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
|
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
www.avast.com
|