CSSJC Co-Chairs Respond To The Resignation of CRESS Director Earl Miller

Source: Allegra Clark and Debora Ferreira

The Co-chairs of the town’s Community Safety and Social Justice Committee (CSSJC), Allegra Clark and Debora Ferreira, issued the following statement on October 18, 2023, in response to the resignation of CRESS (Community Responders For Equity, Safety and Service) director Earl Miller and to the ongoing turmoil in the Cress department. CSSJC has devoted much of their last two meetings pursuing answers to questions about the struggles within the community responders department (see here and here).

The CSSJC has asked the Town Council and the Town Manager to play a role in the transition of leadership at CRESS.  We ask that an implementation or leadership transition team is created to review the job descriptions for the director, assistant director, and responder positions at CRESS to ensure they are in line with the Community Safety Working Group’s (CSWG) original recommendations for CRESS. We hope the HR and DEI departments will work together to recruit and retain diverse, qualified candidates. Further, this team should remain in place until all positions are filled, CRESS is fully staffed, and are receiving 911 calls. This transition team should have at least one member from CSWG and one member from CSSJC. To safeguard CRESS during this tumultuous time, we ask that CSSJC be utilized by the Town Council, the Town Manager and the current CRESS temporary leadership team as the advisory committee that it was originally charged to be. CSSJC is uniquely positioned to provide the guidance and assistance CRESS needs during this time. We hope there will be continued collaboration to move ahead with CRESS as envisioned by the CSWG.

As it pertains to Cress Director Earl Miller’s resignation, Miller acted as a liaison to the CSSJC during his tenure as director, providing us with updates about the department’s roll-out. He appeared passionate about the work of centering those with lived experience in identifying and implementing solutions to problems. Based on the updates Miller provided, it was clear to us that his ultimate goal was to have CRESS be an alternative to policing with CRESS receiving 911 calls.

We are unaware of the circumstances leading to Miller’s departure. Even though we understand that Miller’s departure stems from a personnel matter, we would like to receive from the town information regarding his resignation. The town does not have many BIPOC employees, let alone BIPOC employees in leadership positions. We also note the discrepancy between the recent departure of School Superintendent Michael Morris (a white man who received a generous severance and endorsement) and Miller (a Black man about whom we have no information as to the investigation or outcome).  Therefore, we have questions as to why Miller resigned.