Guest Columnist: Lady Mercerdale
COMMUNITYOPINION
My Dear Gentle Islanders,
Courage, this lady observes, is required only when there is risk. When circumstances are calm and outcomes predictable, restraint costs little. It is when uncertainty sharpens, when reputations, comfort, or consensus might be unsettled, that courage becomes visible at all. In recent weeks, reports of ICE activity have created genuine anxiety for families across this region, including on Mercer Island, where ICE has been reported present as recently as last week. This was not a hypothetical moment. It was immediate and already felt. Online and in news reporting, the public has watched conduct that many find troubling, while official federal statements have at times minimized or contradicted what communities are seeing with their own eyes. Such dissonance does not steady a community. It unsettles it. The moment asked something modest of local leadership: clarity. Last year, the Mercer Island School District chose to remove ambiguity on this issue, setting out clear expectations and responsibilities. That action matters less as a model to be admired than as a baseline that now exists within our own community. Which raises a fair question for City Council. Does Council intend to continue allowing other institutions to define the community’s posture in moments of uncertainty, or will it step forward and lead from the front, as elected civic leadership is expected to do? After consideration, the Mercer Island City Council — Mayor David Rosenbaum, Deputy Mayor Daniel Becker, and Councilmembers Lisa Anderl, Julie Hsieh, Craig Reynolds, Wendy Weiker, and Ted Weinberg — chose not to issue a statement of their own regarding ICE, citing concern that speaking might draw unwanted attention. What followed was a narrow, jurisdictional statement issued through the Mercer Island Police Department. It addressed law, not fear. Neither City Council nor MIPD offered comfort to a community that was plainly unsettled. This lady does not mistake caution for advocacy, nor silence for neutrality. There is little interest here in hollow virtue performed for applause. Yet there are moments when stating values is not signaling but stewardship. It is a duty owed to a community unsettled by forces beyond its control. It is worth recalling, plainly and without ornament, the warning offered by Elie Wiesel: “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” This is not rhetoric. It is history speaking with precision. Leadership does not require defiance, nor does it demand drama. Sometimes it asks only that those entrusted with authority speak when silence would be easier, and accept the ordinary risks that accompany the office they sought. That moment passed quietly here. Next time, this lady expects more from our City Council.
In grace, truth, and perfect confidence,
Lady Mercerdale