Fresno Mayor wants to Cut Funding for the Human Relations Commission

Fresno Mayor wants to Cut Funding for the Human Relations Commission
By Mike Rhodes
June 16, 2004

Fresno mayor Alan Autry has proposed a huge cut in funding for the 2004-05 Human Relations Commission (HRC) budget. Autry’s proposed budget of $35,000 is a $158,000 reduction in funding for the agency that works to support cultural diversity and conducts mediation between the community and government agencies. The HRC also sponsors the annual Martin Luther King Day celebrations throughout the community.

Conservative elements in Fresno city government have been targeting the HRC for a while. Trouble started in March of last year when city council member Jerry Duncan removed his appointee from the commission. HRC member Su Kapoor was removed for supporting peace in Iraq. Duncan and other city council members argued that the HRC had "lost its way" and suggested that dramatic changes would be needed if the agency was to continue.

Shortly after community pressure forced Dr. Kapoor to be re-appointed to the HRC another attack was launched on the agency. This time, city council members Jerry Duncan and Brian Calhoun tried to reduce funding and have the HRC moved to the Parks and Recreation department. "The message is very clear," said Richard Stone, from the Fresno Center for Nonviolence. Transferring the HRC out of City Hall and putting it in parks and recreation, gives it "inferior status and downgrades the services it gives." Other speakers told the council of how the HRC has benefitted the community and demanded that full funding be maintained.

Following the public meeting about the HRC budget it was discovered that Duncan had written: "If I had one dirty bomb ... I could eliminate all the liberals in Fresno at once." He wrote that while the city council chambers were filled with HRC supporters. Many in the community interpreted this message as a terrorist threat and demanded his resignation. The Duncan email was one of a series of emails that were released in an investigation that was ironically initiated by Duncan himself. An email to Council member Brian Calhoun by his aide Ann Klose said if "HRC folks bring down a crowd and get unruly," she would call police "to send over some officers to 'Cap' these guys." Calhoun wrote that another Council member, "Tom [Boyajian] hasn't taken his meds."

In September of last year the Fresno based Free Republic announced they were going to hold a rally and picnic in Fresno. The announcement of the events were posted on Indymedia. Within days there were numerous threats posted to the site suggesting that violence would take place if the Free Republic rally was held. The HRC chairperson, Debbie Reyes, sent a press release to the media warning the public to avoid the location of the rally. Reyes identified the Free Republic as a hate group.

The Free Republic rally drew about 5 - 10 flag waving patriots. There was no violence. But, as a result of the HRC press release, they ended up filing a lawsuit against the City of Fresno saying their organization had been wrongly labeled a hate group. The case never went to court and the city council cheerfully handed the freepers $60,000. There are people who have asked why Duncan, who has been photographed at Free Republic rallies, was allowed to participate in the vote that gave away taxpayers money to a group he supports.

The issue of funding the HRC is now before the city council. If the mayor’s proposal prevails, it will be the end of the HRC in this community. The mayor has cleverly promoted one of the progressive communities favorite programs - the establishment of an independent police auditor as being the beneficiary of the HRC’s demise. The mayor is not proposing that the money for an independent police auditor come from the police department. According to Fresno city hall insiders, the mayor has proposed that IPA funding will come from the savings found from slashing the HRC budget.

Want to communicate with your elected officials about this issue? To get in touch with the Fresno city council or mayor, click here. To find out more about the effort to get an independent police auditor in Fresno, click here. If you want to receive alerts about how to support the HRC, join the Community Alliance Peace and Social Justice calendar by sending an email to AllianceEditor@Comcast.net saying you want to receive the calendar.