 |
| Former city council member Johnny Wilson addressed the council and Mayor Grayson Vandegrift, right. |
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
Seventeen people stood up Monday evening and gave arguments for, against and skeptical of a proposed Midway City Council resolution that would endorse resettlement of refugees in Kentucky without discrimination.
About 50 people who attended an hour-long City Council forum at Northside Elementary School heard advocates argue that the resolution would reflect Midway's values as a compassionate community, and opponents argue that the city has better things to do and shouldn't follow the lead of an outside group that is running a national campaign.
There were other arguments on both sides. Eight of the 17 speakers supported the resolution and five opposed it, while four expressed skepticism or suggested alternatives.
Amnesty International representative Lee Birdwhistell started the discussion by explaining the resolution, offered by Council Member Logan Nance. The group has been asking local governments around the country to pass such resolutions since January 2017, when President Trump took office after a campaign that made immigration a central issue.
Birdwhistell said the Midway resolution is intended "to educate, to help counter narratives of anger, hatred and fear. . . . We're trying to facilitate a dialogue about what it means to be a welcoming community for all people."
She noted that the resolution wouldn't require anything, commit any resources, or bring any refugees to Midway, but she made arguments aimed at addressing fears of them. "Refugees are the most vetted group to be admitted to the United States," she said, because a typical case takes 18 to 36 months and involves at least six federal agencies. Most are children, she said: "These are not dangerous bad actors."
To arguments that the issue isn't Midway's problem, Birdwhistell said, "It's a reality for 22.5 million people, and that's too high a number to say it doesn't matter to us." The United Nations says there are 25.4 million refugees, 5.4 million of them Palestinians.
A rebuttal came from the first local citizen to speak: Johnny Wilson, who recently served an unexpired term on the council. He said, "I'm not against refugees coming in, I'm against the resolution," because "They're already coming in" and "We don't have the housing here, or the money." The resolution does not call for resettlement of refugees in Midway.
Wilson said the national situation with immigration is "volatile," and "There's a lot of troubles in this world, and we can't solve them all. Let's do what we can for the city first."
Doug Elam of Weisenberger Mill Road said likewise: "This community struggles with enough issues, much less somebody coming in and wanting to impose this kind of stuff. We can't take care of the world."
Peggy Richardson of the 100 block of South Turner Street challenged the council to "work toward affordable housing and transportation, so that we can invite not only refugees, but other diverse populations to our community." She said the resolution would be "hollow and shallow if we're not willing to follow it up by really being a welcoming community by providing affordable housing and transportation. Fix those two problems first."
Becky Fisher, of the 200 block of South Gratz, earlier mentioned the need for more and better housing. "Be careful to take care of the people who are here," she said. "We don't have places for people to live. . . .You need to make a lot of resolutions if you're gonna do this one."
Her husband, Sam Fisher, said earlier that refugee matters are best handled by individuals, churches, charities and communities, not local governments, because it is a divisive political issue. "It's going to create further polarization of our community," he said.
But David Shaw, of the 100 block of West Stephens Street, said passage of the resolution would point out that compassionate feeling our community has. Shaw said he has worked with a refugee family for two years and they are "among the nicest people I've ever met."
Several others spoke likewise, including longtime civic activist Helen Rentch, who said welcoming people from other cultures "brings a tremendous richness to our lives, to see how people look at the world," and the area's horse farms couldn't survive without immigrant labor.
Some speakers objected to Amnesty International's involvement, but Rentch said she sends the group $25 every December because it "speaks for the people who are political prisoners around the world."
Cindy Karrick of Northridge Estates said the organization has become more political, getting into issues such as arms control and climate change, and a small, nonpartisan government shouldn't align itself with such a group.
"Perhaps a sensible compromise for Midway would be to draft our own welcoming declaration, with actions behind it," Karrick said. "It seems as though we need a little more accepting and welcoming of ourselves in accomplishing our goals of inclusiveness."
Nance said after the forum that he didn't plan to change the resolution because it wasn't solely an Amnesty International product. "I worked with them to write this," he said.
Nance, an Army veteran of Afghanistan who was elected in November, said he was "overwhelmed by the turnout, overwhelmed by the great conversations that were started here today. This is one of the proudest moments of my life, to have these kinds of conversations in this kind of setting. . . . I'm very proud of my city tonight."
Vandegrift said afterward that he would let the council decide when to vote on the resolution. In opening the forum, he said that no matter the outcome, some citizens will be disappointed and others will be thrilled, "But that should not be the end of the story." He said it should be that "We disagreed on an issue passionately but peacefully."
The mayor had likened the forum to one he held on the city's 2015 ordinance banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. He said after last night's forum, "There never was as much public opposition to the fairness ordinance as there is to this, and I don't know what that means." He acknowledged that the national political situation is different than it was four years ago.
The forum was moderated by Tad Long of the Kentucky League of Cities. Each citizen speaker was allowed three minutes.
UPDATE, April 10: Amnesty International field organizer Tony Goodwin, asked to reply to remarks about the organization, said in an email that it "is a non-partisan, non-governmental organization working to defend the human rights of all people. As the world faces a global refugee crisis, Amnesty International USA members and supporters are committed to building communities that are welcoming to refugees. Support for refugee rights is not a political issue. Unfortunately, however, it has oftentimes become politicized."
No comments:
Post a Comment