HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 2019.03.14 - 31014REQUESTING SUSPENSION
OF THE BOARD RULES FOR
IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION
'INDER NEW BUSINESS
MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTION #19062
BY: Commissioners Shelley Taub, District #12; Tom Kuhn, District #11; Christine Long, District #7; Marcia
Gershenson, District #13; Gwen Markham, District #9; Michael Spisz, District #3;
IN RE: BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS - DESIGNATION OF APRIL 24, 2019 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 recognized 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, 2019 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, 2019, and each subsequent anniversary, in perpetuity, to be Armenian Martyrs' Day in
Oakland County.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds 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, I move the adoption of the foregoing resolution
Commissioner Shelley Taub
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Resolution #19062 March 14, 2019
Moved by Taub seconded by Long to suspend the rules and vote on Miscellaneous Resolution #19062 —
Board of Commissioners — Designation of April 24, 2019 as Armenian Martyrs Day in Oakland County.
A sufficient majority having voted in favor, the motion to suspend the rules and vote on Miscellaneous
Resolution #19062 — Board of Commissioners — Designation of April 24, 2019 as Armenian Martyrs' Day
in Oakland County carried.
Moved by Taub seconded by Long the resolution be adopted.
Vote on resolution:
AYES: Markham, McGillivray, Middleton, Miller, Nelson, Powell, Quarles, Spisz, Taub, Weipert,
Woodward, Zack, Gershenson, Hoffman, Jackson, Kochenderfer, KowaII, Kuhn, Long, Luebs. (20)
NAYS: None. (0)
A sufficient majority having voted in favor, the resolution was adopted.
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GERALD D. POISSON
CHIEF DEPUTY COUNTY EXECUTIVE
ACTING PURIWANT 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 March 14, 2019,
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 14th day of March, 2019.
gedn
Lisa Brown, Oakland County