What: dispute over how much weight the Human Rights Commission (HRC) carries in police oversight, and whether the administration has constrained it.
Where it stands: open. No Council action on the commission itself; the question is folded into the civilian review board debate (communication placed on file 8-3 on 2026-09-08).
Next: the Clerk's research on whether the City Manager answered King's three orders is pending.
Charter and the administration's view
The Clerk read the charter definition for King on 2026-09-08: an executive board or commission sets policy for city departments and supervises operations through an executive officer, and the City Manager appoints its members without Council confirmation.
Kevin Lovaincy presented the commission as part of the community-participation layer the administration relies on instead of a civilian review board.
That layer includes monthly HRC meetings with Chief Paul B. Saucier, an annual police data review, and a two-tier police policy review (the Human Rights and Accessibility Division reviews first, then the commission), with open seats to be filled.
Critics
A letter from former commissioner Drew Schnoebelen (read by Sue Swanson) said he resigned last month after leadership was removed in 2025, elections and vacancies were delayed and a statement condemning a hate crime was blocked.
The letter said the commission voted 5-1 this year for a civilian review board (the lone no vote from a member who is a police chaplain).
David Webb said the manager appointed the police chaplain to it.
Randy Feldman, the commission's acting chair, said that at its latest meeting the chief reported 312 hands-on uses of force in 2025 plus about 40 more serious ones, and argued that is why an independent look is needed (captions).
Council orders and follow-up
Khrystian E. King recited three unanimously supported Council orders asking for the commission's memos and recommendations (December 17, 2024), its police language-access recommendations (September 30, 2025) and an update (February 24, 2026).
He asked the Clerk for evidence the City Manager ever answered; the Clerk said staff would have to research it.
Robert A. Bilotta, a former commission member, said that of the many police policies the commission reviewed only the language line was adopted.
Status and next steps
No Council action on the commission itself. The Clerk's research is pending.
Log
2026-09-08 - City Council — Lovaincy cited the commission as the community-participation channel; Schnoebelen's resignation letter, Webb's and others' comments, King's three orders and Bilotta's "only the language line adopted" point; Clerk read the executive-board definition.
2026-08-03 - Board of Health — Board of Health unanimously voted to tell the City Manager it wants to engage the Human Rights Commission.