It was a dramatic moment last November when four of the five members of the Community Relations Commission resigned.
In a November letter from the commission to the city, Community Relations Commission members said they didn’t feel, “valued, seen, treated as equals, or respected as professionals in senior positions in our respective justice fields.”
Seven months later, the city has not reformed the commission. Last year, city officials said they wanted to include regional stakeholders like Fort Lewis College, La Plata County, and the 9-R school district.
But in a recent interview, Mayor Melissa Youssef said the city would decide the future of the Community Relations Commission. Regional stakeholders met recently for a private networking session. But Youssef said the meeting members did not discuss the formation of a new commission.
“That has yet to get off the ground. We're still hoping to have those discussions, but I'm not certain,” said Youssef. “We're still working, but we're basically still in the same position that we were at. We've had no public discussions about it further.”
Olivia de Pablo Lopez is the sole remaining member of the city’s now-defunct Community Relations Commission. She has not been invited to join the ongoing private discussions on how to address diversity issues in La Plata County, and she expressed frustration about the city’s lack of action since last November.
“I have not heard anything from anyone, de Pablo-Lopez said. “I’m not surprised that the Community Relations Commission is not a top priority. That’s the story of our lives as underrepresented communities. That’s how we typically feel and get marginalized. That’s part of the perpetration.”
For the foreseeable future, there will be no public discussion about the city’s efforts to address diversity issues. The regional networking group holds meetings every few months, but those meetings are closed to the public and the media.