Johnson to firefighters’ union: Don’t endorse me
Usually around this time, we receive news releases from candidates boasting about their latest endorsement.
But today, State Rep. Connie Johnson sent out a note highlighting whose backing she doesn’t want.
Johnson, seeking the 5th District Senate Seat, has informed the St. Louis firefighters’ union that she would reject their support.
“I neither seek nor will accept an endorsement from Local 73 for the Senate seat because of the current racially hostile climate in the St. Louis Fire Department,” Johnson wrote in a letter to union president Chris Molitor.
The union, Johnson says, favored — “if not engineered” — the removal of former Fire Chief Sherman George, the first African-American to lead the department.
Though the union never took an official position on whether George should have been allowed to stay in office, they did push for the promotions he refused to make.
“While I am a staunch supporter of organized labor, I simply cannot in good conscience seek or accept an endorsement from an organization such as Local 73 that so profoundly stands against diversity,” Johnson wrote.
Local 73 has frequently been assigned the shorthand of being the “white union,” while F.I.R.E. — the Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality - has been referred to as the “black union.”
In reality, Local 73 is the bargaining unit for all rank and file firefighters — no matter their skin color. Even so, many African-American firefighters — cognizant that the union did not always embrace black members — prefer to align themselves with F.I.R.E.
St. Louis firefighters, who by law must live in the city, have proved themselves a formidable voting bloc, especially in low-turnout primary elections like the one Johnson will be competing in this summer. Just ask Lewis Reed, who rode the Local 73 endorsement all the way to the head of the Board of Aldermen, becoming the first African-American elected to that position.
But that was before George’s ouster stirred resentment in the black community, a sentiment clearly shared by Johnson.
Johnson: Doesn’t want firefighter endorsement
The Local 73 endorsement was important to Reed, but to say he rode the endorsement to victory gives the union a bit too much credit.
Was Ms. Johnson even in the running for an endorsement or is this just a ploy for press? Sounds like playing the race card to me.
Also, how was George ousted? He was not replaced when the Mayor was first elected 7 years ago. He refused to follow an order, so in order to follow the chain of command he was disciplined. At my job if I don’t do what my boss tells me to do I would be punished as well. Why is Ms. Johnson trying to create a problem where none exists?
This is just another chapter in the endless war of bigotry that is black politics in St. Louis. Black firefighters declare their union to be the “white union” despite the fact that they are welcome to be in this union. Then, they establish a “black union” that isn’t even a union, but which attacks white politicians and fire department staff at every turn. Somehow, all this racism on the part of black firefighters is evidence that white political leaders are racists. So to show her black politician creds, Johnson attacks the “white union.” It’s really disgusting. Ms. Johnson should be ashamed of herself.
So Connie Johnson is living and voting outside of her elected district and is probably trying to divert attention from herself by trying to fan old issues. Her crime is just as bad if not worse than those she is trying to highlight. She claims she lives in a house that she rented out to others, sued them to (after voting from the address where she did not live) and then swore that she lived in the home when she filed for office (the courts had not granted her possesion yet). So she is just trying to divert attention from her illegal behavior. She doesn’t even own the house, she sold the house to a corporation (that she owns) as investment property. SHAME ON YOU CONNIE JOHNSON.
For the record. Connie Johnson was no where to be found when this issues was before the public. She is using Local 73 and Chief George in an attempt to get publicity. Funny, for some cowardly or strategic reason, she forgot to mention the Mayor. Hmmmmm?