Momentum building for Human Rights Commission to reevaluate its Community Service Awards program

As additional concerns surface about the process by which the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission (HRC) decides who will receive annual awards, it’s also becoming clear that Commission members had previously acknowledged work was needed to improve the process.

At its December 2023 meeting, HRC Vice Chair David Vignolo called for a potential update of the award selection process, stating that it was not specifically focused on the current year’s recipients. Prior to Vignolo’s comments, the full HRC had just approved moving forward with contacting community members chosen for this year’s Community Service Awards.

“(I)n the next 11 months or 10 months, the Commission might want to consider reviewing the criteria used for determining recipients of the Community Service Awards … and maybe make improvements to it or changes to it,” Vignolo said. “I don’t know who developed the criteria. I know it’s been in use during my terms on this Commission, but we may want to just revisit it and see if we want to make any changes to either the criteria or the process used.”

The current HRC process involves soliciting nominations, which are then assessed by a three-member executive committee. The committee’s recommendations go through an initial approval phase by the entire HRC, followed by a final approval after nominees have been contacted. This year, that committee consisted of Vignolo, HRC Chair Hugo Loyola, and HRC Commissioner Beverly Greer.

However, as previously reported by The Post, the list of honorees approved initially in December — and given final approval in January — changed by the time the awards were handed out on Feb. 12. The move appears to have happened behind the scenes after complaints about one of the honorees were received by Loyola. It did not receive a vote by the full Commission, an apparent violation of state meeting laws.

Concerns over the process by which the awards are determined are also at the center of an email exchange provided to The Post last week. In that exchange, dated Feb. 7, a member of the community objected to how the awards were determined, claiming that lack of vetting of one person scheduled to receive an award this year would be “a huge mistake, and the city will be the laughing stock of the valley.”

At the December meeting, Greer suggested the HRC have a more focused and effective way to choose its award recipients.

“I think that would be a suitable topic for ad hoc committee to look at with commissioners that would be particularly interested in that area,” Greer said. “We did find the process to be kind of too open-ended for when we were reviewing these, being new to the review process, and I think the three of us felt that it did need to be either more directed or some way that would also enhance the value of the award itself.”

The discussion on the awards criteria comes at a time when the Commission is actively seeking to increase its visibility and engagement with city council activities. Earlier in the December meeting, HRC members deliberated on whether it should play a role in reviewing funding requests from organizations before they are considered by the Palm Springs City Council.

The idea was generally well-received, with commissioners noting that while there is no current statutory requirement for such a review process, it could be beneficial for ensuring that funded projects align with human rights objectives.

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