The Lane County Board of Commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved a resolutionin support of the Black Lives Matter Movement.
It includes a commitment to recruit and hire a diverse workforce, especially in law enforcement. At their board meeting, commissioners spoke passionately in favor of the resolution, including Vice Chair Joe Berney, who mentioned his work as a young man with the Black Panthers in East Oakland. He said he’s gratified that people now seem to be more willing to take a stand for change.
“But this is not about making virtue statements.” Said Berney, “It is about making more equal the distribution of wealth, resources, power and opportunity in the United States of America.”
The resolution calls for Lane County to work with community members and staff to address the root causes of inequities and work to create anti-racist policies. It was drafted by the county’s community-based Equity and Access Advisory Board and includes quarterly progress reports.
