Davis Mayor Calls Out ‘Insidious Hate’ in the Community

Mayor Will Arnold
Mayor Will Arnold

By Will Arnold

Insidious hate has been rippling through our community. Our local library, situated between three schools, has been repeatedly threatened with violence. These threats of domestic terrorism have caused fear and anxiety among community members.

The safety of our community members is always our top priority, and the City and Police Department take any threat of violence seriously. We continue to work with the Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD), Yolo County and our regional law enforcement partners to protect students, families and all members of our community during this time. The Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, along with federal law enforcement agencies, are working to investigate these incidents, identify the individuals responsible and stop these threats from recurring.

At the same time, the City continues our work to foster a safe and accepting community. Davis is full of vibrant people from many backgrounds, cultures and experiences and we value these different voices and perspectives that thrive in our community.

Davis, along with our partners at DJUSD and UC Davis, have developed “Principles of One Community,” which affirm our shared responsibility to promote and sustain a united community that acknowledges and celebrates differences.

The City, Yolo County and UC Davis are working on the “Hate-Free Together” campaign to condemn hate, create safety and cultivate change. This campaign is still being developed and more will be revealed in the coming months.

And we, as a City, continue our unwavering support of the LBGTQ+ community, during Pride Month and every month. This includes strong support for the rights of our siblings in the transgender community. They are our fellow community members, and they deserve our respect, support and love.

Our community is stronger than hate and better than cowardly threats of violence. Some days, it feels like our work to create a safe and supportive community is an uphill battle. Today is one of those days.

But it is through our values of safety and equity for all members of our community that we can move forward together, despite the hate that tries stand in our way. We are better than hate, and in the fight against it, we will persevere.

Will Arnold is the Mayor of Davis

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Breaking News City of Davis Civil Rights Opinion

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7 comments

  1. I am very grateful for these words coming from Mayor Will Arnold.

    I live only a few blocks from the Library and the schools.

    What a terrible threat to make and the subsequent waste of civic resources.

    We all have better things to do than hate.

  2. Someone needs to remind the Yolo County chapter of the Moms for Liberty that Davis doesn’t tolerate hate in all forms, especially against the LGBTQ community.

    1. Mayor Arnold, why is it hateful to host a public discussion on the topic of protecting girls’ rights to fair and safe sports? Why is it hateful for women to want free speech in this city?

      Mayor Arnold, David, Walter:

      Why is it hateful to host a public discussion on the topic of protecting girls’ rights to fair and safe sports?

      Why is it hateful for women to want free speech in this city?

       

    2. Mayor Arnold, David, and Walter:

      Why is it hateful to host a public discussion on the topic of protecting girls’ rights to fair and safe sports?

      Why is it hateful for women to want free speech in this city?

       

      1. Eulalia Jimenez, chair of Moms for Liberty, Miami Chapter, spread disinformation about a shooting massacre falsely identifying the Uvalde, TX, elementary school shooter who killed 19 children and two adults, as a trans woman.
        Lied to the parents of a young person that the Rainbow Youth Project, an organization promotes the health, safety, and wellness of LGBTQ youth was attempting to “convince [their child] to have his private parts removed and changed.”
        Their harassment at a school board meeting in Wauwatosa County, WI, prompted police presence at a Wauwatosa School Board meeting when members of Moms for Liberty and Gays Against Groomers “accused attendees of being groomers, not actually being gay and wanting to show explicit pictures to children. The group’s members even brought a 10-year-old student to tears.”

      2. Why is it hateful to host a public discussion on the topic of protecting girls’ rights to fair and safe sports?
        Why is it hateful for women to want free speech in this city?

        Beth, those things are not hateful at all and never should be.  Don’t pay any attention the the detractors.

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