New Hampshire’s embattled Human Rights Commission (HRC) is getting two new members and, according to Gov. Kelly Ayotte, their first priority is reforming the failing agency.
The Republican governor told reporters after Wednesday’s Executive Council meeting that it’s past time to get the HRC functioning after a damning audit by the Office of Legislative Budget Assistant earlier this year. The report found unresolved cases that were years, and in some cases, decades old. One pending case dates back to the Reagan administration.
The audit also found the understaffed office and its poorly trained investigators have been mismanaged by leadership for years.
“I’ve been quite clear that those audit findings are unacceptable, and where we are right now with the Human Rights Commission is completely unacceptable,” Ayotte told NHJournal.
The Executive Council confirmed business leader Ray Pinard to the commission on Wednesday, and Ayotte nominated Dr. Stewart Levenson to another seat. Under the law creating the agency, Human Rights Commission members are appointed by the governor, and they are responsible for overseeing the staff, including the position of executive director.
But that’s hard to do, critics say, when Executive Director Anhi Malachi has gone AWOL.
Malachi, who’s been the HRC’s director since 2018, has rarely been in the office since last summer. She reportedly suffered a heart attack and has been on medical leave through January of this year. However, after returning to work part-time for a couple of weeks, Malachi again took leave and continues to be out of the office and incommunicado.
Emails obtained by NHJournal through a Right to Know request indicate Malachi is still not communicating with the HRC staff, including current Interim Executive Director Katrina Taylor. Malachi’s lack of communication with her office dates back to the summer, based on the emails.
After informing staff through an email on July 27, 2024, that she would be out for an extended period, no Malachi emails appeared until January of this year.
It’s not clear how much Malachi worked until she went out on leave again for medical reasons. It’s also unclear whether Malachi informed any staff about her second leave. Taylor, who has been running the agency through the LBA audit, did not find out until Commissioner Elizabeth Asch informed her on Feb. 4, according to the emails.
Malachi’s absence is even more puzzling — and perhaps ethically questionable — after the HRC staff found out last fall that Malachi had been chairing a volunteer board for the city of Concord the entire time.
“Staff brought to my attention the attached and expressed concerns (and disappointment) that it appears Anhi is semi-working in other capacities but is seemingly unwilling or unable to communicate (by way of simple check-in) with HRC,” Taylor wrote to Asch on Nov. 14.
The attached document was a copy of the Sept. 30 meeting minutes of Concord’s Diversity Equity Inclusion Justice and Belonging (DEIJB) Committee. They included a letter from Malachi explaining her temporary absence from the DEIJB, and her promise to continue working with the committee even as she was out of contact with the HRC, where she was paid to work.
Some Republicans say the HRC’s lack of action and the subsequent lack of negative outcomes prove that the entire agency should be shut down. Ayotte doesn’t agree. She’s trying to fix the agency within the current law. She’s keeping the HRC funded in her budget proposal, and she’s waiving hiring freezes to get three more investigators on the job addressing the caseload backlog.
Asked about the HRC’s performance and whether senior staff should be fired, Ayotte noted that the agency doesn’t answer to the governor or the Executive Council. She also hinted that firing would be her preferred solution.
“If (the executive director) were a governor and council appointment, and perhaps that’s a proposal that the legislature might consider as well, then we obviously would take a different tactic here,” Ayotte said.
Ayotte pointed to the appointment of Pinard as a sign that Granite Staters can expect vigorous action — and soon. Pinard is known for turning around businesses, and he has pledged to put in 500 hours of his time to get the HRC reform started.
“He offered to serve on the HRC following the release of the alarming LBA audit, and I applaud him for stepping up, offering to serve the State of New Hampshire, and willing to put in the time to overhaul the HRC, which he estimates will be 500 hours of his time. A self-described ‘change agent,’ he’s exactly what we need on the HRC right now,” said Executive Councilor Janet Stevens (R-District 3).
Reached Wednesday, Levenson said if confirmed, he wants to focus on building better policies and procedures that will serve the people of New Hampshire for years to come.
“It’s an important job, and unfortunately, I think there have been some issues in the past and that going forward we have to do better, and I think we can,” Levenson said.
