Arlington’s newly reconstituted Human Rights Commission got to work last week with a discussion of new limits on its ability to pursue accountability for county leaders.
After the Arlington County Board fired all members of the commission last August following several confrontations between the two groups, commission Chair Jimmy McBirney used a Thursday meeting to acknowledge the entity’s “limited jurisdiction and limited scope.”
“Nobody elected any of us — we have no authority beyond the scope of authority the [County] Board grants us,” said McBirney, an attorney with ties to the Arlington County Democratic Committee.
It was a brief organizational meeting, lasting under eight minutes. The next meeting, slated for July 10, is likely to be more substantial.
Under a revised charter, the commission is now prohibited from investigating any complaints against a government body or official.
“It could be more accurately referred to as the ‘Anti-Discrimination Commission,’ because that’s really the human-rights element we are tasked with addressing,” McBirney said.
Despite limitations imposed on it, McBirney at the meeting said commission members are ready to get to work.
“We will zealously pursue discriminatory activity by private entities within Arlington,” he said.
Other members of the commission are Gena Cotton, Sharon Gibson, Angela Malone, Maggie Davis, Allan Gajadhar and Dylan Montgomery. All were appointed for terms running through January 2028, but can be removed at any time by a majority vote of County Board members.
The county’s first Human Rights Commission was established in 1989, with its responsibilities amended first in 2012 and then in 2024.
