Civil Rights Commission sets performance standards

CEDAR RAPIDS — To help the public better understand its mission and accomplishments, the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission voted this week to implement performance standards.

Part of the commission's responsibility is to ensure residents know the agency is working for them, said Executive Director LaSheila Yates.

During a meeting Wednesday, members approved performance standards for outreach and education and customer service.

For outreach and education, the commission aims to see at least half of its customers rating its presentations and events as satisfactory or better.

'We want to do much better but since this is something we have not done before, we're starting at at least average,' said Johnny Alcivar-Zuniga, its outreach and education coordinator.

The commission also aims to see a 15 percent increase in knowledge gained after training, measured by tests beforehand and afterward.

When it comes to customer service, the commission approved a goal of earning an average overall rating of 2.5 for intakes and investigations. Customer service standards are based on a scale of 1 to 5.

Those who interact with the Civil Rights Commission receive a card to fill out measuring their satisfaction with the experience. Whenever there is an investigation or an intake, a member of the commission sends out a card to rate customer service.

The commission will begin using the standards July 1.

Also Wednesday, commission members began discussing how to address the 2014 State of Equity report. The commission has identified four key areas of local focus: wealth and poverty; representation in public employment; fair housing; and education.

In Linn County and Cedar Rapids, the report concluded 'there are income disparities based on household composition, gender and race.'

The findings also stated that 'disparities exist between whites/ Caucasians and blacks/ African-Americans with regard to homeownership rates in Cedar Rapids.'

Members will hold a special work session to begin to discuss how to focus on these areas. The date has not been set.

Also Wednesday, Chairman Keith Rippy announced the commission will be reducing from 11 to nine members. Rippy said that number aligns with the size of the City Council. And he noted that the commission has struggled in the past to get people to fill vacancies. People who serve on the commission are volunteers.