At Thursday evening’s City Commission session, political supporters of Annie Orlando again spoke during public comment to criticize the local Democratic Party over political action committee campaign ads that targeted Orlando for the support she received from the local Tea Party. One ad included a photo of a young man at a Tea Party rally with a sign reading “Obama, where’s your papers?”
Orlando’s husband, Paul Wales, said Tea Party was now a word used in the same way as “commie,” “Nazi,” “queer,” or “hippie.” During his comparison, Wales also used the n-word.
After public comment, Commissioner Yvonne Hinson-Rawls, who is African-American, said that word should not be used ever during a Commission meeting. Hinson-Rawls also used the n- word multiple times during her comments.
Commissioner Lauren Poe and Mayor Ed Braddy each weighed in outside money that funded negative ads against them during their campaigns. Poe noted ads funded by a political action committee and the local Republican Party. Braddy pointed to large contributions that the state Democratic Party made to former Mayor Craig Lowe.