[Adopted 10-14-2020 by Ord. No. 20-302]
[1]
Editor's Note: This article was originally adopted as Article V. As the Code already contained an Article V, this material was renumbered as Article VI.
A. 
There is hereby established the Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights. This Committee shall consist of nine regular members and four nonvoting members.
B. 
Regular members of the Committee shall be appointed by the City Council. All members shall be at-large members. The Council shall work to include members with a wide variety of perspectives and interests on the Committee, such as, but not limited to, perspectives and interests of the following:
(1) 
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
(2) 
The Penobscot Nation or Wabanaki interests.
(3) 
Bangor Chamber of Commerce or Bangor business interests.
(4) 
Local educational institutions or medical service providers.
(5) 
LGBTQ interests.
(6) 
The Maine Multicultural Center.
(7) 
Religious or spiritual interests.
(8) 
Labor or worker interests.
C. 
There shall also be four nonvoting members of the Committee. These nonvoting members shall include:
(1) 
The City Manager as an ex officio member.
(2) 
The Superintendent of Schools as an ex officio member.
(3) 
A student attending Bangor High School.
(4) 
A Bangor resident attending Beal College, Eastern Maine Community College, Husson University, the Penobscot Job Corps Center, United Technologies Center (UTC), or the University of Maine.
In order to assist in fulfilling the missions and goals of the Committee, the membership of the Committee should reflect a diverse array of perspectives, including diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, age, physical ability, religious belief, political belief, and other characteristics and beliefs.
Regular members of the Committee shall be selected primarily on the basis of the guidelines outlined above, but preference may be given to appointing members who are residents of the City of Bangor. Regular and student members shall receive no compensation for their service.
A. 
The term of each regular member shall be for three years or until their successor has been appointed and has qualified; provided that of the members first appointed, three shall be appointed for a term of one year, three for a term of two years, and three for a term of three years. The determination of which first appointed members are appointed for particular term lengths shall be made randomly.
B. 
Any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner for the unexpired term.
C. 
No regular member shall serve more than two complete consecutive terms.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The Committee shall annually elect a Chair and a Vice Chair.
A. 
The Committee shall meet at least quarterly.
B. 
Prior to December 31 of each calendar year, the Committee may prepare and submit to the City Council an annual report outlining its activities during the preceding twelve-month period.
C. 
A quorum shall consist of five of the nine regular Committee members.
The Committee's mission is to:
A. 
Develop ideas and information to educate individuals, within the organization as well as in the community, focusing on topics of (but not limited to) awareness, sensitivity, equity, inclusion, and diversity.
B. 
Review and advise City staff regarding policies and practices to recruit, hire, on-board, promote, and retain a diverse and inclusive workforce. Specifically, the Committee's work will focus on mitigating the potential for bias in the hiring and retention decisions through consistent, evidence-based tools, procedures and trainings.
C. 
Review applicable ordinances, policies, and programs to ensure that they promote the goal of accepting, respecting, and valuing differences, including attributes such as age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression, sexual identity, ability, language, family circumstances and cultural backgrounds. These efforts will assist Bangor's community in developing diversity and inclusion.
D. 
Create greater awareness about opportunities to advance issues of age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression, sexual identity, ability, language, family circumstances and cultural backgrounds, to ensure concerns are heard and considered when creating City policy and ordinances.
The goals of the Committee are as follows:
A. 
Promote ideas and information to further the spirit of diversity and inclusion.
B. 
Provide City staff with input on administrative policies that impact employee, recruitment, hiring, on-boarding, promotional opportunity, and retention of a diverse workforce.
C. 
Engage and be a resource for the community in ways to incorporate diversity, inclusion, and equity into our community through development of ordinances, policies, and programs.
D. 
Engage the community in ways that incorporate the development of diverse and inclusive K-12 school curriculum.
E. 
Educate community members about and refer community members to other potentially useful resources.
A. 
In the course of its duties, the Committee may from time to time address matters in which some related materials are confidential and therefore not accessible by the Committee, such as employee records or discipline or police investigations. Committee members shall respect the confidentiality of such records.
B. 
The Committee is not intended as a replacement for, or to prevent community members from going to, the Maine Human Rights Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or other legal bodies.