The City of Edmonds has established a new online portal to report incidents of bias, discrimination and hate.
According to a city announcement Monday, the new reporting tool was recommended by the Edmonds Diversity Commission.
Any issues that are criminal in nature should still be reported directly to Edmonds police by calling 911 or via the EPD online form, the city said. The new website portal gives residents a place to let the city know about non-criminal issues of concern.
The portal is monitored and reviewed by city staff, with incidents logged and then forwarded to the appropriate department. While every incident may not result in a resolution, keeping a log and tracking this information allows the city to track data and identify trends, the announcement said.
How about the city also sets up a site to report positive issues of non-bias, of non-discrimination and incidents of loving and caring help and support by citizens of Edmonds regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation ?
This smacks of communism! I’ve lived in countries that do this, Cuba, Venezuela! Who supports this? City Council position 1 candidates: Alicia Crank and Kristiana Johnson, what say you? Candidates: Cass, Chen, Petso, Luke? I want to know where you think this is headed.
So do I.
Alicia, What do you say about this? Let them know.
I just read this article about the City of Edmonds online portal. If you start down this road your in for big trouble! History shows that Stalin used these same tactics. Turn in your neighbor comrade & the state will thank you! If you look @ my name I have first hand knowledge from where I came from!
Thank you for your experienced input. We will be in trouble!
Great idea Rick! I’m with you. Perhaps the City would benefit from some training on positive thinking.
So if someone is reported but no laws broken what is the purpose? If a law was broken and was reported to the proper authorities ( the police) what is the purpose? What is our virtue signaling mayor going to do with his blacklist. A list that could very well be compliled by professional victims that wake up every day looking to see who did them wrong.
This portal then, is for all of those who are somehow, somewhere, sometime “offended” by something they see, hear or imagine ? Sounds good. And, just how much time , money and talent went into “re- imagining” communism so it seems like a nice thing to do and will be hailed as a great progressive policy by the sheeple.
I concur with ALL of these comments. It really just sad that woke Mike honestly believes our welcoming little seaside town is full of hate and racism. It’s very odd, disheartening and plain false.
Who decides if the reported incident of hate is really true or really happened.? This is just asking us to spy and report on each other. How about asking people to report acts that benefit our community, acts that help another person. We don’t need any more negativity.! We need positive reports to encourage people, not reports to destroy others that raise distrust in each other..
Big Brother is watching!
I’m sure the members of the Diversity Commission intentions were sincere but didn’t anyone think maybe this sounds like the thought police in 1984 or the Stasi in East Germany or Russian Communism?
The comments above are exactly my thoughts!
Is the local version of the Stasi??
…Just Sayin’
I know of Cities that use a 311 app that shows all requests for the City. Why not look into a general reporting website that shows locations of all general requests and issues and the status of those incidents (i.e. it goes beyond bias and racism, it can be used for all issues like potholes, leaking water mains, code violations or questions, etc).
The transparency of any issue is a good thing, and the residents would have easy access to all issues within their community. Are the bias reports going to show up in the police blotter or be reported publicly or will it take a FOIA request? Is it open to all bias and subjective interpretation?
I know there are specific definitions of the two and some raise to the level of a criminal or civil offense, but what are the plans to combat all bias (age, sex, sequel orientation, race, etc etc etc) once this data is publicly available?
What’s the cost of this or does staff and EPD have time to monitor?
City is going to track and then forwarded to the appropriate department, non-criminal “wrong thinkers”.
Interesting.
This is frightening! What has happened to our lovely little town. Government overreach! I too would like to know what our council candidates think of this.
I concur with Gerry…I had 2 postings containing the word Stasi and they were censored…
Nothing censored — it just took me a while to get through the comments for approval
This will be a great addition for keeping us a totally P.C. town for all in the area to admire (Especially Woodway where culture crime and discrimination are rampant I’m told). The “Thought Police” concept should dovetail nicely with our Animal Police, Tree Police, Fireworks Police, Beach Rangers, Periodic Street Closure Police and Port Security Police. Future suggestions I would make, are Housing and Homeless Police, Building Heights Police, Dog Behavior and Sanitation Police (new Division of Animal Police), Election Sign Abuse Police, Yard Art Approval and Protection Police and, of course, Climate Change Police (which the current Tree Police would become a Division of). Throw in View Police and we’ll have all the basis covered for a totally safe and pure town.
