July 15th, 2018 by WCBC Radio

The following statement from the Hagerstown City Council addresses the comments Mayor Bob Bruchey posted on his personal Facebook page earlier this week concerning the Mayor of London:

“We are all proud to represent a city that is rich with diversity.  We, as a community, are comprised of many different races and ethnicities, different sexual orientations, different religious beliefs, and other differences that set us apart individually.  But collectively, Hagerstown is beautiful both because of the sum of these differences, and because of the commonalities we all share.

We are a community continuing to push forward to grow and become the best version of itself.  We are a faith-based community praying and working together to strive for better and to adopt an overall acceptance and validation of all of its different cultures and backgrounds.

Earlier this week, Mayor Bruchey posted a comment that could hurt or further stereotype members of our community and those around the world.  His comment does not reflect the views of the City Council, and we were deeply saddened to read what was written.  Intolerance, discrimination, or racism of any kind has no place here.  This goes way beyond politics.  This is neither a Republican or Democratic issue; nor, is it a conservative or liberal issue.  This is about declaring that ‘this comment was wrong’ and finding solutions to move forward.  We are pleased that he has apologized and is working with the Islamic Society of Western Maryland to gain greater understanding and to find ways to move Hagerstown forward in peace and solidarity.”