AMOS Project & OJPC Push for Fair Hiring Policy

CINCINNATI — On Thursday, February 25th, leaders with the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, the AMOS Project, and the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission rallied for a Fair Hiring Policy for the city of Cincinnati.

The Civil Service Commission, the appointed and autonomous body charged with screening and hiring Cincinnati’s classified workforce, initially refused to hear from the gathered coalition.

After waiting patiently until all the necessary hearings were held, the over 50 people present filed into the Civil Service Commission hearing room, despite objections from City Hall police.

“Joseph, Moses, and King David were all felons. The prophet Jeremiah spent time in a pit prison,” recounted Pastor Troy Jackson from University Christian Church, an AMOS Project congregation. “In the New Testament, Peter, Paul, and James were all incarcerated at one time. And Jesus was a convicted criminal when he went to the cross. Our faith teaches us that people with criminal records should not be forever condemned.”

A Fair Hiring Policy is a common sense policy that ensures that old or irrelevant convictions are not used to automatically block qualified individuals from city jobs. But at the same time, the Policy allows the City to reject applicants for good reasons. Currently, Cincinnati has a ban on hiring individuals with criminal records.

“The current policy is wooden, rigid, one-size fits all, and we need a fairer way forward,” attorney Stephen JohnsonGrove of the Ohio Justice & Policy Center told the Commission. “We’re not asking for guaranteed jobs. We just want fair consideration for people with irrelevant criminal records.”

You can read more about the proposed Fair Hiring policy rules at www.ohiojpc.org.

“The Fair Hiring Policy is common sense,” said David Singleton, Executive Director of the Ohio Justice & Policy Center. “The Policy simply makes sure that the right person for the job is identified and that an old criminal record is not arbitrarily used as a disqualifier. The Commission should be required to consider the time lapsed since the last offense, the seriousness of the offense, and the record of rehabilitation.”

Coalition members then migrated downstairs to the Mayor’s office, singing, “It’s my brother and my sister and it’s me, Oh Lord, standing in the need of jobs! It’s we, it’s we, it’s we, Oh Lord, standing in the need of jobs!” In the last few months, the Fair Hiring Coalition collected over 1,000 letters asking for leadership on this issue from the Mayor.

City Hall police told representatives that they would not be permitted to deliver the letters or speak to any of the Mayor’s staff. The Mayor’s office locked its doors. “Are you saying the Mayor doesn’t want to hear from us?” JohnsonGrove announced to the coalition. The Mayor was not present, but after a few minutes, the Mayor’s staff opened the doors and the coalition presented the 1000 citizen letters to the Mayor’s staff.

Mayor Mallory has talked on several occasions about the importance of ex-offender rehabilitation and employment. Yet, he has taken no action to get the Fair Hiring Policy adopted.

This Fair Hiring Now campaign was launched in conjunction with the AMOS Project’s Nehemiah Campaign to Rebuild Cincinnati, which was announced at a rally in Avondale on Tuesday.

“This is a matter of justice. We need a Fair Hiring Policy whether we’re in a fiscal crisis or not,” said AMOS Project pastor Troy Jackson. “Everyone who is ready, willing, and qualified needs a fair shot at a job if Cincinnati is going to pull out of this recession.”

“People of faith across this city believe this simple truth: human redemption is possible,” said AMOS Project President Pastor Gregory Chandler. “Treating folks who have turned their lives around like pariahs damages them and it damages all of us. The path to prosperity is a shared one. The City’s no-felon rule violates our fundamental values, damages struggling families, and tears at the fabric of our society.”

The Ohio Justice & Policy Center is a non-partisan, non-profit law firm representing people marginalized by the criminal justice system and advocating for local and statewide smart-on-crime reform. The AMOS Project is a coalition of congregations in Greater Cincinnati dedicated to promoting justice, improving the quality of life for all residents in Hamilton County and Ohio, and developing the leadership skills of low-income and working people to be active in public life.

AMOS Project & OJPC’s Fair Hiring Coalition advance Fair Hiring Policy

OJPC is leading the Fair Hiring NOW! Coalition

Cincinnatians Demand Fair Hiring Now

No-felon hiring rule wastes taxpayer dollars, harms public safety

Thursday, February 25, 2010, 9:00 a.m.  | 3rd Floor–City Hall, 805 Plum Street

Cincinnati—  On Thursday, February 25th, the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, the AMOS Project, and the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission will lead a broad coalition of organizations to deliver over 1000 letters signed by Cincinnati citizens demanding that the Cincinnati Civil Service Commission give fair consideration to job applicants with old and irrelevant criminal records.  The City’s current no-felon hiring policy condemns rehabilitated people to perpetual unemployment and under-employment, thus increasing the burden on our overloaded criminal justice and public welfare systems.

