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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,January 22,2024 Page 6 supposedly, a violation of a person's rights has been done by some entity and usually,a group. The Commission did not intend this to sound like the Commission would be involved in legal matters. What he remembers of the discussion is that sometimes it is a very lonely thing for a person to believe they are having human rights problems with an organization, a government, things like that. It was more the feeling that a person like that needed somebody to help guide them through the process and be a communication conduit so the person was in some way supported in the difficulties the person was having. The reason the Commission actually included involving the City was that if the Commission had left that out, it would give the impression that the Commission would get involved in any human rights problem that any citizen had with anybody. The Commission thought that in a role of advising and the ambassadorial role, there was more of a duty to help the communication happen and people understand how to go about doing things. The discussion, if he remembered it right, was that almost all of this legal work gets done by the State Department of Human Rights and is where it should be. There may be a clearer way to word that, but the Commission felt it was part of their mission to help that whole process have good outcomes,particularly as it related to the city. Mayor Roe thought the word `city' should be lower case because when capitalized, it means the city government but what this is saying is the city more broadly but not outside the city limits. Commissioner Francke thought what the Commission envisioned also was that if the Commission is acting as advocates on human rights issues, it is an advocate to the City Council, specifically for resources or anything that the City can do to be of assistance, not because the City is the source. Commissioner Macomber thought it would be rare that someone from the public would come in to one of the meetings, even though they are welcome. But, the Commission does get messages through the inbox for the Human Rights Commission, which also goes to whoever the staff liaison is. The Commission never has or never would try to work through something without engaging City staff. She thought the Commission was a conduit for the information. Vice-Chair Becker thought that is why the wording states "may serve as an advocate", because that is where the Commission comes together and discusses these things because there are multiple voices and perspectives to be heard. She thought it was important that the Commission holds a space for that conversation and dialogue and that the Commission may have to advocate for the individual which the Commission would then present to the City Council as an issue that maybe the City can resolve. She indicated the Council was correct about the wording "involving the City" but it might be that the City might in some way support change. She thought there was probably some language adjustments that still needed to be made.