San Antonio Register (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 4, 1995 Page: 1 of 10
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mmunity Standard for Right, Justice, Equality, and Progress Since 1931
Thursday, May 4,1995
Vol. 63/49
District 2 needs
advocacy
We all saw the effects of term
limitations this election, and many
of us are going to have to wonder if
it's a good thing. One of the good
thing* about hotly contested elections
is that they give the voters the op-
portunity to hear what the candidates
have to say about the issues that
affect their lives. Absent a real race,
the voters are given a nice P. R. job,
but there is little, if any dialogue,
about the issues.
The District 2 council race was just
such a race. I don't think that Mc-
Clendon shared the platform at all
with her opponents or discussed those
issues, and, Ruth, even though well
give you a good grade for the job
you’ve done, you should have de-
bated, for the voter’s sakes.
And, while we endorse you for a
second term, we also encourage you
to take these facts into consideration.
You're going to have to be a strong
advocate for District 2 and take the
initiative in pushing for measures
that will help the small businessmen
in this area. You are also going to
have to take a stand on the city's
abysmal record on minority con-
tracting. Because if you don't, you
will hand over the Council's tradi-
tional Mack seat to someone else,
and we Black citizens will be with-
out representation. You won't be
able to influence who succeeds you,
and you need to be able to do that.
You've done some good things, and
we want to give you credit for those
things, but rDistrict that is in the
sodo-economic situation that District
2 is in needs a strong advocate. Your
challenge this term is to live up to
that expectation.
And now a word about the mayoral
candidates. Bill or Kay. While the
Eastside is important to both these
candidates in terms of the votes that
can be delivered, neither candidate
has any definite plans for helping the
Eastside realize its full potential.
However, Thornton told my editor
in a recent interview that if he was
elected, he would work to see that
the Convention Center Expansion's
contracting reflected theethnic make-
up of this city. He cited a plan that
Austin used, which helped a lot of
Black businesses get work. Kay
Turner gives the aura of being anti-
affirmative action, and, until Blacks
are afforded better opportunities in
hiring and contracting with the city
and its entities, that scares us. While
we commend Turner for her fight
against Applewhite, we also have to
remember that through her efforts,
San Antonio is one of the few major
cities without flouridated water. This
hurts the poor children of our city
and, quite possibly, is an indicati
of a "let them eat cake attitude."
Thornton can be a good coalition
builder, and I believe this community
can work with him. If he wins, hell
be looking at two terms, so we can
keep score and keep watch. I believe
that he can make a better difference
for this area of town than Turner.
It is getting more and more diffi-
cult for Blade people; many times it
looks as if we're losing ground. That's
why this election is so crucial to us,
and that's why it is doubly important
that we become real watchdogs of
City Coucil.
In a few weeks, hundreds of San
Antonio young people will walk
across the stage and receive their
diplomas. In this day and age, this is
quite an accomplishment, and if you
are the parent of a son or daughter
who did it, you should be very proud
of them.
A high school diploma isn't what
it used to be, but it is the first step to
greater things.
If you don't have your high school
diploma, make a promise to yourself
that you’ll go for your GED. It's a
Black man may have been wrongly accused
Woman blames Black man
before dying, found to be a
suspect in embezzlement
Kids Academy's kids me kids who love to play and learn, too. Just ask these youngsters who were visited by the
Register earlier this week. Kids as young as two years old know how to count. Keep up the good work, Mary Foster
and staff.
Photo by Ferrero
1 Malcom X's daughter en route to San Antonio
Quibilah Shaba/./, the daughter of
Malcom X, will be residing in San
Antonio and working at Urban
Contemporary radio station KSJL
(96.1 FM) for the next two years,
according Chuck Andrews, station
manager. Percy Sutton, a native San
Antonian, owns Inner City
Broadcasting, parent company of
KSJL. He was one of Shabazz’s
lawyers. He was also her father's
lawyer and friend.
