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| The Exeter Four: Council members targeted for recall by gun nuts |
By Steve
Ahlquist in
Rhode Island’s Future
On December 14th four
members of the Exeter Town Council are facing a recall vote, ginned up by out
of town gun rights advocates. Council President Arlene Hicks and Town Councilors
Bob Johnson, Cal Ellis and Bill Monahan, all Democrats, face losing their seats
to the runners up in the last election. (See Samuel G. Howard’s excellent analysis of the recall here and Will Collette’s here.) The one member of the Town
Council not under threat of losing his job is Raymond A. Morrissey Jr., a right
leaning independent.
As can be seen in the
video below, towards the end of Monday night’s meeting of the newly formed Rhode
Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, Morrissey interrupted the
Reverend Don Anderson during the question and answer period and launched into a
tirade against the organizers of the meeting and those in attendance before
being shown the exit.
One wonders why the one
Town Council member whose job is not in jeopardy is feeling so grumpy…
UPDATE
Earlier, I wrote about Exeter Town Councilor Ray Morrissey’s outburst at the RI Coalition Against Gun Violence on Monday night. Since then Morrissey has reached out with the following:
Please
accept my humble apology for my outburst at the forum.
My
intent was not to disrupt. I attended the forum because I am interested in any
ideas and thoughts concerning gun violence that affects our citizens. I
listened to a dynamic speaker [Teny Oded Gross] and witnessed a touching film [Living for 32].
I also wanted to hear our town council president [Arlene Hicks] on her ideas
concerning gun violence, not about the Exeter recall. My outburst was out of
line.
This recall is not an easy thing to bear.
Thank
you for your actions and concerns about gun violence.
Morrissey declined to comment on the Exeter recall election
scheduled for December 14th.
Steve Ahlquist is a writer, artist and current president of
the Humanists of Rhode Island, a non-profit group dedicated to reason,
compassion, optimism and action. He also maintains the blog Caution Church
Ahead, where he writes on the intersection of religion and politics. The views
expressed are his own not necessarily those of any organization of which he is
a member.