'Its focus is peace building'
City Commission discusses the meaning behind “international city of peace” proclamation
Mount Pleasant City Hall, where City Commission meetings take place, at 320 W. Broadway St. (CM-Life | Ella Miller)
A portion of the Mount Pleasant City Commission meeting on Monday was spent discussing the recent proclamation to title Mount Pleasant an “international city of peace.”
The proclamation has created some confusion about what this title means for Mount Pleasant, tying it to the status of being a “sanctuary city,” which has not been implemented.
“An international city of peace does not commit you to anything,” Vice Mayor Maureen Eke said. “Its focus is peace building … ‘Are you creating a safe space for people? Are you engaged in peace-building activities across the community?'"
During the commission’s meeting on Sept. 8, Commissioner Ryan Skalitzky stated that he was researching the Immigration Trust Act, which would limit local law enforcement's cooperation with federal immigration authorities, after the proclamation was passed.
During Monday’s meeting, he apologized for putting them “hand in hand”.
“I feel like there's a lot of lines that were crossed with some of my comments and statements regarding the Immigrant Trust Act and that proclamation,” Skalitzky said. “For the record, these are two totally separate items. I would also like to apologize to anybody that I blindsided with bringing that up here a couple of weeks ago.”
Mayor Boomer Wingard said that while the proclamation is not tied to any immigration relations, the board will discuss the current policies affecting immigration communities within Mount Pleasant. That work session meeting will be held on Nov. 10.
Commissioner Amy Perschbacher raised concerns that the board did not have sufficient input on the passage of this proclamation.
“I do not ever want to see proclamations become a way of putting feathers in the caps of the city commission,” Perschbacher said. “That is the problem that I had with last meeting's proclamation which was actually a declaration that should have never been brought forward without city commission discussion and possible approval or non-approval.”
Eke said that the board doesn’t often discuss proclamations and they are usually not presented to the board until they are already approved by city staff. Wingard said if there is ever an issue with a proclamation, a commissioner can make a formal motion to take further action.
“I would always encourage if there’s a problem, to make a motion to actually take action, to make some kind of resolution, so it can be discussed and voted upon,” he said.