Sbabazz signed an agreement with
the government that she would
undergo two years of psychiatric and
alcohol treatment in order to bypass
a trial on charges that she conspired
to kill , Nation of Islam leader Louis
Farrakhan. If she follows the terms
of the agreement, the indictment
against her will be dismissed. She
must also discontinue her charges
that the government set her up.
The agreement was reached
Monday, just before jury selection
was to begin in Minneapolis. In the
agreement, Shabazz maintains her
innocence, but writes that she
“accepts responsibility for my
involvement in the plan.”
Shabazz will live at the Alpha
House, a treatment center, in San
Antonio.
Shabazz was 4 at the time she saw
her father, Malcom X, gunned down
in Harlem. She hasblamedFarrakhan
tor having her lather killed.
Her defense lawyers had attacked
Rev. Ronald Benson appointed Pet. 4
Justice of the Peace
Eastside minister and lawyer, Rev.
Ronald Benson, will replace
Clarence Williams as the Precinct 4
Justice of the Peace in a 3-1 vote,
beating out a field of 21 other
applicants. Williams has had to
resign the post due to illness.
Pet. 4 County Commissioner Mike
Novak submitted Benson’s name to
the $30,468 a year post.
Benson has practiced law more than
21 years, and is pastor of Bethany
First Baptist Church on Noblewood.
He has been in private practice since
1989.
Before going into private practice,
be served as a senior labor attorney
in the staff judge advocate’s office at
Lackland AFB.
He will serve William? mexpired
term, through the next general
election in 1996. Williams was first
the government’s use of an informant,
Michael Fitzpatrick, a former high
school classmate of Shabazz’s.
Recent reports indicate that Shabazz
had intentions of marrying
Fitzpatrick. The government
reportedly paid him $45,000 for
informing on her.
Farrakhan has said, since the
indictment in January, that Shabazz
was set up by the government. He is
to appear with her mother and
Malcom X’s widow, Betty Shabazz
in Harlem at a fund raiser for her this
Saturday. The fundraiser will be in
Harlem’s Apollo Theatre. Betty
Shabazz had also expressed at one
time that she felt that Farrakhan was
involved in her husband’s death.
''Nancy (Wesley)
Tyson funeral set
for Saturday
It may be another case of 1 -800-
Blame-A-Black Man in the burning
death of a northside woman.
Susan Syrell, a northside white
woman, who was discovered doused
with a flammable liquid and burned
over 90% of her bodyon Lookout
Point on the northside, told police
that she was abducted from the
Albertson’s parking lot on Perrin-
Beitel late last week. The woman,
who died from her bums, said that a
thin, tall, light skinned black man
abducted her from the parking lot,
drove her to Lookout Point, and tried
to rape her. When she tried to fight
him off, he doused her with the
flammable liquid and set her afire.
However, police investigators held
apress conference Tuesday afternoon
to announce that their investigation
does not support the woman’s story
that she was doused with gasoline
and set afire, lliey also announced
that she had allegedly embezzled
$18,000 from her employer. They
now believe the death was suicide.
Among the troubling evidence was
a note from the alledged abductor
thin fad no fingerprints on it Police
also said that the medical evidence
did not support her claim that she
was doused, but that it was probably
more consistent with her either
intentionally or accidentally having
poured the flammable liquid upon
herself." They also pointed out that
it is instinctive for a person being set
afire to protect their face There was
no indication that the woman did
this. Also, there was no sign of
struggle at the site, although the
woman had said that the man set her
afire after she had tried to fight him
off.
The woman's husband told police
that he had last seen his wife the
night before when she had told him
she was going to the store. When he
awoke the next morning and found
his wife gone, he said that he assumed
she had gone to die store in the
morning rather than the night before.
The woman’s family vehemendy
denies that she committed suicide.
Rev. Ronald Benson
elected to the post in 1990. He ran
unopposed last November for a
second four year term.
Benson says be will wait to see if he
has the support of bis constituency
before deciding whether he would
run in 1996.
