Second in a series
Re “Dear Me, Mayor Dear vs. Mayor Brown on a Gipson Stage”
[img]3012|right|Mayor Chris Brown||no_popup[/img]Election Day in Carson is two weeks from Tuesday.
The March 3 date has been vividly circled and on the minds of activists and pacifists alike since Mayor Jim Dear shocked the community in the autumn by filing for the city clerk’s position, of all unlikely anding places.
The Dear vs. incumbent Donesia Gause race took an ugly turn last Saturday at the swearing-in ceremony for state Assemblyman Mike Gipson at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Carson.
When Mr. Dear, as leader of the city, began speaking and, oh, by the way, mentioned he was running against Ms. Gause in a few days, her backers were strongly offended.
Chris Brown, a real estate investor elected mayor of Hawthorne 15 months ago, was so annoyed, “I kindly went up on stage after Dear called me a heckler. I don’t play that game. He was trying to campaign during Gipson’s swearing-in.
“Dear lost a lot of respect that day from a lot of individuals who didn’t know what was going on in Carson.”
The animated audience of hundreds was aroused, naturally.
Trouble was averted.
The stench of the shaky three-minute interlude lingered with the onlookers.
Mr. Dear, who is white, has insisted from the start there is no racial factor as he tries to unseat his black opponent.
Saturday’s audience was mostly black.
“After Dear called me a heckler,” said Mr. Brown, everyone in the audience was talking. He asked them to be quiet. He said they were being rude, and he wanted to read a proclamation for Mike Gipson. That was the icing on the cake. Unbelievable.”
(To be continued)
