The Columbus Community Relations Commission is diminishing its role in helping to resolve a leadership dispute in the city’s Somali community.
City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. found that the city legally could not take a stand on how the Somali Community Association of Ohio is run.
“That is not the city’s job,” Pfeiffer said. “That is a matter of private conflict, although the city tries to help out.”
At the commission’s June meeting, a group of Somali men complained that Hassan Omar, who heads the association, has refused to hold an election, which they said was mandated by the bylaws. The commission agreed to review the bylaws and respond to their concerns, but Pfeiffer said it would be improper for the city to intervene in that way.
At yesterday’s commission meeting, members met briefly in private with Omar, who also is on the commission. He left the meeting before it adjourned and could not be reached for comment.
In December 2001, the commission and the Franklin County Board of Elections monitored the Somali Community Association’s election, in which 2,700 people voted. Omar was elected to lead the association, which provides social services to refugees.
Columbus is home to an estimated 45,000 Somalis, many of whom came here after their east African country erupted in civil war in 1991.
Those dissatisfied with how the association operates could take their complaint to court, said James Stowe, executive director of the commission.
However, the commission will issue a letter to all parties offering its services as a mediator, Stowe said.
“The last thing we want to do is see a group divided within its own community on an issue like this,” said Commissioner Ahmad Al-Akhras, who also is vice chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Columbus.
Omar has said the association’s bylaws were changed to omit elections every two years to create stability in the organization’s leadership. Others say they know of no such change.
The commission’s position is disappointing, said Abdi Issa, who attended the June meeting and wants the city to help with the logistics of another election.
“We’ve been waiting for this for three months. It was a waste of time and taxpayers’ money,” said Issa, a case manager for the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services. “They did this in 2001 so why not now? It’s in the bylaws. We were expecting something different.”
Those who oppose Omar’s leadership have said government officials have a responsibility to help resolve the dispute because the association received almost $600,000 in public money this year. It shares those funds with the Somali Women and Children’s Alliance.
Some Somalis who want an election had hoped to avoid legal action, said Yusef Abucar, president of Abucar’s Universal Designs architectural services.
“If it’s necessary, we will take legal action,” said Abucar, one of the organization’s founders and a candidate in the 2001 election. sherri.williams@dispatch.com
Source: Columbus Dispatch, Sept 22, 2006
