"OAKLAND City Councilmember Ken Houston says he doesn't give a rip if people are upset he made an obscene hand gesture during a meeting this week involving a controversial $2 million city contract. The viral moment in which Houston appeared to raise a middle finger toward the public came as the council took heat from hundreds of attendees at the Dec. 16 meeting who unsuccessfully urged the council to reject the deal, given to a software company with previous links to federal immigration authorities."
"In that moment recorded on video, Houston said, he thought he heard someone whispering a racial slur against Mexican people. The council member was born to a Mexican father and raised by a Black single mother in East Oakland, near the city's borders with San Leandro and Alameda. The latest incident reflects Houston's general mantra: don't back down. In his first year on the council, he has exhibited little patience for what he describes as elitist behavior by those without lived experience in his community."
Ken Houston made an obscene hand gesture during a Dec. 16 City Council meeting that was recorded and went viral. Hundreds of attendees urged the council to reject a controversial $2 million contract awarded to a software company with past links to federal immigration authorities. The council reversed an earlier rejection and approved the deal 7-1 with financial penalties if the company violated Oakland’s sanctuary policies. Houston said he thought he heard someone whispering a racial slur and emphasized his East Oakland roots, saying he was born in District 7 and would not back down. The mostly new council has shifted Oakland politics.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]