Mayor Piercy joined Lane County Board Chair Faye Stewart along with the mayors of Springfield, Florence, Creswell, Veneta, Oakridge, Coburg and Westfir signing a statement of unity expressing their commitment to maintaining strong and vibrant communities that promote kindness, compassion and respect. Many community leaders have also joined in this statement:
Across Lane County and within its cities, we are committed to providing a safe, welcoming and respectful environment for all who reside in, visit and pass through our communities. We, the undersigned, are committed to supporting each other and the public we serve, and providing excellent services for all people.
We have heard from members of our community about feelings of anxiety, stress and vulnerability related to the most recent election cycle. This is particularly true for those who have ever found themselves marginalized because of who they are.
Our commitment to being a welcoming, safe, and inclusive community for all remains constant. We will continue to find ways to support each other and work to find common ground with those around us and ask that our communities do the same.
We stand together in making the following commitments:
- Continuing to build strong and vibrant communities that promote kindness, compassion and respect.
- Supporting each other to speak our minds in appropriate ways, welcome all viewpoints, and disagree respectfully.
- Understanding that language and actions rooted in prejudice, fear, ignorance or hate are not acceptable at any time.
- Helping each other to collaborate, problem-solve, and resolve our differences using positive language and approaches.
- Working to bring our teams and our communities together and to maintain a welcoming environment where every person feels safe.
We know that collectively our actions today and in the future matter. Let’s do our best to come together, work together and be an example of unity.
Signed,
Faye Stewart, Chair
Lane County Board of Commissioners
Kitty Piercy, Mayor City of Eugene
Christine Lundberg, Mayor
City of Springfield
Joe Henry, Mayor City of Florence
Dave Stram, Mayor
City of Creswell
Jim Coey, MayorCity of Oakridge
Thomas Munroe, Mayor
City of Cottage Grove
Sandra Larson, MayorCity of Veneta
Ray Smith, Mayor
City of Coburg
Matt Meske, MayorCity of Westfir