The Auburn City Council held its first meeting of the month on Tuesday night. The meeting had a high attendance as Boy Scout Troop 12 was present to work on their citizenship in the community badge.
While a variety of topics were discussed, the Citizens’ Communications and open forum dominated the conversation. One of the most important topics discussed was the betterment of the Auburn Police Department. Citizen Robert Wilkins was concerned with the police department being too aggressive.
“There are many good Auburn policemen, but some may need more training, some may need changes in position or some may need to find a more suitable career,” Wilkins said. “This is not about race issues – this is about having a completely effective police force that treats all citizens equally. No one is above the law.”
Wilkins proposed a Community Security Task Force headed by council member Connie Fitch-Taylor of Ward 1.
Council member Tommy Dawson, Ward 8, seemed upset by Wilkins’ sentiments.
“I don’t know what qualifies you to make the decisions about our police department. If you do have a problem, I highly recommend you make an appointment with our chief of police. I’d like to say thank you to our police department,” Dawson said.
However, according to Fitch-Taylor, other citizens have also come to her expressing their concerns about the aggressiveness of the police department.
“There are some officers that need additional training," Fitch-Taylor said. "I won’t call them bad officers. There needs to be some sort of task force or something. We can all do better as leaders, as protectors, as servers and whatever it may be."
Dawson then argued that if people are concerned with the police department, they should go straight to the chief of police or city manager.
“I do encourage people to either talk with our city manager or chief of police," Fitch-Taylor said. "It’s people’s choice, and how do you build trust in the Black community within the police department? I’m going to leave it at that. It is what it is."
Another topic discussed in the citizens’ open forum was LGBTQ+ books in the children’s section at the Auburn Public Library. The topic was brought to attention by citizen Martha Shamp. She asked the council to dismiss all minors from the room, but the council refused.
“There are still some very horrible books at the Auburn Library. You know this is wrong, to expose young children to this material. What the tax dollars of Christian believers are going to…” Shamp said.
Shamp then went on to pull out some of the books she was referencing, which included: "You be You," "Pink, Blue, and You" and "It Feels Good to be Yourself." Shamp called all of these books filthy.
Following Shamp’s comments, another citizen spoke on the matter at hand.
“For almost a year we have witnessed an anti-LGBTQ+ campaign during public comments at city council aimed to ostracize and hurt the LGBTQ+ community in Auburn. The false narrative that was pushed all year is that adult content is available for children at the Auburn Public Library,” said Gabriel Dunham, citizen and member of Auburn PFLAG. “Anyone who has ever visited the Auburn Public Library can tell you this is not true.”
PFLAG is the first and largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and their families.
“We recognize and appreciate the ability to have a platform for people to air their concerns. However, many LGBTQ+ citizens feel the council is not doing much to illustrate the city of Auburn’s values,” Dunham said.
The council responded to these comments.
“We’re a diverse community. We treat all individuals with respect, courtesy and genuine concern. We embrace the broad diversity of city employees and the Auburn residents they serve. We do not favor or discriminate against citizens for any reason,” said Bob Parsons of Ward 6.
Another council member also spoke up.
“It is certainly the ambition of this council member to protect the children. I don’t wish anybody any harm, I don’t wish to discriminate against anybody, but it is my goal and desire to protect the children,” said Sonny Moreman of Ward 5.
Another item brought to the council’s attention was the lack of sidewalks for Auburn High School students.
“There’s no sidewalk along University Drive, and there’s no crosswalk at Old Mill Road, so they have to walk through people's yards. My kid got yelled at the other day and was told to get back in the road. This is essential infrastructure,” said Becky Retzlaff, a concerned citizen and parent.
According to Retzlaff, children are darting across the busy road to get to school, and she is concerned for their safety. She has been emailing the council with no resolution as of yet.
The council also heard from citizen and pickleball player Jim Young during Citizens' Communications.
“[Pickleball] can provide a lot of fun, be a source of economic impact for citizens and it's a drawing card for people to come [to Auburn]. Last year it was estimated that we had an economic impact of $1.3 million,” Young said.
According to Young, pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. He believes building a new pickleball court will be a great investment for the Auburn community.
Auburn currently has six pickleball courts, but there are plans to build six more. The minimum needed to host a tournament is 12, according to Kevin Kelly, City of Auburn Parks and Recreation interim director.
“We have six courts at Samford. It’s not enough – we know that. They’re packed from 5:00 to 9:30 every night. The plan is to build more by Lake Wilmore,” Kelly said.
The Lake Wilmore Park Community Center project is estimated to cost $1,960,594. The facility will also have an indoor walking trail. The project was approved unanimously.
The next city council meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 106 N. Ross St.
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Sam Vise, junior in journalism, is the community reporter for The Auburn Plainsman.
