Allen County Human Relations Commission

Help Allen County Get a
Human Relations Commission

Updated 8/10/20

A Human Relations Commission will promote respect and equal opportunity for all within Lima and Allen County. It’s an essential part of making Allen County a thriving community.

Here’s the short explanation: The City of Lima has proposed a multi-jurisdictional Human Relations Commission (HRC) to promote mutual respect and understanding and to safeguard equal opportunity for all within Lima and Allen County. The HRC will investigate and hear complaints regarding discrimination, make recommendations on how to resolve such complaints, and initiate activities in keeping with its mission. The work of the HRC will be focused around fact finding, staff training, information sharing, community education, mediation, cultural literacy, hate crime response, and conflict management. (More details farther down on this page.)

Getting the Human Relations Commission established will require support from elected officials across Allen County, especially the Allen County Commissioners.

You can help. Please contact your local elected officials, especially the Allen County Commissioners, and ask them to support a Human Relations Commission in Allen County.

And, write letters to your local newspaper telling others to support the Human Relations Commission.

This page has:

  • Contact info for the Allen County Commissioners and other elected officials
  • Contact info for local papers
  • Information on the Human Relations Commission that you can use in your call or letter.

Act now. Together, we can make Allen County a better place for people of every race, color, creed, religion, sex, domestic relationship status, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, age, and physical disability.

With any questions, contact AHEAD: ahead.oh@gmail.com.

Contact Information for Commissioners and Elected Officials

New: If you’re writing to local decision makers: ask each legislative body (Town Council, Township Trustees) to formally vote on whether to join the Human Relations Commission. A town like Bluffton or even a township could vote to join the Human Relations Commission even if Allen County as a whole doesn’t. These local votes would also put more pressure on the Allen County Commissioners to act. A draft letter/ talking points are at the bottom of this page. 

Allen County Commissioners:

Call them at: (419)228-3700 x8725. Also call that number to be put on the agenda for a meeting (Tuesdays at 9 a.m.).

On June 19, the Commissioners said that they weren’t interested in the Human Relations Commission (details here ). They need to hear that it’s important.

City and Village Leaders:

Note that Lima City Council and Mayor Dave Berger support this effort (details here), so let’s focus on the other towns.

Contact Mayors and Councils in the towns below. Email and calls are great. You can also attend council meetings virtually and present on the issue. (If you contact someone, please tell AHEAD – ahead.oh@gmail.com.)

Township Trustees:

A list of townships within Allen County is here. However, this PDF  is most up-to-date, and has email addresses for township trustees, as well as phone numbers.

A map is below. (If you’re writing to a township, please tell AHEAD- ahead.oh@gmail.com.)pics

Contact Information for Letters to the Editor

Here are submission links for local newspapers:

Here are two great letters as models, from Beth Sutton-Ramspeck and Carol Gibson: 

Letter: Commisioners dropped the ball

Letter: Commissioners should reconsider this decision

Background on the Human Relations Commission

Summary: The City of Lima has proposed a multijurisdictional Human Relations Commission (HRC) to promote mutual respect and understanding and to safeguard equal opportunity for all within Lima and Allen County. The HRC will investigate and hear complaints regarding discrimination, make recommendations on how to resolve such complaints, and initiate activities in keeping with its mission. The work of the HRC will be focused around fact finding, staff training, information sharing, community education, mediation, cultural humility, hate crime response, and conflict management.

Why Multi-jurisdictional? The diversity of the Lima/Allen County community reflects a community of people from different races, cultures, faiths, experiences, traditions, lifestyles, and domestic and social relationships. When these differences become a source of conflict, the active support of local government to set up places and programs to help people develop a better understanding of each other to resolve disputes, and to provide an avenue of redress for conflicts based on discrimination and denial of equal rights is required. There is a local precedent for a multi-jurisdictional commission, as records show that the Allen County Commissioners joined the Lima Human Relations Council previously as “On March 16, 1967, the Allen County Commissioners approved extending the scope of the commission countywide.” https://www.limaohio.com/features/lifestyle/343543/human-relations-commission

Statutory Purpose: Recognizing the need for a permanent body on human relations, the HRC will serve as a “vehicle for addressing illegal discrimination in public accommodations, private employment, and housing within its jurisdictional boundaries.” The prohibited forms of discrimination involve race, color, creed, religion, sex, domestic relationship status, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, age, and physical disability.

Citizens interested in joining the Commission and/or advocating on behalf of its implementation are encouraged to speak with their local legislative body and write letters to local media outlets expressing support.

Additional benefits:

  • A major goal of all these governmental bodies is to bring employers into the area. An area that is committed to eradicating discrimination will sound attractive to employers from outside the area, especially in the current political climate. Him
  • There has been a great deal of worry expressed recently about young people leaving the area after they graduate. Young people want to see inclusive policies. Supporting the HRC is a good way to communicate that leaders in the area are committed to a forward-looking Allen County.

New: Note for Decisionmakers

Feel free to adapt!

Dear [Village Council Member name],
I am writing to see if Council would e willing to vote on a resolution supporting the formation of an Allen County Human Resources Commission. Here’s a brief explanation of the proposal:

The City of Lima has proposed a multi-jurisdictional Human Relations Commission (HRC) to promote mutual respect and understanding and to safeguard equal opportunity for all within Lima and Allen County. The HRC will investigate and hear complaints regarding discrimination, make recommendations on how to resolve such complaints, and initiate activities in keeping with its mission. The work of the HRC will be focused around fact finding, staff training, information sharing, community education, mediation, cultural literacy, hate crime response, and conflict management. 

A Human Relations Commission will promote respect and equal opportunity for all within Lima and Allen County. It’s an essential part of making Allen County a thriving community.

I think voting “yes” on a resolution to support a Human Relations Commission would help our Village. It would send a clear signal to new businesses and residents that we are a community committed to protecting all of its citizens and connected to our larger region.

Fundamentally, our ask is for Council to

1) Agree that a countywide HRC is needed 

2) Agree to stay at the table until one is formed 

3) Agree to support a county-wide HRC by sending a representative and sharing expenses (if a cost is determined), and proactively working to sustain a culture against oppression across Allen County. 

Let me know if you would be willing to schedule a short discussion on this at a Council meeting!

Thank you!