On Tuesday the Goshen City Council voted 7-0 against imposing a 9 p.m. downtown curfew for children ages 14 and younger who are not accompanied by an adult. On March 20, the same proposed ordinance would have passed had Councilman Ed Ahlersmeyer not dissented because he felt the issue deserved more discussion. We’re glad he did so.
Meanwhile, the council is still considering an ordinance that prohibits the blocking of sidewalks. Both ordinances were proposed to help curb growing reports of inappropriate and even criminal behavior by the abundance of youths who attend the events each month.
Goshen Police Chief Wade Branson said in a prepared statement Wednesday that he is disappointed the curfew didn’t stick and believes the overall discussion strayed off topic and became a commentary for the perceived treatment of minorities in Goshen. Many of the youth who attend First Fridays are Hispanic.
Perception is certainly in the eye of the beholder. Were these two ordinances aimed at Hispanic youth? Is their presence at First Fridays the basis for these requests? We don’t believe so, but when race is such a delicate subject, perception cannot be trivialized, underestimated and certainly not ignored.
On Tuesday five Hispanic middle school students addressed the City Council. Several expressed their concern that they were being singled out between the lines of this issue. Some may say they are being oversensitive, but we don’t think so. Goshen Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Daugherty and Goshen College spokesperson Richard Aguirre, who is also a member of the city’s Community Relations Commission, both expressed concerns about these ordinances. Are they being oversensitive? More like realistic in our eyes.
Then again, this isn’t the first time Goshen city officials have dealt with the issue of inappropriate behavior downtown. At one time Goshen was the self-proclaimed cruising capital of the United States until unruly behavior by teens forced the City Council to put a stop to the popular activity on Main Street in the mid-1980s. Race was not a factor in that decision, which was certainly unpopular with local youth.
A friendly ambassador program during First Fridays seems like a step in the right direction as long as the participants don’t step on toes, so to speak. Conflict resolution should be left to police. Beefed up downtown police patrols also seemed to make a difference during the most recent First Fridays as 24 warnings were issued to youths for jaywalking and blocking the sidewalk. That’s fine, but if those rules apply to youth, they should apply to adults as well.
Finally, we REALLY hope our young people and their parents are paying attention to this public discussion with open minds. Do the organizers of First Fridays and the downtown businesses have some valid concerns? Absolutely. Elementary, middle school, high school and even college students all have a responsibility to behave appropriately at this fine public event. First Fridays has become a legitimate piece of Goshen’s identity. We all own that, regardless of age, gender or race.
We shouldn’t need ordinances to work through this. What we do need is some patience, some fresh ideas and everybody’s cooperation. That is not too much to ask.
Opinion
A delicate, but fixable situation
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