Meriden/Wallingford NAACP Call for Councilman Lenny Rich's Resignation

The Meriden and Wallingford NAACP will demand Councilman Lenny Rich’s resignation during the public comment portion of tonight’s City Council meeting.

The organization is demanding his resignation following comments the councilman made during a City Council meeting on Sept. 22. His comments were made regarding a discussion of whether future city managers should be required to reside within the City of Meriden.

Rich, a Republican, said that allowing people with “nice jobs” to leave Meriden and to take that money to another town would mean there would no longer be anyone who would be able to pay the city’s taxes. He went on to say that Meriden would begin to look exactly like Detroit.

The councilman said the “elite workforce”, which was paying higher taxes, was propping up the average paid menial laborers working for a menial living.

“What’s going to happen when all of these people move out of Meriden? Who’s going to pay the taxes? Where are you going to get the funds to hand up, to prop up all the …….people that are left? You’re going to look exactly like Detroit,” Rich said during the City Council meeting. “Take a look, read the poverty, 90% black, 35% don’t graduate from high school. It is a bleak picture. This resolution would enable us to keep some of the higher paying people in our departments.”

The councilman said he would be voting for the motion to require future city managers to reside in Meriden.

“Councilman Rich’s comments are inexcusable, being an at-large elected official Councilman Rich must be held accountable for his words. It is troubling that some members of the City Council continue to support and make excuses for comments that are indefensible. It is even more troubling that it took public pressure for the Councilor to express regret, which was done through email. The lack of a genuine apology shines an even brighter light onto how he may feel about certain segments of his constituent base. We demand consequences, and an email apology does not go far enough, ” Jason Teal, President of the Meriden and Wallingford NAACP said in a statement.

Image via Meriden Republicans

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