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Council member O'Donnell apologizes for 'ghettoization' remark; residents urge further action
Summary
Council member Tony O'Donnell apologized at a July business meeting for using the word "ghettoization" and said he read the phrase from a contract packet; residents and attendees called the language racist and urged accountability and further conversations with the human relations commission.
Council member O'Donnell opened public comments by apologizing for offensive language he used at the July 6 meeting, saying the wording had appeared in an official packet from an earlier meeting and that he had read it aloud. "These words were not my own," he said, adding that he found the term "ghettoization" "very offensive, an ugly word," and that his convictions are "completely anti-racist." He said he would meet with anyone who wished to discuss the matter and that he had already offered to meet by phone with two critics who had emailed him.
At the meeting resident Mike Jordan Gomez said the language reflected lived experience and cited a separate, ongoing federal lawsuit he has filed involving city police conduct. "Anybody that says racism is not real is a liar," he said, describing personal encounters that brought him to the podium. Laie Kawai Black, a native Hawaiian and Ward 5 resident, directly addressed O'Donnell: "Your statements are racist and ignorant," she said, and disputed O'Donnell's assertion that he was only reading contract language, saying he added commentary and mockery during the prior meeting.
Mayor Nelson accepted the apology on behalf of the council, acknowledged a lapse in preserving decorum at a prior meeting, and said Council member O'Donnell had agreed to meet with the mayor and the head of the human relations commission beginning next week to "start talking about this issue and to work through whatever misunderstandings might be there." O'Donnell said he is willing to meet with constituents and invited anyone offended by his words to contact him.
The meeting did not include a formal disciplinary action; the public exchange concluded with council and staff commitments to follow up. The city did not announce a formal timeline for those meetings during the session.
