Charter revision panel debates wording on diversity, inclusiveness in preamble

Members of the Big Rapids Charter Revision Commission spent part of their Oct. 8 meeting debating language for the charter preamble, including whether to use terms such as "diversity" and "inclusiveness." The commission did not adopt final preamble wording and directed a word‑smithing subcommittee to bring refined language to a future meeting.

Commission members reviewed survey comments and outreach feedback that emphasized community values such as transparency, accountability, integrity and collaboration. One commissioner asked colleagues to consider alternatives to words that might be politically "triggering," suggesting synonyms or phrasing that communicates the same values without provoking opposition. Another commissioner responded that it is unfortunate such words can be seen as triggering and supported retaining plain language that reflects community values.

Suggestions at the meeting included terms such as "welcoming," "responsive to the needs of all members of the community," "equity," and "ethical political leadership." Commissioners agreed the word‑smithing subcommittee — which commissioners said will review phrasing and gather example language used by other municipalities — should prepare grammatically parallel and legally appropriate alternatives. The commission asked staff to circulate the current draft in a shared Google Doc so members could track edits in real time.

Commissioners emphasized they want the preamble to reflect community values while avoiding wording that could be easily misinterpreted. They also noted the need for consistent phrasing across the charter and for the subcommittee to propose final, parallelized language for the Nov. 12 meeting timeline.

There was no formal vote on preamble language at this meeting; the item remains under committee drafting.