If you want to know how to turn the city manager issue into a racial matter, ask Chuck Weikel. In his latest email blast to supporters and citizens, Weikel, a member of the AA County Democratic Central Committee, an occasional employee of Mayor Moyer (parking coordinator? former? current?) and the head of Annapolis Alive! plays the race card and insults the intelligence of half the city council and of all Annapolitans.
See for yourself what Weikel is saying to the many people on his email list:
The City Manager is Unfair to Minority Groups
The City Manager legislation being supported by some Aldermen would let the majority of the Council decide who would be the CEO of our City.So who is this majority? Assuming that the Council were voting today to appoint a City Manager, the likely 5 majority votes scenario for the 5 majority votes needed to appoint would be:
-- 100% White
-- 100% Male
-- And 90% + of their constituents live above the poverty line and not in public housing communities.
Forget for a moment the extremely improbable case that a woman or an African American or economically disadvantaged person might actually get appointed City Manager. Which Annapolitan communities are likely to receive attention and resources from a City Manager and which will not?
When the majority speaks without restraint the outcome will be clear.
Mayors are elected by coalition and consensus of all Annapolitan communities. The larger the coalition, the more likely an individual is to get elected and thus the larger representation of women, African Americans and the poor in the execution of government services.
Stop the undemocratic disempowerment of Annapolitans by this Council. Question their motives.
Stop the City Manager legislation.
Click here to register to vote!
The time to Energize and Organize is now.
79 West Street
Annapolis, MD 21401
410 919-8147
info@democratsforchuck.com
by authority Democrats for Chuck - Colleen Purcell, Treasurer
______________________________________________________________________
Such baseless pandering and demagoguery cannot go unanswered. If Weikel wants to debate the city manager amendment on the basis of facts and studied analysis, that is one thing, but this is what is known in polite circles as BS, and by that I don't mean building solidarity.
First off, what Weikel is doing is siding with his arch political opponent, Alderman Dave Cordle, a white male who happens to be a Republican and mayoral candidate who on this issue, seems to be on the side of the mayor (a woman) and two black alderman as well as possibly another white male. Oh-why am I even going there? I guess because Weikel did. So, is this really about race and gender? Only if you want to see it that way.
Second-The City Manager is not going to be the CEO of the city. The City Manager will be the Chief Administrative Officer or CAO of the city. As council chair, the Mayor will effectively remain as the Chairperson of the Board. But as a businessman, Mr. Weikel should know that it takes special skills and experience to be a CEO, so why does he recommend that we continue to elect people to head our big budget bureaucracy who have had little or no management experience?
Third-If this is not pandering, then what should we call it? Weikel seems to hold the majority of us who live above the poverty line and not in public housing communities in some form of contempt. In case Mr. Weikel has not noticed, the majority of the city is also white.
Fourth-Why does he mistakenly suggest that the two black alderwomen and their constituents (are they all black and female?) will lose out? One of them narrowly eked out a win against a white male. Does that mean we should redraw the ward line? Having a city manager will return power to the city council, and they are the direct representatives of the people. Giving all aldermen and alderwomen, black, white, male or female the authority over a city manager will give them more power to represent their constituents--in poverty or in mansions.
Fifth- Weikel writes "Forget for a moment the extremely improbable case that a woman or an African American or economically disadvantaged person might actually get appointed City Manager." How can we forget that for a moment? Why would that be extremely improbable? Perhaps the white male Weikel believes there are no qualified blacks or women for such a job yet of course there are female and black city managers. Why does he assume that simply because a council majority is white or male, that they will automatically hire a white person or a male? What would he suggest alternatively--that if we had a majority black or female, or black female council that it would automatically hire a black or a woman or a black woman? And we must ask--does merit or experience enter in the conversation? And....how could an "economically disadvantaged person" get appointed city manager? Good question Chuck. We expect to pay over$150k per year for such a position. I think women and minorities should get a chance at such a job--or do you want to deny them that and have them settle for the mayor or city administrator's job for much less money?
The city manager job is very much a job for minorities that requires but two things--education and hard work. They don't have to raise a lot of money or come from a politically connected family to get elected, they just have to study and work hard to get ahead. For example, a black woman may not be able to run for or get elected as mayor, but she might be chosen as city manager by a council with blacks and women on the council. I say might be. But why discuss it in these terms? Let's not forget who is playing the race card here. If Weikel wants to make such claims, he should use some facts.
Sixth--In its long history, Annapolis has never had a black mayor and we only got our first woman mayor seven years ago, so what is his point here? And ever since we have had city administrators, every single one of them has been a white male. Again-what is Weikel's point?
Weikel believes this is an attempt at the "undemocratic disempowerment of Annapolitans by this Council". These last seven years, he's been working for our first female mayor who has been undemocratically trying to disempower the council and all Annapolitans. That's where Weikel, a white male has been, working for a white woman.
As a member of the County Democratic Central Committee, this is not the first time he has publicly attacked elected Democrats, in this case Aldermen Shropshire, Israel and Arnett. When are Democratic leaders going to say enough is enough? Maybe they should insist he be replaced by a black woman? (After all, aren't angry white males over-represented already?)
(CP will soon publish an exclusive on why County Councilman Josh Cohen opposes a city manager style of government)
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2 Comments:
I find it stunningly hysterical that a member of Mayor Moyer's uber-cronyistic administration, one that has been crippled by a spectacular number of failures, would rail against a city manager form of government and expect to be taken seriously. Not only do I think that a city manger should be hired, but the entire Moyer contingent should be banished to one of the lesser states, like Arkansas, where they can rub salve on each other's backs to heal the red marks caused by repeatedly slapping each other in a self-congratulatory frenzy for a term well-done while at Homestead last week.
Well true to form, you certainly use your most interesting colorful prose. To those unfamiliar, Burren 47 writes an interesting blog at www.burren47@blogspot.com self-described as "A cranky worldview from a seething revolutionary in a suburban milquetoast disguise." I do enjoy your poison pen writings and invite you to write regularly for CP. A "self-congratulatory frenzy" !!! LOL....
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