As we go through the printed materials collected during the recent conferences, we came across a letter from the Mayor of the City of Houston, welcoming the attendees of the NARSOL Conference. We thought it was important to share this letter with you because it exemplifies a change in the attitude of some politicians towards our movement.
Years ago we worried about our safety at these conferences. We tried to keep a low profile. Not alert the communities of our presence for fear of protests… or worse. Times are beginning to change!
In his letter, Mayor Sylvester Turner and the City of Houston “applaud [our] restorative justice efforts on behalf of marginalized citizens.” Wow! It is so refreshing for our cause to be welcomed, and to be welcomed, in writing, by a politician with the integrity and political courage to recognize citizens who have paid their debt to society are deserving of a second chance and the opportunity to be reintegrated.
A copy of the letter can be found here:
Those wishing to send a well-deserved thank you to the Mayor can do so here:
Mayor Sylvester Turner
City of Houston
P.O. Box 1562
Houston, TX 77251
[email protected]
Sent this thank you letter to the mayor:
Dear Mayor Turner,
I am not a resident of Houston, or even of Texas, but I was so moved by your recent letter addressing the 11th National NARSOL conference that I have to admit I may have underestimated the capacity of people in positions of civic leadership with regard to their character. Your letter exemplifies a profound understanding of the real world problems surrounding sexual crime, the registry, and the public interest of restoring offenders as well as victims, knowing that encouraging redemption of both the victim and the offender can do far more to promote public safety than by simply wielding the blunt weapon of the prosecutorial machine.
On behalf of the nearly one million U.S. families who are seeking an end to our permanent ostracization and exile, please accept our gratitude for putting American ideals ahead of political expediency. As someone wisely once said, “A Nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but it’s lowest ones.” Your example reminds me that there are still good people in the world who treat people with a decency that encourages and brings out the best in others.
Blessings,
[Name Withheld]
James, this is excellent. Thank you!
James, wonderful letter…one to be proud of. I look forward to the day when we can write such a letter to most politicians.
Fantastic letter! I hope you don’t mind if I print that and use this to help form my future letters?
On a side note, NARSOL did post this letter on their site right after the convention and yet it did not dawn on me to send a thank you. So thanks FAC for spreading this further and the suggestion.
#Speechless. That letter is amazing in many ways. Kudos and thanks to this leader.
I remember when several years ago the Houston mayor’s office demanded copies of the sermons each pastor in town were going to deliver from the pulpit. His office was afraid the sermons were going to be exclusionary. The pastors joined together and told the mayor’s office to ‘pound sand’. How things have changed. One day we will see the time when humans who commit a sex offense will receive the same considerations as drug dealers, burglars, armed carjackers, home invaders, etc. How strange to say that but that is what things are coming to. We must try to take a positive side to our situation until the truth becomes our society’s ‘guiding light’.
I wish all mayors and other city/county officials can be like this. I like how he used the term ” registered persons ” and also acknowledges that their families are affected by all of this as well. Indeed it is refreshing to see this.
Of all the stuff I have read on here. I have to say this may be my favorite. It’s so nice to see a politician who’s not afraid to acknowledge the confrence in such a professional way. He had nothing to gain by doing this and yet he still did it. What a great guy.
NARSOL should have quit panicking years ago after Valigator and Absolute Zero United’s plan to derail the Albuquerque conference back in 2012 failed epically.
Remember when the news media were duped into believing there was public outrage, in turn causing the police to hold a public hearing in a massive auditorium only to have 7 people show up, half of them being NARSOL reps? Remember how all the media hoopla worked to our advantage as people came off the streets to join us or at least to see what we really had to say?
I have been to quite a few NARSOL conferences and I still feel the Albuquerque had an energy and fire that just did not exist at the other conferences I attended.
We need to stop with the Eeyore mentality. It is NOT political suicide to undo bad legislation. Public demonstrations and awareness campaigns aren’t going to lead to punches in our faces. And, so long as registrants stay invisible, we actually feed into the mentality we are “cockroaches that scurry whenever the light from the registry shines upon them.”
Nobody is panicking – this post is intended to acknowledge a very nice gesture on the part of the mayor of the city that hosted this year’s NARSOL conference.
It is refreshing to see these kinds of letters – a very positive voice that stands in stark contrast to the throng of registry trolls seeking to make a name for themselves at our expense. It sounds like a “thank you” to the mayor’s office is in order!
I just wish more Floridians had the civility and social intelligence to do likewise. Seems like they don’t even have the smarts to just keep their thoughts to themselves. They would do themselves a favor if they heeded the biblical saying concerning them:
“Even fools seem smart when they are quiet.” Proverbs 17:28
A very inspiring comment overall, even if “panicking” isn’t quite the right characterization.
Inspiring comment + inspiring letter from a mayor who actually gets how public safety works and who has the courage to say so.