This Fair Hiring Now campaign is being launched in conjunction with the AMOS Project’s Nehemiah Campaign to Rebuild Cincinnati, which was announced at a rally in Avondale on Tuesday.

For at least three years, the City has actively opposed these modest rule changes.  In 2006, the Commission refused to hire Gene Mays based only on two drug-abuse felonies, which were then 13 and 19 years old.  The Commission knew that Mr. Mays had been clean for ten years, that he was #1 for all five years of his union apprenticeship, and that he had glowing recommendations from all his supervisors.  The Commission’s response: “Mr. Mays has a couple felony convictions on his record, and could therefore not be hired for City employment.”  No further explanation was ever given.  (See video at: vimeo.com/6055716)

Mayor Mallory has talked on several occasions about the importance of ex-offender rehabilitation and employment.  Yet, he has taken no action to get the Fair Hiring Policy adopted.  In fact, the City’s law department, under the mayor’s direction, fought Mr. Mays’ appeals for employment all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court.

The Fair Hiring Policy, which has also been repeatedly presented to City Council, ensures that old or irrelevant convictions are not used to automatically block qualified individuals from city jobs.  But at the same time, the Policy allows the City to reject applicants for good reasons.  (Policy available at: www.ohiojpc.org)

“This is a matter of justice.  We need a Fair Hiring Policy whether we’re in a fiscal crisis or not,” said AMOS Project pastor Troy Jackson.  “Everyone who is ready, willing, and qualified needs a fair shot at a job if Cincinnati is going to pull out of this recession.”

“People of faith across this city believe this simple truth: human redemption is possible,” said AMOS Project President Pastor Gregory Chandler.  “Treating folks who have turned their lives around like pariahs damages them and it damages all of us. The path to prosperity is a shared one.  The City’s no-felon rule violates our fundamental values, damages struggling families, and tears at the fabric of our society.”

“The Fair Hiring Policy is common sense,” said David Singleton, Executive Director of the Ohio Justice & Policy Center.  “The Policy simply makes sure that the right person for the job is identified and that an old criminal record is not arbitrarily used as a disqualifier.  The Commission should be required to consider the time lapsed since the last offense, the seriousness of the offense, and the record of rehabilitation.  Now, none of that is considered—and excellent employees like Gene Mays are tossed out.”

The Ohio Justice & Policy Center is a non-partisan, non-profit law firm representing people marginalized by the criminal justice system and advocating for local and statewide smart-on-crime reform.  The AMOS Project is a coalition of congregations in Greater Cincinnati dedicated to promoting justice, improving the quality of life for all residents in Hamilton County and Ohio, and developing the leadership skills of low-income and working people to be active in public life.

In addition to the 1000 citizen letters, the following organizations

have signed letters in support of the Fair Hiring Policy:

Talbert House

Urban League

Michael K. Allen & Associates, Attorneys at Law

Adath Israel Congregation

Jobs Plus

Power Inspires Progress

DeSales Crossing Marianist Community

Mann & Mann, LLC (Attorneys at Law & former mayor of Cincinnati)

Cincinnati State Community and Technical College

North Presbyterian Church

Crossroads Community Church

Lighthouse Youth Services

First Christian Assembly of God

Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless

BRIDGES for a Just Community

AMOS Project to Hamilton County: Local Hiring NOW!

AMOS to County Leaders:  Implement Local Hiring Now

AMOS Project lawyers: County has legal ability

Media Contacts:

Paul Graham, Executive Director

The AMOS Project

(513) 751-2222

Pastor Gregory Chandler, President

The AMOS Project

 

Cincinnati -  Last night (February 23), over 200 leaders with the AMOS Project made clear how the County can put people to work: implement a Local Hiring Policy so that a fair share of jobs go to local workers on county-sponsored projects.

The AMOS Project, with the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, the Cincinnati Interfaith Worker Center, and the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence, launched a new campaign to rebuild Cincinnati.  Named after the Old Testament prophet, the Nehemiah Campaign is an organizing effort to open job opportunities.

One such way is through Local Hiring, yet county leadership point to a memo from Prosecutor Joe Deters office, which argues that counties may not require participation of local workers on public works projects.  AMOS sought the legal counsel of the Kirwan Institute, a legal policy institute at The Ohio State University, as well as its own counsel.

