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City Engineer Accused Of Racist Comments
POSTED: 4:29 pm EST March 29, 2004
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- City officials say a city engineer who was fed up with "stupid questions" from contractors made comments that some are calling racist.
City engineers oversee many projects in Jacksonville, and questions from contractors are typical. But questions from B.A. Wilson, the minority contracting company building a park on the Westside, were met with hostility.
Bernard Wilson, who owns the company, said when they asked a question about the blueprints, he could not believe the answer he got from a city engineer. The reply read, "You people are asking too many stupid quest
ons."
According to some, the phrase "you people" has very negative connotations.
"'You people' has a history of being a discriminatory remark, and that is how
r
r
Mr.
Wilson took it," said attorney Robin Roberts
(pictured, left), who's representing Wilson.
The engineer, Bobby Henderson, also wrote in his reply that he had too many projects to manage and "not enough time to waste on your uninformed questions."
"I could not believe a city official would actually put something like this in writing," said Roberts.
Other city officials couldn't believe it either. Ed Hall, a deputy director for the Public Works Department, said the comments were unprofessional, but not racist.
"We pride ourselves in being very professional with our contractors and contract-related issues. Unfortunately, Mr. Henderson did not do a very good job of that and has since apologized," Hall said.
In a copy of the apol
ogy obtained by Eyewitness News, Henderson says, "I would like to apologize for any comments that may have been harshly made in my responses back to you. These comments were not intended to b
e a
pe
rsonal atta
ck on your company or your company's employees. It was simply me expr
essing my frustration with what I consider to be issues or questions that were extremely elementary."
Roberts' company has not yet seen the apology.
"Well, right now nothing has happened," explained Roberts. "We are waiting for a response from the city and we are going to go from there."
Meanwhile, some council members are wondering if further action should be taken.
"It's very distasteful to me for you to say 'you people,' but the city has to deal with this type of situation," said Councilwoman Pat Lockett-Felder.
The contractor is now demanding an investigation into this and other problems they say they're having with the city.
<b
r>http://www.news4jax.com/news/2958467/detail.html
City Engineer Accused Of Racist Comments
POSTED: 4:29 pm EST March 29, 2004
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- City officials say a city engineer who was fed up with "stupid questions" from contractors made comments that some are calling racist.
City engineers oversee many projects in Jacksonville, and questions from contractors are typical. But questions from B.A. Wilson, the minority contracting company building a park on the Westside, were met with hostility.
Bernard Wilson, who owns the company, said when they asked a question about the blueprints, he could not believe the answer he got from a city engineer. The reply read, "You people are asking too many stupid quest
ons."
According to some, the phrase "you people" has very negative connotations.
"'You people' has a history of being a discriminatory remark, and that is how
r
r
Mr.
Wilson took it," said attorney Robin Roberts
(pictured, left), who's representing Wilson.
The engineer, Bobby Henderson, also wrote in his reply that he had too many projects to manage and "not enough time to waste on your uninformed questions."
"I could not believe a city official would actually put something like this in writing," said Roberts.
Other city officials couldn't believe it either. Ed Hall, a deputy director for the Public Works Department, said the comments were unprofessional, but not racist.
"We pride ourselves in being very professional with our contractors and contract-related issues. Unfortunately, Mr. Henderson did not do a very good job of that and has since apologized," Hall said.
In a copy of the apol
ogy obtained by Eyewitness News, Henderson says, "I would like to apologize for any comments that may have been harshly made in my responses back to you. These comments were not intended to b
e a
pe
rsonal atta
ck on your company or your company's employees. It was simply me expr
essing my frustration with what I consider to be issues or questions that were extremely elementary."
Roberts' company has not yet seen the apology.
"Well, right now nothing has happened," explained Roberts. "We are waiting for a response from the city and we are going to go from there."
Meanwhile, some council members are wondering if further action should be taken.
"It's very distasteful to me for you to say 'you people,' but the city has to deal with this type of situation," said Councilwoman Pat Lockett-Felder.
The contractor is now demanding an investigation into this and other problems they say they're having with the city.
<b
r>http://www.news4jax.com/news/2958467/detail.html
