CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The nomination of Lillian Vazquez to chair the City of Clarksville’s Human Relations Commission failed Thursday night, with council members citing her previous term, which ended with her resignation.

Vazquez’s appointment failed 10-3, with yes votes coming from Wallace Redd, Stacey Streetman and Mayor Joe Pitts. It was the final vote in a meeting that ran over 5 1/2 hours.

Who is Lillian Vazquez?

Vazquez, a civil servant with the Department of Veteran Affairs, served as HRC chair from January 2020 until June 2021 when she resigned.

She previously told Clarksville Now she had felt “overextended,” leading to her resignation.

Based on a question from Redd, Pitts told council members he reached out to other HRC members and asked if they would be interested in continuing to serve, but that they were unavailable for various reasons.

“Mrs. Vazquez served as chair, trying to keep the expenses attached to the HRC within city policy. There was some contention, clearly, and some disagreement over that, but I support what she is trying to do and hope to surround her with picks that are palatable to the council,” Pitts said.

‘She failed the HRC’

Councilperson Ashlee Evans, who also serves on the HRC, criticized Vazquez both at the meeting and on Facebook, saying she “failed the HRC,” preventing them from performing their function of serving underrepresented groups.

Councilperson Wanda Allen said Vazquez should not be given a second chance as chair.

“The HRC is an important council. As you have seen here tonight, we have things that we vote on that have to do with diversity. Diversity does not just have to do with race. It has to do with everything,” Allen said.

“We need people on the HRC that really believe in diversity. As you have seen in the last year, our HRC became completely defunct because of what was going on and toxicity that was happening. At this point, they’re having problems getting people to come to meetings, and we want to put the same person back in?”

A new nomination

Councilperson Vondell Richmond asked that the mayor consider nominating someone “steeped in the new DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) legislation that’s come forward, who really has a grasp of that and can help lead us as a council body forward in the discussion.”

“There are a lot of sensitive issues coming our way. I don’t think this is the end of them. I think we need to look at who we align ourselves with from a subject-matter expert perspective,” Richmond said.

Last week, Evans suggested three alternatives for nomination: former council candidates Margaret Thompson and Loralee Childers, as well as April Sledge.

Sledge told Clarksville Now she would likely “not be able to fit the HRC into her schedule at this time.”

While the council may recommend nominees for an agency such as the HRC, nominations are the purview of the mayor. Pitts will need to choose a new nominee, or again may nominate Vazquez at a future session.