Monday night, during public comment of the Hampton City Council budget workshop meeting, some residents voiced their concerns about councilmember Bill Hodge and a remark he made during the February 3rd meeting about ICE making arrests in the area.
One Hampton resident, Janette Acolt, spoke on why she believes remarks like this are dangerous to the community.
“Such statements are not only inappropriate but also harmful to the fabric of our community. They promote fear and division amongst its residents in targeting our immigrant population. Such rhetoric can have serious consequences. It can lead to increased racial profiling and discrimination. As members of the City Council, you have the responsibility to uphold the values of each colleague. It is essential to reaffirm our commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of all residents regardless of their immigration status. Let us work together to create a city where everyone feels respected and valued.”
Resident Dale Schirmer suggested Hodge step down from his position.
“Those comments are racist, and I don’t use that term lightly. I do believe those words are racist because I don’t believe anybody in this community felt like it was a good idea to go to Bill Hodge and tell him that they were an illegal immigrant. So I think the only way that someone knows is if they make assumptions based on their skin color or their language barriers or any number of things that make them different than us. I know I’m never going to convince you (Hodge) to change your mind, but I do believe when a person is elected to a position like this. You have a responsibility to everyone in our community, including those that disagree with you. I believe our city deserves better. Those comments should not be welcome here and we should all stand up and say so. I think that you should do us a favor and step down on the city council.”
Joslyn Stock had a message for the mayor and all council members to consider.
“When the injustice of racism showed its ugly face at the Hampton City Council meeting on February 3rd, immediately following the remark from Bill Hodge that (Police) Chief (Mark) Morrison should have ‘ICE come and see me, I can give them a couple of names,’ the rest of the council, including the mayor and the city manager, said nothing to Hodge, nor did they comment on his overtly racist remark. By remaining neutral at that moment, they all chose the side of the oppressor, the side of racism. Since then, I have only seen two members (Jerre Grefe, Pat Palmer) of this council condemn Hodge’s comment. The remaining council members have stayed neutral.”
Hodge shared some personal stories about his interaction with the Latino community and had this to say about his remarks from last week.
“I’m always supportive of everything that the Latino community has tried to do. I did not intend for this thing to be racist. I said ‘immigrant.’ Immigrant covers a lot of things; Canadian, Russian, whatever. I did not intend it at all to hurt anybody’s feelings.”
Hodge said he is not resigning at this time.
