Town plan to address race, policing
Fairfax leaders have launched an initiative to address racial equity and the town’s police policies in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Town Council on Wednesday agreed to form a racial equity and social justice committee, which will include two council members and about a half-dozen residents. A subcommittee of that group will study the town’s police policies, officials said.
The intent of the committee is to “unwind racist policy,” said Councilwoman Stephanie Hellman, who was appointed to the group along with Vice Mayor Bruce Ackerman.
“We intend to invite diversity and build equity, and it’s going to be work,” Hellman said. “It is not a discussion group.”
The town will begin accepting applications on Friday from people who want to serve on the committee. Anyone who lives, works or owns a business in the town can apply at townoffairfax.org, officials said. The committee will initially meet online over Zoom during the coronavirus pandemic, and the town will hire a professional facilitator to lead the meetings.
Hellman said she hopes the majority of committee members will be Black, Indigenous and people of color, and that the group will include seniors and youths.
Mayor Renee Goddard said a member of the town's police department will also participate in the committee meetings.
The initiative comes after a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Fairfax following the death of George Floyd. Since Floyd's death while in the custody of
Minneapolis police on Memorial Day, Fairfax Town Council meetings have been dominated by residents' testimonies about racial issues and the town's police department.
On Wednesday, the council held an online “community listening session” before it agreed to form the committee, inviting residents to comment by calling or writing in. Some said they supported the town's police department, while others urged the council to “defund” it.
Naomi Schultz of Fairfax wrote that she hoped the police policies committee would be “an opportunity
for the citizens of this town to deeply understand how policing operates in our town, for police leadership to listen to the needs of the community it serves, and for policies to be improved where necessary.”
“It is also an opportunity to be the progressive leader that Fairfax is purported to be,” she wrote, “as towns and cities all over the country look at alternative public safety models.”
“It's great that our police department isn't ‘as bad' as many others,” Caitlin Rolston wrote to the council. “That should not mean we can't even commit to the exercise of imagination involved
in exploring the possibility of a different system of ensuring public safety.”
Some have said that Fairfax lacks racial diversity and that town leaders should work to create a more inclusive community for people of all ethnicities. About 89% of Fairfax's population is white, according to census data.
“I think it's very important to deal with this,” said Councilman John Reed. “I think racial equality is very important in our country and I'm really glad it's coming to a head here.”
“I think there needs to be a conversation in Fairfax,” he said.