06/23/97 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Session 1699, Minutes June 23, 1997 Ms. Willard asked Mayor Adams if the senior member was ever elected to be Mayor Pro Tern. Mayor Adams responded that there were times when the senior member was not elected. Ms. Willard asked if this was for a majority or minority of times. Mayor Adams s~id that he did not do a statistical analysis. Ms. Teisha Ashford, 1070 Purcell, said that she was there to show her support for Mrs. Thompson. She says she understands what had happened with the election, but does not understand the obvious disrespect to Mrs. Thompson. She believes as senior member, Mrs. Thompson should have been allowed to be the Mayor Pro Tem for the meeting. Mrs. Thompson has been extremely attentive to the third ward and has been a valuable and active civic leader. Ms. Tina Morrow, 4340 Maryland, Apt. I E, wanted to be here tonight to show her support for Mrs. Thompson. She said that what happened to Mrs. Thompson on June 9th, was a slap in the face of woman kind. She claimed that the meeting proved that female oppression and male domination was still a problem in today's world. As a City resident, she could not believe this kind of act could take place as University City is pushing for racial diversity. Mr. Kwarne Thompson, 8315 Seville, wanted to note Mr. Schoomer's statement from the June 9th meeting to Mrs. Thompson, that there was not a precedent for a senior member to be automatically elected as Mayor Pro Tern. He went on to read a legal definition for the word "precedent". Mr. Thompson reported that he, and his mother, had gone through all the council packets and noted that, a majority of the time, a precedent was set because the senior member was elected Mayor Pro Tern. He said that his mother was disrespected and she deserved the respect and the right to perform the duties as an eighteen year member on the City Council. Ms. Rosalyn Smith, 1255 Purdue, said that she was there to show support for Mrs. Thompson. She said that Mrs. Thompson had given a great deal of her time and energy to better the community, not just the third ward, as far back as she could remember. She has been an excellent female role model. She feels that Mrs. Thompson was shown disrespect and should be given the opportunity to be Mayor Pro Tern. Mr. Tom Sansone, 1281 Penqueno Lane, is an associate of Mr. Kwame Thompson. He said that he was not a resident, but when he had heard what had happened to Mrs. Thompson, he felt compelled to come tonight to show her his support. He said that he was told that Mr. Schoomer had made a disparaging comment about Mrs. Thompson's competency and effectiveness on the City Council. He asked Mr. $choomer if there was any truth to this statement. Mr. Schoomer said that there was no truth to this statement. Mayor Adams broke in and said that this was the time to hear comments from the audience, not for dialogue or an interrogation of Councilmembers and subsequently asked Mr. Sansone to cease his questioning. Ms. Anita Feldman, 7482 Gannon, came up to speak about the matter she brought before Council a couple of months ago about the parking garage issue and her Mazda pick up truck. She said she has been issued another ticket and asked if Council had come up with any solutions as of yet. Mayor Adams said that he had asked Council for volunteers to work on this issue. Mr. Munkel said that he and other Councilmembers were looking into it. He is waiting for some information from the State and does not have a solution as of yet. Mr. Richard Docket, 6844 Crest, said that he had spoken at many Council meetings and had interfaced with most Councilmembers. He said that the Council had bitterly attacked Mrs. Thompson and he could not understand why she continually puts up with this type of disrespect. He has been a University City resident for many years and has seen a number of racial attacks. He thinks hiring Gregory Rose, the Assistant City Manager, was a good step, but that ultimately no change will take place unless there is a major revolt. He ~inished by saying that prospering in peace and harmony would not happen until racial disintegrity was eliminated.