Grant sought for regional human rights office

Grant sought for regional human rights office
By Kari Petrie • kpetrie@stcloudtimes.com • February 9, 2010

money to help create a regional human rights office.
The city is requesting $70,000 of the Community Development Block Grant funding. The money would be used to offset a regional office budget of $110,000. The grant would recur for four years.
Each participating city would pay a portion of the additional $40,000 of the budget based on population. Under the plan the Minnesota Department of Human Rights would provide services on a contractual basis.
A regional office was suggested in 2008, initially with the support of St. Cloud, Waite Park and St. Joseph. The plan was to create a regional human rights office and human rights commission to provide services to area cities that signed on to participate.
Such services include outreach, education, enforcement and mediation.
But when cities started facing tighter budgets with cuts to Local Government Aid, they withdrew support for the office. St. Cloud continued to operate its office despite a vacancy in the director position that resulted from a hiring freeze.
St. Joseph and Waite Park, original supporters of a regional office, have discussed this month at council meetings whether to renew the partnerships to create such an office.