Luis Moscoso
Jackie Minchew
Over the past several months, DFSC board members, Luis Moscoso and Jackie Minchew have been working with several other community leaders (with input from the Washington State Human Rights Commission) to develop language for the Snohomish County Council that would lead to an ordinance establishing a county-wide Human Rights Commission. Yesterday the fruits of their labor were presented to the County Council for their review. Their story appeared in the Everett Herald this morning.
Published: Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Snohomish County human rights agency sought
An advocacy group wants the county to create a new commission to protect minority rights
By Jeff Switzer
Herald Writer
"EVERETT -- Bias and bigotry in hiring and housing continues to be a problem for immigrants, minorities and disabled people in Snohomish County.
About 100 complaints citing their unequal treatment reach the state every year.
"We've had 600 complaints in five years that we didn't even know about," said Luis Moscoso, a minority rights advocate with Snohomish County Citizens for Human Rights. "We need to reach out and educate people on human rights issues."
Moscoso and others from the group on Monday asked the County Council to create a local, independent human rights commission with the power to settle disputes and investigate discrimination complaints everywhere in the county.
A grass-roots group spent 10 months writing a proposed county ordinance to create the commission. They used the state Human Rights Commission as their model." The rest of the article may be found here
Council Chair, Dave Somers has said that the council will look at the language of the proposal but did not set any deadlines for action. If the ordinance were to be enacted it would represent the first regional Human Rights Commission in the state.
We look forward to updates on this story from Jackie and Luis at future DFSC meetings.
Peace,
Chad Shue
Chair, Democracy for Snohomish County
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