Mayor suggests "lynching" to support ethanol plant
Selma Mayor Charles Hester thinks opponents to a new ethanol plant should be "lynched." Charles remarks were caught on video, which you can see above. You can also see it on local news stations WRAL, ABC 11 and NBC 17. Charles apologized for what he calls "his short remark" after lots of people reacted at the meeting calling the remark "insulting," "inappropriate" and "racist." Now, some are even calling for the Mayor's resignation.Charles said "maybe one day we'll have a lynching, and we won't have to worry about that anymore" at the opening of a public hearing on the re-zoning land to built an ethanol plant. He probably didn't get too many people on his side by suggesting the lynching and admits to reporters that, "I felt right stupid when I said it."
There is a follow-up meeting on the re-zoning of the land for the ethanol plant February 12th. Charles says he will apologize at that meeting too.
[Source: YouTube, WRAL, ABC 11, NBC 17]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave 1:52PM (1/12/2008)
Rhode Island's Attorney General is named Patrick Lynch. ;)
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EV plug 2:19PM (1/12/2008)
This guy is racist and narrow-minded. Ethanol is not viable. I don't knoow of any business that would spend 3 times more energy and the equivalent of a gallon of gas of pollution just to produce enough ethanol that goes the distance of a gallon of gas. That's just ridiculous. And the government is spending millions subsidizing these programs. And you wonder why people think U.S. govt equals Oil govt.
All the money ought to be used to make recharge stations for electrics.
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Rick 2:40PM (1/12/2008)
The value of ethanol as I understand it is that it is a better additive than what is otherwise used to oxygenate gasoline. E10 is a better for the environment fuel, no?
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terrence_bethea 12:28PM (1/13/2008)
I don't think anyone questions the utility of ethanol as an oxygenate. The problem is that the tools supporting corn ethanol (Bush, pandering pols, corn producers, ethanol plants) don't care that it's not a viable solution. Then to make matters worse, we continue to tariff sugar (sugar lobby is strong) and ethanol. In essence, government conspiring with industry to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize a product while simultaneously limiting free market opportunities to reduce the cost to consumers.
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jcwinnie 4:26PM (1/12/2008)
A man ahead of his time, LL, just toss the bodies in the gasifier to pump up production.
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Dave 5:58PM (1/12/2008)
Rick is correct that ethanol is better than MTBE.
But ethanol's primary use is as a farm subsidy.
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Mort 12:02AM (1/13/2008)
That fat assed son-o-beyatch should be rendered down for bio-fuel. He just wants some grift money. Ethanol is a loser. They would be better off burning the natural gas directly for transport. What a waste of a human being this man is.
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Tim 11:27AM (1/13/2008)
Lay Blame in its proper place... squarely at the feet of those who voted for him and those too apathetic to vote against him.
A pig can CALL himself/herself a swan, but he/she is still a pig. Actions count and campaign promises don't!
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Troy LaPlante 12:11AM (1/14/2008)
For those who did not understand the story, NO, the mayor did not say that opponents to a new ethanol plant should be "lynched." That is just plain wrong. I was there at the meeting. I know the mayor personally, and to whom he referred. He was personally referring to the man who stirred up the opposition to the rezoning. By the way, the town meeting and public hearing was NOT about an ethanol plant. It was about rezoning agricultural and residential land to industrial use. I am on the planning board and had this case come up before it ever reached the town council. I blogged and wrote a column on the topic. I know the people involved, and like I said, I was THERE.
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Lascelles Linton 5:47AM (1/14/2008)
Troy LaPlante, I guess your main problem is you don't think the rezoning was for an ethanol plant? That's what all the news article say.
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trooper 12:33PM (1/16/2008)
Troy, I was at the meeting too. I understand your comment about the rezoning however, the rezoning application was submitted on the basis of the proposed ethanol plant. The agenda was the rezoning with an end result of a possible ethanol plant. It is hard to preach rezoning when the ethanol plant people were in attendance. Don't ya think?
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