At the Federal Way City Council meeting on May 21, Mayor Jim Ferrell shared a public condemnation of racist message that appeared on an electronic sign in February. He also recognized and celebrated police officer Nicholas Wong, who responded within nine minutes of the hacked sign broadcasting the racist message.

The Diversity Commission shared a letter on the same subject and expressed frustration that the incident had not been acknowledged publicly sooner.

The sign was on private property and displayed at 31204 Pacific Highway South on an electronic reader board. The sign read “No white women n—-a” and was displayed for nine minutes before a “passersby experienced in road construction” helped Officer Wong deactivate the sign, according to the city. Officer Wong then took the initiative to purchase a lock to secure the sign so it could not be tampered with further.

In the letter, the commission members explained why the sign was so hurtful, drawing parallels between the message and the ongoing history of violence toward Black Americans related to real or imagined interracial relationships.

“The nature of this anti-Black attack has similarities of many other incidents throughout our nation’s history, both past and present,” the letter stated.

Another public commentor shared her disappointment in a lack of acknowledgement of the incident.

“I saw that sign myself and I had some kiddos in the car with me,” said Cynthia Ricks-Maccotan, adding that they were all old enough to read the sign.

After talking about it themselves, Ricks-Maccotan said, “we waited and we waited and we waited for a response,” and stated that it concerned her that no statement was made by the city. She said she had hoped for even a small statement made during a council meeting to the effect of “there’s some of you that might have been offended or hurt, we love you, we see it, we acknowledge it and we’re doing something about it.”

In a follow up interview, Mayor Ferrell said he did not receive any communication from individuals or the Diversity Commission noting harm caused by the sign until April 30, when he received a draft of the letter that was ultimately read at the May 21 council meeting.

Although Ferrell stated he was aware of the incident, he shared with the Diversity Commission prior to the council meeting that “at no time did it seem necessary to issue a public statement about the racist electronic message, and there was no reason to pitch a negative story to the local media to amplify it.”

After hearing the impact that the sign had on community members, Ferrell told The Mirror: “If I felt like it mattered, to even a few people, if I knew about it, I would have certainly said something, but again, I didn’t know.”

Throughout the evening a back-and-forth ensued between the mayor and several members of the Diversity Commission. The mayor stated that some of the statements made by the commissioners after reading the letter were factually incorrect.

Allison Fine responded to the mayor’s statements by saying, “all we ever asked for was that you said something, that’s it. And for you to lambaste us after you know what that letter said was so unprofessional, and it was so inappropriate. We appreciated the officer. We just wanted you to step up a little sooner. That’s it, and the diversity commission exists in part to help you guys understand when there’s moments that you miss.”

In the follow-up interview, the mayor stated that when it comes to the sign itself, “I think the episode does highlight that we need to be more mindful of the harm that a message like this can cause. And I think we are all unified in making sure that we have a zero-tolerance policy.”

More updates

• Mayor Ferrell introduced the new general manager of the Performing Arts and Event Center (PAEC), Stacia Winters. She shared an update of what she has been up to her first month on the job as well as a preview of upcoming events.

• The mayor also shared two proclamations, one focusing on Police Week and another going over National Public Works Week.

• While they did not spend any time discussing it at the meeting, the council voted to approve the Initiation of a Development Agreement for Kitts Corner as an item on the consent agenda. The wooded area located on the corner of South 336th Street and Pacific Highway South has been challenging to find developers for, according to documents in the agenda packet. Due to the probable demolition of the Christian Faith Center for the Sound Transit OMF site, the Christian Faith Center is proposing to take over the Kitts Corner site.

• Economic Development Director Tanja Carter also presented an application for a Community Economic Revitalization Board Grant that was approved.

Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / The Mirror Han Kirkland and Rhianne Janovich of Waste Management respond to applause at Tuesday’s Federal Way City Council meeting after they finished sharing their update about the work they have done in the community over the past year. “One of the events that stood out most in my mind was participating in the Afghan family night at Todd Beamer High School,” Kirkland said. The event included “fun sorting games for the kids” and utilized a variety of strategies to ensure connection across language barriers. Janovich said she enjoyed the Afghan community night as well, especially because “everyone at the event was very engaged.” Another campaign focused on recycling and organic waste/composting for strip malls. For that campaign alone, Waste Management representatives had 193 individual conversations at the 13 total strip malls in Federal Way.

Councilmember Hoang Tran and Director of Public Works EJ Walsh after Councilmember Tran presented the proclamation for public works week. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror.

Representatives of the Federal Way Police Department pose for a photograph after receiving the proclamation from Federal Way City Council recognizing Police Week. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / The Mirror