Perhaps Sam Powell’s most memorable contribution since his rise to the board of commissioners has concerned a purely symbolic proclamation that the board adopted on Monday to designate March as “Social Work Month” in Alamance County.
Powell, who was sworn in that evening to succeed the late commissioner John Paisley, Jr., took it upon himself to rewrite the text of this proclamation after he noticed it had been passed along unedited from the National Association of Social Workers. Powell argued that it would behoove the commissioners to adjust some of association’s language in order to make the proposed proclamation their own.
“If we make those changes,” he added, “I think it would be more of a proclamation from us rather than us rubberstamping a proclamation that was sent to us.”
Powell proceeded to detail a whole catalog of typographic and grammatical corrections, along with some more substantive adjustments to the text of the original draft. Among other things, he suggested that the commissioners dispense with one clause that credited social workers with “confront[ing] oppression and racism” and streamline another that extoled their “frontline defense” of people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.
[Story continues below Powell’s marked up copy of the proposed social work resolution.]
“I don’t know why we need all these details about LGBTQIA2S+ individuals,” he told the rest of the board in regard to the second passage. “I think that’s covered in the rights of everyone. I would just take out the LGBTQIA2S+ individuals.”
Powell’s suggestions ultimately inspired commissioner Ed Priola to offer a tweak of his own to remove the word “equity” from the original draft. A vocal opponent of programs that promote “diversity, inclusion, and equity,” Priola noticed that a reference to the code of ethics for social workers included the third item in his reviled trinity. He went on to suggest that the commissioners swap out the term “equity” for “equality” in their own version of the proclamation.
Priola’s suggestion went down easily enough with most of his fellow board members. It nevertheless drew intense opposition from commissioner Pam Thompson, who accused her colleague of taking excessive liberties with the national association’s own professional code.
“Do either of you know what a social worker does?” she inquired of both Priola and Powell. “You’re trying to rip this [proclamation] apart to suit you,” she added as she addressed Priola specifically. “You see DEI coming in, and that’s where you do every time.”
Priola proceeded to argue that his primary concern is to ensure public agencies are laser focused on their actual missions and avoid partisan forays into areas like “social justice.” Thompson, meanwhile, found the whole conversation to remind her of some of the board’s more dysfunctional moments – a fact that she didn’t hesitate to point out to the newcomer.
“I feel like we’re going back to the old days,” she added before turning her attention to Powell, “and you’re going to fit right in.”
Thompson went on to cast the lone vote of opposition to Powell’s revamped proclamation, which passed by a margin of 4-to-1.
