Old Lyme Selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal (File photo)

OLD LYME — NOTE: 1/27, The comments on this article are now closed.  At the Old Board of Selectmen’s (BOS) meeting held this past Tuesday, Jan. 19, Selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal again urged her fellow members on the board, First Selectman Timothy Griswold (R) and Selectman Christopher Kerr (R) to sign the Resolution Declaring Racism a Public Health Crisis, a draft of which is printed below for reference.

She had first raised the request at the Aug. 8, 2021 BOS meeting. It was not on the agenda at the Aug. 17 BOS meeting, but was discussed at the Sept. 8 BOS meeting and then again at the Sept. 22 BOS meeting.  Nosal raised the matter once more at both the Dec. 21 BOS meeting and the Jan. 4 BOS meeting.

Each time she was promised that Griswold and Kerr would review the resolution in more detail, but neither has offered any amendments to it to date.

Speaking under ‘Other Business,’ Nosal began by saying, “I am again acknowledging your fear, uncertainty, and uncomfortable feelings about racism existing in Old Lyme. I acknowledge your resistance to a substantive discussion on the Resolutions provided. I recognize that white privilege allows us to focus on the status quo and not look beyond Lyme St.”

She continued, “But it is unjust to ignore the many people who have spoken passionately in person to this board in favor of signing the Resolution, to the many who have written the board in support of the Resolution, to ignore CCM’s [Connecticut Conference of Municipalities] support of the Resolution, and to ignore our neighboring shoreline towns [Old Saybrook, Lyme, New London and New Haven] who have signed on to work towards justice.”

Concluding forcefully, she urged Griswold and Kerr to sign the Resolution, saying, “Tonight, I ask you to lead, to lead with love not fear, to do the right and the just thing. To stand up and do the work. Our world and our town need healing, more than ever.”

She ended with the words, “This is a good first step. Please sign.”

Neither Griswold nor Kerr responded and the meeting was adjourned a few minutes later.

***

The following is the original DRAFT Resolution that Nosal presented for discussion:

WHEREAS, racism is a social system with multiple dimensions: individual racism that is interpersonal and/or internalized or systemic racism that is institutional or structural, and is a system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on the social interpretation of how one looks;

WHEREAS race is a social construct with no biological basis; 

WHEREAS racism unfairly disadvantages specific individuals and communities, while unfairly giving advantages to other individuals and communities, and saps the strength of the whole society through the waste of human resources; 

WHEREAS racism is a root cause of poverty and constricts economic mobility; 

WHEREAS racism causes persistent discrimination and disparate outcomes in many areas of life, including housing, education, employment, and criminal justice, and is itself a social determinant of health; 

WHEREAS racism and segregation have exacerbated a health divide resulting in people of color in Connecticut bearing a disproportionate burden of illness and mortality including COVID-19 infection and death, heart disease, diabetes, and infant mortality; 

WHEREAS Black, Native American, Asian and Latino residents are more likely to experience poor health outcomes as a consequence of inequities in economic stability, education, physical environment, food, and access to health care and these inequities are, themselves, a result of racism; 

WHEREAS more than 100 studies have linked racism to worse health outcomes; and 

WHEREAS the collective prosperity and wellbeing of TOWN depends upon equitable access to opportunity for every resident regardless of the color of their skin: 

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, that the TOWN Board of Selectmen

(1) Assert that racism is a public health crisis affecting our town and all of Connecticut; 

(2) Work to progress as an equity and justice-oriented organization, by continuing to identify specific activities to enhance diversity and to ensure antiracism principles across our leadership, staffing and contracting;

(3) Promote equity through all policies approved by the Board of Selectmen and enhance educational efforts aimed at understanding, addressing and dismantling racism and how it affects the delivery of human and social services, economic development and public safety;

(4) Improve the quality of the data our town collects and the analysis of that data—it is not enough to assume that an initiative is producing its intended outcome, qualitative and quantitative data should be used to assess inequities in impact and continuously improve;

(5) Continue to advocate locally for relevant policies that improve health in communities of color, and support local, state, regional, and federal initiatives that advance efforts to dismantle systemic racism;

(6) Further work to solidify alliances and partnerships with other organizations that are confronting racism and encourage other local, state, regional, and national entities to recognize racism as a public health crisis;

(7) Support community efforts to amplify issues of racism and engage actively and authentically with communities of color wherever they live; and

(8) Identify clear goals and objectives, including periodic reports to the Board of Selectmen, to assess progress and capitalize on opportunities to further advance racial equity.