MARYSVILLE – The city’s Diversity Committee plans to reach out more this year.
Its new chairman, Mark Austin, told the City Council Feb. 8 that the panel wants to reach out “more than them coming to us.”
One of the plans is for the committee to do interviews with minority business owners and share their stories on the city’s TV channel 3.
It also plans to provide more cultural training for city staff. For example, Marysville police will receive training on dealing with people who are deaf, he said.
Austin said the goal of the committee is for all people in the city to feel safe. To accomplish that, barriers need to be broken.
“We want to eliminate and reduce things that cause frictions” between cultures, he said.
Austin said there is civil unrest all across the nation. “We want to bridge the gap between people with different backgrounds,” he said.
In other council news:
•It OK’d spending more than $6.1 million on the Sunnyside Well Treatment Facility. “It’s a great project for the city,” Public Works Director Kevin Nielsen said, adding it will produce 3 million gallons of water a day.
•It decided to dissolve its library board, since the library has been taken over by Sno-Isle. “Marysville will continue to benefit,” said Council Member Stephen Muller, who was on the board. “It’s in good hands.”
Muller also mentioned that the city’s homeless project for women and children is moving along and could be ready as soon as April 1.
•Brooke Hougan was reappointed and Tom King appointed to the Parks, Culture and Recreation committee.
•Parks Director Jim Ballew said the annual Father-Daughter Dance sold out three weeks ago. The four dances on two days will have a total of 800 participants. Also, he said the city, for the sixth time, has received a Tree City USA designation.
•It was also brought up that the city’s utility billing process should be restructured so customers actually receive a financial benefit for conserving.
