Easthampton City Council condemns bias in response to 'Puerto Rican' remark
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EASTHAMPTON - Minutes after they were sworn into office for a new term Tuesday, City Councilors unanimously endorsed a resolution stating that the council does not condone or tolerate discrimination.
The resolution was proposed in response to a comment made by a councilor at the Dec. 7 City Council meeting.
"I'm hoping the Latino community and anyone who was offended will accept this as evidence of our sincerity," said District 2 City Councilor Justin P. Cobb, who was elected president of the council by his peers just after they passed the resolution.
On Dec. 7, At-Large Councilor Donald L. Cykowski uttered the remark, "Where's a Puerto Rican when we need one?" when a fellow councilor was unable to enter the meeting room because the door was locked.
He apologized for his comment on Dec. 21, but some still called for his resignation or for the City Council to censure, or formally rebuke, Cykowski.
The resolution, proposed Tuesday by At-Large City Councilor Joseph P. McCoy as his last act as council president, states that an "inappropriate and offensive comment" was made at the Dec. 7 meeting, and resolves that "the city of Easthampton and its representatives shall not condone or tolerate any form of discrimination."
McCoy told the Gazette he wrote the resolution to clearly state the council's distaste for the "offensive statement" Cykowski made. "I'm hoping that at least one positive result of this unfortunate statement is an opportunity, not only for the City Council, but for that matter our city, state and country to reaffirm its intolerance of any form of discrimination and negative stereotypes," he said at the meeting Tuesday.
Cykowski seconded the motion to pass the resolution, and after the meeting said that he thought the resolution was "proper."
He declined to give any comments on his initial remark other than to say, "as far as I'm concerned, I apologized."
The Springfield chapter of the NAACP will hold a special meeting on the issue today at 6 p.m. at the Spring of Hope Church of God in Christ in Springfield. Chapter President Rev. Talbert W. Swan II has urged the City Council to censure Cykowski, but McCoy said Tuesday that according to his reading of the City Council rules and the City Charter, "there are no such provisions for the council to generate reprimands."
After the resolution passed, councilors elected Cobb as president and McCoy as vice president of the City Council, and Cobb assigned councilors to subcommittees.
Rebecca Everett can be reached at reverett@gazettenet.com.
