A statement condemning the violent insurrection in the U.S. State Capitol on Jan. 6, and asking for political calm locally, is scheduled to be read and then supported by the city council Tuesday night.
The statement, which will be read by Councilmember Tim Waters, calls for Longmont residents to search for common ground on issues and reject civic discourse that has become strident and volatile.
It also said that the country’s civil discourse needs to be reset at the local level. “We call on all Longmont residents to stand for the principles upon which our democracy was founded … When we find ourselves disagreeing with our political opponents we will not turn them, our neighbors, into enemies.”
The statement asks residents to acknowledge “that whatever questions we are debating or problems we are attempting to solve, violence is never an answer.”
The statement said the council members are still “sad, angry, and deeply worried about the willingness of Americans, in the name of patriotism, to desecrate the principles, ideals, and institutions for which literally millions of patriotic Americans gate the last full measure of service.”
“How can it be that so many of the Americans who stormed the Capitol on January 6 fail to understand that their right to assemble and express themselves on that day, and cast their votes in the election they were protesting, exist only because of the sacrifices of generations that preceded them.”
“How can it be that as we anticipate the inauguration of the next President of the United States, we do so under threat of more violence and terror in our nation’s capital and every state capitol,” the statement said.
Waters on Jan. 12 asked that the statement be acted on by the council at Tuesday night’s 7 p.m. meeting. Most of the meeting will be opened up for an open forum for individual residents to speak for five minutes about issues in the city.
The city council is also scheduled to get an update on COVID-19 numbers from Jeff Zayach, executive director of Boulder County Public Health.
The statement says it is not known if one more comment from a small-town city council will be heard by a larger audience. Still, Longmont residents deserve to know what their elected officials think and where they stand on the riot.
