BY STEVEN STIEFEL
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — During the open forum session of the Feb. 6 meeting of the Auburn City Council, citizens witnessed a critique of the police department’s treatment of African-Americans and contention between an evangelical Christian who criticized LGBTQ+-themed materials found in the Auburn Public Library and a citizen praising inclusion and diversity in the community.
Robert Wilkins spoke of events involving the child of Ward 1 Council Member Connie Fitch Taylor. He said the child was recently surrounded by police officers while walking home.
“There are many good Auburn policemen,” Wilkins said, “but some may need more training or changes in positions. Some may need to find more suitable careers. This is not about race, but about having a police force that treats all citizens equally. No one is above the law. In my opinion, the Auburn Police Department can be too aggressive.”
Wilkins appealed to Mayor Ron Anders to establish a community security task force to be headed by Council Member Fitch Taylor with 12 additional members, including possibly Ward 8 Council Member Tommy Dawson.
Dawson thanked Wilkins for bringing the topic up for discussion in the public forum, but he defended the Auburn Police Department, claiming that crime is “trending down locally because the police are there to keep people safe. You won’t find another place as safe as Auburn. This requires us to be proactive. By the grace of God and a good police department, you don’t see young men gunned down like happens in Montgomery.”
Dawson said he wasn’t sure what qualifies Wilkins to deem the police as too aggressive, but he recommended he speak with Police Chief Cedric Anderson because state-of-the-art video cameras routinely record police activity and should capture any inappropriate actions by officers.
“I know what it is like when crime takes over and eats up a city,” Dawson said. “It starts in the inner city. There is not a street in Auburn, Alabama that I would be afraid to walk down at 1 o’clock in the morning. I don’t mind if police stop me. If I am in the wrong, I take my medicine and move on. If we are not proactive as a department, we’ll end up with a broken city. If our police department goes down, you can kiss that good education goodbye because the criminals are going to come in here and take over.”
Fitch Taylor also spoke up to say Wilkins attended her recent Ward meeting, along with about 30 other citizens.
“I really do hope that Auburn is one of the safest cities,” she said. “I thank God that the Auburn Police addressed the murder of my dad in the proper way. But that doesn’t mean that everyone receives the same treatment. There are good officers, I promise you, with good attitudes. But there are also officers who could use additional training. I’m not going to call them bad officers, but there are some who need additional training and supervision on how to handle certain situations in certain neighborhoods. There does need to be some type of task force so citizens can come and talk about a lot of things seen that we don’t think are appropriate.”
She added, “I do encourage people to either talk with our city manager or chief of police. 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.”
In other business, Citizen Martha Shemp requested that visiting youth leave the Council chambers before she spoke, but this was denied by the Council, which had welcomed anyone not participating in the open forum to leave before it started. Shemp said the presence of youths would require her to sanitize her message.
“There’s still some very horrible books at the Auburn Library. I was by there a couple of days ago,” she said before listing books she claims are available in the children’s section that she deemed “filthy and obscene. The same old snakes are in there.”
She then recited several bible verses intended to support her criticisms of homosexual lifestyles involving “shameful passions. These books are so filthy that I can’t discuss them with minors present. With the tax dollars of Christian believers, and you know it is wrong to expose children to this material.”
Speaking next was Gabrielle Dunham, who said that for close to a year, the city has witnessed an anti-LGBTQ+ campaign through the Council forum that served 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. Anyone who has ever visited the library can tell you this is not true, yet no amount of reassurance was ever enough. The theme that keeps coming up is the presence of LGBTQ+ characters or theme in books, regardless of whether those books were found in the children, young adult or adult sections. This was demonstrated during the Council meeting on December 19th, when a speaker claiming to want to protect children read aloud sexual content from a book located in the adult section while children were present. Despite the fixation on same-sex adult books, the majority feature heterosexual relationships. These books are no more appropriate for young audiences than queer books of the same nature.”
