Allen County Councilman Larry Brown resigned Monday morning, days after controversial statements during a recent county council meeting.
During a meeting Thursday, there was discussion about recent protests over racial justice issues, Councilwoman Sheila Curry-Campbell spoke about the concerns of the protesters. Republican At-Large Councilman Ken Fries, and former sheriff, said they reminded him of children that needed to be spanked.
Then 4th district Republican Brown chimed in and said that “as uneducated as they are on local government, they do vote...unfortunately, they also breed.”
Petitions and outrage over Brown’s comments grew over the weekend, and though Brown issued a written apology through local media outlets, it was not enough.
On Monday he resigned.
Steve Shine, the head of the Allen County GOP, while praising Brown’s work on the council, says the decision to step down was the right one.
“He understood the divisiveness of his comments, certainly not intended. There is no way a comment like that could stand without repercussions.”
The voters, Shine said, deserve more than that, whether unintentional or not.
A new Republican county member will be picked from the 4th District, selected by the precinct men and women who reside in that district.
The 4th District encompasses the southwest quarter of Allen County.
Late Thursday afternoon, a local activists group “Changemakers” called on Fries to resign for laughing at Brown’s comments. They also called on council President Joel Benz to apologize to Curry-Campbell, also the head of the local chapter of the NAACP.
