What did City Council President Marc Laredo do in response to Councilor Jay Ciccone’s remarks comparing higher parking meter rates to Jim Crow laws? Publicly, nothing.
Read about Councilor Ciccone’s comments here and here.
Councilor Laredo did not respond to an email to Councilor Ciccone and him calling for Councilor Ciccone to do something publicly to remedy his insensitive comments.
In person, Councilor Laredo made three points:
- He considers the matter a private matter, has addressed the issue privately, and will not be sharing any details of those private conversations.
- He will not be removing Councilor Ciccone as chair of the City Council’s Public Safety & Transportation (PS&T) committee or taking any other public action.
- He will not be told how to run, in his words, “my City Council.”
To be clear, Councilor Ciccone’s comments are not the most egregious example of racial bigotry or insensitivity. The question, though, is whether they are insensitive enough to warrant some follow up. By his own admission, Councilor Laredo felt they were. So, why conduct that follow-up in private?
Councilor Ciccone made what to some are racially insensitive public comments that minimize the horrific injustice of the Jim Crow era. This is not a private matter, it’s a matter of Councilor Ciccone’s public conduct as a public official acting in an important leadership role, a role conferred on him by Councilor Laredo. It is a matter that demands a public accounting. Without a public accounting, it’s a back-room deal with one powerful white guy looking out for another powerful white guy.
Councilor Ciccone has given Councilor Laredo plenty of reason to end Councilor Ciccone’s tenure as the PS&T chair. Besides being racially insensitive, Councilor Ciccone’s comments demonstrated that he had not even done minimal preparation and that he lacked a basic understanding of Newton’s existing meter rate structure, which is directly under the jurisdiction of the very committee Councilor Ciccone chairs. In one comment he showed that he has neither the temperament nor the subject-matter expertise to justify Councilor Laredo maintaining him as PS&T chair.
As for Councilor Laredo’s comment that it is “his” City Council, …
See both of you in November!
And…cue the suburban white folk to tell us how there’s really nothing wrong with comparing parking fee increases to this nation’s civil rights movement, which directly led to the deaths of dozens of martyrs between 1954 and 1968, and which sought to finally remedy three and a half centuries of codified racial injustice that led to the deaths of millions of individuals and the enslavement of millions more.
I somehow think that if Ciccone had drawn a similarly illogical and inexcusable parallel to some other historical injustice that was more prone to arousing the sensitivities of Newtonites – say, Sacco & Vanzetti, or Kristallnacht, or the Great Famine – that he would have been made to apologize post haste and/or been forced out of office. And I don’t think we would’ve been hearing these comments that Ciccone’s comparison was “innocent” or that Sean Roche was “overreacting” and “over-the-top.” Double standards are a funny thing.
Oh please – who’s the “suburban white folk” and who’s “us”? Based on avatars and known entities, just about everyone who has weighed in on all sides of this discussion are suburban white folk. And the comments from one (known) person of color were basically ignored. Classic Newton.
What Tricia said, especially about completely ignoring the comment from the one person of color.
IMO, Councilor Laredo handled the situation appropriately.
Councilors Laredo and Ciccone have shown an arrogance and ignorance that, unfortunately, has become all too common on this City Council.
Jay, apologize for making a stupid, racially insensitive remark.
And Marc, offensive public comments from a colleague require a public response from the President of the Council. Step up and lead on this. Don’t hide behind closed doors. This is not a private personnel matter, and it is not “your” City Council. Councilor Ciccone does not work for you. You BOTH work for us. Try not to forget that.
@Michael, now who’s making the offensive comparisons? Segregated bus seating was a deplorable and inexcusable practice. But it was not comparable, as you contend, to slavery, Nazi terror, and wrongful executions.
Why, exactly, is making poorer people park in a faraway place so different from segregated seating? Because you think racial discrimination is inherently worse than economic discrimination? Maybe that is your view. Some people on this thread, including at least one person of color, see it differently.
@Michael, an erratum on my part: two of your examples were only rhetorical; the intentional comparison you drew was between segregated seating and slavery.
@Michael Singer, admittedly I don’t follow your logic but you seem to be proving my point in your first comment. Your second comment doesn’t correspond to what I wrote, so I’m not sure what to make of that one.
But I do love this new, righteous condemnation of “economic discrimination,” which in this case refers to the mechanism of market pricing in a capitalist society. Who knew that the Ciccone supporters felt so strongly about free access to goods and services by all members of society? Workers of the world, unite.
@michael spot on, taxpayer funded libraries are a communist plot. Those who can’t afford to buy books like everyone else want everything given to them! Leeches on society. They’re lucky we allow them to be taught to read.
@Rich Frank, in addition to free libraries, free healthcare, and free post-secondary education, I strongly advocate for free and ubiquitous public transit and the elimination of privately-owned automobiles, which would render moot the issue of surge pricing for parking.
Cllr Ciccone’s comments and the comments of his supporters in this forum, especially those condemning “economic discrimination,” would seem to imply support for these initiatives, which is quite surprising to me, especially given the electoral record of Ward 1.
Are folks really offended by Councilor Ciccone’s comments? Or are the THREE posts associated with this nothing-burger of a story an opportunity for some of the more active posters on this blog to push their agenda regarding biking (more), parking (less), and automobiles (a scourge to humanity)? I’ve spoken to a half dozen Newton voters about Councilor Ciccone’s comments regarding Rosa Parks and NOT ONE was offended. Not one. Somehow, I’ll bet there’s a direct correlation between those who were “offended” by Councilor Ciccone’s comments and those that were “offended” that the Boston Bruins partnered with Barstool Sports in connection with the rally towels.
A defense of Barstool Sports…too funny.
Give it a rest Sean!
Just a reminder that we’re talking about municipal parking, not privately-owned parking.
Also – Councilor Ciccone’s analogy is not one I would make, but I’m not offended. However, I find both Barstool Sports *and* rally towels offensive.
Is Sean truly offended by Ciccone’s comment because he finds is racist or is because it has to do with parking?
*it, not is
Tell you what, George, come on down to Myrtle Baptist Church in West Newton, the oldest African American congregation in the city. I think you might find people who are offended by Jay Ciccone’s comments comparing parking meter prices to being forced to sit in the back of the bus because of the color of your skin.
Give me a Goddamn break, dude. Jim Crow and parking meters have not got shit in commong.