiring the company or individual being accused of discrimination from even participating or even acknowledging that there had been a complaint filed,” she said. “It’s been a frustrating process.”

She said many complainants drop complaints upon learning that the details of their complaint would be subject to the Sunshine Law, making them available to the public.

“Very few investigations resulted in any sort of conclusion,” Latimer said. “There have been times that when a complaint is found to be valid the commission has referred it the state commission on human rights, which does have the ability to issue orders.”

She said the commission is in a half-in, half-out state, with the requirement to mediate but without the ability to force either party to participate.

Latimer offered some history of the commission, which dates back to a Sept. 21, 1960, visit to Springfield by Richard Nixon, then a candidate for U.S. president against John F. Kennedy. Two members of Nixon’s press corps were Black, Latimer said, but the segregated Kentwood Arms Hotel – now Missouri State University’s Kentwood Hall – would have to make an exception its policy against allowing Black guests in order to accommodate the candidate’s entourage.

The Springfield chapter of the NAACP made plans to picket the hotel, Latimer said, but the day before the scheduled visit, Kentwood Arms announced an end to its segregation policy – as did the Heer’s department store on the downtown square.

The change was likely in response to a capacity crowd attending a Springfield City Council meeting on Sept. 19, 1960, to support establishment of a Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights and Community Relations.

The change being proposed for the commission returns it to its origins, Latimer said, with a focus on macro, or community-wide, needs, rather than on micro, or individual, incidents. She said the original function of the commission was to address the community-wide problem of segregation.

Latimer said the proposal is for the commission to serve three purposes: to provide community education, to complete special projects as assigned by the mayor and to make recommendations to aid in the elimination of discrimination via the mayor. Latimer said the commission could conduct surveys, collect data, compile reports and work with partner agencies on discrimination issues.

Councilmember Craig Hosmer said council should also be able to offer direction to the commission. Latimer said she is still working on that.

Councilmember Brandon Jenson pointed to a problem with relying on a state commission to handle local discrimination complaints but not learning results of its actions.

Councilmember Monica Horton pointed out that there are no civil rights attorneys in Springfield to her knowledge, and that specialty is required to do the job properly. In order for the commission’s work to make sense, she said, that is the kind of expertise that is required.

Councilmember Heather Hardinger, a former chair of the commission, said in the past, the body asked as many legal authorities as it could find locally. She said the commission was looking for people who were willing to mediate civil rights cases, but that expertise does not seem to exist in the community.

Hardinger said the commission is made up of citizens that wanted to help, but collecting data was the most powerful thing they could do given the resources they had.

No action was taken during the council workshop, a setting reserved for education and study.