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Removing Barriers to Hope

Tonight I had intended on going to City Council and delivering a prepared speech on the need for living wage jobs, but I stayed at work a little longer and did not have the time to print said speech out before heading over to attend the meeting. So, I will be giving those remarks at the meeting on August 3rd.

There was another very important measure on the agenda this evening. Ordinance 15-19, which will ultimately relieve city job applicants of the requirement to disclose a prior conviction, was taken up and passed unanimously by Council. After the Mayor signs this, it will provide an essential crack in the walls that have long been erected around our troubled brothers and sisters. For far too long, men and women who've served their time for past misdeeds have been trapped by those sins from being able to attain a satisfactory life. All they have ever needed in order to break the vicious cycle of criminal life is a glimmer of hope for a way out.

Tonight, the City of Newark just provided that hope. Maybe, just maybe, other neighboring communities, and our private sector will see this example and do the right thing by following such. So proud of what was accomplished tonight, and inspired by the activism which brought this about.

Stay tuned...


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