LEOMINSTER — During public comment at the Leominster City Council’s meeting on Monday, March 9, 2026, residents urged councilors to move forward with a proposal to establish a human rights commission, describing it as a way to create community openness and accountability.
The proposal, Petition 37-26, was submitted by Ward 5 Councilor Carrie Noseworthy and seeks to establish a human rights commission for the city.
On March 9, the matter came before the full council after having already been discussed at a March 5 joint meeting of the Legal Affairs and Ways & Means & Veterans Affairs committees, where councilors examined the scope, structure and authority of the proposed body.
Speaking during public comment on March 9, Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor of Blossom Street said she and other residents had worked on a similar effort several years ago and were encouraged to see the idea return to the agenda.
“I’m just really excited that it’s back on the agenda,” Lawton-Sticklor told councilors. She said a human rights commission would give Leominster “a proactive opportunity through a human rights commission to create programming, education, outreach” and help “establish positive and inclusive relationships across the city.”
Lawton-Sticklor said she and others had researched commissions in other communities and found positive examples elsewhere in Massachusetts.
“We reached out to other cities and towns that had human rights commissions. They all had really positive experiences,” she said, adding that she hoped the committee would “continue to move it forward.”
Later in the public forum, Brooke Gilmore of Green Street also spoke in support of the measure, telling councilors she had been involved in earlier research and community outreach for the proposal pitched several years ago and believed its return was significant.
“I’m so excited that after so many years that it is back here for your consideration,” Gilmore said. She said that in 2026 it feels “even more urgent and pressing” for the city to make that investment in residents and “create and embed this inclusive and welcoming tone and support of our community and neighbors.”
When the petition came up later under Legal Affairs, councilors said both the Legal Affairs Committee and the Ways & Means Committee were recommending further time. Ward 3 Councilor David Cormier, a member of the Legal Affairs Committee, said he had asked for an opinion from the mayor but had not yet received a response yet.
Ward 4 Councilor Mark Bodanza said he was willing to support giving the matter more time, but said he had spoken directly with Mayor Dean Mazzarella about whether the city would fund a professional to guide the commission if it were created.
“My question to the mayor was would he appropriate money for a professional to guide this particular organization, should we create one, and unequivocally the answer was no,” Bodanza said. He said such a body could make “pretty weighty decisions” with “litigation at their base,” and added that he had researched whether creating a human rights commission without professional guidance could impact municipal insurance costs, costs he said underwriters treat as an added expense.
There was no mention by councilors in either meeting of perhaps hiring a contractor from an organization with the requisite professional background, years of experience, and high level expertise necessary for this role on a part-time, contractual basis.
The discussion also turned to a legal opinion from Attorney Brian Riley, a portion of which was read into the record by Councilor Noseworthy. According to the portion read aloud, Riley cautioned that a human rights commission should not adjudicate complaints or formally resolve disputes between individuals, but said the petition as written did not present that risk. Instead, he wrote that information gathered by such a commission should be referred to agencies with authority to act, including the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, police, or the district attorney’s office, information which, he said, was already included in the petition as well.
The council ultimately voted to give Petition 37-26 further time.
~50 municipalities in MA have HRC, some have been established for many, many years.
And are formed with non- salaried positions.
Similarly are some veterans, disability commissions.