When Angel Hilley joined Gwinnett County’s Human Relations Commission, she had high hopes for the group.
She joined the board, which has a mission to study race relations in Gwinnett then report to county commissioners, because she wanted to get more involved in the county.
Before, she had participated in Gwinnett’s citizens police and fire academies. But the Human Relation Commission’s canceled meetings and the group’s inability to get a quorum quickly left her disillusioned. She resigned earlier this month.
“It just didn’t feel like we were effective at all,” said Hilley. “The Human Relations Commission could be so much more effective than it is.”
At the November meeting, chairman Dan DeVore said there were five new members on the 13-person board. Two slots are still vacant. DeVore took over in March after the former chairman resigned to take a job with the county, and his successor left for family reasons.
DeVore acknowledged that it had been hard to get people to come. The July and October meetings were canceled in advance. In February, May and August, meetings were not held because not enough members came.
DeVore said he has been trying to encourage less-active members to leave.
The commission’s responsibilities include investigating discriminatory practices in the county, training county employees on equal rights and recommending laws or programs to county commissioners that could promote better human relations. Members are appointed by commissioners for a four-year term. They are supposed to report to the board of commissioners quarterly and to investigate discriminatory practices regarding any agencies, as well as provide a forum for airing community problems and grievances.
DeVore said he joined the board to bring awareness to human trafficking. Forums this year were successful, he said, but “we still have a long way to go to accomplish what I’m interested in doing.”
For Hilley, it wasn’t enough.
“I joined to make a difference,” she said. “I want to give back to my community. It’s disappointing for me.”
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