Established in 2009, the county commission often overlaps with a city commission doing similar work. Coordination has been limited.
by Punya Bhasin
William Price heads the Allegheny County commission charged with investigating discrimination. With all of the turmoil in recent months — including the rise of protests for racial justice and concerns about targeted evictions — he finds something surprising: The county Human Relations Commission handled only 11 cases in 2020 and just one through March of this year.
The six members of the all-volunteer Allegheny County Human Relations Commission have backgrounds ranging from the legal field to the nonprofit sector. Price said the group feels as though they are not using their powers to the fullest potential, a concern reflected by the low case count. In contrast, the City of Pittsburgh Human Relations Commission has seen large numbers of cases during the past couple of years but declined to detail how many.
Allegheny County Council established the county commission in 2009 to handle cases regarding discrimination against race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability. Price said overlapping jurisdiction with the 66-year-old city commission with the same mission has led to inefficiencies and hindered the ability of the county to help constituents. He also said the county commission lacks a certain level of known establishment and connections within the community, which the city commission already has.
William Price, chair of Allegheny County’s Human Relations Commission. (Courtesy photo)
But he wants residents to know what the county commission can do for them.
“My specific plans and goals are to significantly increase community awareness and make it a much more well-known body,” Price said. “So my goal is to just generally increase visibility as to who we are, what we are, why we exist, and how we do things. So if I can accomplish that over the next year, that would be a big victory for the commission and for the community, in my opinion.”
One issue at hand is that the county commission has concurrent jurisdiction with the city’s human relations commission. If an individual has an issue within the city limits, a complaint can be filed with either or both the city and county commissions. However, if there is an issue outside of city limits, a complaint can only be filed with the county commission.
Jam Hammond, the executive director of the City of Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations since January, said he could see lots of potential collaborations between the two commissions, especially in areas where the commissions have joint jurisdiction.
(Photo via Adobe Stock)
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