Black pastor defends questioning dismissal of Fresno city clerk, responds to Bee columnist
My name is B. T. Lewis II, the pastor of Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church in west Fresno. I am writing this in response to Marek Warszawski’s recent opinion column regarding the press conference we held in front of Fresno City Hall on July 13.
First, allow me to thank Marek for his acknowledgment that racism is a reality in Fresno’s past and in Fresno’s present. Nevertheless, I think he may have misunderstood some of our intent.
That being said, let me clarify that the impetus for our press conference was without a doubt appropriately placed. I don’t believe that anyone ever accused our esteemed City Council of dismissing Ms. (Yvonne) Spence because of her race. We did, however, explicitly note that her dismissal is the latest example of a prominent African American being viciously attacked and removed by what even some City Hall officials describe as insufficient cause.
Our press conference was convened to present two distinct messages. I agree that the format could have been more conducive to clarity. We probably should have separated the two issues. But our intent was to deal with two issues:
- The unjust and cruel dismissal of Yvonne Spence.
- The broader issues of Black leadership erosion in our city and county at large.
Regarding what we believe to be the wrongful termination of Yvonne Spence from her position as City Clerk: The first indicator that this decision was not made through objective, documented assessment of her performance is that three level-headed councilmen voted against this proposal, hardly an overwhelming majority. This further indicates that affirmative votes for her dismissal were driven by subjective, personal opinions, rather than tangible, documented facts.
It is a misappropriation of power, cruel and unprofessional to engage in a process of dismissal without at least some formal period of notice and opportunity to correct any suggestions of incompetence. It is cruel and inhumane to dismiss anyone while on leave and notice them by phone. And why do you reward an employee with a pay increase in March and dismiss her without sufficient cause in July? To quote Mr. Warszawski: “If a council majority had issues with Spence’s job performance, why bump her salary by some $25,000 three months before showing her the door?” To say that you rewarded a poorly performing employee as a result of a comparative wage study simply does not make sense.
If elected officials were dissatisfied with Ms. Spence’s performance, you would think they would have documented this dissatisfaction and walked her through a legitimate process of “get well” or dismissal. Our sources indicate that this is not what transpired.
The second reason for the press conference was to inform the powers that be of Fresno that we are awake and aware that Black people are being deliberately and strategically eliminated from positions of power and influence in agencies across our city. In addition to the questionable dismissal of Yvonne Spence, we are looking into the removal of Crystal Smith from Housing, Parvin Neloms from PARCS, Brian Marshall from Transportation and a number of past and current employees dismissed and working under questionable conditions for the city of Fresno. Not rhetoric, truth.
We never associated Yvonne’s dismissal with racism. We simply expressed our disappointment in the methodology of the council, and apparently three of our councilmen were also dissatisfied with the actions of their four colleagues that day.
We also never said that African Americans are not represented in city government leadership positions. Deputy Mayor Matthew Grundy is Black. So are Assistant City Manager Gregory Barfield, Deputy City Attorney Tina Griffin and Deputy Chief of Police Phil Cooley. Former council member Oliver Baines chaired the Fresno Commission on Police Reform. Even the Rev. D.J. Criner, one of the most vocal advocates for giving Blacks a seat at decision-making tables, in 2020 was a City Council appointee to the Planning Commission. We are saying that our presence and influence is eroding. Some of these same people support our action.
We would rather not wait until the tire is completely flat before sounding the alarm that there is a severe leak in our systems.
I agree with Mr. Warszawski that ”Fresno has a long way to go until its minority communities, including Blacks, achieve anything close to equity. And that it is a discussion worth having.”
This story was originally published July 20, 2021 at 12:24 PM.