Elijah Williams addresses the Bronson Town Council at a June 17 meeting.

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                Bronson Mayor Robert Partin was accused at a town council meeting on July 15 of making a racially biased statement that harkened back to slavery days when he spoke to a black resident privately.

            Outspoken resident Elijah Williams said Partin phoned and asked to talk to him before the July 15 meeting. In that conversation, Williams quoted Partin as saying, “you people don’t understand,” a reference to black people.

            “You said the words ‘you people’; that ‘you people’ (phrase) goes back to the slavery past,” Williams said in a terse exchange with Partin.

            “This is the 21^st Century,” Williams said.        

Partin responded he wasn’t intentionally making a derogatory statement to Elijah Williams if he indeed used the words ‘you people.’

“I beg your pardon if I did say that; it was not meant in a derogatory; I’m sorry if it was put that way. I’m sorry you received it that way, but there is nothing derogatory about this,” Partin said.

Williams made the statement after being criticized by the mayor for questioning why Public Works Director Erik Wise wasn’t getting certain things done at the town park.

Councilman Berlon Weeks appeared to side with Williams. He said town maintenance staff had been instructed six weeks earlier to erect all three flags at James H. Cobb Park, but major holidays were missed. Wise supervises the maintenance employees.

Weeks was referring to the American flag, Florida flag and Prisoner of War and Missing in Action flag (POW/MIA) not being hung at the Veteran’s Memorial. All three flags were stolen. A replacement American flag was hoisted over the Memorial not long after the thefts, but the other two replacement flags were missing from flagpoles for some time.

All three are now flying over the Veterans Memorial.

“I think there needs to be a lot looked at, Mr. Elijah, all the way around,” Weeks said.

Partin said Williams was out of line for criticizing a town staff member in a council meeting. Partin said town council members are responsible for overseeing town staff and that sort of criticism doesn’t belong in a council meeting.

The mayor said he has grown weary of Williams lambasting staff members and council members in public meetings. He said he has gone out of his way to let Williams speak but cited one instance where Williams stood and said, “What the hell is going on here?” at a meeting.

Williams was referring to the chaos he was seeing in town government but his statement didn’t come off well with the mayor. Partin also said he wasn’t going to let Williams publicly criticize employees anymore.

“We’re not here to let you lambast an employee of what his abilities are; that’s our job to keep up with that that, ok; that’s exactly what I told you this morning; I said you do not understand we’re dealing with this on a day to day basis, and I tried my level best not just for you but for every citizen in this town; I will that to the very best of my ability.”

That’s when Williams called out Partin for referring to black people as “you people,” a racial blast from the past from Williams’ perspective. Partin apologized.

The conversation then moved to the question of what Williams could say in a public meeting.

“Let me say this; when you come here to speak, we want you to speak about things that are on the agenda,” Partin said. “We don’t want (you) to come here when you put time and time again; you have put down here what you want to speak about. I remember very vividly, “What the hell is going on.” That was your statement you put on here; what are we supposed to take from that? I want you to speak about something that’s going on here, not ‘What the hell is going on in Bronson’; That is not an agenda item and I’m going to hold you to that because I have to hold everyone else to that, not just you.”

Williams responded he speaks for many who don’t feel comfortable standing at the podium and making statements to the council.

“I am outspoken. Others would probably like to speak but they won’t,” Williams said.

Partin responded that he was going to enforce decorum in council meetings.

“Again, we’re going to hold this decorum in place; if you want a copy of this I am glad to send you a copy of this. I’ll be glad to give you a copy,” Partin said without explaining what document he was referring to.

Spotlight asked if someone could bring an issue to the council, because Partin appeared to be suggesting that only agenda items could be discussed.

“Absolutely,” Partin responded, meaning issues can be brought to the council.

But Councilwoman Beatrice Roberts said people should place themselves on the agenda on the Thursday before a meeting if they have an issue they wish to address.

Her suggestion could change an age-old tradition of allowing people to raise their hand in the audience to be recognized by the mayor. Partin continued to recognize raised hands at the meeting. He allowed those residents to speak without being on the agenda.

It has been policy for many years that if a person wants to be formally placed on the agenda it must be done by the Thursday before the meeting. The clerk needs time to prepare the agenda for publication.

Partin said it was never his intention to say Williams couldn’t speak at council meetings.

“What we told him is he couldn’t be on there (on the agenda), with what he put on there, not that he couldn’t be on there,” Partin said.

Town Clerk Shirley clarified the issue from her perspective.

“What I’ve asked him to do is, rather than write what the hell is going on, or why someone doesn’t know what the hell they are doing, or why they don’t to their jobs; add something with some substance to it,” Miller said. “What specifically do you want to talk about; if we have a truck that is missing or a process that is broken, something that needs to be researched, that we can find and fix up later or change a process, but not just to be derogatory or speak negatively about the employees or council members.”

Miller added that she wouldn’t put something on the agenda like, what they hell is going on here.

“I had a discussion with you and I brought it to the mayor’s attention so the mayor can speak to you privately and handle it,” Miller said.

Town of Bronson Regular Meeting July 15, 2019; Posted July 20, 2019