HAHAHA that about covers it Clinton. ha. What a trip!! Huh. Deb.
Please do not forget the ROAMING FELINE POLICE!
That’s right! To think that loose roaming cats were our most serious problems just a few years ago! Ahh, the good ol’ days!!
Communism at its finest in Edmonds. Let’s snitch on every person we don’t like or agree with. Salem witch trials bring back any memories.
Citizens, I am filing my complaint, for everyone to read, right here and now. City Hall is practicing discrimination, they actively compile a list of whom to discriminate against, looking for ways to disparage those who stand up and protest, or speak against THEIR wants. How does City Hall do this, by using their “chosen entity” the Edmonds Business Improvement district, they call Ed! If Citizens want to see what kind of a click Ed! is, go to this link: http://edmondsdowntown.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Minutes-06.10.21.pdf ” From ED Meeting: Communication & Outreach: Matt delivered report. Presented BID past-due tax report. Six businesses are overdue by more than $1000. 20% of our membership is considered overdue. During COVID, the BID waived late fees and that may account for some overdue payments. Council is not supportive of suspending business licenses to help collect payment. Some local businesses would like to publicize the list.” Who are the businesses who want to publicize the list?? Their goal , the end game to humiliate, degrade, disparage, insult, attempt to destroy a store owners business !! Ed! is mindless children. City Hall to Publish a list to attack those who are suffering financially, Ed! shows it’s true character. Patrick explained : After 60 days, the code provides that the delinquent businesses are sent to collections. City Hall, if they can not get your money, they would rather see a business owner attacked and ultimately leave town if they will not pay. No need to publish the list, I do not pay, and will never pay extortion money to City Hall. Citizens !! support business owners who do not support Ed!, and do not support mandated taxation, almost $ 1,000,000.00 squandered by Ed! to date, they want more. Now Ed! Directors want to publish a list of businesses who do not pay, solely to intimidate and publicly defame. Illegal Ed! is for children. Citizens need to support those who have built a business in Edmonds, not the failed group think of Ed! Almost every Ed! promotion, ends at the door of an Ed! Director, think about it. Boycott supporters of Ed!
such secular leftist dribble.
I personally like this idea. Alicia Crank claimed the City Council was biased when Luke Distelhorst was appointed. I think she was right. Is this an appriate use of this online form?
I agree with all of these comments – some are really funny but sadly true. The thought police concept is ridiculous and scary. Thanks to all Edmonds residents who responded. Let’s hope the powers to be are listening – oh but wait……nevermind.
Aren’t our tax dollars being used to pay for this “portal”?? Without consent of the governed??
The first submission should be by the rich white men who were targeted by AFM. Singling people out on economic status, race and gender surely must count as bias and discrimination.
Actually, it should probably be by the former acting Cheif of Police. Then the rich white men can follow suit.
I hate the sidewalk outside of my neighborhood. It is in disrepair and displays bias but hampering my ability to walk on it.
Should I report myself for hating the sidewalk and report the sidewalk for being biased against people who walk versus people who drive? Or do I report City Staff?
Last time I checked, streets, sidewalks, sewers and services were the biggest expense line items. Why not create an open portal that can be viewed without a FOIA request for all issues reported by Citizens to the City and the appropriate action taken by each City Department.
The data on this form is statistically worthless. If 3 incidents are reported, the Citybcan report that the incidents of hate and bias expanded 3 fold. I suspect the Mayor would use those numbers along with AFM, Laura Johnson, and Luke would give an impassioned cry for freedom from the oppression that didn’t exist in the Bay area, but does in Edmonds.
What is worth something to the City is a portal that allows all issues to be reported , investigated, assigned and seen by the entire City.
