By: Diane Benjamin
At last Monday’s Council meeting Diana Hauman was the only vote against the citizens Review Board of the local police. She did the right thing.
In this story (that went VIRAL) I stated in error what the Alderman said about Mike Matejka: https://blnnews.com/2017/07/25/bloomington-is-chicago/
She actually pointed out that he and a few others did not denigrate the police like many of the others did. I apologize to her for getting that part wrong.
You can listen to her comments by hitting play below. Mike Matejka’s comments are at 25:00. Maybe I was jaded by his comments . He claimed this board had nothing to do with the police department, it’s an historic issue in a racially tinged society.
If this Board has nothing to do with the good job done by the BPD, rather about racial issues across the nation, the question still remains, is it really necessary for Bloomington to have this? The mantra I have heard from these justice seekers is: “you can be a nice person and still be racist.” Then, everyone in Bloomington could be racist. Everything someone says could be construed as racist–and has been. Just like the BLM group feels their plight is not understood, how many of them or the justice seekers have had to run toward danger instead of away?? This Board may provide for verbal exchange but will never provide for true understanding. BLM continues to call this Board an oversight board. They say this is the first step to a safe community for all. I hope the next step is physical removal of the ever increasing criminal element found in Bloomington.
It take someone with a high standard of integrity to apologize publically. Thank you for showing your character.