Redevelopment commission votes to protect program participants from discrimination

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission voted Wednesday to protect individuals from being excluded from any program or activity based on race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation and more.

The commission approved the Title VI Implementation Plan, which states as follows:

"As a recipient of federal funds, City of West Lafayette conforms to Title VI and all related statutes, regulations, and directives, which provide that no person shall be excluded from participation in, denied benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance from City of West Lafayette on the grounds of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, national origin, religion, income status or limited English proficiency."

During discussions about the implementation plan, board president Larry Oates pointed out one edit that should be made to the name of the plan, as it is currently listed as "City of West Lafayette 2021-2022 Title VI Implementation Plan."

"Under this policy as it (sits)," Oates said. "technically, we would need to rewrite this as being the 'Redevelopment Commission" as opposed to the ('City of West Lafayette'). And specifically, we'd want to make sure that we couch it in terms of granting the ability of the city to act on our behalf, if a complaint came in."

Eric Burns, city attorney for West Lafayette, agreed but noted that the plan could still be accepted at this time.

"I think it would make some sense to make it more specific and to indicate it as the RDC that is now approving, for itself, this policy... It's certainly okay to have a consensus of thumbs-up around the table if this looks like a good idea, and that's what I'm hearing. And then some modifications to the actual document ...

"I don't see any point in not going forward and saying you approve it, however I do think that the documents could be more specific to the RDC, which doesn't change the fact that you approve it today."

After discussion, the Title VI Implementation Plan was approved by the board with a note to place it on the next RDC meeting to change the specific wording of the documents' title.

Other business

Kathy Lozano, the West Lafayette parks superintendent, introduced a request for a proposal for park sign design services. This request was approved by the board to place multiple signs throughout Happy Hollow Trails that will be both informational and directional.

Clarification questions for potential design consultants must be submitted by Feb. 4 at 4:30 p.m. and proposals must be sent in by Feb. 16 at 8:30 a.m.

The RDC also approved a request for a proposal to seek qualified consultants to design at least one interactive, large-scale public art piece in collaboration with the West Lafayette Public Arts Team.

"This is kind of a two-part thing," Erin Easter, director of development, said. "... on behalf of the city and the public arts team, we are looking to create a relationship with an artist or a group that will allow us to have a bit of a long-term relationship with them. So that we can plan projects together over the course of a handful of years."

The deadline to submit as a potential consultant and this project is April 20 at 8:30 a.m.

Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mtroup@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretJC2

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Redevelopment commission votes to protect individuals from discrimination