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Discussion: President O'Malley shared a comment from Jason Weiner in the chat, that Just Mercy, the film mentioned in the communication is available for streaming for free during the month of June. Laura Rodriguez-Carbone thanked Vice President Litten for his letter and stated the importance of public leaders attempting to empathize with minority communities. She stated that Lakewood should attempt to reinstate its health department at some point down the line. She asked that the following written statement be included in the record: "Racism is the driving force of social determinants of health (housing, employment, education) and is the preeminent barrier to health equity. Minorities suffer disproportionately from diabetes, kidney, heart, liver and lung disease. We are sicker than our caucasian counterparts and our life expectancy is lower. The disparities and the causes behind them are very clear to people like me, who work in public health and are also clear to those, like myself, who are from minority communities. Studies show that relative racial disparities begin at birth. There is no medical or biological difference in our bodies to cause these disparities. There is no predilection of ill health inherent in our race - the racial patterning of disease in minority communities reflects institutionalized racism that has been in place for hundreds of years in the United States. Public health has some precedent in addressing social determinants of health through fighting racism. When Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King worked to eradicate Chicago slums in the 1960s, his supporters found ways to address some ofthe social determinants ofhealth that were harmful to the people who lived there. By focusing on the health of those in minority communities, as we are in declaring racism a public health crisis, we can begin to address the social determinants ofhealth that exist in our community now. I believe we can begin to do that by addressing prevention. That is,prevention from a 360 degree viewpoint- Working in earnest to ensure equal access to job opportunities, working to eradicate housing discrimination, addressing food insecurity (nearly 50% ofLakewood School children qualms for the free or reduced lunch program), ensuring access to equal educational opportunities, removing barriers to healthcare access, and providing targeted outreach, education and supportive resources to minority communities that help combat the effects of structural racism, should be the first steps taken in starting to address this issue locally. To begin to address the systemic issues associated with health disparities in minority communities, I believe we have to start to map out a long term commitment to provide a foundation in funding and leadership that will support the unique health needs of Lakewood's minority and refugee residents. Working with the State of Ohio to secure funding to reinstate Lakewood's Health Department and ensuring that Lakewood's Human Services Department is adequately funded is an essential piece of having the institutional wherewithal necessary to start to hone in on the unique health makeup and health needs of our community and to putting an actionable plan in place to start addressing the issues.