The Oliver Ellis administration apparently thinks it can ignore touchy issues and they will go away. It appears that part of the city’s new brand is to “say nothing about touchy issues and hope they go away.”
Unfortunately, the Black members of the city council are drinking the cool-aid.
At Tuesday night’s meeting of the city council, the city’s most critical problem is the increasing number of murders and attempted murders.
Despite the fact that the city can once again hang out the infamous “murder-a-week” label that began with the Mayo Administration, the crime problem was not even mentioned by the mayor nor any member of the City Council.
Instead, council members commended the mayor for the city’s new $60,000 logo and its “wonderful” infomercial about the city’s vision. They marvel at how “professional” the presentation was and patted each other on the back.
In their individual announcements, members tell what’s on their minds. But it seems our council members are only concerned about spaghetti dinners, cleanups, weight loss programs and a half dozen other feel-good subjects.
Tuesday night, the council gave a deserving award to a hundred-year-old man and gave a plaque to Vietnam Veterans.
The mayor told of things he is working on and received praise for talking to Southside residents in social encounters.
Although there has been a rash of shootings and murders in just the last week including a high-level police action on the same day as the council meeting, council members, similar to the last council under the Mayo Administration, ignored the crime problem.
There were no expressions of concern for the dead, the fear felt in communities, or the uneasiness in our neighborhoods.
No one thought the recent death of David Harris while in police custody was worthy of comment, condolence, or statement of concern. Although last week councilwoman Juanita Woods released a statement urging the State Police to investigate the death, she was quiet Tuesday night. No other council member has said a word publicly, as if they are ashamed to speak up for fear of losing their day jobs.
It’s troubling to African-Americans because we represent the majority of the city council who should voice the concerns of their districts. Crime is a BIG issue in our community.
The council, especially the Black councilmembers, also sat quietly as leaders of the Amalgamated Transit Union complained that bus drivers are often not allowed to have breaks to use the restroom if their buses run late, or that bus stops at some locations have been moved forcing senior citizens to often walk a block further to catch the bus.
The bus riders are mostly Black, which should have prompted at least a question from Black council members?
They said nothing when Union leaders complained that the transit personnel, who are 99 percent African-American haven’t had a raise in five years and are reportedly intimidated when they complain.
They also sat quietly when Minister Verbon Muhammad asked the council to ensure that the investigation into the death of David Harris is conducted by the State Police and not an Adhoc group designed to bypass the state police.
In-custody deaths and police brutality claims mostly involve black victims. It should have been a concern of those who represent our people on the council.
All of the rebranding, feel-good announcements of cleanups, unity programs, and spaghetti dinners only serve to masquerade the fact that when it comes to issues that really matter to the poor and minorities, our majority-black city council is pretty weak.
We deserve more.
