Council Democrats Reject Race-Baiting Appeal

When City-County Council Democrats caucused to pick their new minority leader, the much-anticipated stand-off between outgoing CCC President Monroe Gray and Vice President Joanne Sanders fizzled after Gray withdrew his name from consideration. In Gray's place, a source close to Democratic council members tells me Vernon Brown, a firefighter, nominated Cherrish Pryor, a county worker in the Auditor's Office with less than a year of experience on the council under her belt. What transpired after Brown placed Pryor's name in nomination provoked a heated racial debate within the caucus according to the source.

White council members were quickly put on the defensive by a race-baiting appeal on the part of Brown to support Pryor's candidacy. "We need a black sitting at the table," Brown is quoted as saying. White female councilors were infuriated at references to their "white women" in the caucus status by Brown. In the end, the racist appeal failed miserably. Only four African-American Democrats backed Pryor, including her own vote. Dane Mahern became the odd man out by abstaining from voting on the minority leader. The source says Mahern cited Sanders' rumored interest in seeking the 7th District congressional seat as the reason for abstaining. However, the most-often mentioned 7th District candidate, Andre Carson, cast his vote for Sanders, which gives you an idea how this will play out for him. Carson definitely gets the "play of the week" award for backing Sanders and bringing along some of his colleagues with him.