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Filed in Clerk's Office <br /> Jun 9, 2026 <br /> Bianca I iradu <br /> June 09, 2026 City Clerk south Bend, IN <br /> TO: <br /> Ms. Karen White, Councilperson At-Large <br /> Chair, South Bend Common Council Residential Neighborhoods Committee <br /> A Resolution Acknowledging the History of Racial Discrimination, Environmental Harm, <br /> Disinvestment, and Industrial Pollution Impacting the LaSalle Park Neighborhood in the <br /> City of South Bend, Indiana <br /> Dear Councilwoman White, <br /> Please accept this letter in support of the attached resolution entitled, "A Resolution of the South <br /> Bend Common Council Acknowledging the History of Racial Discrimination, Environmental <br /> Harm, Disinvestment, and Industrial Pollution Impacting the LaSalle Park Neighborhood, and <br /> Formally Apologizing to the Residents and Families of the Community." <br /> This resolution is respectfully requested to be acted upon during the Residential Neighborhoods <br /> Committee meeting and during the South Bend Common Council meeting on Monday, June 22, <br /> 2026. <br /> This resolution is specific to LaSalle Park Neighborhood in the city of South Bend, Indiana <br /> because of the neighborhood's unique history as a primarily historically Black community that <br /> has contributed greatly to South Bend while experiencing decades of racial discrimination, <br /> housing segregation, redlining, environmental harm, industrial pollution, and public <br /> disinvestment. Generations of LaSalle Park residents have raised concerns regarding <br /> environmental contamination, neighborhood conditions, and unequal treatment, making formal <br /> recognition of this history an important step toward accountability and healing. <br /> We respectfully request that the Residential Neighborhoods Committee review and act upon this <br /> special resolution acknowledging LaSalle Park's history and formally apologizing to past, <br /> present and future residents and families impacted by these harms. This resolution represents a <br /> commitment to truth, to reconciliation, to environmental justice, and to building a stronger <br /> relationship between the City of South Bend and historically impacted communities. <br /> With Gratitude, <br /> OQurer Dams <br /> Dr. Oliver Davis, Councilman At-Large <br /> Sherry -Sue <br /> Sherry Bolden-Simpson, Councilperson - 5th District <br />