Saline town hall discusses racial equity, community concerns

SALINE, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – An open dialogue took place at Saline City Hall Tuesday night. 

Members of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, the prosecutors’ office, and the county sheriff’s office welcomed the community for an open discussion discussing topics impacting the county centered around race and the individual needs of county members.

The hour-long meeting began with a presentation discussing topics like equity vs. equality, targeted universalism, and countywide accessibility to resources.

“It’s all interconnected so we need to connect and engage all of those different pieces and not leave anything behind,” says District 3 Commissioner Shannon Beeman, who helped lead the meeting. 

Following the slideshow presentation, public questions and comments took place, opening the discussion wider.

Ann Arbor resident Stefani Carter was one county member to speak. She took the time to raise a concern about homelessness.

“The problem is just massive and as was said, there’s got to be more than just a county. There’s got to be federal and state money that is used to address this problem,” Carter said. She and a handful of county members took part in civil discussion expanding the conversation to a multitude of topics.

CBS News Detroit caught up with Commissioner Beeman following the meeting to discuss the takeaways from the gathering and how they can meet the needs of those who spoke up.

“A lot of times government, we’re sitting behind a big desk, we aren’t accessible and coming to the community and connecting with everyone allows us to engage and have the conversations that really matter,” Beeman said.