Alderperson Israel Del Toro's (District 4) Invocation At 04/05/2023 Common Council Meeting

Mayor Jake Woodford: Tonight's invocation will be delivered by Alder Del Toro.

Alderperson Israel Del Toro (District 4): First off, I want to congratulate my colleagues who were reelected to represent your districts last night, welcome our new colleague who has big shoes to fill, as well as say goodbye to an excellent friend and colleague, Alder Thao.

It's been one year since I began representing District Four in the Appleton Common Council. And I find that in preparing this invocation, I wanted to use the opportunity to reflect on two aspects of what I'm doing here today: one, which is service to my community, and second, which is impart—to impart meaningful change. I also want to tie these two aims with one central theme: diversity. I want to start this invocation with the words of Audre Lorde who said "It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize them, accept, and celebrate that diversity."

As I look in this room, I don't see a truly diverse representation of Appleton...yet. I don't see a celebration of our diversity. Instead, I see the seeds of divisiveness. As a Council, let's move away from this trend and towards the celebration of our community's diversity. While we are a diverse group in some ways, I encourage us to contemplate how to make this Council even more representative of the community we serve. This might require us some—require some of us to step back and be mentors in our community that stimulate and promote diversity rather than suppress it.

On service, I ran because I wanted to serve. Professionally, I can best serve as a trained ecologist and practicing environmental scientist with 15 years experience, dozens of peer reviewed articles, and advanced educational merits. Most of us ran with the idea that we could serve our community in areas where we have some expertise to contribute. So with this in mind, I ask us to consider fulfilling all roles in this Council to the best of our ability and out of a genuine desire to better our community and not just self promote. If you're in communications, communicate, and please spread truth and non misinformation and divisiveness. If you're an artist, create art. If you're a lawyer, mediate. If you're financially savvy, guide us to invest wisely. And if you're a scientist, then share the best available and unbiased truths.

April is Earth Month. And I want us to take this moment to carefully consider the forward thinking changes that we can make as a city and to contemplate how to better be—to be better stewards of our environment and natural resources. Let's build positivity and move away from ideas that inappropriately seek to dismantle or create divisiveness. Let's create a better city where we can proudly say to our constituents, "We work for you. We work for our environment, and towards a better future." Let's protect our biological diversity and implement lasting cultural change that shows—showcases the creative creative thinking and strengths of our city. Let us do our best to learn from the lessons of the past stated in this tes—Cesar Chavez quote: "Years of misguided teaching have resulted in the destruction of the best of our society, our culture, and our environment." Let's do better for our community, for our homes, and for our—other—our Mother Earth. Thank you.