In remarks by outgoing Council members, former Ward 4 at-large member Ranger Wilkerson told a packed Council Chamber that he had spend 48 years working for the City of Henderson.
Forty of those years were with the Henderson Fire Department, and eight were on the City Council.
Referring to remarks made earlier by outgoing Ward 3 Council member Bobby Gupton, Wilkerson remarked that he “never could figure out why people didn’t take an interest in joint funding. The facts and figures are there.”
Regarding the “New Direction”, Wilkerson said that he had a chance to stay [on the Council], but he “could not accept the deal” of voting against the inspection of homes.
Referring to the debate that surrounded the enactment of the revisions to the Minimum Housing Code and the Certificate of Occupancy Ordinance, Wilkerson commented that “blacks” have been let down “by their own people”.
Regarding substandard housing, Wilkerson said “If you ain’t in one, you’re next to one”.
The outgoing Council member said that he was told that if he went against [the Certificate of Occupancy ordinance] he could stay on the Council.
Wilkerson said he “had never heard of anything like that”.
Wilkerson did not say who had told him of the alleged arrangement.
He also said that 6,000 people did not go to the polls.
“That’s a shame,” Wilkerson said.
In closing, Wilkerson called the City of Henderson a “fair organization” and said that city employees were “paid as fair as we can pay them.”