WARREN, Mich. – Warren Treasurer Lorie Barnwell and City Councilman Keith Sadowski released separate statements Tuesday calling for Mayor Jim Fouts to resign unless he can support his claims that it's not his voice in audio recordings in which a man is heard insulting people with special needs, African-Americans and women.
Here's the full statement from Barnwell:
"Very few elected officials have worked more closely with Mayor Fouts in the past year than I have. I literally work down the hall from the mayor and work hard to ensure that our city is efficiently run and is welcoming to individuals of all backgrounds. I am concerned, however, that recent events are becoming an undue distraction and impediment to the management of Michigan's third-largest city.
"I appreciate the many positive things that Mayor Fouts has done for the city of Warren and consider him a friend. Therefore, it greatly pains me to call for the mayor to resign unless he can offer compelling support for the claim that the recently released tapes have been 'doctored.' While I would have preferred that these recordings be released earlier to proper investigators in a more transparent manner, there exists no evidence at this time that Mayor Fouts did not make these offensive remarks.
"When members of the disabled community, African-Americans and women are degraded in the most dehumanizing terms, silence is not an option. Morality and principle demand that leaders in the community stand with those who have been hurt and affected by these revelations. I extend my love and support to all individuals in our diverse community."
Here's the full statement from Sadowski:
"As an elected representative of the residents of Warren, I do not make this statement lightly; it only comes after a long, thoughtful review that I ask the mayor of Warren to resign his position. The comments on the tapes are hurtful and racist in nature. They disparage women and do not reflect the beliefs and the attitudes of our residents. I feel that the leader of our great city needs to be accountable for his actions and take personal responsibility, in order for our city to move forward in a positive manner.
"I feel that if this air of controversy continues, it will paint Warren in a poor light. Over the past several years, this city has made great strides that we can all be proud under this mayor’s leadership. However, with the previous comments about people with disabilities, followed by the disparaging remarks directed towards women, alongside his racist statements, it is time to for new leadership."
New audio recording released
Fouts has denied it's his voice in the audio recordings. Multiple audio experts have said it was Fouts' voice in the recordings about people with special needs, but Fouts denies that either recording is of his voice.
Local 4's Mara MacDonald has learned that the source of Monday's leaked audio recordings is not the same person who leaked the first recordings. Local 4 knows of three former employees who said they taped Fouts, but the unknown source that has surfaced is the fourth.
The second round of trouble hit just as Fouts was in public at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in Warren. The audio recordings were leaked on MotorCityMuckraker.com, and caused chaos at the event.
On the recording, a voice that sounds like Fouts' uses the N-word and compares black people to chimpanzees. The voice also savages older women in degrading terms, such as using the C-word.
In a Facebook rant, Fouts said the voice isn't his. An audio expert told Local 4 it's inconclusive because the samples aren't large and aren't the original recordings.
Sources said the person who recorded the audio is a former employee, and that the recordings are excerpts of conversations recorded over a period of time.
Warren residents are left shaking their heads.
"Unfortunately, it was another one. It was just, like, imagine that he shouldn't keep his mouth shut," Michelle Vaughn said.
Pastor Mo Hardwick had a one-on-one conversation with Fouts when the first audio recording was leaked. Hardwick said he's absolutely furious after the release of the second recording.
"This man not only needs to be out of office, he needs to be locked in a cage," Hardwick said, referencing a comment in the first recording, in which Fouts allegedly said people with special needs should be put in cages. "There is something wrong with the mayor."
"If the sound bites are really his voice, yeah, he's in trouble," a man leaving the Warren Community Center who didn't want to give his name said.
Fouts said on Facebook that the recordings are all being done at the behest of Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel.
Elected officials release joint statement against Warren mayor
Elected officials representing the people of Warren are speaking out against Mayor Jim Fouts after leaked audio recordings allegedly caught the Warren mayor insulting black people and women.
The audio recordings were leaked Monday on MotorCityMuckraker.com, just as Fouts was attending a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event.
U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, State Sen. Steve Bieda, State Rep. Henry Yanez, State Rep. John Chirkun, State Rep. Patrick Green, Macomb County Commissioner Andrey Duzyj, Macomb County Commissioner Veronica Klinefelt and Macomb County Commissioner Marv Sauger released the following statement Tuesday:
"Each of us represents the citizens of the City of Warren. We have listened to the audio tapes with the voice we recognize of Mayor Jim Fouts. These comments are hateful. They are racist and disparaging of women. The leader of our State’s third largest city should be a role model for how we treat each other and anyone that harbors these feelings and expresses them is not fit to lead. We believe that these comments, and the previous comments about people with disabilities, do not represent the people of the City of Warren. Therefore, we believe that it would be best for the people of Warren for Mayor Fouts to resign, and we call on him to do so. It would have been our preference that the individuals making these audio recordings would have immediately turned them over to the proper authorities for investigation so they would have been handled in an appropriate manner and reduced the discussion about the motivation for the recording and the circumstances of the release."
Former consultant says Fouts uses N-word casually
Joe DiSano, a former advisor and private consultant to Warren Mayor Jim Fouts, spoke Tuesday on the Jim Norton and Sam Roberts radio show about the most recent audio tapes leaked.
DiSano told the show hosts he has seen Fouts dancing like a monkey and using the N-word in casual conversation.
"Everyone records him," DiSano said. "There are more tapes out there."
DiSano talked about Fouts' alleged relationship with his assistant and other scandals in the Warren mayor's office.
"The guy's got a lot of problems," DiSano said.
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