On June 9, 2020, the Mayor and Council passed Resolution 20-R-16 Renouncing Systemic Racism and Declaring Support for Black Lives. The Resolution called for a restorative justice process to address the harms caused to the Lakeland community, particularly during the urban renewal process. The Resolution stated that the City “acknowledge[s] and apologize[s] for our City’s past history of oppression, particularly with regards to the Lakeland community, and actively seek[s] opportunities for accountability and truth-telling about past injustice, and aggressively seek opportunities for
restorative justice.”
To this end, the Mayor and Council plan to establish a Restorative Justice Commission. As a first step toward this goal, the City is establishing a Steering Committee to help guide the process.
The Steering Committee will be asked to:
• Draft a proposed purpose, scope of work, and goals for the Restorative Justice Commission.
• Recommend the composition of the Restorative Justice Commission.
• Draft a proposed framework and timeline for the Restorative Justice Commission.
• Identify resources and facilitators that the City Council could consider to help ensure this process will be successful.
The Steering Committee will be asked to complete its work within a short period of time, and its work will be done upon the presentation of its recommendations to the City Council.
Are you interested in serving on the Steering Committee? Members will be drawn from the Lakeland community (including former Lakeland residents) and the community at large. We are particularly interested in identifying people who have experience with restorative justice processes. For more information, please contact citymanager@collegeparkmd.gov or call 240-487-3501.
If you are interested in serving on the Steering Committee, please complete the
application at:
www.collegeparkmd.gov/boardapp and submit it to Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk, at
jsmiller@collegeparkmd.gov. The application deadline has been extended to March 15, 2021.