Dear Homer City Council,
Hello, I would like to take a moment to share my support for the introduction of the inclusivity resolution. I support the introduction for the purposes of community conversation and to amend the resolution as I believe in the first draft, many Trump supporters took offense to many of the “whereas” statements and may have taken it as a personal attack on their beliefs.
I had originally requested that council members put together a resolution to establish Homer as a sanctuary city and was informed that there was one already in the works. When the agenda was released I requested a copy of the draft resolution to review and share with the community. When I shared the resolution, roughly 20 people bombarded me and I received everything from death threats to a wide variety of name-calling and harassment. All I was trying to do was share the resolution and try to get people engaged with the process. Numerous times, I told commenters to please forward their comments to city council and to not take it out on me. The debate has continued on and even when providing amendments that I think would be more inclusive there was no compromise. In other words, there is a good deal of people in the community that don’t want this resolution period, simply because it establishes Homer as inclusive and a sanctuary city and/or they actually believe that Homer would start importing illegals and their children would be at risk.. I think we all know that is not likely..and as a result of all the backlash I am convinced that we do need to have this resolution introduced, amended, and passed. If there was no resistance, it wouldn’t be nearly as pressing in my eyes.. Anyhow, here is a different version of the resolution that I think would be more inclusive. Please use or discard this as you please. -- RESOLUTION __-____OF THE CITY OF HOMER, ALASKA,:
stating that the City of Homer adheres to the principle of inclusion and herein
committing this city to resisting efforts to divide this community with regard to
race, religion, ethnicity, gender, national origin, political ideology, physical
capabilities, or sexual identity or orientation regardless of the origin of those efforts,
including from local, state or federal agencies.
WHEREAS, the City of Homer recognizes that American politics has become polarized
on both ends of the political spectrum and has lead to divisiveness in our community;
WHEREAS, violent acts targeting religious groups, minorities, and members of the
LGBTQ community are becoming more frequent in and outside of the United States;
WHEREAS, before and especially since the election, some citizens on both sides of
the political spectrum have been emboldened to express overtly an intolerance of
diversity that is opposed to the views of most Homer residents and most Americans;
WHEREAS, the City of Homer recognizes that our community is diverse in regards to
religion, political ideologies, sexual identity or orientation, and ethnicity, and no citizen
should feel in any way threatened for their beliefs or physical appearance, and the City
should be on record opposing all intolerance towards those individuals;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Homer
unequivocally rejects expressions of fear and hate wherever they may exist, and
specifically rejects harassment of women, immigrants, religious minorities, racial
and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ individuals, and non-violent political groups, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of Homer embraces all peoples regardless
of skin color, country of birth, faith, sex, gender, marital status, political ideology, or
abilities; and that the City of Homer will not waver in its commitment to inclusion
and to continuing to create a village safe for a diverse population; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of Homer will cooperate with federal
agencies in detaining undocumented immigrants when legitimate court-issued
federal warrants are delivered, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of Homer shall steadfastly defend the U.S.
and Alaska constitutions, especially with regard to the former’s precedent-backed
right of privacy and the latter’s specified right of privacy (Article 1, Section 22), and
safeguard the rights declared in the Bill of Rights; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of Homer will continue its staunch
support of our local police in their ongoing efforts to enforce law and protect our
community and its visitors in a just, unbiased and transparent manner; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of Homer will declare itself a safety net
for the most vulnerable members of and visitors to our community; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City of Homer calls on all its citizens to stand
against intolerance and resist expressions of hate toward any members of the
community, and thus to set an example for the rest of the nation, demonstrating that
Homer residents and Alaskans adhere to the principle of live-and- let-live.
-- Thank you for your hard work and again, I insist that we introduce this resolution for the purposes of conversation and amendments. Jeremiah Emmerson|
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