LAUREL HILL — A City Council nominee says the selection process is racist after city leaders again deadlocked on choosing a vacant seat's replacement.
Mary Bradberry and Daniel Lane were nominated following Clifton Hall’s resignation from the council in November 2013.
At every council meeting since, the council has tied 2-2 when voting for his replacement.
After council members Johnnie James and Willie Mae Toles, both black, again voted for Bradberry, and Council Chairman Larry Hendren and Betty Williamson, both white, voted for Lane, Bradberry said she thought race was a factor.
“This has been going on for quite some time,” she said. “I have come to a conclusion that this is a black or white thing, not about the betterment of Laurel Hill. It doesn't make sense.”
Hendren said qualifications, not race, have factored in the council's indecision. Additionally, "it is who each member feels most comfortable working with,” he said.
Former mayor Joan Smith said the situation was not new for Laurel Hill, which in the recent past went 18 months with a vacant council seat due to monthly vote deadlocks until a municipal election filled the seat.
“I was the one who went through the same situation as this problem,” James said. “I don't know if it was a racial thing or not. Whoever is the best for the job, that's who you put in.”
James encouraged Bradberry to “just hang in there,” as March 2015's municipal elections will allow her to let the voters decide whether she should be seated.
“I have faith in Laurel Hill,” Bradberry said. “I made my home here.”
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill resident claims racism in council selection process