Council Member Priforce Skipped Over in Favor of Mourra
Council Majority Disregards Priforce Despite Status as the People's Clear Favorite
BREAKING
Tonight, in a four to one vote (Priforce abstaining), the City Council elevated David Mourra to Vice Mayor, skipping the people's choice Kalimah Priforce, presaging a move to deny Mr Priforce his turn at the mayoralty. Former Vice Mayor Courtney Welch, a favorite of vacating mayor John Bauters, was selected to be Emeryville’s newest mayor, a move not surprising to anyone.
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| New Vice Mayor David Mourra The people's second choice but the Council majority's first choice. |
Emeryville’s mayor is selected by a vote of the City Council and each council member is supposed to get a turn at being mayor. The idea is that the people’s choice for council comes with an expectation they will be mayor. The Vice Mayor almost always ascends to the mayoralty after one year. There is no force of law to this however. It has generally worked over the years with some exceptions but the skipping of some members has been happening with greater frequently recently.
Over the years, lone progressives on the Council have been forbidden to be mayor by conservative majorities controlled by former Councilwoman Nora Davis (and now John Bauters). In this way Council members Greg Harper, John Fricke were skipped over. More recently, Council member Ken Bukowski was skipped over for mayor after he told the New York Times he was a methamphetamine user and Scott Donahue was skipped after Mr Bauters called his competence into question. Bauters used that vote to personally take another year being mayor.
Vice Mayor David Mourra, Emeryville voters’ second choice, having received only 1223 votes, or 21% will become mayor next year while Council member Kalimah Priforce, the overwhelming choice of the people, who won with 1583 votes or 28%, will likely never be allowed to be our mayor (with this conservative Council majority in power).
We reached out to Council member Mourra over the last week concerning the impending vice mayor vote but he didn't return our calls.
Thanks for the recap. We as citizens of Emeryville need to continue to monitor the city council for upholding the kind of democracy we want in a small town. So far, the low voter turnout alone is way too apathetic for change. We call on the newly appointed Mayor to describe her understanding of how she will maintain the dignity of our city since she has set a horrible example on her social media of civil society.
ReplyDeleteI voted for Kalimah. I feel like the council doesn't respect me or my vote. I agree this is undemocratic. These childish council people should leave their squabbles to themselves and work for US THE PEOPLE.
ReplyDeleteBauters doesn't respect democracy. We who voted for Priforce are being disrespected because Bauters doesn't like him. But how is that his call to make? In Emeryville with Bauters in charge, the people's will is being ignored and pushed aside. We voted for Priforce in the election and now Bauters is taking that away from us. Who the hell does he think he is?
ReplyDeletePriforce is childish and angry. He isn't fit for mayor. The council is right to shut him down.
ReplyDeleteThis commenter is using barely concealed racist tropes and as moderator, I only allow this to stand because it is somewhat less than overt. I will not allow the Tattler to be taken over by racists and so I advise the commenter accordingly.
DeleteThe time has come for an indpendent Ombudsman group to monitor and make the city council accountable for their comments and actions. When Courtney Welsh lashes out and says, "Fuck Boy", to her City Council colleague this ignites an intolerance that must be addressed and stopped. The sad reality of this is that these outbursts tell the real personality and mode of thinking that at least one of our City Council persons possess. It reveals the base and inferior character behind the words and it degrades all of us.
ReplyDeleteAs a point of correction, our new mayor, Courtney Welch, called ME a 'fuck boy', not a colleague of hers. She called me that as a result of a Tattler investigation into her scamming our BMR (Below Market Rate) subsidized housing program shortly after she became a council member. Now that she is Mayor, look to a Tattler follow up piece about how she misrepresented herself to the City in order to qualify for one of these government subsidized units. We may hear her again lashing out against the media by use of the epithet 'fuck boy'.
DeleteThanks for your comment.
I agree with these commenters. Kalimah got skipped because Bauters doesn't like him. But that is of no concern to the voters. We voted for Kalimah and Bauters is refusing to recognize us. Terrible politics. Bauters is too thin skinned to be a council member.
ReplyDeleteIs it true that you were arrested at the most recent council meeting ?
ReplyDeleteYes! John Bauters’ last official act as mayor was to call the Sergeant at Arms to have me arrested for making comments from the audience during the Council proceedings. It was the first time in Emeryville history that I’m aware of where the mayor ordered the arrest of a citizen for making comments from the audience. Members of the public here routinely clap and make comments at Council meetings but Tuesday was the first time a mayor has called for an arrest of a citizen for this common transgression. I was not yelling as Rob reports, just using a normal talking voice. But Mayor Bauters was clearly very angry from all the previous public comment I made criticizing his public policies. So he revealed to us his authoritarian side. Nobody, not even Nora Davis, ever optioned their arrest power from the dais. It appears Mr Bauters can’t stand the heat. Expect a Tattler story about this.
DeleteThanks for commenting.
Imagine making a video attacking every other council member then still expecting them to vote for you to become Vice Mayor.
ReplyDelete