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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-07-2023_Open Session_General Comment_Brown, Hardy_ADA ACCOMMODATION REQUESTED_any links sanitizedHardy Brown comment for city council meeting 6/7/23 At your mast meeting on May 17, 2023, I suggested that you as a council should remove Councilmember Shorett from his committee because he reportedly said, Mayor Tran “did not have enough experience” to serve as Vice Chair of the IVDA plus “she is too busy” as mayor. I considered those remarks to be inappropriate and derogatory. In my opinion, those kinds of statements made in public about the mayor puts a “Chilling Effect” on others that are trying to establish a relationship with the mayor, especially coming from the most senior member serving on the council. Since that meeting Councilman Shorett has had a conversation with my wife trying to drag her into my comment and she politely informed him that I am my own man and offered to set up a meeting between us to discuss his feelings, which he declined. Just so happened, on May 26 of last week as I read the Sun Journal newspaper from New Bern North Carolina, that covers my hometown of Trenton where I grew up; I came across this article. Where Rep. Jeffrey McNeely made this statement, “Rep. McNeely questioned whether a Black colleague lawmaker would have gotten into Harvard had he not been a minority and an athlete”. That statement led to him having to apologize and doing the honorable thing by resigning from his leadership position of the Republican Party. He did not use the “N” word, but he was sending the signal that Blacks do not have the intellect to enter Harvard but he had the physical body to play sports. I am attaching that article to my comment tonight an suggest Councilman Shorett do the honorable thing and resign his leadership position. Thank you; Hardy Brown The article from the Sun Journal in New Bern NC on May 25 , 2023 Local politician resigns from leadership role after making controversial statement Two Republican lawmakers have resigned from their leadership positions in the North Carolina House of Representatives days after both made controversial statements targeting Democratic lawmakers. In an announcement on the House floor Thursday morning, GOP Majority Leader Rep. John Bell announced Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Pamlico) and Rep. Jeffrey McNeely (R-Iredell) resigned from their positions within GOP leadership. Kidwell is in his third term in the House and had been a deputy majority whip. Neither representative have resigned from the legislature. Last week during debates over North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions, Kidwell explained a lawmaker who spoke about getting an abortion had perhaps been raised in the Church of Satan. In a separate debate over school vouchers, McNeely questioned whether a Black lawmaker would have gotten into Harvard had he not been a minority and an athlete. “As elected officials, we must serve by example and be accountable for our actions, especially as leaders in the caucus,” Bell said in a statement issued after the announcement. “While apologies have been made and accepted, we believe this is an appropriate action and step forward. The House Republican Caucus remains united as we work towards our shared goals this legislative session.” Currently, Kidwell filed a bill in the House which passed in March, that would make Pamlico County school board elections partisan. Senator Norm Sanderson (R- Pamlico) followed with a companion bill which has not yet passed the Senate. Neither bills have been received well by the Pamlico County community. In 2022, Kidwell’s name was found to be on a leaked Oath Keepers database. The Oath Keepers are a right-wing extremist militia group and the list of members was leakedin September by Distributed Denial of Secrets. Among those names were hundreds of police officers, elected officials, military members and first responders. The list indicated Kidwell’s potential or purported involvement began in 2012, three years after the group’s founding.