HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 2015.04.02 - 21778y Taub
ommissionerBA Gosselin
District #11
Commissioner Marcia Gerighenon
District #13
issioner John goott
istrict #5
MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTION #15098
BY: Commissioners Shelley Taub, District #12; Commissioner Marcia Gershenson, District #13;
Commissioner Jeff Matis, District #15; Commissioner John Scott; District #5; Commissioner Bob
Gosselin, District #11; Commissioner Helaine Zack, District #18; Commissioner Hugh Crawford, District
#9; Commissioner Bob Hoffman, District #2; Commissioner Phil Weipert, District #8; Commissioner Eileen
KowaII, District #6; Commissioner Wade Fleming, District #16
IN RE: BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS — DESIGNATION OF APRIL 24, 2015 AS ARMENIAN
MARTYRS' DAY IN OAKLAND COUNTY
To the Oakland County Board of Commissioners
Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen:
WHEREAS in 1915, the leaders of the Young Turk Party of the Ottoman Empire undertook a brutal,
genocidal campaign of hatred against the people of Armenian descent; and
WHEREAS leaders of the Armenian people, including writers, thinkers, and professionals were rounded
up, deported, and killed in Constantinople or present-day Istanbul, Turkey; and
WHEREAS the horrific events that followed have been recognized by scholars, governments, and civil
society all over the world as the Armenian Genocide of World War I, when from 1915 through 1923, the
Young Turk leadership of the Ottoman Empire orchestrated the persecution and death of approximately
1.5 million of the 2.5 million Armenians then living in Anatolia or present-day Turkey; and
WHEREAS this tragedy must be recognize as an attempted genocide of the Armenian people that
inspired the horrific acts of others; and
WHEREAS the survivors of this massacre were forced from their homeland and scattered around the
world; and
WHEREAS more than 11,000 people of Armenian descent reside in Southeast Michigan and many call
Oakland County home; and
WHEREAS included among these many Armenian citizens are refugees, direct descendants and
relatives whose lives were touched by the genocide; and
WHEREAS April 24, 2015 has been designated by community and religious leaders as Armenian Martyr's
Day, a day of Memorial observance; and
WHEREAS even as we confront the inhumanity of 1915, we also are inspired by the remarkable spirit,
strength, tenacity and courage of the Armenian people and their contributions which have enriched our
communities, spurred our economy, and strengthened our democracy; and
WHEREAS the Oakland County Board of Commissioners desires to join in this observance to
commemorate the victims of these crimes against humanity and express our desire that these horrors are
never forgotten.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners does hereby
declare April 24, 2015, and each subsequent anniversary, in perpetuity, to be Armenian Martyrs' Day in
Oakland County.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Oakland County Clerk is requested to forward copies of this
adopted resolution to the Armenian Embassy in Washington, DC, St. John's Armenian Church of
Southfield and the Armenian National Committee.
Chairperson, we m..2.v_e_the_asloplion of the foregoing resolution.
Commissioner He aine Zack
District #18
ommissioner Phil Weipert
istrict #8
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Resolution #15098 April 2, 2015
Moved by Taub supported by Bowman to suspend the rules and vote on Miscellaneous Resolution
#15098 — Board of Commissioners — Designation of April 24, 2015 as Armenian Martyrs' Day in Oakland
County.
Vote on motion to suspend the rules:
AYES: Matis, McGillivray, Middleton, Quarles, Scott, Spisz, Taub, Weipert, Woodward, Zack,
Bowman, Crawford, Fleming, Gershenson, Gingell, Gosselin, Hoffman, Jackson, Long. (19)
NAYS: None. (0)
A sufficient majority having voted in favor, the motion to suspend the rules and vote on Miscellaneous
Resolution #15098 — Board of Commissioners — Designation of April 24, 2015 as Armenian Martyrs' Day
in Oakland County carried.
Moved by Taub supported by Bowman the resolution be adopted.
AYES: McGillivray, Middleton, Quarles, Scott, Spisz, Taub, Weipert, Woodward, Zack, Bowman,
Crawford, Fleming, Gershenson, Gingell, Gosselin, Hoffman, Jackson, Long, Matis. (19)
NAYS: None. (0)
A sufficient majority having voted in favor, the resolution was adopted.
Ii HER APPROVE THIS RESOLUTION
CHIEF DEPUTY COUNTY EXECUTIVE
ACTING PURSUANT TO MCL 45.559A (7)
STATE OF MICHIGAN)
COUNTY OF OAKLAND)
I, Lisa Brown, Clerk of the County of Oakland, do hereby certify that the foregoing resolution is a true and
accurate copy of a resolution adopted by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners on April 2, 2015,
with the original record thereof now remaining in my office.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the County of Oakland at
Pontiac, Michigan this 2nd day of April 2015.
Lisa Brown, Oakland County