30 action items: Lewisville adopts plan for more inclusive policies toward Black residents

The city of Lewisville has adopted a series of goals that officials hope will make the city a more inclusive place for its Black residents.

Lewisville City Council on Sept. 21 adopted more than two dozen action items on racial inclusion that were the result of the city’s talks in recent weeks with leaders in the Black community.

The proposals ranged from overcoming implicit bias in the process of hiring city employees to emphasizing training in the police department.

The report the city approved this week was the result of Mayor Rudy Durham’s “Listen, Learn, Lead” commission. The information-gathering series featured feedback from dozens of community leaders and was an explicit response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the city said.

Under the proposals approved this week, the city would prioritize the hire of a new full-time employee whose job would involve “championing diversity, inclusion, and transparency,” as well as ensuring the city follows through on the other recommendations in the report.

The city would also initiate a number of training opportunities for its police officers and explore the possibility of having civilian personnel respond to some mental health or substance abuse calls that police have typically been responsible for.

The series of meetings can be viewed here.

Read the full series of proposals in the report below.