Dunham said the Pflag organization appreciates “the ability for people to have a platform to express concerns, yet many LGBTQ+ citizens feel the city council is not doing much to illustrate Auburn values such as embracing the broad diversity of city employees or to treat all citizens with respect and courtesy, such as this smear campaign. Similar comments about any other group of citizens would not have gone so far without a response. Auburn has always had an LGBTQ+ community and always will. Like other minorities in the U.S., the times have changed to reflect greater acceptance and legal protections.”
Dunham added that she was “shocked and heartbroken” by the recent suicide of Smiths Station Mayor “Bubba” Copeland, who was outed against his will by a conservative website that reported images of him dressed in women’s clothing and wigs. “This is what ostracizing leads to. There is a human cost to letting hate go unstopped,” Dunham said.
Ward 3 Council Member and Mayor Pro Tem Beth Witten shared her hope that she had equally represented all citizens and added, “Auburn appreciates you.”
Ward 6 Council Member Bob Parsons also added comments of support for the LGBTQ+ community.
“The individual who has spoken before the council repeatedly about books she doesn’t like being part of the Auburn Library. The library staff and board have gone to great lengths to address her concerns. What started out as complaints about protecting children from inappropriate content many months ago has predictably morphed into complaining about books containing any LGBTQ+ content, regardless of age-appropriateness or where it is shelved in the library. This individual has been told repeatedly by this body that we have no power over the decisions and policies of the library, yet she chooses to use the public comment section of the council meeting to disparage the LGBTQ+ community over and over again.
“While she has the right to express her opinion on any matter, it is important to note that her comments run counter to the city administration’s core values and mission statement where it is stated, among other things, that we treat all citizens with respect, courtesy and genuine concern. We embrace the broad diversity of city employees and all the citizens they serve. We value the new perspectives and ideals this diversity brings. We do not favor or discriminate against any group of citizens for any reason. The library staff are trained individuals reflecting their core values and vision, curating a collection representative of the interests and requirements of the entire community. Our library is an institution to be proud of, and it’s staff consists of the most welcoming employees you will encounter. I encourage all citizens to visit the library regularly to see for yourself what an outstanding city service looks like.”
Ward 5 Council Member Sonny Moreman said, “I don’t wish harm on or discriminate against anyone, but it is my desire to protect the children. That’s the end game.”
Anders said that with more than 900 employees, Auburn isn’t going to be perfect, and admitted mistakes will be made, but he hopes city personnel will take full advantage of the $4 million public safety building to receive any type of training they may need.
“I’ve always believed in our police department and supported them,” Anders said. “Not everything they do every day to protect us is perfect. I spend time with other mayors and I’m very glad for the problems we have in Auburn because a lot of other cities struggle. Crime is the number one thing that is talked about when we gather. I believe in our police and trust them.”
IN OTHER BUSINESS
- The council approved a $1.96 million change order for the Lake Wilmore Park Community Center project to add six pickleball courts for a total of 12 new covered, lighted and fenced pickleball courts at this location. Also included will be grading work at an additional area on site that will allow for six additional courts in the future, which are expected to bid later this year as part of the Lake Wilmore Park Multiuse Fields project. – Approved the purchase of new HVAC for a portion of Boykin Community Center. The council approved the purchase of eight new rooftop HVAC package units for $63,213. The equipment will improve the heating and cooling of the Joyland Daycare classrooms within the Boykin Community Center and will prepare the facility for future additional renovations.
- Recognized the Auburn High School Girls Cross Country Team. The council approved a resolution commending the AHS Girls Cross Country Team for winning the state championship and being crowned the 2023 Class 7A State Champions in November. With a margin of 60 points ahead of the competition, the team secured its sixth state title in the last seven years.
- Approved the purchase of a Life Pak 15 heart monitor for the Fire Department at a cost of $48,681.67. The device will be used on emergency response vehicles to improve operational effectiveness with the implementation of Advanced Life Support services.
- Postponed votes on updates to the Engineering Design and Construction Manual as well as the Water Resource Management Design and Construction Manual to give the public more time to review both documents. The two items will be on the Feb. 20 agenda.
The city of Auburn contributed to this article. Meeting minutes and a video of the meeting will be posted at auburnalabama.org/agenda.