Human rights panel gets going

Salt Lake City's new Human Rights Commission is moving forward.

The City Council Tuesday decided to hire an outside attorney to help craft the new commission, which will examine city pollices and ordinances and determine if any of them are discriminatory, among other duties.

Some council members raised concerns about how the city would define discrimination and how the commission would operate.

The outside attorney, working with council staff, will give shape to the commission and outline its duties in a new ordinance that will be brought back to the council, likely next month.

Michael Mitchell, who heads up Unity Utah, urged the council to pass the measure.

"It's time that Salt Lake began that dialogue with its citizens around issues of human rights," he said.

Councilman Dale Lambert said he would be surprised if any city ordinances or policies were discriminatory.

"I'm surprised at the suggestion that we have ordinances or policies in the city that are discriminatory," he said.