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Local News
Johnson Appointed to Human Rights Commission, Quits Stonewall Demos
The Mayor and Salt Lake City Council have begun the process of filling the nine seats of the Human Rights Commission established earlier this year.
Mayor Rocky Anderson forwarded seven names for ratification by the council. Commission members are chosen one from each of the seven city districts and two at-large that “represent the diversity of the community.”
Anderson recommended Orin Howell, District 1; Adrian Comollo, District 3; Jim Teall, District 4; Chris Johnson, District 5; Christina Carver, District 7; Patrick Leary, District 5, and Francisca Blanc, at-large.
Chris Johnson, board member of Equality Utah and Vice Chair of Utah Stonewall Democrats, was approved by the council Oct. 18.
“I consider this a high honor and most serious responsibility to represent the LGBT population in this capacity,” said Johnson in a letter sent a letter to members of the Stonewall Democrats the next morning. “I feel I must resign as Vice-Chair of the Stonewall Democrats. I appreciate the opportunity to serve the LGBT and ally delegates from Utah as a Stonewall board member, but feel my efforts must focus more closely on the Human Rights Commission in upcoming years.”
“The Commission, having just formed, will require a great deal of time to initiate, create policy and protocol for its administration. In addition, the educational outreach aspect of this appointment will require great focus, detail and time,” she continued.
Johnson was elected at the Utah State Democratic Convention last May in a contentious caucus meeting where two political factions seemed to be colliding in the room: the ‘grassroots’ activists vs. the ‘suit and tie’ activists. In an interesting turn of events, each faction won a top seat of the organization: the grassroots Mike Picardi as chair and Johnson as vice chair.
“Chris had great promise for the Stonewall Democrats,” said Picardi. “I’d hoped that she could bring great things to the board and great ideas.”
Also resigning from the Stonewall board is Jan Lovett, former candidate for Utah State Democratic Party Chair. Picardi said that she resigned for family reasons.
Picardi has two names as replacements for the outgoing board members: Katie Thompson, a new business development manager at the Summit Group, and Jonell Evans, artist and mediation specialist at TURN Community Services. He will put these names before the Stonewall board at their next meeting in November.
The city council also approved Blanc, a Romanian immigrant, student and certified nursing assistant for Rocky Mountain Home Care, to the commission. Blanc revealed in her interview with the council that she is a lesbian.
According to city ordinance, the Human Rights Commission was created to make recommendations to the mayor and city council regarding educational resources on issues of discrimination and equal treatment. Commissioners will review complaints of discrimination involving city departments or services to identify possible sources. They will review legislation, policies or other actions by the city designed to further eliminate prejudice and discrimination. They will also review pending legislation, policy changes or other city action that may impact human rights. And lastly, the commission is charged with working in partnership to foster positive inter-group relations through educational programs.
Also confirmed by the city council last week were Orin Howell, human resources specialist at Veterans Health Care System, Adrian Comollo, director of the Italian Center of Utah, and Patrick Leary, chief administrator of the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
In their next meeting, the council will consider Christina Carver, associate accountant at the University of Utah, and Jim Teall, preacher at the First Presbyterian Church.
Mark Alvarez, Salt Lake City Administrator of Minority Affairs, provides staff support for the commission. He said that the group will begin meeting once all nine members have been appointed.
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