Instead, we get a web form, designed or probably suggested by the 5k per month diversity consultant, that creates another bucket of crap that Mayor Nelson will use to sling at folks the next time he runs for election or AFM will use anytime she is cornered to provide facts. I cannot wait for the “See, I told you Edmonds is Sexist, Racist, Not Woke, Insert Derogatory Identifier for Edmonds Residents Here” and the only way to combat it is to do this stuff. (Stuff yet to be determined, studied, ever showing proven results, lacking any data, but we got folks we pay, so they must know how to fix the lroblem).
That’s my issue. It’s a political tool. Not a policy tool. Dollars on infrastructure and services eliminate lack of equity, not web forms and virtue signaling.
Luke, says he is for “the People”. Ok Luke. You support the Edmonds Business Improvement District, or Ed!. The City of Edmonds sends business owners out for COLLECTIONS, if they do not pay Ed!, so Luke you support harming people. So Transparent, anthing to stay in power. Emails from the Edmonds Economic Development Director state if they send business owners out for collections, that would force them to pay, or destroy their credit rating. City Hall worries about Citizen behavior, they should really close shop and examine themselves first. Edmonds does not need people who dream up ways to harm others. If a business is struggling, can not pay, it is sent out for collections to intentionally harm the owner. Pathetic……. You go Economic Development. Support Edmonds business owners, not those owners who support Ed! and actively participate in harming others. Maybe a business owner is struggling and can not pay, maybe Covid issues, maybe because of a family situation, maybe a medical reason. But Edmonds says we want your money, we do not care if we harm people who invested their money in the town. Ww WANT YOUR MONEY. Ultimately to be squandered just like the last $ 1,000,000.00 they have forced from business owners. Ed!, the Edmonds Alliance, just a Socialist money grab. The City violated the law when they formed Ed!, The City lied to business owners, The City falsified public documents. All Criminal acts, .where is the City Prosecutor in Edmonds?
City Hall then act pious, pretending their violations of the law, are for the good of Edmonds. People in Edmonds are great people. The problems in Edmonds originate from City Hall, with their hidden agendas for political gain. We do not need different people in Edmonds, we need different people in City Hall. Lastly, they place a delinquent business owner onto their “not in good standing” list, and pretend that their business is not in town, like little children.
My Edmonds News Comment-
Nothing censored — it just took me a while to get through the comments for approval
Ah what?!
I grew up in Edmonds, live in Lynnwood, and this is fascism… pure and simple.
Yale Historian Robert Paxton defined fascism as:
“Fascism is a system of political authority and social order intended to reinforce the unity, energy, and purity of communities, in which liberal democracy stands accused of producing division and decline.”
And that is what this is, this is the community being accused of producing division by being diverse. This is the political authority of the government seeking to enforce social order intimidation and by asking citizens to present feelings and emotions of what they feel are behaviors of division based on what the narrative of what this ruling majority holds to be correct. When Governor George Wallace said “segregation now, segregation forever” he was speaking for the majority. Majorities come and go and this is support for a tyranny of the majority, this is “The Lord of the Flies”.
Let us be honest in that reports will be subjective and biased, which is the very thing they allude is wrong. This is the government asking citizens to help create a database based on what someone perceives, felt, or thought in a particular circumstance, and that the accuser participated in. This is not unbiased objective trained 3rd party observations, this is government intrusion into privacy based on untrained, subjective, biased emotions. That the city should seek to mark citizens with the stain of a bias of another citizen is wrong.
The residents of the city should not stand for this hate. It is wrong. It will lead to false allegations, false claims, and harm.
