The coast is clear: People of all political opinions and social views may enter the town of Homer, where the tradition of “live and let live” is alive and well. The push by a few liberals to quash opposing political viewpoints has been quieted, at least for now.
It was standing room only Monday night as more than 100 people came through the Cowles Council Chambers at Homer City Hall to give the council a piece of their mind on a “resist Trump resolution” sponsored by three of the six council members.
In the end, most members of the Homer City Council said the resolution, which started as a statement of rebuke against the Trump presidency, was too divisive, even in its softened version. The vote was 5-1 against Resolution 17-09.
Testimony, which went about three to one against the resolution, ended at 9:40 pm. That’s when the council members took turns making comments and stating how they would be voting.
Council member Donna Aderhold, one of the sponsors of the resolution, thanked people for testifying and explained that a lot of their testimony was inaccurate. She felt the resolution had been misunderstood and added that it was her job to bring these types of issues to the council. In in the end she said she would be a “no” vote, because there were too much friction over it.
Council member David Lewis, another sponsor of the resolution, backed out from supporting it as well.
Council member Shelly Erickson expressed her sadness that the resolution had divided the community and caused hurt feelings and damage. She, too, would be a no vote.
Another who said he’d vote no was council member Tom Stroozas, who noted that with over 100 people giving testimony, not much was left to be said.
In the end, only council member Catriona Reynolds remained in favor of it, saying that “folks who were for the resolution were probably not able to come.”
Hal Spence, a former news reporter, is a Homer resident who had worked on the draft. It came as a result of unhappiness with the election of Trump, he told an AP reporter, and he intended it to create debate.
Some who testified said that, although the second version was much softer, they were not able to forget the origins of the resolution, which was a harsh rebuke of the Trump presidency. In the 2016 election, Homer had actually swung for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, 779 to 613.
http://mustreadalaska.com/homer-city-council-backs-away-resist-resolution/
