Port alderman proposes diversity task force

A summer rife with protests tied to racial injustice and the Black Lives Matter movement that put Wisconsin and Port Washington in the spotlight prompted Ald. Dan Benning to propose the creation of a diversity and inclusion task force.

The task force would be charged with reviewing city practices and procedures with an eye toward inclusion, not just in terms of race but in every way, Benning said.

“I want this city to take the lead and be the benchmark on diversity and inclusion,” he said. “We as a community can do better and do more. 

“I can do better. I can do more.”

Benning said the task force should be a long-term effort, not a one-time shot that pays little more than lip service to the need for diversity and inclusion.

“It has to get in your DNA. It’s not just do it once because Kenosha is burning (after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, who is Black) or George Floyd was murdered (by a white police officer in Minneapolis),” Benning said. 

Port Washington has been the site of a number of Black Lives Matters protests this summer — including one that drew armed counterprotesters — and  gained prominence after three young women holding protest signs were told by a motorist they should be raped by a Black man.

Benning’s proposal was embraced by aldermen.

“I think these are times that call for grace, compassion, empathy, understanding. I’ve been looking for ways to become an ally, a stronger ally,” Ald. Jonathan Pleitner said. “I wholeheartedly support this.”

“This is something important,” Ald. Paul Neumyer said, adding that it’s important that the group do more than just talk about inclusion.

“So often these things start out so promising and they fall apart so easily. That’s why we are where we are,” he said.

“I don’t see it falling apart,” Mayor Marty Becker said. “It can’t. This time, it has to be for real.”

Five residents at Tuesday’s meeting urged the council to create the task force, saying there is a need for the community to embrace diversity in ways it hasn’t before.

“This is so important to many of us, that our community is welcoming,” Louise Mollinger said, urging aldermen to tackle the systemic issues and policies that “have made us such a white community.”

Port Washington is a largely white community, but it is becoming more diverse and needs to adapt to that reality, Pat Morrissey told the council.

Morrissey noted that the Census Bureau shows Port’s population is 95% white, 3% Hispanic and 1% Black, with 1% multicultural.

“As Port Washington continues to grow, our population will become more and more diverse,” she said. “That is why it is imperative to build an inclusive, informed task force” that will foster better understanding and communications.

Peter Vander Velden told officials that the fact Port is an affluent, white community isn’t an accident. 

“It is time to acknowledge that privilege,” he said. “Use that to make the community more welcome.’

Tackling the issues of diversity and inclusion “does not mean we’re responsible for the way things are today. It does mean we have the power to change,” Vander Velden said. “We owe it to our neighbors of color.

“This community isn’t going to fix all the world’s problems overnight. Hopefully, it can make small, impactful change in our community.”

Benning said he took part in a Zoom call with people from throughout the area last week and “heard some very disturbing comments about Port Washington and how Port Washington treats people. It just bugged me. 

“What I’m hearing a lot of people saying is ‘You need to change.’ We need to work together to make change.”

Benning said he hopes to have a firm proposal for the task force in the coming weeks.

“I want to see some goals and actions sooner rather than later to show we’re serious,” he said. “We’ve got to start somewhere.”