This made the Dori Monson show (5 minutes in). The attention is really what this is about.
https://mynorthwest.com/category/podcast_player/?a=9d3e8b2d-d460-46d9-838c-ad6c01515b15&sid=1004&n=The+Dori+Monson+Show
This is super important that I point this out, here is a link to a serious claim of bias. I do not think the people who committed bias are the best at formulating ways to address bias [like this reporting system]. CM Distelhorst pointed out during the debate when Cass asked him about his priveledge, and he said it wasn’t his fault he was appointed over minorities. Was the City Council biased?
https://myedmondsnews.com/2019/11/not-as-progressive-as-we-think-we-are-crank-reflects-on-race-and-politics-in-edmonds/
This is why we need to elect Janelle Cass, Kristiana Johnson, and Neil Tibbott. For city council. They are rational and actually listen to the citizens. It’s just too bad that Nelson was elected in the first place!
I agree with all of the statements above. Please get out and vote the current city council out and bring in better leaders for our great city. Janelle Cass, Kristina Johnson, and Neil Tibbott will bring us the change we are looking for. We need to spend less time complaining and more time spreading the news to get these important votes.
As veteran and three generation family who has served country to protect our freedoms, I believe it is not the role of Edmonds city government to review, track or log the thoughts and feelings of residents. In fact, it is a blatant and outrageous disregard for our First Amendment rights. I trust Edmonds’ residents want their city leaders to focus on sustaining our city’s economy, safety and infrastructure, rather than acting as thought police, by encouraging neighbors to turn in neighbors who don’t think in lock step with one another.
Ms. Cass thank you for your candid and to the point comments. How refreshing to hear and much appreciated. I don’t know Edmonds anymore.
You just got my vote Janelle Cass, thank you for being courageous enough to give your thoughts. I would like to hear from ALICIA and KRISTIANA, where are you, what say you, should neighbors be turning each other in for non-criminal “thoughts”? Hello…..Hello??
This reminds me of stories you hear that went on in Germany, Cuba, USSR, etc. Very scary. I have a few questions that I think we need to ask the people who voted for this:
-Who defines what Bias, hate and discrimination is? There are obvious ones of course, but what if someone call’s the people who live in downtown Edmonds “a pack of rich white people”. like Adrienne Fraley-Monilas did in a Facebook Chat. Is that bias, hate or discrimination? What if someone says your ugly or fat or you stink or they don’t like your haircut or outfit? Or worse yet, if they look at you funny? Do you report that?
-Where is the due process of those being accused? How do you defend yourself or clear your name? What if someone had something against you so they made up stories about you and submitted incidents on line? How do you defend against this? Who validates these incidents and says yes or no this was real and it happened? What if a person finds out that someone they know and dislike just started a business and they get 10 of their friends to go into that business and order something and then make false claims of bias, hate or discrimination on the Edmonds Portal. This type of unproven action could ruin someone’s livelihood and reputation. All because of a vendetta and false claims and accusations.
-There are false claims of bias, hate and discrimination every day just as there are real stories of it as well. Who decides on what is real and what is not? What legal authority determines this once all the evidence is looked at?
Does the Mayor and council manage this? Are they the judge and jury? What is the process that they use to determine if the claims are valid?
We have a legal system that handles all this. Why do we need a special site with no rules and no due process where anyone, at anytime can make a false accusation with no proof? SCARY!!!!!
As far as I can tell this whole concept bypassed the legal process of City Council and public debate and was implemented by one elected official and appointed or employed staff people under his control. This thing is bazaar, Orwellian, and probably just plain illegal and we need to march on city hall to put a stop to it. If formal in person demonstrations against this develop, count me in big time. Enough is enough. Wake up people. We don’t need all this city micro managing and over reach. Cutting down trees needs to be a home owners choice without fines, our streets need to be kept as streets except maybe for the rare car show or street fair of some sort and all our businesses should be treated equally. It is time to stand up and speak out on all this with more than just your vote.
Yes! City council meeting tomorrow — Tuesday 7pm! Come early and sign up to speak. You have three minutes to speak your mind!
Alicia Crank, what say you? I know you read these comments. Chen, Luke, what about you? Do you only read the comments you agree with? Only Janelle Cass has answered the questions ask on this subject.
Such great comments and I couldn’t agree more. Thank you all – this is an outrageous disregard for our First Amendment Rights as Janelle Cass stated and others implied. The diversity council has way overreached their authority and where did this authority come from? Rod’s letter nailed it as did many others.
