Commission Seeks Guidance on Addressing Reports of Bias

MOSCOW – City staff will prepare a formal document describing what constitutes malicious harassment, commonly called “hate crimes,” in response to prior requests from the Moscow Human Rights Commission, the commission was told at its regular meeting Tuesday.

The board also discussed its upcoming budget, programs and events, including the Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast in January.

City Administrator Bill Belknap and City Attorney Mia Bautista said state law includes prosecution for malicious harassment, but that action must include harm or a credible threat of harm to person or property based on a person’s belonging to a “protected class” due to race, gender, age, religion or disability. 

The commission had asked for a way to report and track “bias incidents.”

“ ‘Bias reporting’ may create an expectation that the city will take action,” Belknap said. “We only can do that if the action is criminal, if it is malicious harassment.”

“Everyone has the First Amendment right to speak,” Bautista told the commission. “A document that addresses malicious harassment, not bias reporting, sets a more realistic expectation.”

The Moscow Police Department since 2021 has included coding of bias incidents in its reports in response to requests by the commission, Police Chief Anthony Dahlinger said. It is helpful to track such reports, he said, to create a record and monitor potential problems. But perhaps two incidents are reported per year, and most don’t rise to the actionable level of malicious harassment, he said.

One incident was a complaint about a social media post, Bautista said, but it wasn’t malicious harassment. Another was posting a Bible verse on a University of Idaho professor’s bulletin board; but that also was not malicious harassment, Belknap said.

In November, a pedestrian reported the “N word” shouted from a passing car, Dahlinger said. It was coded into the police system but there was no license plate or car model information nor camera coverage, so no follow-up could be done.

Commissioners agreed they want to track bias that isn’t criminal in order to give those reporting bias a forum in which to be heard and also to help the board focus its outreach and education efforts. 

But some people who feel they are victims aren’t comfortable reporting to the police, Commissioner Nick Smiley-Kallas said. He asked for perhaps a less formal way to report any bias incident, not only malicious harassment, “so people could be heard by a community group.” 

“We need a way to recognize those things that don’t rise to a criminal level,” said Commission Chair Erin Agidius. 

The board agreed with her suggestion that it start with the document Bautista and Belknap will prepare. Once that is reviewed, the commission could work on a way for non-criminal bias to be reported and addressed through publicity and education.

In the meantime, Belknap said, people with bias complaints can bring them before the commission. A Jewish resident did so in October, alleging antisemitism due to a film shown at the Kenworthy theater. The commission has since mentioned hosting a social justice forum to address antisemitism.

“We have had a lot of dialogue around “feeling” threatened and “being” threatened,” Agidius said. “There are gray areas that we would like to address.”

In other business, the commission:

* Discussed priorities for the budget request it will make to the City Council in early 2026. 

“This year is different, given our decreased budget,” Chair Agidius said. 

Commissioner Elizabeth Stevens suggested the board prioritize and fund its longtime annual events first, and then focus on educational forums, which have been “very cost-effective.” She suggested the indigenous peoples’ celebration be one event, rather than a week or month of events.

Annual events include the Sheikh Community Unity Award, support of the Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast hosted by the Latah County Human Rights Task Force, Juneteenth, social justice forums, the Better Together UI student dinner and tabling at the Palouse Pride weekend.

In its budget letter to the City Council, Commissioner Smiley-Kallas asked that the board emphasize its cost-effectiveness due to the partnerships it forms: “We punch above our weight because of the coalitions we build and groups we pair with.”

* Voted unanimously to spend not more than $300 to purchase human rights buttons for table giveaways at events. 

* Heard from Joann Muneta, chair of the Latah County Human Rights Task Force, that nominations will be accepted through Jan. 13 for the Rosa Parks Human Rights Achievement Awards, which will be celebrated at the MLK Jr. Human Rights Community Breakfast Jan. 24. More information on both can be found at https://www.humanrightslatah.org/

The breakfast speaker will be Raquel Reyes, Boise activist, advocate of migrant assistance and director of PODER of Idaho (Protecting Our Dreams, Empowerment and Resilience).

* Heard a progress report from Commissioner Jana Argersinger about certifying Moscow under the Welcoming Cities program (https://welcomingamerica.org/). Boise is the state’s only certified participant under the Welcoming America nonprofit.

Argersinger suggested the commission explore using the Rural Welcoming Initiative criteria, toolkits and webinars, and invite someone from Boise to talk about the process. She said the Welcoming Schools nonprofit initiative (https://welcomingschools.org/about) also might provide useful resources, especially pertaining to bullying.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Moscow Human Rights Commission will be at 4 p.m. Jan. 20 in the first-floor Mayor’s Conference Room of City Hall, 206 E. Third St.