We Need to Talk about Sean Williams
Last week, The New Yorker published an article exposing how the Johnson City government enabling perhaps “the most prolific serial rapist in American history,” Sean Williams. From the trauma and moral harm to the $28 million settlement and ongoing costs at a time when we badly need new affordable housing stock, what has happened casts a long shadow on our city. [Here is the original article] where the audio is not paywalled, and [here is an archived version.] This article highlights the ongoing issues in our city’s enabling of Williams, our community’s failure to have trauma informed and victim-centered care, and ultimately our failure to hold authority accountable.
The Williams case has still not been properly addressed.
The Johnson City Commission’s next meeting is this Thursday, April 3 2025, at 6pm. Everyone who can should attend. Based on how city officials have handled the Sean Williams case so far, it seems unlikely that they will put it on the agenda. If they decide not to let us speak on it, we will still be there to show them that it is on the people’s agenda. The more of us who show up, the better. Due to construction on their usual building, this meeting will be at the Water & Sewer Services Complex, 2250 Eddie Williams Road in Johnson City. If you have access concerns, please contact tricitiesmutualaid@gmail.com. We hope to see you there.
At Johnson City Commission meetings, public comment is only allowed on items that are on the agenda, and agendas are usually posted the Tuesday before a Thursday Commission meeting. Community members have to wait for the agenda to appear on [the Civic Web portal] and then see if there’s a relevant agenda item. Your request must be submitted at least 12 hours before the meeting. So, there’s a very small window to make your request. You then have three minutes to speak. Only 12 members of the public are allowed to speak on any one agenda item. You can subscribe to updates about certain meetings at [the Subscribe page on the portal.]
We need a voice!
These hoops we currently have to jump through just for the community to be heard as constituents were not big enough barriers in the commission’s eyes, as they tried to push for four undemocratic referenda changes in the last August election. The community [won the Protect the People’s Voice campaign] because of hard work from coalition members to get that information in people’s hands as to what those referenda even were. It was only because of community members attending commission meetings to stay informed after years of frustration over lack of transparency that we even knew about these pushes to silence us further.
We are calling for community based Town Halls to discuss this issue as well as future issues, where the commission can listen to us without those strict limits on our time and our experiences. The Williams case has still not been properly addressed. We need to have a say in what happens next.
We are calling for:
Some community-based and other resources:
If you are interested in building community solutions for the issues actually facing our communities in Johnson City and beyond, please get involved with your community in Tri-Cities Mutual Aid and Solidarity Network. We are all we have, let’s keep each other safe.
Love & Solidarity,
Tri-Cities Mutual Aid
