Black Lens News - January 2016

Page 14
January 2016
www.blacklensnews.com
The Black Lens Spokane
THANK
YOU
SPOKANE
FOR A
WONDERFUL
FIRST YEAR !
Community Supports Multicultural Work
Continued From Page 1
Brian Coddington, Director of
Communications & Marketing
responded to queries on the status
of MACMA on behalf of the
mayor’s office saying, “As far as I
know everything is the same. The
same position, the same person.
Nothing is changing.”
Then, on the 29th, Ochoa responded
by email and said, “As of
now, I have been advised that no
changes will be made regarding
the Multi-Cultural Affairs focus
of the position for the first 60-90
days.
The Mayor values community input
and my understanding is that
he fully intends to engage and
consult with the community and
MACMA before making final decisions.”
Information was scarce in the
wake of his reelection, but when
pressed for comment the mayor’s
office has made it clear that
Condon will not make immediate
changes to his commitment to
Spokane’s people of color.
Racial equity advocates like Laurent
and Ochoa, however, are less
concerned with the term-to-term
changes in government, and instead
hope that racial equity work
can become an institutional priority
for the city of Spokane.
“We’ve done a lot of work,” said
Laurent. “You’ve got a lot of
members in the community of
color who are volunteering to put
time and effort into these things.
All that work can be for naught
pretty easily unless the position is
institutionalized.
“I would really like to see some
kind of commitment to all of the
work we have as a community
been doing. We just want to capitalize
on that work and continue
to do it together.”
Senior
Citizen
Discount
1619 N. Steven
Spokane, WA 99208
We will
beat
any bid!