Members of the Kalamazoo Civil Rights Board used their June 3 meeting to push for concrete progress on proposed changes to the city’s non-discrimination ordinance, and two board members directed pointed public statements at city administration, describing years of unresolved effort and a pattern of housing discrimination complaints bypassing the city entirely.
Ordinance Changes on the Horizon
The Ordinance Review Subcommittee told the full board it has identified specific areas in Chapter 18 and Chapter 18A, the city’s non-discrimination code, where changes or edits can be made. The subcommittee said it expects to bring draft language in formal code format to the full board before the next meeting. If the board approves the proposed language, it would move to the City Commission for a vote or further review.
Chairperson Phason described an ongoing challenge with the ordinance as it currently stands: the board has been told what it cannot do, but has not been told what it can do. Phason said the subcommittee is working to identify how to make the ordinance more enforceable and to clarify the board’s role in the complaint process.
One concrete goal the subcommittee identified: establishing a standardized procedure within the code that would give the Civil Rights Board an advisory role when valid complaints are filed, including the ability to weigh in if a complaint is referred elsewhere.
Housing Complaints Not Coming Through the City
A data point from the Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan added urgency to the discussion. Member DeBoer reported that after reaching out to the Fair Housing Center, data showed approximately 63 housing discrimination complaints were filed from January 1 through April 3, broken down only to the zip code level. None of those complaints came through the city.
Chairperson Phason said the pattern was telling. “Complaints are going in, they’re just not coming in through the city,” she said, adding that some of the complaints on the Fair Housing Center’s list appeared to be ones that should have come through the city.
The board said it is in an information-gathering stage, working with partner organizations to better understand how to route appropriate complaints to the city and to build the trust that would make that routing more likely.
“We Have All That We Need”
Commissioner Hoffman addressed the board and the public record directly. “We’ve been at this for some years now and we’ve checked so many boxes and yet we still end up at the same place,” she said. “When are we gonna get to a place where we can begin to do actual work and make these revisions permanent?”
Hoffman said she found it discouraging that community members appear more comfortable filing complaints with the Fair Housing Center than with the city despite the city having a protective ordinance. She said the subcommittees are doing important work, but the board needs to move from research to action. “We don’t need any more meetings, we don’t need any more data. We have all that we need. We need to put our feet to the ground and do what needs to be done and just get it together and present it to the city commission.”
She was explicit about where she believes the barrier lies. “My attitude towards this is not towards this board. What I’m speaking to, and I wanna do it publicly, is to city administration. That is where everything lies.” She called on the community to stand with the board and “push us to do what’s right, not to do what’s legal. ‘Cause everything legal is not equity.”
Chairperson Phason echoed the sentiment. “We can do all the work, we can do all the research, we can do all the gathering, we can do all the meetings. And yet there’s still a barrier.” She said the board has people ready to do the work and that those ready to move forward would keep going — “the way I always said is either people can roll with us or you can get rolled over.”
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director Tanya Hewitt-Smith acknowledged the administration context: “I will say this as we continue to have this conversation….accountability is held on each side.” She said the administration has tried to respond, though perhaps not with the answers the board has been seeking, and affirmed her own willingness to serve as a catalyst between the board and senior leadership.
