Human relations commission on hold in Monessen

By KRISTIE LINDEN

klinden@yourmvi.com

Monessen City Council decided last week to table a vote on an ordinance that would update existing laws regarding discrimination and create a human relations commission.

Council members first discussed the measure at this month’s workshop meeting when Mayor Matt Shorraw said the original city law was written in the 1950s or 1960s and only covers racial issues. He said Pennsylvania and federal law is vague and has “a lot of holes in it.”

The new Monessen ordinance was fashioned after 60 Pennsylvania municipalities that have passed similar laws to close those holes. Erie and Allegheny counties have adopted similar ordinances, along with the City of Pittsburgh and Mt. Lebanon.

The initial ordinance as presented to council the first week of November included the typical version of a human relations commission, which normally carries certain legal burdens. For example, a human relations commission in a bigger city may hear a complaint about discrimination in housing, investigate that complaint and then have to see that complaint through its legal conclusion.

In order for such a commission to work, the city would likely have to fund it, and the members would have to have a background in dealing with such issues.

Shorraw said he wasn’t aware the commission would have such a complex legal structure and was thinking about organizing a more community-based, educationally minded group.

Solicitor Tim Witt said the ordinance could be rewritten to allow for a loosely organized commission, and that version was presented to council for a vote last week.

The ordinance also called for a more expansive view of discrimination.

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