Community For All resolution rewritten…again

Revisions try to avoid any socialist connotations

The Marathon County Diversity Affairs Commission last week Wednesday unanimously approved a new Community For All resolution that clarifies it does not have a hidden socialist objective. The commission agreed to send the resolution, now in its seventh draft, to the county’s Executive Committee for review.

The new resolution, authored in large part by supervisor William Harris, Wausau, incorporates several sentences from a compromise resolution penned in a collaboration with county conservatives Jim Juedes, town of Easton, and Joanne Leonard and William Hoogendyk, both of Wausau. It also defines the terms human diversity, inclusion and equity to avoid socialist connotations.

The new resolution includes two other provisions brought forward by commission chairman Yee Leng Xiong, Wausau. These two planks call on the county to “attract a diverse and skilled workforce” as part of a Greater Wausau Region Economic Development Plan and to have the commission receive funding to advance “cultural competence” through education and cultural events.

Harris said he amended a past resolution, defeated 6-2 by the Executive Committee, to include conservative perspectives, while, at the same time, trying to keep the resolution “meaningful” for commission members.

He said he took out a statement in the old resolution that asserted that Marathon County has systemic inequity. Supervisor E.J. Stark, Rothschild, said the statement would encourage lawsuits against the county.

Harris said he kept in the resolution the county board’s authorizing language for the commission. This reads that the commission’s charge is to ensure the county is an “open, inclusive and diverse place to live and work and to achieve racial and ethnic equity to foster cross-cultural understanding and to advocate for minority populations.”

Harris acknowledged that use of the word “equity” triggered opposition from conservatives who fear some kind of Marxist governmental program.

The supervisor said he included a dictionary definition of the word (“just, fair and impartial treatment”) to brightline clarify that the resolution has no socialist objective.

“The word equity came into the English language in the 14th century,” he said. “That’s five centuries before Marxism.”

The central statement of the revised resolution now reads as follows: “The board has a role in the creation of a community environment where all residents can celebrate and embrace their rich multicultural heritage without the fear of intimidation or hate-motivated violence and that the Marathon County Board of Supervisors rejects and condemns any hatebased activity or conduct directed to harm a person due to a person’s protected class, and will encourage the creation and development of opportunities and resources that provide equal access to healthcare, education, training, guidance and connections required to successfully achieve economic security and interdependence and support in its policies compliance with Marathon County’s core values of integrity and diversity that staff at all county levels treat others who have different perspectives and experience with mutual respect at all times, and, furthermore, the Marathon County Board of Supervisors recognizes that the diversity of our community is one of our greatest strengths…” Commission member Lisa Ort-Sondergard, town of Wien, thanked supervisor Harris for clarifying the term “equity” and dealing with a major objection to the resolution in the past.

“I think this clarifies things and alleviates fears,” she said. “People had a misunderstanding of what that meant.”

Commission member La’Tanya Campbell, Wausau, also thanked supervisor Harris for his work on revising the Community For All resolution.

Juedes, who attended the meeting, questioned the need for the resolution. He said the county needs to be concerned with the economic problems faced by all races, not just minorities. He questioned if the commission was trying to turn Marathon County into “a metropolis” instead of “the county like we know.”

Harris said he agreed that the county’s job was to “lift everyone up” but that special attention needs to be paid to the problems minorities have with income security. Half of county blacks, 40 percent of Native Americans, 30 percent of Hispanics but only eight percent whites are poor, he said.

He said a “welcoming” county would attract a needed and diverse workforce that will improve the economy for all county residents.