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—LETTERSSetting therecord straightTO THE EDITOR:Peter Thor, former Chairman of the local Democratic Party has resurrected himself from exile with a letter to the local press highly critical of Mayor Frank Esposito and Larry Charles, a zoning commissioner and the President of the Greater Norwalk Black Democratic Club Coalition.When Larry Charles succeeded me in January, I thought and was hopeful that I could also end my letter writing about our confrontations with the leaders of the local Democrats. After all, our club had been successful more times than not. We had weathered the storm, and were still viable and effective. Mayor Bill Collins, Peter Thor, and their followers had gone into the sunset. Peter Thor, one of our worst chairmen had been ousted by Ken Slapin, who had lost so many battles, including my victory over him for Council President. Ken has the new job of presiding over a caucus of only two Democrats on the Council, whose effectiveness isnil.I was content, with no interference from me, that Larry Charles the new President of our club would pursue his objective of a new alliance and reconciliation with the party leadership and others like NEON and the NAACP with whom we were in conflict during my presidency. Such a reconciliation isLarry’s fantasy, and he deserves cooperation and encouragement.However, when someone like Peter Thor raises his head to criticize the efforts of Mayor Esposito and Larry who honored the request of prominent Democrats to meet and discuss differences in order to end confrontations among Democrats to their own detriment, then, the record has to be setstraight.For the record, Larry Charles, as a commissioner, has not voted against a single NEON project, including the half-way house for women, the Single Room Occupancy (SRO), and the Center at Benjamin Franklin. What more could be asked? Larry Charles, as President of the GNBDCC has stated publicly, candidly, and repeatedly that he has never said, “If NEON wants anything done, they must come through the Black Democratic Club.” That would be ingenuous and stupid. Larry is too knowledgeable and sophisticated in politics to do that, especially in a mayor’s office or at a meeting called by the mayor.Our position, Larry’s position, is that NEON should not be partisan in their politics. Its employees should not run for political office or be aligned with a political party in opposition to other political parties whose candidatesmay defeat them, as is currently the case. Larry’s position, as I understand it, is that if NEON is not willing to stop its partisan politics, then it cannot expect the Black Democratic Club or office holders against whom they campaigned as party officials or candidates to help them with their partypolitical objectives. On the other hand, if they stop their partisan activity, then the club will assist them in their objective as a human resource agency to serve the poor and the disadvantaged.The Mayor deserves commendation for honoring the request of Democrats for the meeting and Larry for agreeing to attend, only later to be misquoted and betrayed.I would suggest to the Mayor andto Larry, in the future, to count the teeth of the animal betore entering its cage.As far as Peter Thor is concerned, he became Chairman of the Norwalk Democratic Party by one vote over Walter Marcus. In support of friends who campaigned for Thor, I voted for him. Without my vote, he would have lost. Oh, if I knew then what I know now.OTHA N. BROWN. JR
Newspaper Details
Norwalk News Trader
Norwalk, Connecticut, US
Thu, Apr 13, 1989
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Doug O.
USA 28 Nov 2021
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