Despite canceling a number of recent meetings because of the holidays, the Bainbridge Island City Council agenda for Jan. 9 is extremely light.
In its first meeting of the new year of 2024, newcomer Ashley Mathews and the rest of the council will be sworn in with the oath of office. A new mayor and deputy mayor will be elected by the council. A public reception with the public will follow the meeting.
A proclamation honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be read.
Public comments, council announcements and a report by city manager Blair King also are on the agenda.
It includes: accounts payable for five days total over $1.311 million, including over $323,000 to Clark Construction for the police-court building construction; over $269,500 to Seton Construction for Yeomalt draining improvements; and over $99,000 to Censor North America for Winslow Water Tank design services.
MLK proclamation
WHEREAS, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was born on Jan. 15, 1929, dedicated his life to promoting peace, freedom, equality and justice for all through non-violent means; and
WHEREAS, federal and state legislation has recognized Dr. King’s legacy as one of America’s outstanding civil rights leaders by adopting his birthdate as a national event on the third Monday of January; and
WHEREAS, on Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. King, as part of the March on Washington, delivered a historic speech at the Lincoln Memorial which called for an end to racism in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement helped change public policy from segregation to integration, resulting in the repeal of the post-Reconstruction era state laws mandating racial segregation in the South known as the “Jim Crow Laws,” thereby leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and other antidiscrimination laws aimed at ending economic, legal, and social segregation in America; and
WHEREAS, Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement helped change public policy from legal and socially acceptable discrimination and segregation to an open and accessible policy of racial integration leading to equal participation and access to primary and higher education, housing, employment, transportation, federal, state, and local governmental elections, and other aspects of public policy relating to human rights; and
WHEREAS, Dr. King stated in his speech, “I say to you today, my friends, though, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal;” and
WHEREAS, Dr. King believed that service was “the soul’s highest purpose”; and
WHEREAS, Dr. King once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’” Americans across the country will answer that question by coming together to honor Dr. King by helping their neighbors and communities through thousands of service projects spread across all 50 states; and
WHEREAS, BI residents are encouraged to observe the holiday not only by reflecting on Dr. King’s legacy but also by actively serving others and working towards anti-oppression every day; and
WHEREAS, national and international events teach us the unfortunate lesson that the age of racial violence and hatred has not passed, and that now as much as at any time Dr. King’s call for radical structural and social change should be heeded by all.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Brenda Fantroy-Johnson, mayor of the city of Bainbridge Island, on behalf of the City Council do hereby proclaim Jan. 15, 2024, as DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY in the city of BI, in recognition of his birth, life, and death, and ask everyone to celebrate this day by continuing to live Dr. King’s dream daily, respecting all others regardless of their race, color or creed.
