By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington alderman, who represents the east side ward hit by racially offensive graffiti, will ask the city council to develop a plan to deal with future incidents.

Third ward councilman Mboka Mwilambwe said he “wasn’t so excited” to see pictures on social media of the racial epithets and Nazi swastikas at McGraw Park before city workers could remove them.

Mwilambwe said he’ll recommend set policies for the city’s response to such crimes, including guidelines for quicker removal of the offensive graffiti and what information is released to the public.

“I really want to explore the lesson learned in terms of how we address this issue quickly,” said Mwilambwe. “I don’t mean this to be critical.”

Bloomington police said they arrested three teenagers early Sunday morning for criminal damage, a vehicle break-in, and for setting park benches on fire.

Mayor Tari Renner noted Bloomington-Normal started the Not In Our Town movement, but the weekend incidents show there’s still work to do to combat racism. The mayor urged residents to be vigilant and be understanding toward others.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected].