Hartford — The Selectboard this week unanimously approved a plan to make Hartford a more welcoming community for people of color, after making some last minute tweaks to make the plan more palatable to the local police department.

The unanimous vote, during a Tuesday board meeting, came after a compromise that softened language that, as originally written, would have required Selectboard members to make a public report if they witnessed other Selectboard members engage in “verbal or written expressions, actions or transactions … (that) reflect a prejudicial orientation towards any person or group of people on the basis of race” and a series of other historically marginalized groups.

In order to address the concerns of Selectboard members who said they were uncomfortable with the original version, the policy encourages, rather than requires, members to bring policy violations to the attention of the chairs of the Selectboard and the committee.

Selectboard Chairman Simon Dennis, who helped to broker the compromise, said on Thursday that the unanimous vote was important to him.

“Though we are a new board, we expressed a commitment to one another through our process of revising the (plan),” he said. “That’s a good thing for a couple of reasons. For one, as this process unfolds, we don’t want to leave anyone behind. But more to the point, our commitment to one another is part of what this effort is all about.”

The new policy on equity and inclusivity is one of four major components of the plan, which was based largely on recommendations from the Hartford Committee on Racial Inequality.

The second major component asks the Selectboard to join the Hartford School Board in producing a request for proposals to hire an outside entity to conduct cultural competency training for elected officials and management staff.

The third major component is an initiative to draft a strategic plan for equity and conclusion. This is envisioned as another joint effort with the School Board, which also is mulling a set of recommendations from the committee.

“At this point, the Selectboard is waiting to hear back from the School Board,” Dennis said on Thursday. “The conversation may go back and forth between the two boards until we reach an agreement but I’m optimistic it will go smoothly.”

Finally, the ad hoc Hartford Committee on Racial Inequality will be replaced by a permanent Hartford Committee on Racial Equity and Inclusion.

Much of the discussion on Tuesday centered on a suggested change to the charge of the newly formed HCOREI.

The clause in question was written by John Hall, the chairman of the Hartford Committee on Racial Inequality, and Jameson Davis, who was elected to the Selectboard last month.

It specifically would have tasked the Hartford Police Department with collecting and making accessible roadside-stop race data, including data that would show racial disparities in the use of force against suspects.

Hartford Town Manager Leo Pullar raised concerns about the clause, and noted that there are no similarly specific charges in the document that would address other targeted racial disparities, such as housing accessibility.

“My concern is from a morale perspective, to be frank, (if) they read the document and it looks like another swipe at the police department,” Pullar said, according to CATV video of the meeting. “I know that’s not how it’s intended and I know that’s not where our chief is and it’s certainly not where I am, with the sharing of data, but it just seems like another swipe at our police department. I don’t think the words are bad. I think they are helpful when you move forward with the follow-up work of the committee, but do they need to be in the charge?”

Davis defended the clause, and said it was intended as an offer of assistance, rather than a critique, of the town’s police force.

“We’re going to have to do tough things to get this policy passed and to have it be effective when it is passed,” he said. “That’s an important piece for the people that’s designed to protect.”

In another compromise, the language was removed in favor of a less specific clause that advocated “the release of data to provide novice-level citizens the ability to view, compare, and understand collected data,” without singling out what type of data should be collected.

Hall voiced qualified support for the change.

“I fail to see how that comes across as a swipe to the police department,” he said, “but if this change would make the people who feel that way more comfortable, I would endorse that.”

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.