City Council Asks Michigan City Mayor Duane Parry To Resign After Racist Voicemail Surfaces
Michigan City, Indiana’s mayor is being asked to step down after he unleashed a profanity-laced racist rant about a Black pastor.
According to ABC7, the town’s city council has unanimously approved a resolution asking Duane Parry to resign and expressed no confidence in his ability to lead.
All nine members of the City Council sponsored the resolution on Tuesday night (March 16). They’re also asking LaPorte County Republicans and the Indiana Republican Party to publicly speak out against Parry’s actions.
Last week, Rev. James Lane publicly released a voicemail message Parry left for him in which he declined to meet with Lane and a Spiritual Task Force.
Toward the end of the recording, it becomes apparent Parry thought he had ended the call and is heard saying: "They want a [expletive] audience, you know. These Black guys, they all want a [expletive] audience.”
"In my mind as a public official, the mayor needs to resign, and that sentiment is growing." Democratic Councilman Don Przybylinski said Tuesday night, according to The NWITimes.
The offered meeting between Parry and the task force was to address their concerns regarding Parry’s recent public reprimand of Police Chief Dion Campbell, who is Black, over a fundraising letter for police charities that Campbell included in city water bills.
Parry responded to the City Council’s resolution, saying he is "not a quitter." He also apologized to Campbell and plans to apologize to Lane and other ministers on Thursday.
On March 11, Parry began counseling on implicit bias and cultural diversity. Last week, according to ABC7, he said he’d pursue the training for himself, as well as all department heads and city employees.
