Thanks to community foundation from League
To the editor:
The League of Women Voters Brown County would like to thank the Brown County Community Foundation for their continued efforts to recognize volunteers in our community. In a small community such as ours much of the services extended to people are through a pool of caring people who step up week after week to give freely their time and talents.
On June 23, 2022 the Foundation held their annual meeting at which they honor several volunteers and groups that have proved outstanding in their service in the past year. The League of Women Voters Brown County was honored to have the Volunteer of the Year split this year between two of our members Sunny Leerkamp and Laurie Teal. Both of these women are competent, selfless servers. I know because I work with them.
Sunny was chosen from hundreds of applicants to serve on ICRC commission (Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission) and what an honor for Brown County that she was also chosen chairman of that committee. There were umpteen meetings and speeches required which she appeared to handle effortlessly.
Laurie has been a backbone to our organization stepping up to serve in multiple duties. I am especially grateful for her watchful eye on our election officials and the process of our elections not an easy task during COVID. I could go on and on about their talents and character, however you can read a full accounting in the Brown County Democrat issue of June 29, 2020. The other recipients of awards and grants are covered in full detail as well.
And while I’m at it –- a big thanks to all the volunteers in Brown County who serve in multiple capacities every day, they make this county a wonderful place to live.
Pam Raider, secretary, LWVBC
Support for Human Rights Commission
To the editor:
I’m the director of the Bloomington, Indiana Human Rights Commission and an assistant city attorney for Bloomington. I’m writing to express my unequivocal support for the creation of a Nashville Human Rights Commission.
I understand that some opponents have said that they don’t think a NHRC is necessary because they don’t believe Nashville has the types of problems that a local commission could help address. But until you create a local mechanism for people to report problems, and publicize that mechanism, you really don’t know if there are problems.
Currently, as I understand it, a person in Nashville who encounters what he or she perceives to be discrimination doesn’t have a person in town government to share those concerns. He or she has to make that report to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, both of which are large agencies with backlogs. Local government may never know about the problem. A local commission could help you assess the prevalence of these problems in your community and help come up with solutions.
Equally, if not more important, business owners in Nashville who have questions about developments in fair employment or fair housing have no local resources that can answer questions and provide training. I believe most business owners want to do the right thing when it comes to their employees or tenants, but with laws evolving over time, it can be hard to know what the right thing is. A local commission can help business owners stay current with the law.
I’d be glad to answer any questions you might have. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Barbara E. McKinney, director, Bloomington Human Rights Commission/ assistant city attorney
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