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Lancaster County Commissioners were scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. and hear comments on the fate of the local Human Relations Commission. Commissioners are expected to make a decision on the HRC next Wednesday morning.
Two hours before their meeting began, a crowd rallied in the park, just outside county chambers, to voice their support for the continued existence of the HRC.
Organizers handed out signs, many prepared by state Rep. Mike Sturla, with slogans such as "Don't rush to racism," "Don't turn back the clock," "We need local protection" and "I won't stand quietly by."
Adanjesus Marin of the Lancaster LGBT Organizing Committee said the turnout was a strong message from the Lancaster community in favor of a local human relations presence.
"This is about defending our local access to basic human rights," he said.
"If they take this away from us, we would be the only county in the history of Pennsylvania to move backwards in the arena of human rights."
County Commissioners chairman Scott Martin proposed abolishing the HRC, which he has argued duplicates services already provided by the state in Harrisburg.
Eliminating the HRC, Martin has said, would save the county $475,000 in next year's budget.
But Marin said the HRC costs each resident of Lancaster County less than $1 per year to maintain.
And local supporters say the HRC provides services the state does not.
Fran Rodriguez, co-chair of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, said the move to disband the HRC is "taking away the educational rights of Lancaster County residents."
Without local education on human rights issues and without a local commission to resolve most cases, she said, many people will simply choose not to pursue issues of concern.
"Most people will consider it a waste of time," Rodriguez said. "Why bother? A commission in Harrisburg … doesn't know me or my community."
Marin lined up several speakers to precede the commissioners' meeting, some of whom were also scheduled to provide testimony inside.
The first, Lancaster NAACP president Cobbie Burns, said County Commissioners "are at a crossroads."
"We are going down the path toward people … who are comfortable wallowing in the mud of bigotry and hatred," he said.
"A lot of good Americans paid a high price — with their lives — to get America where we are today, and we are not going backwards."
Stephen A. Glassman, chairman of the state Human Relations Commission, said the crowd Thursday was there "for one thing and one thing only, and that's to fight for civil rights in Lancaster County, Pa."
"Two out of three commissioners feel this is a duplication of services," he said. "They are wrong."
The Rev. Randy Riggs of First Presbyterian Church of Lancaster exhorted the crowd to "stand up for justice, stand up for the rights of people."
"We can't wait while people are hurting," added Rabbi Jack Paskoff of Congregation Shaarai Shomayim, "until someone else gets around to do something about it.
"No one is opposed to justice," Paskoff said. "The key … is to pursue it."
City Council president Louise Williams said she understands the county's desire to cut costs — but said this is not the place to start cutting.
The Rev. Susan Minisian, chaplain at Franklin & Marshall College, agreed.
"I understand the need for them to be good stewards of the resources that we entrust to their care," she said.
"I also understand that the people have spoken in numbers too high and a volume too loud for them to ignore. … We protect land. We protect commerce. Why would we stop protecting people?"