Lawyers at the Kirwan Institute insist that “because of the nature of competitive bidding – there is no reason why Ohio counties cannot form certain types of local hiring agreements with contractors.”

Furthermore, Cincinnati attorney Terence Brennan, of The Brennan Law Office, believes that Deters’ memo is “full of red herrings and unfounded conclusions.  Hamilton County can require that local workers be hired on county construction projects. Ohio law gives counties the authority to develop and implement economic development strategies and projects to create and preserve jobs for their own residents. And it gives counties the power to award construction contracts to the “lowest and best” bidder, along with the discretion to determine the basis for what is “best.”  If they choose to, counties have the power to define the “best” bids as those with a substantially local workforce.”

The other goal of the Nehemiah Campaign is to reform Cincinnati’s hiring process by implementing a common-sense Fair Hiring Policy, an effort spearheaded by OJPC. For at least three years, the City has actively opposed these modest rule changes.  In 2006, the Commission refused to hire Gene Mays based only on two drug-abuse felonies, which were then 13 and 19 years old.  The Commission knew that Mr. Mays had been clean for ten years, that he was #1 for all five years of his union apprenticeship, and that he had glowing recommendations from all his supervisors.  The Commission’s response: “Mr. Mays has a couple felony convictions on his record, and could therefore not be hired for City employment.”  No further explanation was ever given.

“The Fair Hiring Policy is simple common sense,” said David Singleton, Executive Director of the Ohio Justice & Policy Center.  “The Policy makes sure that the right person for the job is identified before any criminal record is considered.  Even then, the Commission has to consider the time lapsed since the last offense, the seriousness of the offense, and the record of rehabilitation.  Now, none of that is considered—and excellent employees like Gene Mays are arbitrarily tossed out.”

Joining the AMOS Project and its allies was Cincinnati City Council member Cecil Thomas.  Councilman Thomas enthusiastically challenged those who attended: “Keep the pressure on City Council.  We can move this City forward, but we need you to hold us accountable.”

Councilman Thomas added, “With the support of the AMOS Project, we can open opportunities to put people to work.”  Council Thomas has submitted a resolution of support for a national Community Jobs Program, which is sponsored by Congressman Keith Ellison from Minnesota.  The Community Jobs Program would be a large-scale federally funded direct job creation program to get people to work immediately and help rebuild our communities.

The proposed program will provide funding to localities to create 1 million temporary public and private sector jobs. It would provide resources to local governments to create jobs in the public or nonprofit sector and in small businesses that provide public services.

“We draw inspiration from the prophet Nehemiah, who organized families to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and therefore reclaiming their lives and finding hope,” said Pastor Gregory Chandler, president of the AMOS Project.  “Our Nehemiah Campaign will open job opportunities to rebuild Cincinnati.”

AMOS Project Launches Nehemiah Campaign to Rebuild Cincinnati

Hundreds gather to drive agenda to rebuild Cincinnati
Criminal Justice Reform, Local Hiring Policy Top Priority
AMOS Project Lawyers to present legal findings on County’s legal ability to direct construction work to local residents

Where: Carmel Presbyterian Church, 3549 Reading Rd, Avondale

When: Tuesday, February 23, 7:00 – 8:30 pm

Hamilton County is a major player in economic development, yet Banks Project executives claim that a Local Hiring Policy that can open construction job opportunities in low-income communities is illegal.

The AMOS Project sought the counsel of two legal experts, including the prestigious Kirwan Institute at Ohio State University. In front of 300 people, AMOS Project leaders will present their findings.

Among those present include clients of HELP and the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence who have attended job training programs yet still cannot find work.

This is a part of a new campaign being launched by AMOS, called the Nehemiah Campaign. The Old-Testament prophet Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem using local labor. He organized families to rebuild their city, and rebuild their lives.

“Today in Cincinnati, families are struggling. We need economic development and reforms that pull people together so that everyone can provide for their families,” said AMOS Project President Pastor Gregory Chandler. “The economic well-being of our community depends on all of us being able to make ends meet.”

“We are inspired by Nehemiah, and The AMOS Project is not afraid to stand up for criminal justice reforms and common sense jobs policies for county residents to work,” said Victoria Parks, an AMOS Project board member.

The AMOS Project “Nehemiah Campaign” is being launched in collaboration with the Ohio Justice & Policy Center and the Cincinnati Interfaith Worker Center.

The AMOS Project is a coalition of congregations in Greater Cincinnati dedicated to promoting justice and improving the quality of life for all residents in Hamilton County and Ohio. AMOS develops the leadership skills of low-income and working people to be active in public life.