HARTFORD -- The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) has announced that it has formed an Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, comprising a cross-section of MDC employees and a member of the Board of Commissioners.

Formation of the Advisory Committee was one of the objectives in the MDC’s 2002 Strategic Action Plan.

The nine employees who will serve on the committee represent a variety of operational, administrative and support departments. Joining them on the committee is MDC Commissioner James K. O’Brien of West Hartford, serving as an ex officio member. Mr. O’Brien is Vice Chairman of the 29-member MDC Board of Commissioners.

“I am pleased that these employees and Commissioner O’Brien have stepped forward to give of their time and effort to serve on this important committee,” said MDC Chairman Albert F. Reichin. “They will play a key role as we work to strengthen our programs and policies.”

The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee will offer input and advice on potential improvements to the District’s policies and practices related to diversity and will help to monitor the progress made in strengthening those policies. The committee will seek to understand, confront and eliminate institutional barriers, if any, to an equitable and diverse work environment. In addition, the committee will have a role in the District’s ongoing training efforts in diversity and affirmative action.

Commissioner Marilyn F. Cohen of West Hartford, chair of the Personnel, Pension and Insurance Committee, noted that the formation of the Affirmative Action Committee is part of the 2002 Strategic Action Plan, which was developed in 2001. Earlier this year, a Compliance Audit of Employment Practices, which the District commissioned, included in its recommendations the establishment of the Advisory Committee.

“The formation of the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee is an important step as we work to make the MDC a leader in equal employment opportunities,” she said.

Employee members of the committee are: James Michel, Doris Poma, Ethel Wright, Linda Foster, Frank Dellaripa, Stephanie Russo, Trevor Roberts, Dominick Marques and Rick Gomez, chairman.

Gomez, the MDC’s Affirmative Action Officer, said, “Our plan is to get to work immediately. The committee will leverage diversity’s benefits throughout the MDC by developing strategies that are aligned with our business objectives.”

A non-profit municipal corporation chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1929, the MDC supplies water and sewer services to its eight member municipalities in Connecticut: Bloomfield, East Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor. The MDC also supplies treated water to portions of Glastonbury, East Granby, South Windsor and Farmington and Portland.

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