Bellevue’s Human Rights Commission has yet to receive a formal complaint since its inception, but members wonder if that is due to a lack of awareness, and they’re taking steps to address this.
Whayne Herriford, chair of the commission, addressed the city council with an update at its July 9 city council meeting.
The commission was created in 2019 after the city passed a Fairness Ordinance prohibiting discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
At the time, the city became the 15th city in the state to provide such protections. Since then, 24 municipalities have passed the ordinance, including several in Northern Kentucky, Herriford said.
Before the ordinances were in place, state protections did cover age, color, disability, familial status, national origin, race, religion status and tobacco status. The new ordinance expanded coverage to protect more Kentuckians. Religious organizations, as well as family-owned and/or managed businesses or housing, were exempted.
“We were intended to establish, promote and protect basic human rights as well as to intervene should an issue come up,” said Herriford. “Complaints that are based on things other than sexual orientation or gender identity go to the state, so we would only deal with those issues that are associated with that. We have had contact and interaction with the people on the state commission on occasion.”
At the time of the meeting, Herriford said that no complaints had been filed. However, he said that the commission was not sure if that was because there were no incidents or because people weren’t aware of the ordinance.
Meet the commissioners
Herriford then shared some of his background. He had been a human resources executive for a long time and moved to the region from Los Angeles. Since then, he has changed careers and is now a practicing mental health professional. He has offices in Newport and Covington. He owns a home in Bellevue.
Council then heard from Bellevue resident Danielle McDonald.
“I’ve lived in Bellevue since 2010 with my family, my husband and my two kids,” McDonald said. “I also work at Northern Kentucky University. I’m a professor there, and also work in the administration. And so one of the things I would like to do is leverage the resources of the university to bring that to the town.”
She said she sat down with the former Bellevue police chief and reviewed various policies and other related matters.
“What we really are trying to do is get the word out that we’re here,” she added.
She then introduced commission member Christine Mayhew to talk about next steps.
Mayhew has been a resident of Bellevue since 2004, she said, and is an attorney with a practice in Newport alongside her father. She lives with her husband Kirk, three cats and a dog, she added.
“We haven’t had any complaints so far, because, as you all know, Bellevue is a great community,” Mayhew said. “There’s a wonderful fellowship in Bellevue. Other than the occasional arguments on Facebook, there hasn’t been anything too serious going on. But we do have a process by which people can file a complaint. We’d just like to let our neighbors know about that.”
She noted the commission would like to be more visible in the community and would like to create a full website. In the meantime, she said, they have reached out to City Administrator Frank Warnock.
The city now includes a page for the commission on the city website under Bellevue Boards and Commissions. The page includes a link to a brochure outlining the ordinance, how to file a complaint and related information.
Council and commissioners discussed ideas to share more information, including leaving materials at the library and coffee shops, and speaking with area businesses and community groups. The commission’s brochure will be updated to include a QR code to their website once it is created.
“[The commission] is meeting on a semi-regular basis, and they’ve been doing a great job,” said Mayor Charlie Cleves. “Some other cities have a police force that causes some of the problems like that. We are so lucky that we have the police and fire department that don’t go around causing problems.”
“I appreciate what you all do,” Warnock added. “You are volunteers not getting paid to be here. You are doing good work, so I really appreciate it.”