The Eau Claire County Board has broad authority in a number of areas, but this does not include deciding who does or does not get to live in the county.  Yet, a few days before Christmas, with an overflow crowd, the board considered a resolution that would have thrown some hurdles in an effort by the faith-based group World Relief to bring 75 refugees to Eau Claire. The refugees – we still don’t know where they might be coming from – would be federally vetted and would be cleared to work as soon as they arrived. The resolution asked that World Relief conduct an economic study to see if adding these new residents to the county would place a financial burden on local governments. In effect the resolution would have sent a message that refugees were not welcome here.

 I spent the afternoon before the meeting reading emails. The board received over 180 letters on the refugee resolution, with all but a handful opposing it.  The letters were quite varied. Some contained biblical verses. One writer, noting the proximity to Christmas, referred to the proposal as the “No Room at the Inn” resolution. A couple letters contained links to economic studies showing how refugees contributed to communities where they settled. 

The Chamber of Commerce wrote it “believes the proposed resolution is unnecessary and counter-productive to our community’s reputation as being welcoming to new residents.” They wrote that World Relief and others involved have been completely forthcoming about the resettlement process and objected to language in the resolution that refugees “could impact the quality of life for Eau Claire County residents due to the possibility of excessive demands on local resources.”  The Chamber argued: “…to the contrary, experiences in other communities has shown that welcoming refugees provides positive benefits.”

Two representatives from World Relief attended the meeting on short notice and fielded questions from board members.  The board voted to reject the resolution by an 18 to 9 vote with two supervisors absent. I cast one of the “no “votes.

The county board got off to a slow start with World Relief, but they said they would keep us in the loop.  This is still early in the resettlement process. I’m hoping that when and if refugees arrive, where ever they may be from, that the county will work cooperatively with the city, the churches, educators and businesses to get everyone proficient in English and employed.