GRESHAM, Ore. — A Black Lives Matter flag will fly at Gresham City Hall through the end of July.
Gresham city councilors voted unanimously in favor of the move Monday, saying they wanted to show support for protesters across the country calling for racial equality and an end to police brutality.
“The city council strongly supports and acknowledges that we have problems with racism,” councilor David Widmark said after the vote.
Moments later, Widmark acknowledged his comment could be applied, both, to society as a whole and to recent revelations about the culture of Gresham’s own city government.
Earlier this month, former Jackson County Sheriff and current Gresham deputy city manager Corey Falls sent an internal letter to his colleagues.
In the letter, first leaked to the Gresham newspaper The Outlook, Fall wrote “My reception into the city of Gresham has been at best dismal... It was very clear to me that those in [leadership] were not going to accept or support a black man in a leadership position.”
Days after the letter came to light, city leaders fell like dominoes. Gresham's longtime mayor, city manager and chief of police all stepped down. Though it's worth noting, Mayor Shane Bemis said he was resigning to pay more attention to his business.
It’s also worth noting Chief Robin Sells has since reportedly said she's considering withdrawing her resignation, writing in an email to the council, “I am not a racist".
City councilors, who also voted to fly the Juneteenth flag through the entire month of June from this year forward, say they’re eager to get those empty positions filled. Once they do, they plan to implement new policies to ensure people of color are treated equally at City Hall.
In the meantime, a Black Lives Matter flag will fly outside.
“We are a tolerant people, a loving people,” said councilor Jerry Hinton. “We have a bumper sticker that we have on all of our police vehicles, all of our city vehicles and that is "hate is not a Gresham value." But love is. So that's what we're trying to get at.”