Lima Mayor David Berger today calling for solidarity and action from the community to examine our individual and collective roles in declaring black lives matter.
Berger says, “Black Americans want the same thing as every American – to be treated fairly and with dignity, to receive fair and equal treatment under the law and to live in a society that is equitable, inclusive, and just.”
Those words and many more from Lima Mayor David Berger at his weekly briefing about the civil unrest in our country with the killing of George Floyd. It has resonated to the streets of Lima with peaceful protests that black lives matter and Berger says we cannot act if those are just words on a t-shirt. So, he is calling for the creation of a metropolitan Human Relations Commission to enforce civil rights and other issues.
Berger states, “Administer community relations initiatives promoting and maintaining peace, goodwill, and harmony; assist in reducing intergroup tensions, and ensure equality of treatment and opportunity to all who live, work, play, and gather in the city of Lima and the surrounding townships, cities, and villages throughout Allen County.’
Berger says, we should not and cannot stop there. He will be approaching Lima City Council and the Civil Service Board to drop the “rule of ten” when it comes to hiring through the civil service testing and allow anyone that passes the test to be eligible for hiring to help diversify the employee base. He is also calling all local law enforcement doing business in Lima Allen County to adopt body camera technology.
Berger adds, “Progress to create a just fair equitable society requires each and every one of us to remain vigilant, recognize injustices, and resolve to work towards the betterment of the systems.”
You can view the complete press release from Lima Mayor David Berger and the response from Allen County Sheriff Matt Treglia by clicking on the PDFs.