When I read this article, I attempted to read about the Diversity Commission’s discussion of this recommendation in their Meeting Minutes. I also wanted to see if the vote to make this recommendation to the Mayor AND City Council was unanimous, or if the vote was less than unanimous. (Note: I was unable to find any version of the July 7, 2021 Meeting Minutes.)
Unable to find evidence of a recommendation, I asked 2 members of our City Staff and Ex Officio Commissioner Luke Distelhorst for information. Distelhorst chose to not respond to my emails but yesterday afternoon at 4:30 pm, I finally received the following from Economic Development and Community Services Director Patrick Doherty. I provide the following as it is a Public Record:
Mr Reidy:
A couple quick responses:
1. The Diversity Commission does take actions via vote and/or consensus on such things as recommending policy measures, expenditures, etc. These are transmitted as memos to Mayor and/or Council. Meeting minutes would memorialize these actions and corresponding memos.
2. The idea for the bias/hate reporting portal came out of preliminary discussions among Commissioners – not a formal recommendation. These discussions led me, as staff, to discuss this idea internally and we decided that it was a good idea that we could implement without further ado. We simply added to the existing reporting portal on our website a new category: incidents of bias, discrimination and/or hate.
That’s the entirety of the matter.
Best wishes,
Patrick Doherty (he/him/his)
Economic Development and Community Services Director
City of Edmonds
425-771-0251
For those interested. Here is the Diversity Commission info for meetings and a link to the portal.
Luke Distelhorst is the Ex Officio Commissioner of the Diversity Council and praised the Mayor and staff at the last council meeting for the new portal. WE must get Janelle Cass elected!!!! Please tell your friends and neighbors.
Portal Link to report Bias, Discrimination and Hate:
https://edmondswa.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=16495016&pageId=17851655
DIVERSITY COMMISSION INFO
Link to the Diversity Commission website: https://edmondswa.gov/government/boards_and_commissions/diversity_commission
Meeting schedule:
Regular Commission meetings are held the first Wednesday of every month from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
Next virtual meeting is Wednesday, August 4th, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Zoom Link:
https://zoom.us/j/95073349360?pwd=ZmZYcmpNVnJJT3ZXRnRoZlp6dlNIUT09#success
There you have it. Thanks Ken for your diligence in smoking them out on this. Read no. 2, second sentence above and think about the arrogance of that statement. The staff decided it was too important not to implement it without further ado. This letter serves two purposes; make it sound like just an innocent little policy adjustment to a well established city reporting venue and take the heat off of an already under heavy fire Mayor.
I tend to agree the response by Patrick was a little holier than thou, and I actually like Patrick. Where is this portal that he speaks of and what has been reported? Why can’t we see the complaints (or if we can, how do we access them and see what the City has done about it?l
Educate me. A portal is a hole in which people shove stuff. What matters is where that stuff goes.
I don’t particularly mind the additional category of reporting, as long as I can see what the complaints are and what the City is doing about it. Just like other issues that we the public should be able to see and hold our employees (yes, they actually should work for us) are doing about all of the issues.
Here’s the best link: https://www.edmondswa.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=16495016&pageId=17851655
I don’t disagree, just am not willing to go as far as calling SJW Mike a member of the Stasi. If we want open and transparent government, then make the portal available for ALL citizen complaints, show them on a map, and have City Staff be held accountable for what was done and when. Sidewalk problem? Report it. Neighbor has a Trump sign that blocks your view, report it. Pesky cat crapping in your yard? Report it. Water main leak? Report it. Called a white privileged unwoke cisgendered Neanderthal? Report it.
Let the City manage all problems equally, fairly, and inclusively. Let the public see all of them transparently.
Isolating a particular problem can be done in one portal. Sharing those complaints openly allows for public interactions. Giving politicians in a supposedly non-partisan environment more rhetoric for their proselytizing, not so much.
Thanks for all the great feedback everyone. Am closing this thread after 50-plus comments.