SOUTH DEERFIELD — After several months of discussion, the town has appointed an eight-person ad hoc group that will be charged with outlining the role and responsibilities of a full Human Rights Committee.

The ad hoc committee will be tasked with reporting to the Selectboard in the next month with how a permanent Human Rights Committee would function when a complaint is submitted, how it would facilitate solutions and how its relationship with town government would work.

The eight members appointed are Robyn Maislin, Grant Bialek, Hannah Yaffe, Deborah Yaffe, Deerfield Police Sgt. Jennifer Bartak, Shawn Durrett, Charlene Galenski and former Selectboard Chair David Wolfram.

“I feel comfortable that all these people are coming with an honest heart and want to do something meaningful for the town,” Selectboard member Tim Hilchey said. “It’d be nice to allow them to get to work and come back to us in a month’s time with solid recommendations.”

There was little discussion at Wednesday night’s meeting about the committee, however, Deborah Yaffe, a member of the Deerfield Inclusion Group, said the presence of a police officer — or any town employee — on the ad hoc committee may discourage people from marginalized communities to bring their concerns or thoughts forward.

“One of the basic criteria, which we all agreed on, for forming a Human Rights Committee was establishing a safe and welcoming space where diverse members of the community would feel comfortable to serve and also approach a human rights committee with their concerns,” Yaffe explained. “Police and town officials hold power in a way that others don’t.”

Selectboard members said they were comfortable with having Bartak serve on the ad hoc committee because it is a temporary committee and due to her experience as the department’s civil rights officer, as well as her time as the University of Massachusetts Amherst Police Department’s Stonewall Center liaison. The Stonewall Center provides support, resources and programming for LGBTQ and allied students, staff, faculty and the community at large.

“I can’t think of a more wonderful, caring, compassionate and extremely well-trained person,” Selectboard member Carolyn Shores Ness commented. “She does work in the police environment … but you’ve got to have people contributing that have a little bit of background to make sure that it works.”

The conversation about town employees and appointed positions mirrors a summer 2021 discussion following the reappointment of Police Sgt. Adam Sokoloski to the Zoning Board of Appeals. In June of that year, several residents expressed similar concerns about power balances with having a town employee, such as a police officer, on a regulatory board like the ZBA. Sokoloski was eventually reappointed, but Shores Ness, who was on the board in 2021, and Hilchey, who was elected in 2022, emphasized they don’t think town employees should be on appointed boards.

On Wednesday night, Selectboard members reiterated that the ad hoc committee is a temporary board that will report to the Selectboard and it is up to them to have these sorts of discussions.

“I want to remind everybody that the ad hoc committee is going to recommend what the committee should be,” Hilchey said, adding that Bartak’s training is a valuable asset for facilitating human rights discussions. “Her involvement on this level is perfectly fine. … I don’t think that once the committee’s formed that it’s appropriate for the Police Department to necessarily be involved. … Maybe Jennifer Bartak becomes the liaison to the Human Rights Committee because she’s trained in specific areas.”

Assistant Town Administrator Chris Nolan will contact the ad hoc committee’s appointees to facilitate the scheduling of the group’s first meeting.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.

]]>