Letters to the Editor: ‘Redneck’? Councilmembers’ racist remarks were a lot of things, but not that
Published: Friday, March 6, 2014 at 1:46 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, March 6, 2014 at 1:46 p.m.
We’re all rednecks, just not the ones who sit around in a hotel room drinking beer and passing the time until 9:30 p.m.
That’s what Councilmembers Ron Menchaca and Bill Spivey are supposed to do in a city that has an elected mayor and two city commissioners.
I lived in Henderson for more than two decades and was a resident of the unincorporated areas for many more years, when the only election that mattered was the one where I ran to become the mayor. While I didn’t have the money or organization of Menchaca and Spivey to run a positive campaign or get my points across, I was a strong candidate for anything but a lousy mayor.
The day I took the oath of office, I stood in a room full of former councilmembers, city commissioners and city court judges to make a solemn promise that I would do my duty as a councilman and keep my word. I promised that I would not stand in the way of what was best for the community and that I would work with everyone to make Henderson the city it was destined to be.
That was one reason I was elected mayor, the other was that I was the only one who would give a damn.
The council made the decision to remove Henderson’s parks and recreation director from office for the same kind of racist comments she and her supporters accused other officials of making.
Councilmembers Menchaca and Spivey are from this community and they and the community have a right to question what was said by their elected leaders.
So we did.
We made public statements that asked them to either apologize or resign. They didn’t do either.
In fact, Menchaca said, “There is no other word than racist” to describe the remarks he and Spivey made as council