Orange County NC Website
47 <br /> 1 Slide #11 <br /> I a oil a lot l ► 1 <br /> r <br /> Please • <br /> and support! <br /> ,I . <br /> Wh"W Ouilaq,Room 730,30a W Tryon St,I rough,INC <br /> www.oran9emmtync ovlBIadNhtwY m <br /> 2 <br /> 3 b. Questions and Discussion <br /> 4 <br /> 5 Commissioner Richards asked what each committee listed on Slide #5 will work on. <br /> 6 Dr. Fairbanks said these are internal committees that will work to streamline equity efforts <br /> 7 happening across county departments. <br /> 8 Commissioner Hamilton asked for information on the number of discrimination complaints <br /> 9 the county receives and how long the cases take to resolve. <br /> 10 Dr. Fairbanks said she would send that information to the Board. <br /> 11 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if the Inclusion Manager handles types of <br /> 12 discrimination cases other than housing. <br /> 13 Dr. Fairbanks said yes. <br /> 14 Commissioner Fowler said she agrees with Commissioner Hamilton that it would be good <br /> 15 to have some statistics about the types of complaints the department sees. <br /> 16 Chair Bedford said she thinks with all of the turnover in the organization and the pandemic, <br /> 17 the community may not be aware of the services offered, so she hopes that will improve with the <br /> 18 more events they have and with the help of the Community Relations Department. <br /> 19 Dr. Fairbanks said she agrees it is very important to engage the community, as well as <br /> 20 addressing internal departmental needs. <br /> 21 Chair Bedford asked if she would be part of the strategic planning group. <br /> 22 Dr. Fairbanks said yes. <br /> 23 Bonnie Hammersley said she would also like to provide some department history. She <br /> 24 said the Human Rights and Relations department was independent when it was first created, then <br /> 25 became part of the Housing Department, and she made the decision to make it independent again <br /> 26 in 2018. She said a lot of people access the department and noted that the Human Relations <br /> 27 Commission is really the external part of the department and have a lot of community events. She <br /> 28 said during the pandemic, the department housed the Eviction Diversion Program under Annette <br /> 29 Moore's leadership. She said that program has since been moved to Housing. She clarified that <br /> 30 housing discrimination has always been investigated by this department. She said the department <br />