The following resolution was proposed and discussed at the Monrovia City Council Meeting on Tuesday. More than an hour of public comments followed the proposal. Perhaps Council Member Becky Shevlin put it best when she said simply, “What really matters is how we act when we walk out of that door, how we treat each other.”
The resolution passed unanimously. The following is the text of the resolution (no. 2017-33):
A resolution of the city council of the city of Monrovia, California, reaffirming the city’s commitment to building, maintaining and nourishing our city to be of one mind as we pursue the establishment of a true community that is free of racism, hatred and bigotry in all forms
Whereas, on August 12, 2017, during an abhorrent white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, nineteen counter-protesters were seriously injured, and Heather Heyer was brutally murdered in a related act of terrorism; and
Whereas, HJ Cullen and Berke Bates, two Virginia State Troopers, were killed in a helicopter crash as they were monitoring the events occurring on the ground; and
Whereas, the City of Monrovia offers its deepest sympathies to the families of those injured and killed during the situation in Charlottesville; and
Whereas, the City of Monrovia unequivocally denounces the demonstration of white supremacy, hate, and violence that occurred in Charlottesville; and
Whereas, the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Createor with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”; and
Whereas, the City of Monrovia emphatically embraces the notion upon which our country was founded – that all people are created equal; and
Whereas, the City of Monrovia commits to continuing its long history of embracing all people, making room for all faiths, and rejecting all forms of bigotry, hatred, violence, and domestic terrorism.
Now therefore, be it resolved by the city council of the city of Monrovia:
Section 1: The City of Monrovia stands together with the rest of the country in denouncing all forms of hate and violence that encouraged by any group or individual.
Section 2: The City of Monrovia rejects the racist beliefs of Neo-Nazis, the KKK, white supremacists, and other like-minded groups, which have no place in the United States of America.
Section 3: The City of Monrovia urges that all individuals and groups reaffirm their commitment to supporting our unique American social mores of engaging in civil discourse and dialogue when confronted by those with different perspectives, rather than resorting to any form of violence.
Section 4: The City of Monrovia forcefully encourages all people to affirm the equal moral status of each and every individual.
Section 5: The City of Monrovia believes without equivocation that in this current time of division and divisiveness, we must all work to come together and remember those unassailable truths that bind us together as one United States of America.
Passed, approved and adopted on this 5th day of September, 2017.
