Appropriating $15,182.00 Equal Employment Opportunity Fund

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CITY of SOUTH BEND PETER J. NEMETH, Mayor COUNTY -CITY BUILDING SOUTH BEND, INDIANA 46601 DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM Carl Ellison Director Jon R. Hunt Deputy Director Members of Common Council County -City Building South Bend, IN 46601 Dear Council Members: HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Virginia Chism Executive Director 12th fir. County -City Bldg. Phone - (219) 2849355 September 18, 1978 On August 16, 1978, the South Bend Human Rights Commission caucused with the Common Council to discuss the Commission's budget for 1979. There were no questions asked with regard to the proposed budget. On August 28, 1978, at the 1979 budget hearings, the Council an- nounced certain amendments to the Commission's 1979 budget that it reviewed on August 16, 1978. One of the amendments included the elimination of an investigator's position from the Commission staff for 1979. There is much concern by the Commission regarding this procedure used in cutting the position in question. Particularly objection- able was the fact that the elimination of the investigator position was not previously discussed at the caucus session. Secondly, it was subsequently learned that the decision was predicated upon one Council member's recommendation, and that this Council member's recommendation was, in turn, founded upon totally inaccurate in- formation. In light of the City of South Bend's past commitments to human rights it is strongly felt that the decision to cut an investigator's position would seriously curtail the Commission's capacity to en- force the City's Human Rights Ordinance, giving equal opportunities to all citizens. The attached budget represents a method that has been devised to retain the eliminated investigator's position. The funds for the position will come from the $22,500 received in 1977.