Are Their Encounters with Law Enforcement Part of a Vicious Cycle
Volume 96 Number 35 | APRIL 17-23, 2019 | MiamiTimesOnline.com | Ninety-Three Cents Andrew Gillum Patrick Tallahassee Cannon Charlotte Kwame Kilpatrick Detroit Ray Nagin New Orleans Richard Catherine Thompson Pugh Baltimore Mount Vernon Are their encounters with law enforcement part of a vicious cycle or by design? This is but a shortlist of Black pow- PENNY DICKERSON mounting probe that some say was a er symbols, either toppled or shaken Miami Times Contributor direct cause. during their meteoric rise, white they In January, Florida Commission tried to transform underserved com- ndrew Gillum, Patrick Cannon, Ray Nagin, Kwame Kil- on Ethics found probable cause to munities. patrick, Marion Barry, Richard Thomas and Catherine investigate Gillum, who allegedly In the book, “African-American received gifts valued over $100 while Pugh all share a common title: Black American mayors. Mayors: Race, Politics, and the Afri- in office in the form of a stay at a They share a common fate, too. They have either been can-American City,” political histori- Costa Rica Villa, a Broadway ticket accused of criminal behavior; been previously or is ans David R. Colburn and Jeffrey S. and a boat ride. Ethics commission currently being investigated; or worse, been imprisoned in connection Adler aptly illustrate their plight: A advocate Elizabeth Miller recently “Black mayors assumed office with the job of leading a municipality. At a minimum, when the govern- requested that Administrative Law during economic downturns and ment comes sniffing, it leaves reputations in tatters. Judge E. Gary Early delay a decision confronted the intractable problems in Gillum’s hearing for five months of decaying inner cities, white flight, a power structures dominated by local Black mayors demonstrate how to accommodate the mayor’s former dwindling tax base, violent crime, and business owners or politicians.
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