After a series of contentious town hall meetings, Bay City officials partnered with a local nonprofit to host a public forum in order to help the community start to see eye-to-eye.
The Breaking Bread Village, led by Erin Patrice, works in communities across Michigan to encourage healthy dialogue across different perspectives.
Patrice and her team facilitated the forum, which centered around discourse over Bay City public safety cooperating with federal immigration officers, city infrastructure and leadership concerns.
"We weren't really trying to come and solve anything because you can't solve anything in one night, but the goal was to have people have transparent, honest conversation where people could actually have a back and forth in a healthy way," Patrice said.
For two hours, a panel made up of Bay City residents with diverse local backgrounds, offered their insight and answered public questions around the communities hottest topics.
The conversation was dominated by the "welcoming city" resolution, which would draw a firm line in what Bay City Public Safety can do to aid federal immigration officers.
The resolution would codify current policy, which prevents public safety officials from aiding or prohibiting the work of ICE. Proponents say it keeps taxpayer dollars out of federal pockets, while opposers raised concerns for public safety and additional stress on resources.
Mayor Christopher Girard said this issue, among others, are something residents care about deeply. He brought in Breaking Bread to help the city leaders get more clarity from their constituents.
"We've had a lot of divisive kind of issues come forward, a lot of community-based opinions that were definitely worth discussing together," Girard said. [In the past,] I saw a lot of yelling at each other and not communicating with each other. That's what tonight is, the start of that dialogue."
Despite not ending with concrete solutions, both Girard and Patrice considered the night a success.
"It's so healthy for us to sit face to face, eye to eye, to be able to say what we have to say in a way that is respectful and inviting," Patrice said. "I think we did that today, and I'm super proud of us for that. And if you feel like you walked away having more questions, that is good."
Girard said he and those he spoke with after the gathering would be open to hosting similar events in the future.
