April 13, 2019 | Xiaohua Li
Middletown, Pa
As Pennsylvania's civil rights leader, the Human Relations Commission of the Borough of Middletown gathered local committee members to discuss an upcoming community bike ride event on May 18 and other relevant issues.
The meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on April 9 in the Conference Room located at Borough Hall, 60 West Emaus St, Middletown. The committee unanimously approved the motion to update on Crime Watch for bicycle donations.
The bike ride event was an important part of the 2019 initiative planning of the Commission for a total budget of $2,850. It was scheduled to open at 10 a.m. and close at 3 p.m. held at Hoofer Park on May 18. The Commission worked with the Middletown police department to hold this event.
Nine people were attending the meeting, including three committee members of the Commission and a student president liaison of Penn State Harrisburg. Sgt. Rutz, a representative from the Middletown police department, discussed and provided information about the bikes and Crime Watch update at the meeting
“We can put something on Crime Watch. I have access to everything,” Rutz said, in a voice steady and trustworthy, “if anybody wants to donate bikes, we can make sure to put them in here before give them away.”
Mike Woodworth, the chairperson of the Commission, agreed with updating on Crime Watch and said it could also guarantee the community’s safety of “any residents now who has a bike.” Angela Lloyd, secretary of the Commission, also thought it was a feasible solution for their bike ride event.
“I like that idea because a lot of people might have bikes that they just want to get rid of, such as kids have outgrown or something,” Lloyd said.
“There were 51 bikes, here is a picture of them,” Rutz said. A picture was passed around the meeting table. People dragged and pulled the picture, gave it a frowning glance.
Stacked up in the Scott Avenue garage, a mess of tangled bicycles showed up on the picture. A lot of them were rusted out, with dry rotted tires, broken brakes and pedals that are falling off. Some of them has been down there for a while.
“People just pick up a bike and drop off anywhere,” Rutz said, “we wanna rise people’s awareness, getting bicycle stickers that are hard to peel off.”
The committee members decided to keep track of the bikes, take pictures of the kids and put into their system so that they could have a better idea of what the bike looks like and take care of it.
The stickers are roughly about a dollar per piece, and they have been given a quote of $200 for 200 stickers. And the cost may be dragged down If there is a future need for the Commission.
“We just want to do what is best for the kids,” said Rachelle Reid, vice-chairperson of the Commission.
The Human Relations Commission is independent and nonpartisan, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, act as public liaisons, establish policies corresponded to cases that are not settled voluntarily and resolve incident of discrimination. “And it’s all free,” Lloyd said.
The Commission holds monthly public meetings, inviting the public to address issues of discrimination or civil tension in their communities.
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