By Matthew McLaughlin

City residents voiced concerns last week about cuts to the city’s human services commission in next year’s budget.

The city plans to combine three commissions: the multi-cultural, human rights, and women’s commissions. Melissa McWhinney, a Somerville resident and former director of the Human Rights commission, said the cuts will create “beleaguered departments” and diminish their ability to serve the community.

“I don’t think that it will work,” McWhinney said. “The voices of these commissions will be silenced. The essential work they do will be compromised by diminished staff.”

McWhinney, who is also an advocacy director at the Community Action Agency of Somerville, said that as of this Tuesday, the four commissions will no longer be separate entities. Two individuals will now handle the job that four used to manage.

“There is going to be one person handling two or four positions,” she said.

City spokeswoman Lesley Delaney Hawkins said the changes came after Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone evaluated the commission’s structures and efficiency. She said the new plan will combine the three departments under an executive director and assistant director. One job will be lost but there will be a net increase of $12,000 in salary for the commission jobs, she said. “Cumulatively there will be more salary and more hours worked in the commissions.”

The Human Rights Commission was established in 1993 after an incident at Somerville High School when a Haitian man was attacked while using a portable toilet. Since then the commission has been responsible for investigating human rights violations. But due to budget cuts, the group no longer has a full time investigator. With a budget of only $12,000, the commission is forced to prioritize possible human rights violations, said Cesear Urrunaga, a co-chair on the Human Rights Commission.

“The lack of a full time investigator has and will continue to hinder us,” he said.

McWhinney said that while the commissions have overlapping issues, investigating possible violations sets the Human Rights Commission apart and should not be downgraded.

“I think some of the success of our [welcoming] community can be attributed to the Human Rights Commission, but this is no time to weaken it,” she said.

The Somerville Commission for Women will also be merged with the other departments. The commission is responsible for ensuring equal status for women in Somerville. McWhinney said each department will be diluted with the merger.

“I’m worried that in the city budget there will be a lot of things that look good on paper but don’t do much,” she said.

The fiscal budget for the year has been set, but McWhinney said she hopes the commissions are restored next year. Until then, she fears vital departments that help residents will be diminished.