[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Township of North Brunswick 12-19-2016 by Ord. No. 16-23. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The North Brunswick Human Relations Committee is hereby established.
The Committee shall consist of 15 members appointed by the Mayor. All of the members shall be residents of the Township of North Brunswick; the members shall serve without compensation except as hereinafter provided. The Mayor shall designate one of the members to serve as Chairman and presiding officer of the Committee. The initial term of members shall be for one, two or three years to be designated in the initial appointment. The terms thereafter shall be for three years. The initial appointments shall be made in such manner so that the terms of 1/3 of the members shall expire each year. A vacancy in the Committee occurring otherwise than expiration of a term shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as an original appointment.
The Committee is established for the purpose of addressing racial, ethnic or religious concerns that can undermine the strength and unity of a community and is detrimental to the community's health and well-being. As such, the Committee will assist in promoting good relations between all the people of this community and to demonstrate a high regard for the protection of the civil rights of all persons. This Committee is not intended to or in no way may act or function as a review board for any actions of the Township Council or any department thereof, including but not limited to the Police Department, and may not infringe upon or in any matter assert any power granted by the laws of the State of New Jersey, the ordinances of the Township or the Township Council. The Committee shall:
A. 
Create and carry out educational programs which promote tolerance, understanding and harmonious relations between all individuals of the Township.
B. 
Foster participation in and encourage individual, organizational, neighborhood and community efforts to engender understanding, good will, cooperation amongst the various groups and individuals of this Township.
C. 
At the request of the Township, serve to resolve individual or community problems.
D. 
Study and analyze the status, nature and extent of discrimination, prejudice, bias, intolerance, and indifference in the community at large.
E. 
Create formal or informal educational programs to address issues of bias and violent acts based on race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or disability.
F. 
Report from time to time, and not less than once a year, to the Mayor and Township Council on ways and means to promote and encourage understanding, good will, cooperation, equal opportunity and conciliation in the community at large, and ways and means to eliminate discrimination, bias, intolerance, indifference and group tensions in the community at large.
The North Brunswick Human Relations Committee shall keep records of its meetings and activities and report to the Township Council as the Committee deems advisable and/or as the Township Council shall request. The meetings of the North Brunswick Human Relations Committee shall be open to the public and conducted in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.
The Committee may incur such expenses as it may from time to time require, providing the same shall be within the limits of funds appropriated to it by the Township Council or otherwise available to it, and there shall be established in the municipal budget a line item for this Committee.