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DEIB committee member resigns, council seeks meeting to address committee inactivity
Summary
Mona Tyree resigned from Lowell’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) committee, saying the group had not met regularly. Councilors described the resignation as a wake-up call and voted to refer her letter to the city manager to try to resolve the committee’s inactivity.
Mona Tyree, a member of the Lowell DEIB committee, addressed the City Council to announce her resignation and to explain why she stepped down.
“I just want, I know I have resigned, but I'd like to just talk about the reasons why I resigned,” Tyree said. “I will say that I'm very disappointed… I thought, you know, something was gonna happen. It was gonna probably take a month… That never came to fruition.”
Tyree told the council she and other committee members had met initially but that subsequent monthly meetings did not materialize. She said she remained committed to the city but felt the committee had not been activated as promised.
Councilors reacted strongly. Multiple councilors thanked Tyree for her service and described the resignation as both disappointing and important to hear. Councilors and the city manager acknowledged shortcomings in convening the committee and the manager accepted responsibility for the lapse and apologized to Tyree.
Several councilors moved and the council approved a request that the manager meet with Tyree and other committee members to try to reconcile the issues and restart regular meetings. Councilors emphasized the need for the committee to provide meaningful review of policy and to harness resident expertise on equity and inclusion measures.
No formal policy changes were enacted at the meeting; the council’s action was to refer Tyree’s resignation letter to the manager and request a prompt meeting to attempt to resolve the membership’s concerns.
