Marblehead remains No Place for Hate

MARBLEHEAD – The Task Force Against Discrimination, which will observe its 20th anniversary with some special events next year, is keeping Marblehead certified as a No Place For Hate community.Marblehead has received that designation for the fourth year in a row. The task force was instrumental in making the town a No Place for Hate community, a project sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, Massachusetts Municipal Association and Blue Cross-Blue Shield.However, they’re looking for a lawyer and a police officer to help out.The task force has three new members, appointed by the selectmen Wednesday.Melissa Volk Aizanman amd Judy Luise are teachers and Monica Tecca has been involved in church anti-discrimination issues.Co-chairs Helaine Hazlett and the Rev. Anne Marie Hunter told the selectmen there have been two vandalism incidents recently, one on a bike path near Abbot Public Library and the other involving a banner at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church.Hazlett noted that the task force still has two key vacancies that need filling.When the group was formed in 1989 after an act of vandalism at Temple Emanu-El, its members included a police officer and a lawyer, but as the years passed those members rolled off and have not been replaced.After Hazlett announced that on television, Police Chief Robert Picariello contacted her and said he would ask a police officer to serve on the task force.The other task force members include Rabbi Jonas Goldberg, Harvey Michaels, Barbara Schneider, Deacon John E. Whipple, Jay Morrison and Marblehead High student Isabel Katzman.The task force is helping to publicize an Interfaith Seder Tuesday, April 1, at 6 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, co-sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League and the JCC. The 10th annual North Shore event celebrates the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt.The Task Force meets throughout the year to discuss concerns raised by residents and to create ongoing programs that will celebrate diversity within the town.