At busy council meeting, city leaders also update regulations for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and approve more funding for program to aid the unhoused
This roadmap is very important and I feel we are lucky to have Satinder on the council and being on this task force.
With that said, if you don’t mind, I would like your feedback on something that bugged me at the Juneteenth celebration. I was not at all happy to see the police department be front and center with their tent right where the stage was set up for speakers, singers and rappers. They also used an inflatable “cop” which required an engine to keep it afloat. It was loud. Yes we need our police at events, but I thought given the climate of cops vs black folks, it was intimidating for them to be right THERE in everyone’s faces. The idea is to create unity in the community and to welcome everyone. That’s certainly the message Nakenya wanted to convey. (I thought she and Sevgy worked their fingers to the bone!)
That's a difficult question for me to opine on, Marlene, not knowing what discussions, if any, took place before the event regarding the role of police at the event. I know one speaker expressed some of the sentiments you express here. At the same time, I saw police having really positive interactions with people at the event. And the fact the police chief (who I believe "gets it" when it comes to need for reform in policing and building trust and outreach with marginalized communities) gave up his Saturday to attend impressed me. I do believe our PD wants to build trust and understanding with groups that have historically been victimized by racist policing, but as a White male, it's really not for me to say what the appropriate way to do this is. I also wonder if, given what happened with the mural in 2020 and the racial tension that gripped the city then, having the police front and center at Juneteenth helped to defuse any possibility for such tension and racism to manifest itself again. If in 2020 the PD had come out to support the creation of the BLM mural by the courthouse, perhaps certain individuals wouldn't have felt emboldened to do what they did in response. Also, given the attendance by organized groups I saw at the Beaver Festival a few blocks away, I think it was perhaps a positive thing to have as much involvement in Juneteenth as possible. I'm guessing the fact the two events happened on the same day at the same time was inadvertent, but I think it was nevertheless unfortunate. Hopefully, in future years, there will be as much interest among families in Martinez in teaching their children about the history of racism in our society and what Juneteenth represents as there is in teaching them the history of our famous beavers (and I was as much a part of beaver-mania as anyone in Martinez when the beavers were doing their thing).
Valuable information. Thank you.
This roadmap is very important and I feel we are lucky to have Satinder on the council and being on this task force.
With that said, if you don’t mind, I would like your feedback on something that bugged me at the Juneteenth celebration. I was not at all happy to see the police department be front and center with their tent right where the stage was set up for speakers, singers and rappers. They also used an inflatable “cop” which required an engine to keep it afloat. It was loud. Yes we need our police at events, but I thought given the climate of cops vs black folks, it was intimidating for them to be right THERE in everyone’s faces. The idea is to create unity in the community and to welcome everyone. That’s certainly the message Nakenya wanted to convey. (I thought she and Sevgy worked their fingers to the bone!)
Did you have any thoughts on this?
That's a difficult question for me to opine on, Marlene, not knowing what discussions, if any, took place before the event regarding the role of police at the event. I know one speaker expressed some of the sentiments you express here. At the same time, I saw police having really positive interactions with people at the event. And the fact the police chief (who I believe "gets it" when it comes to need for reform in policing and building trust and outreach with marginalized communities) gave up his Saturday to attend impressed me. I do believe our PD wants to build trust and understanding with groups that have historically been victimized by racist policing, but as a White male, it's really not for me to say what the appropriate way to do this is. I also wonder if, given what happened with the mural in 2020 and the racial tension that gripped the city then, having the police front and center at Juneteenth helped to defuse any possibility for such tension and racism to manifest itself again. If in 2020 the PD had come out to support the creation of the BLM mural by the courthouse, perhaps certain individuals wouldn't have felt emboldened to do what they did in response. Also, given the attendance by organized groups I saw at the Beaver Festival a few blocks away, I think it was perhaps a positive thing to have as much involvement in Juneteenth as possible. I'm guessing the fact the two events happened on the same day at the same time was inadvertent, but I think it was nevertheless unfortunate. Hopefully, in future years, there will be as much interest among families in Martinez in teaching their children about the history of racism in our society and what Juneteenth represents as there is in teaching them the history of our famous beavers (and I was as much a part of beaver-mania as anyone in Martinez when the beavers were doing their thing).