LIMA — A column published Sunday in The Lima News by Lima NAACP president Ronald Fails has garnered some empassioned comments from a lot of people, with the exception of the one person at whom the column was aimed the most: Mayor David Berger.
Berger and Fails have been at odds since Fails assumed the presidency of the local NAACP unit, with Berger asserting that Fails’ multiple run-ins with the law on solicitation charges, the most recent taking place in June 2014, discredits him as a leader in the community.
“Mr. Fails has not, in my view, taken responsibility for his actions,” Berger said in April. “So it’s impossible for me to treat him as a person of integrity.”
In his column, Fails maintained that Berger has worked behind the scenes to discredit the local NAACP unit, “in order to control and divide the black community as a master of a plantation pitting house slaves against field slaves.”
Fails also expressed hope that a qualified candidate will run against Berger in a future election and force him out of office.
Berger refused to respond to this allegation, opting instead to stand by his previous comments.
“I have nothing to add to what I’ve already said on record,” he said.
Public comments have come out on social media on both sides of the issue.
“Some statements Mr. Fails stated are true pertaining to Mr. Berger,” Bud Walker wrote on Facebook. “Racism still exist(s) in Lima.”
“I don’t think the mayor has any thing against the black community,” Skip Core wrote on Facebook, “but the man himself who is in charge, Fails, and his past history with the law.”
Others took to Facebook to voice frustration with the entire affair.
“I am so sick of this race issue,” Janet Wade wrote. “I grew up in the south end. We didn’t have black friends. We didn’t have white friends. We had friends.”
“Berger is mayor because he is voted for by the citizenry of Lima, and the minority community is part of that,” Marc Gellart wrote. “You want change, get your voters out.”
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