HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-27-20 Public Comment - T. Goebel - Feedback on review of inclusion policiesFrom:Chris Mehl
To:Agenda
Subject:Fw: Feedback on review of inclusion policies
Date:Monday, July 27, 2020 4:19:58 PM
From: Tia Goebel <tia.goebel22@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, July 27, 2020 3:40 PM
To: Chris Mehl <mehlchris@hotmail.com>
Subject: Feedback on review of inclusion policies
Hi Chris,
I write to you today after having reviewed the report put out on July 22 about Bozeman as an
inclusive city. I hope you will take these thoughts into consideration. Perhaps I will interestyou that I believe my views here would align with the more than 50 individuals I work with as
part of the Sunrise Movement and in my anti-racist work. I’ve called Bozeman my home foralmost exactly 6 years. I love this place and bring my criticism forward from a place of love
and faith that we can do better. Thank you for your service and your consideration of mycomments
Bozeman fails to be an inclusive, safe, and welcoming city as long as access to shelter and
housing, food, healthcare, a living wage, and education elude any single individual. I hope wemay move toward a guarantee of these rights for every single person, especially since as we
find ourselves in one of the wealthiest counties in the world and one of the wealthiest cities inMontana. This is more possible if we defund the police and get serious about tax reform
I mention the above because these things make up the bedrock of a safe, inclusive, and
welcoming city. Let me be clear: people carrying around lethal weapons do not ensure safety.In fact, despite best intentions, they do the opposite. Fear and force will always be tools of
oppression, no matter who wields them
What I’m trying to dispute first off is the entire basis of the report. If inclusion and safety aretruly the goal, we must go deeper, openly apologize, name the ways we have failed one
another, think differently, and be willing to dismantle systems of oppression - which includesletting go of power and privilege.
As for the report itself, why weren’t BIPOC leaders in our community consulted? Why an
internal review? And why set up the same system of accountability (or lack of accountability)within the police? Why is it the police chief‘s approval is necessary to conduct a review of
their colleagues? This is not what accountability looks like. No one can expect honesty orjustice with a system like this in place
It’s actually laughable that reports are done in this way because it shows how little
understanding there is of bias. The bias trainings are clearly NOT working if we cannot see thebias within this report and how it was conducted.
It’s also interesting that sex and gender are not properly understood throughout the report.
Gender is not binary. It does not seem the city has made space for those that do not identify asstrictly men or women. Having and demonstrating a fuller understanding of sex and gender is
a first step in practicing inclusion and safety
what we need is more seats at the table. More voices. More listening. More willingness tochange. I appreciate all you do in service our community. Thank you again for your hard work
and sincere service
The pieces of the report I do support are:
DEVELOP A CITY DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION PLAN TO ENGAGESTAKEHOLDERS AND IDENTIFY GAPS COMMUNITY WIDE AND TO IMPLEMENT
POLICIES THAT HELP ALL PERSONS IN BOZEMAN THRIVE REGARDLESS OFECONOMIC, RACIAL, CULTURAL, OR GENDER IDENTITY
SPONSOR A DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION SUMMIT WITH COMMUNITY
PARTNERS SUCH AS MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY, HRDC, AND MONTANARACIAL EQUITY PROJECT
ACCELERATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF BODY WORN CAMERAS FOR THE
BOZEMAN POLICE DEPARTMENT
Sincerely and with hope for a better way forward,Tia
--
Tia Goebel
pronouns: she, her, hers
Cell: (605) 440-1452