VOICES - There are those who feel that Friday’s public battle in Council Chambers may have been a career Armageddon for Jan Perry. Council approval of the redistricting maps for 2012 was at hand and Perry came prepared to defend her district. She opened her defense by directing the following remarks to Council President Herb Wesson.
“If I had the ability to turn the clock back to the day when I came to see you, to talk to you about your run for president and we had an exchange and I had questions which, in retrospect, perhaps I was impertinent. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so direct. If I had known then what I know now, I would have kept my mouth shut so that my district would not be sacrificed. Here we are, at the end of this process, and for me I feel your wrath, I feel your power.
“I'm the only woman on the city council now. I'm one woman out of 14 men. This is a lesson in the wise use of power, to respect the process, to respect the people, and to do their business in the light of day. I want to tell you publicly, Mr. President, I regret not voting for you and I am sorry. As a woman, I'm completely comfortable saying that because I'm fighting for something bigger than the both of us. For those of you who have commented they don't like to see three African-Americans fighting amongst each other, don't marginalize the issue. It's bigger than that. We are fighting for the futures of our communities.”
-cw
Tags: Jan Perry, redistricting, Herb Wesson
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 23
Pub: Mar 20, 2012