Revere Human Rights Commission Chair Shima Hosseini said the commission voted on Nov. 21, 2025, to reorganize its working groups and to create a small mediator subgroup to handle confidential public submissions and intake.

The commission approved a motion to revise the previous, broader working groups into three focused teams — Senior Connections, Student Involvement and Community Outreach — citing limited budget and staff capacity after the HRC’s recent cultural grant application was rejected. "I would like to set a motion to revise the old groups into the groups that we talked about today," Hosseini said before commissioners voted "aye."

Hosseini assigned members: Senior Connections (Hosseini, Vice Chair Baptiste, Commissioner Johnson); Student Involvement (Commissioner Pich, Commissioner Teche, Dr. Garcia); Community Outreach (Commissioner Johnson, Commissioner Pich, Dr. Garcia, Hosseini). Commissioners agreed overlapping membership is acceptable to ensure quorum for working-group meetings.

Commissioners also approved a separate "mediator" subgroup — two to three commissioners plus Director Roger Morabito — that will meet privately with individuals who file submissions to the HRC, provide resource referrals and recommend next steps. The proposal was framed as a way to offer support without the HRC accepting jurisdiction or issuing rulings. "It's gonna be 2 peep 2 or 3 people from the commission along with director Morabito to really sit down and talk to the person," Hosseini said when proposing the new group; the commission voted to form it.

Director Morabito and other commissioners emphasized that the HRC's role is limited by ordinance and that many individual complaints must be referred to state agencies. Commissioners asked the solicitor to prepare a clear, public document outlining the commission's authority and intake workflow for posting on the HRC website. Morabito said he will provide a workflow document and recommended procedures for intake, recordkeeping and referral to state bodies.

Budget constraints and the recent Revere Cultural Council denial of the HRC’s grant proposal were cited as reasons to streamline work into smaller, focused teams and to seek alternative funding sources. Commissioners agreed to begin group work in February and to circulate membership documents and meeting minutes by email.

The vote to revise the working groups and the vote to create the mediator subgroup were both recorded as approved by voice; specific roll-call tallies were not provided during the meeting. The HRC plans to publish clarified intake steps and links to state filing forms on its website and to consult the solicitor about ordinance limits before undertaking any formal investigations.