A new civil rights council.

Byline: The Register-Guard

As commissioner of Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries, Brad Avakian is responsible for enforcing civil rights laws in such areas as housing, employment and public accommodations. To assist with that responsibility, Avakian has enlisted a group of advisers to act as a sounding board, focus group, idea mill, safety valve, information conduit, listening post - it's really not clear what the role of the Oregon Council on Civil Rights will be. Indeed, it will be largely up to the council to find its own purpose and prove its value.

Oregon already has advocacy commissions for particular constituencies with interests in civil rights matters - Asian-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics and women. Avakian's new council won't presume to speak for any group of Oregonians, though many will be represented on the 25-member panel. The council will be concerned with civil rights generally - sometimes as they pertain to the interests of a particular minority group, and sometimes as they relate to the population at large.

Does Oregon need such a council? Avakian thinks so - in 2007 the Legislature put his bureau in charge of providing staff support for the advocacy commissions, and he believes there's a need for an additional general-purpose civil rights council. Avakian expects the Oregon Council on Civil Rights to provide advice on legislation, policies and rules to his office, the Legislature and other state agencies. Avakian already has the statutory authority to appoint the council, and he'll pay for its operations out of the bureau's budget without an additional legislative appropriation.

There's no doubt that civil rights issues crop up everywhere, and can affect everyone. Public and private institutions can act or fail to act, deliberately or inadvertently, in ways that affect the elderly, the disabled, racial minorities, members of ethnic or religious groups, gays and lesbians, women, or members of other classes of people that have or have not been given specific legal protections. Some people don't fit the categories that usually come to mind in discussions of civil rights: Avakian mentioned the families of military personnel deployed overseas as constituting a group whose civil rights might need attention.

James Mason, co-chairman of the council, described the group as "a Rolodex on steroids" that will be available to citizens, businesses and government agencies. He and Avakian said it's dangerous for the state to believe it can address civil rights issues without citizen participation - and the council will provide a continuing means for such participation. And aside from the Legislature, there's no statewide forum for a discussion of how protecting civil rights serves Oregonians' common interests.

Most of the council's 25 members have been appointed. Among them are Cynthia Pappas, former assistant city manager in Springfield and currently CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon, and John VanLandingham of Eugene, a legal aid attorney with a strong background in housing issues. The council needs stronger representation from Southern and Eastern Oregon, but Avakian has assembled an energetic and experienced group.

Whatever the merits of the concept, the council will have to prove its worth in action. Attaining visibility will be one challenge - the Bureau of Labor and Industries is not a high-profile agency. Achieving a unity of purpose might also prove difficult for such a large and diverse group. There's no doubt that Oregon has a lot of work to do in the area of civil rights - the council will need to find ways to move that work forward.