Port City candidates quizzed at NAACP, Black Caucus forum. Saffo, Sparks, are no shows.

Wilmington mayoral candidate Justin LaNasa speaks during the candidate forum for the Wilmington City Council and the Wilmington mayoral race at St. Phillip AME Church in Wilmington Friday, October 14, 2011. The New Hanover County NAACP and the New Hanover County Black Caucus sponsored the forum.
Photo By Matt Born

 

Shelby.Sebens@StarNewsOnline.com

Modified: Friday, October 14, 2011 at 9:14 p.m.

Six of the 11 candidates in the running for the Wilmington City Council and mayoral elections showed up Friday night to field questions from the NAACP and New Hanover County Black Caucus.

Dozens of people filled long tables in the St. Phillip AME Church on Eighth Street. President of the Black Caucus, Helen Worthy, said she heard from city council candidate Ricky Meeks, who couldn't make it, and incumbent Ron Sparks and Neil Anderson sent proxies to speak for them. Council candidate Josh Fulton also did not attend.

The first half hour was reserved for mayoral candidate questions, and candidate Justin LaNasa fielded them alone. Mayor Bill Saffo did not attend.

"I feel that the majority of our citizens are going unheard," LaNasa said. 

This was the third annual candidate forum for the New Hanover County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the New Hanover County Black Caucus. Candidates fielded questions from a panel of members of the Alpha Psi Omega Chapter of AKA Sorority Inc. The subjects ranged from violent crime to city services and regulations. 

Brenda Fong, treasurer of the local NAACP group and downtown resident, said her biggest concerns were traffic in the Wilmington area and better explanations of the bus routes. Once again, candidates debated the prevalence of crime, but Fong thought transportation should be a more pressing issue for elected officials. 

City regulations have also taken center stage in the race for the Wilmington City Council, and Friday's forum was no exception. The panel asked candidates if they thought a proposed expansion of the city's rules aimed at preserving historic buildings was too invasive.

Black Caucus: Tired of making excuses for Obama. (Ahem -- Would you please repeat that?)

August 17, 2011 1:39pm 

By Byron York

Follow on Twitter:@byronyork

During a sometimes-raucous session of what's being called the "For the People" Jobs Initiative tour, a key member of the Congressional Black Caucus told an audience in Detroit Tuesday that the CBC doesn't put pressure on President Obama because he is loved by black voters.

But at the same time, Rep. Maxine Waters said, members of the CBC are becoming increasingly tired and frustrated by Obama's performance on the issue of jobs. Even as she expressed support for the president, Waters virtually invited the crowd to "unleash us" to pressure Obama for action.

"We don't put pressure on the president," Waters told the audience at Wayne County Community College.  "Let me tell you why. We don't put pressure on the president because ya'll love the president. You love the president. You're very proud to have a black man -- first time in the history of the United States of America. If we go after the president too hard, you're going after us."

The problem, Waters said, is that Obama is not paying enough attention to the problems of some black Americans.  The unemployment rate for African-Americans nationally is a little over 16 percent, and almost twice that in Detroit.  And yet, Waters said, the president is on a jobs-promotion trip through the Midwest that does not include any stops in black communities.

"The Congressional Black Caucus loves the president too," Waters said.  "We're supportive of the president, but we're getting tired, ya'll.  We're getting tired. And so, what we want to do is, we want to give the president every opportunity to show what he can do and what he's prepared to lead on. We want to give him every opportunity, but our people are hurting. The unemployment is unconscionable. We don't know what the strategy is. We don't know why on this trip that he's in the United States now, he's not in any black community.  We don't know that."

As she discussed her dilemma -- frustrated with the president but hesitant to criticize him lest black supporters turn on her -- Waters asked the crowd for its permission to have a "conversation" with the president.

"When you tell us it's alright and you unleash us and you tell us you're ready for us to have this conversation, we're ready to have the conversation," she said.  Some members of the crowd immediately voiced their approval.

"All I'm saying to you is, we're politicians," Waters continued.  "We're elected officials.  We are trying to do the right thing and the best thing. When you let us know it is time to let go, we'll let go."

"Let go!" some in the audience yelled.