West Side mayor declares racism a public health crisis

Jan. 26, 2021 | Ryan Feyre
rfeyre@thewestfieldnewsgroup.com

West Springfield Town Council members held a lengthy discussion about racism during a late-January meeting.
Screen capture From West Springfield Media

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Mayor William Reichelt announced racism as a health crisis that must be addressed in government departments and the community at large.

During a late-January meeting, the mayor asked the Town Council to sign an executive order that would help combat racism in the community. The goal, according to Reichelt, is to achieve racial equity in all facets of West Springfield.

“This is what I see as a first step,” said Reichelt, during the meeting. “There’s a lot of documentation out there on how racism, and all of the ‘isms,’ can affect individuals health, generally on any level, but especially during COVID.”

Over the past year, the West Springfield school district has had a committee on racial equity with a professional facilitator. The committee also hosts forums to hear from students and adults about their experiences with racism. The executive order, according to Reichelt, is a way to expand these discussions outside of just the school system.

“[Racism] is something that’s been going on for a long time,” said Reichelt. “It’s not something we’re going to fix in one meeting, or two meetings, or even in the next couple of years.”

While the majority of the council found these discussions to be necessary, some members had problems with the resolution’s verbiage.

“The wording to me is inflammatory,” said Councilor Daniel O’Brien, with regard to the resolution’s wording. “As I read it, it doesn’t get any clearer to me … how it ties in with West Springfield, and the West Springfield that I know.”

O’Brien found the proposed resolution to be “accusatory” and said that more explaining must be done before he signs on to this specific resolution.

"If there was an incident locally, then it was an incident; and it was dealt with,” said O’Brien. “I don’t find anything as a pattern.”

The incident O’Brien is referring to is the situation regarding Matt Griffin, a longtime coach at West Springfield. Griffin, an African American, was called a racial epithet by a fellow patron during a trip to Collins Tavern about three weeks ago.

“What I see is a series of meetings with no intended outcome,” said Councilor Mike Eger, in regard to the mayor’s executive order. “In some ways, there’s some language that’s distracting. I want to help people, not help us feel good about us signing a document.”

Councilor Sean Powers felt that the document was not a direct reflection of West Springfield as a city, but rather an acknowledgement of racism as an issue in the United States at large.

"It makes us aware of the personal, interpersonal, and institutional level that [racism] can exist,” said Powers. “If this is put on to specifically address issues in town, and it’s going to affect someone that I care about, then I’m all for it. I don’t think it attacks the town.”

The council decided in a majority vote to continue the discussion on the resolution in a Feb. 1 meeting. A study session took place on Jan. 25 to revise the language of the document, and allow residents to speak on racism.

The council also discussed the possibility of hiring a temporary economic recovery administrator to assist struggling businesses during the next five months in the current fiscal year. The new job, according to Council President Brian Griffin, would involve the acquisition of state and federal grants, and helping businesses apply for these grants.

The council voted to move this discussion to Feb. 1, and agreed that the proposal needs more specifics.

“I don’t see other cities trying to spend a $35,000 figure out of a reserve transfer that we have available to us to help our business community,” said Griffin. “This is the first step of a long step to help our business community.”

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