The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission will hold a “No Hate in Our State Town Hall” on Oct. 2 after those named in a report released by the Blair County Branch of the NAACP in November 2023 allegedly told their staff it was “just lip service.”

Branch President Andrae Holsey made the announcement during the NAACP’s monthly meeting Wednesday evening, in which two PHRC representatives were present via Zoom.

After conducting two years of investigations, the report, issued on Nov. 15, 2023, alleged misconduct, ethical and legal issues in the relationship between the Blair County District Attorney’s Office and Operation Our Town, a private, nonprofit organization that was formed by several Altoona-area business leaders in 2007 as a counter to the growing drug crime throughout the city and county.

Issues laid out in the report include funding of Drug Task Force operations by OOT and Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks allegedly urging members of the Blair County Chamber of Commerce to support OOT. In a response to the report when it first came out, Weeks said he wasn’t soliciting funds for the private group when he spoke at a March 2022 Blair County Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Club meeting.

Holsey said while he and the PHRC are looking to Oct. 2 for the town hall, “there is a strong possibility that date could be altered depending on Penn State Altoona’s availability.”

Sheryl Meck, the supervisor for PHRC’s Civil Rights Division, explained that a “No Hate in Our State Town Hall” is “an individual rapid response that the PHRC does” after an incident.

She gave the example of an Elizabethtown council member being quoted saying “we’ve had Blacks in our community for so long and never had a problem with them” during a council meeting while discussing what to do when law enforcement comes into contact with undocumented individuals.

“That kind of dialogue clearly shows how he perceives Black and brown people,” Meck said. “Obviously, the community had had a rightful issue and concern about that.”

The “trigger incident” behind the local NAACP’s call for Blair County’s own town hall was the DA’s office and others named in the report “taking the opportunity to allegedly tell their staffs that it was lip service,” Holsey said.

“We followed up with going and presenting on three different occasions, once via Zoom, twice in person, to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and were met with more lack of change,” Holsey said.

Where the PHRC doesn’t have jurisdiction, the branch has petitioned its national organization to mobilize the Departments of Justice, Corrections and Community and Economic Development at the federal and state levels.

“We don’t know what the details of that are going to look like yet,” Holsey said. “But we are confident that we have a sufficient amount of information to bring a tangible human rights oriented and civil rights oriented result.”

Holsey also spoke about the county’s drug courts, saying the branch was aware that “sentencing guidelines are not being followed” and they’re to figure out what recourse can be taken.

“We’re aware of the sentencing conflicts,” Holsey said. “We are aware of the legal counsel conflicts, and we are aware of a variety of conditions in various public institutions. This is going to take a massive multi-institutional response, which is something that we’ve been calling for over the course of three years.”

Holsey warned the branch members that they have to be careful, because the NAACP is not a government agency.

“When we make a determination of something, we can hand it to a government agency and let them review the facts,” Holsey said.

Advisory council

In other matters, Meck invited the local NAACP to help the Civil Rights Division form an Advisory Council in Blair County. According to the PHRC website, these councils were created to bring the PHRC’s resources to local communities and consist of 8-24 nonpartisan and nonpolitical volunteers who meet regularly and serve as advisors to the PHRC.

“These are all-volunteer positions that are extensions of the community to the PHRC,” Meck said. “We need at least eight individuals from the community to start one. Our hope is that we have one in all 67 counties and basically they serve as our eyes and our ears.”

In central Pennsylvania, there are advisory councils established in Cambria, Centre and Indiana counties.

“Not only will we talk to police or talk to public officials or wardens, but we also make sure that we check on them, too,” Meck said. “Because one thing that I’ve learned is, we’re fighting. We’re collectively fighting this evil together. Hate is a heavy burden to carry.”

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.