06/08/2020
Official Statement from the Shorewood Village President:
In recent days, the world has been shocked following the senseless death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer sworn to public service. This was an egregious and condemnable act of violence and racism, and yet another violation of the public trust.
Like many other localities around the nation, our Village has been the place for peaceful protests by community members who have used their presence to speak out against violence, racism, and inhumane treatment by police officers to members of our Black community. Repeated violations of the public trust cause trauma to our Black neighbors- many of whom continue to fear for their lives.
As your Village President, I will not remain silent or sit on the sidelines. Black lives matter.
I personally acknowledge and denounce the suffering afflicted upon our black neighbors and join with you to call for quick and meaningful reform within our public agencies. Much work is needed around the nation, and specifically in our community, to ensure that people of color feel safe, respected and heard.
I write today to clearly state: Hate Has No Home in Shorewood.
I recognize that our community strength is built on long-standing principles of diversity and respect. I publicly acknowledge and apologize for our community’s history of racism.
I join my elected colleagues around the nation and within our comunity to condemn the horrific and inexcusable murders of George Floyd and the thousands of other innocent people of color.
I firmly believe that our Village and its leaders can no longer fail to address the devastating impact that racism places on people of color in our Village, surrounding community, and nation.
Please know, I have listened intently and heard your calls for meaningful change. I pledge to you to work tirelessly with my colleagues on the Village Board and other elected officials in our community to address your concerns and achieve a better tomorrow for our children.
During the election for Village Board President, I promised to make social justice my number one priority for change in our community- to redirect the focus of Village efforts from the physical environment to the social assets that make Shorewood an inviting and safe community built on values of dignity, justice, and respect. Without increased and focused attention on our social values, the Village will slowly continue to lose site of our most important asset - our residents - ALL of our residents.
As a Village Board member and your Village President, I worked over the last 4 years in collaboration with the Village Board, Village Administration, community partners and residents to adopt a Village Resolution for Solidarity and establish the framework for a Shorewood Human Relations Commission which included the development of its mission to cultivate community-wide change through learning, engagement, and policy to advance human dignity, respect, and civil rights. Alongside my Village Board colleagues, I voted to appoint 3 women of color to the Commission, one these women subsequently became and remains the Commission Chair.
I remain fully aware that without diverse representatives on the Village Board and Village Volunteer Committees, new local policies and laws would simply mirror the long-standing views of the white majority.
Immediately following the Village President election in 2018, the Village Board voted to fill an open seat on the Village Board by special appointment. To ensure interest and applications from people of color, I took the initiative to actively recruit community members from underrepresented groups, and I voted, in the majority, to appoint the first African American to the Shorewood Village Board.
In May 2020, I appointed a member of the Solidarity Network (a local advocacy group) to the Shorewood Police Commission, the body that oversees discipline, hiring and firing of our village police officers.
To our residents of color, I ask that you contact me to discuss joining committees, commissions, and boards to ensure that future local decisions will be made fairly -with you, not merely on your behalf.
Although much important work has been done to advance equal rights and our shared values of dignity and respect, it is evident that much more work needs to occur to achieve social justice for all in Shorewood.
Many of our community leaders have expressed support for quick and meaningful action. I join with them in a unified effort to make structural change which can protect the lives of our Black neighbors and put an end to the violence and injustice that has devastating impacts upon them.
Ending injustice is within our reach. We can protect Black lives. I am urging all of us- all local leaders, community members, and residents- to come together in unity, raise our voices, stand with our Black neighbors in protest, and make quick and meaningful change to the policies and long standing practices of the past which have served to divide, rather than unify our village.
Some of you may be familiar with the various initiatives being proposed nationwide to reform police use of force policies and practices. I fully support and pledge to advance the suggested reforms.
In the upcoming days, weeks, and months, I will work with the Village Board, Village Administration, and Human Relations Commission to closely examine, improve upon, and draft new police department policies that require de-escalation, warning before shooting, comprehensive reporting, use of force continuum, and the ban of choke holds. Our police policies, practices, and training must incorporate and reflect national best practices.
We all are painstakingly aware that political polarization denies us the ability to heal from the recent tragedies. We must rise above such conflict and work in unity towards our shared goals of human dignity, justice and respect. We cannot bring George Floyd, Martin Luther King, and other advocates for social justice and victims of racial violence back, but we can take immediate and focused action to honor their memory and advance their unfinished work towards achieving equality, dignity, respect and social justice in Shorewood. We can and we will.
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***Please accept my apology for the delay in delivery of this message. I have always believed it is important for community leaders to personally write their public communications. I frequently spend more time than anticipated drafting my public communications and deliver only after I have taken the time to process an event(s), the initial public response, and my own thoughts for advancing our village.
