NEW:
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (AP) — A northwestern Indiana city council has unanimously approved a resolution asking the city’s mayor to resign and expressing no confidence in his ability to lead after he made profanity-laced remarks about a Black pastor. All nine members of the Michigan City Council sponsored the resolution approved Tuesday night. The pastor, Rev. James Lane, last week publicly released a voicemail message Parry left for him in which the Republican mayor declined to meet with Lane and a task force seeking a meeting over Parry’s recent public admonishment of his Black police chief. Parry told the City Council that he is “not a quitter.”
ORIGINAL POST:
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (AP) — A northwestern Indiana mayor who is facing calls for his resignation over his profanity-laced remarks about a Black pastor has presented a plan for all municipal employees to undergo mandatory implicit bias and cultural diversity training. Michigan City Mayor Duane Parry presented the plan during a news conference Wednesday. It came a day after Rev. James Lane publicly released a voicemail message Parry left for him in which the mayor declined to meet with Lane and others to address their concerns regarding Parry's recent public criticism of his Black police chief. The News-Dispatch reports that Parry is heard saying, "They want a ... audience, you know. These Black guys, they all want a .... audience," using an expletive twice. Parry also has apologized.