Paladino threatens suit over Common Council rebuke
Says action carries racism accusation
By Brian Meyer
Updated: 05/07/08 6:51 AM
-
- “They have no right to condemn me for exercising my right to free speech.” Carl P. Paladino, Buffalo developer
A developer is threatening to sue unless the Common Council rescinds a measure condemning him for making what lawmakers called “racially divisive” remarks.
Carl P. Paladino refused to back away from claims that Buffalo’s school superintendent was hired because he is black. He appeared before Council members Tuesday and criticized lawmakers for trying to depict him as a bigot.
“I am not a racist person, and I take exception to people accusing me of that,” said Paladino shortly after he delivered a letter to the Council.
In it, he contended that the Council’s 5-4 vote last week condemning his remarks violated his rights.
“I believe Buffalo is still subject to the U. S. Constitution, and the First Amendment protects free speech,” Paladino wrote. “It also protects the right of Councilpersons to slander citizens on the Council floor.”
During last week’s meeting, Ellicott Council Member Brian C. Davis said Paladino “really needs to be run out of Buffalo,” claiming this isn’t the first time the developer has made racially insensitive comments.
In his letter, Paladino gave lawmakers an ultimatum: “I demand that the Council rescind the resolution at its next scheduled meeting or I will litigate the matter.”
“They have no right to condemn me for exercising my right to free speech,”
Paladino said. He didn’t explain the grounds for any such suit in light of his acknowledgment that the First Amendment also protects the Council members.
Davis dismissed the threat.
“It’s typical Paladinoism — it’s all about diverting from what the real issue is,” Davis said Tuesday.
Davis later suggested that comments like Paladino’s about Williams fuel tensions.
“Race relations is already a very difficult thing to deal with,” said Davis, one of Buffalo’s three African-American lawmakers.
The controversy erupted after Paladino claimed at an education forum two weeks ago that James A. Williams was hired as school superintendent because he is black. Williams has declined to comment, but a former School Board member who sat on a search panel that recommended finalists said Paladino’s comments were “totally inaccurate.” Betty Jean Grant said Williams’ race was not a factor in the process.
At one point during Tuesday’s meeting, Paladino seemed to concede the possibility that factors other than race might have figured in Williams’ hiring. But he stood by his original statement when a reporter asked him for clarification.
“I’m not backing away from anything, because I spoke the truth,” Paladino said.
He added that the state should step in to try to “straighten up the incompetence” of a school system that he contends is squandering hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Council’s Legislation Committee delayed action on a bill sponsored by Davis and Masten Council Member Demone A. Smith asking the state to ban people who engaged in “racially offensive” conduct from obtaining public leases or contracts. Some Council members say that might be unconstitutional. But Smith said he sees nothing wrong with his push to “ban people who deep down don’t like the people that they’re serving.”
