Hopkinsville’s Human Rights Commission has a new executive director and new challenges for the small agency that stem from funding cuts, reduced technical support from city government and, potentially, a smaller office space at the Hopkinsville Municipal Center.
Raychel Farmer — who was promoted to executive director shortly before HRC’s 60th anniversary gala on July 15 and just after the abrupt departure of former executive director Idalia Luna — outlined several issues Tuesday afternoon in her first board meeting as the agency head.
“The first 25 days have been a lot,” said Farmer, who was the assistant to Luna prior to her promotion.
Discontinuation of city services
In her report to the board, Farmer said the city will no longer provide IT services to HRC, including phone, internet, email and space on a computer server. Mayor James R. Knight Jr.’s office indicated there was a liability issue for the city to provide this support, she said.
At the board’s June meeting, City Administrator Troy Body said that open records requests for HRC records required the city clerk’s office to spend hours pulling electronic records that were on the city’s servers.
Farmer told the board that she is exploring IT services through a company called Copperband Technologies that Community and Development Services uses in its offices at city hall.
Reduction of space, funding
In another shift, HRC is moving this week from two offices on the second floor of the Hopkinsville Municipal Center to a single office on the first floor. Body said at last month’s meeting that the city needs the second floor offices for finance employees.
Farmer said she has requested a second office for an assistant but has not received a response to her request. HRC will be advertising the open position by early August, she said.
The agency is working with a reduced budget for 2023-24 after Christian Fiscal Court eliminated HRC funding entirely, a cut of approximately $22,000. The bulk of HRC’s funding is an $80,000 city allocation, which is a 5% reduction from 2022-23.
Sponsorships will be key, director says
Farmer said sponsorships will be key to the agency maintaining events such as the Unity Breakfast, an annual observance where HRC presents awards to individuals and groups. In recent years, attendance has been around 600.
Farmer said planning for this year’s Unity Breakfast — slated for Thursday, Oct. 26 — is starting a few months behind schedule because of uncertainty about funding. She said it hasn’t been determined if the event will be large enough to have it at The Bruce Convention Center.
Looking forward
Despite those challenges, HRC is moving ahead with several other efforts.
The Eighth of August emancipation celebration is slated for 1 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6, at the Pennyroyal Area Museum.
And HRC is sponsoring a community forum on landlord and tenant laws at 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 14, at Grace Episcopal Church.
Board chairman Nikki Chambers began Tuesday’s meeting by stating HRC’s mission and purpose:
Mission: Promoting unity, understanding, accountability, and equal opportunity among all people. Protecting human and civil rights while providing services centered on the values of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
Purpose: The Commission endeavors to promote and secure mutual understanding and respect among all economic, social, religious, ethnic, racial, gender, and age groups; to act as conciliator in controversies involving intergroup and interracial relations; and to improve the future of our youth. The Commission shall cooperate with federal, state, and local agencies to develop harmonious relationships. The Commission will also enlist the support of community leaders, civic, religious, labor, industrial, and commercial groups dedicated to the improvement of such relations and elimination of discriminatory practices.
Chambers said she wants to start this new fiscal year with everyone on the HRC board “acting as one unit to support the mission and the new director.”
In other business, the board accepted an audit report from York, Neil and Associates. The city’s chief financial officer, Melissa Clayton, told the board that “everything came back clean,” according to the audit.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
