Marin Mayor Condemns Alleged Racist Attacks

FAIRFAX, CA – Fairfax Mayor Bruce Ackerman earlier this week issued a statement calling for reflection on racial justice in the aftermath of racial attacks and threats against the mayor of a neighboring town.

Racially charged and threatening voicemails targeting San Anselmo Mayor Brian Colbert earlier this month rocked the North Bay town.

A 63-year-old San Anselmo man, identified in published reports as Jerald Welty, was arrested on suspicion of threatening a crime with the intent to terrorize but subsequently released, KTVU reported.

“Mayor Colbert has been an immensely effective Council member and Mayor of our neighboring city, and also stands as, incredibly, the first Black person to be elected to any Town Council in Marin,” Ackerman’s statement said.

“Threats or racial slurs are clearly and completely unacceptable.”

Ackerman called on residents to reflect on the ways in which a person’s skin color affects their life, which he said was a driving force behind the town’s move to establish its Racial Equity and Social Justice Committee.

“To be sure it is a big ask, for those of us who have not suffered racial injustices, to actively challenge the status quo,” Ackerman said.

“It is made more difficult if beginning to think about this triggers feelings of guilt, fear or defensiveness. We who are white can, and I ask that we do, work to rise above these reactions.

"I ask that we begin by acknowledging, even to ourselves, that indeed injustice does exist, and to seek out opportunities to notice it, to compassionately talk about it, and then to begin making what changes we can in our immediate environment to grow beyond it.”

Read Mayor Bruce Ackerman’s full statement here