Dedicated to solving problems between different racial, religious and ethnic groups, the agency has been without an executive director for more than a year. The person chosen to be the new executive director resigned in late June before actually assuming the position. The interim director is leaving in mid-September, and Sue Reid Wilke, vice president of the board of directors, resigned earlier this month.

The process of finding a new executive director began after the departure of Cecil Thomas, who stepped down in July 2005 to run for city council. On April 26, Will Thomas, president of the CHRC board, announced the hiring of Norma Holt Davis as new executive director, effective June 5.

Davis' legal background and experience as former executive director of the NAACP Cincinnati chapter were expected to "bring much added legal expertise to the CHRC's staff," Will Thomas said at the time.

Upheaval
Davis' starting date was postponed due to travel plans. But on June 27, "upon more careful and prayerful consideration," Davis decided that she "was not the person to lead the organization at this point." She declined to comment further, with CHRC offering little more clarification.

In a prepared statement issued July 18, Thomas said Davis "has rescinded her decision to become CHRC's new executive director, citing only that the timing was not right for her nor the agency. We do wish Ms. Holt well in all of her future endeavors. CHRC will continue its service to this community of human and race relations."

Lesley Jones, an employee of CHRC for the past six years, has served as interim executive director since Cecil Thomas' resignation. She planned to leave Aug. 4 to start a consulting business but has agreed to stay for a few more weeks until a new director can be hired.

"I've been in this position for a year and it's really time for me to move on," she says.

Wilke resigned as vice president of the board for undisclosed reasons. Both Wilke and Will Thomas refused to comment on her resignation.

Thomas says the CHRC plans to hire an interim executive director to "finish up the year," then look at hiring a full-time director in January.

"Right now we're just looking to bring someone in through the end of the year that can keep us in compliance with our contract with the city and scope of our services," Thomas says.

The struggle to find the right person for the job will pay off in the end, Thomas says.

"I don't know if it was a delusion of grandeur on our part, but one thing that we learned was that we didn't just want to fill the role with a body," he says. "We want someone who has passion and doesn't just want a position -- someone with passion for community relations, passion for the disenfranchised and commitment towards equality in this city in terms of human relations.

"(The search) has gone longer than anticipated. No one has welcomed that. But looking back, we're glad that we didn't bring someone on who decided it wasn't what they anticipated."

Like glue, invisible
The CHRC has a history of fighting through issues of upheaval, but usually outside the organization. Cincinnati City Council established the organization, then named the Mayor's Friendly Relations Committee, in 1943 to address economic and social issues resulting from changes brought on by World War II. Since then the organization has helped citizens and groups within the city deal with a variety of issues related to race, gender and disability.

"The mission of the CHRC is to help people to get along better and to reduce discrimination and prejudice so that we can build a more cohesive community for all people," Jones says.

The CHRC comes into action when called on by community members to resolve individual conflicts, as well offering other committees and organizations knowledge, expertise and alternatives for solving human relations issues.

"Our staff is trained to be problem solvers," Jones says. "They hear an issue and say, 'What do we have in our tool box to solve this problem?' "

CHRC doesn't focus on human rights, which "usually focus on one issue," but on the larger field of human relations and interaction, according to Jones. Through sharing knowledge and helping mediate, the CHRC can help solve small problems, such as people moving from low-income housing projects into single-family homes, before they turn into larger issues, such as neighborhoods becoming divided by race or status.

"We go out and help mediate," Jones says. "People don't understand how little things can blow up and turn into racial or gender issues when people lack the education or information.

"We're out there as glue. You don't see glue once it's down, but it's there. People don't see the work we do, but they see what remains."

The CHRC works on funding from the city as well as private donations and grants, which comes to an annual budget of approximately $535,000, Jones says. The agency has three full-time employees, 25 part-time employees and about 20 regular volunteers. Through partnering with other organizations -- such as Cincinnati Public Schools, the Women's City Club and the National Conference for Community and Justice -- the CHRC is able to contribute its expertise on a larger scale.

"The CHRC is a catalyst behind encouraging organizations to look at things before they escalate," Jones says. ©