Funeral service for Nancy E.
(Wesley) Tyson will be held Sat-
urday, May 6, at Christian Unity
Baptist Church, 1022 Rice Road.
The wake service will be Friday,
May 5, at First Providence Bap-
tist Church, 1014 Clark, from 7-9
p. m. She is survived by her
mother, Dorothy Barksdale Byrd;
two sisters, three brothers, nieces,
nephews aunts uncles, anrl other
^relatives.
Spencer to be in charge of jail
Chauncey Spencer, who had judges
in an uproar with he started to rotate
bailiffs at the County Courthouse,
will take over the Bexar County Jail,
said Sheriff Ralph Lopez.
Spencer replaces Pepe Lucero, who
submitted his resignation last month,
listing no reason for his unexpected
departure.
Spencer, for the past two years, has
been deputy chief in charge of court
security.
The 52-year old Spencer has been
responsible for the security of the
county's judicial facilities, both the
Justice Center and county court-
house and the juvenile court on Mis-
sion Road.
Spencer's new job will take him to
/
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... J
SPENCFR
With the move, he will be respon
sible for securing 30 courts and for
controlling the 3.600jail inmates and
managing a staff of about 1,000 de-
tention officers
"My goal is to improve the morale
of the workers and offer more train-
ing," Spencer said of his job. "Hope-
fully we can assist in getting these
guy more money.
the county jail, just across the street
Fire backs up traffic on Houston and Noblewood
Black smoke spewed into the air in
East San Antonio Monday evening
traffic around East Houston and
Noblewood were backed up.
A wooded area behind the homes
was set afire and the blaze got out of
hand and several fire trucks had to
be called in to fight the stubborn lire.
Someone started a tire in the same
location Saturday and firemen had
to cut a chain to the vacant fields to
get to the fire.
Residents say the area was used by
car thieves to strip stolen cars and a
dumping ground
Black, Eastside vote could determine
outcome of mayor's race
Will the contrasts between the two
front runners in the mayoral race.
Bill Thornton and Kay Tumer, make
a significant difference to the
residentsof the East Side, particularly
its Black residents?
Political observers are predicting
that the race, once thought tn he
she has toward him In a recent
interview, he talked about the need
for the city to come together. For
instance, when asked if he would
push again to flouridate the water, he
said he would not because it was a
divisive issue.
_A key concern of the Black
(Left) Councilwoman Ruth Jones
McClendon (c) and some of her con-
stituents rally to get out the vote this
week. McClendon is runnig for her
second term as District 2
CounciIperson. Her message this
week was "Get out and vote." Bal-
loting for the Council election is this
Saturday for people who didn't v«(e
early.
District 2 constituents have three choices
v
Ruth Jones McClendon Emma Thompam Warren Tony Garxa
Asking constituents lo look at her Led by God to run became District Feels District^ should be able lo
accomplishments of the past 2 yrs. 2 is not being properly represented, capitalize on NAFTA and GAP
wrapped up for Thornton, could not
go either way, and Turner could win
the race if voter turn-out is low.
They reason that Turner ’ s supporters
are the hard-core voters.
Turner has made several
appearances on the Eastside since
her campaign began, stopping in at
church teas, two Rigsby 2000forums,
and other candidate forums. Fighting
the image as an one-issue
candidate—water—, she has
campaigned on the theme of “Let’s
Take Our City Back,” and has
accused Thornton, as well as almost
the entire City Council, of being held
in the grip of special interests. She
has led and won the fights to defeat
Applewhite and to keep the city from
flouridating its water.
Thornton has taken a less
aggressive stance against Turner than
chambers of commerce and Black
businessmen in the city is the city’s
poor record of awarding contracts to
minorities. At a recent Rigsby 2000
Forum, Turner did not clearly
indicate that she would take any
specific initiatives to level the playing
field for Blacks in obtaining City
contracts and in hiring.
Pointing out the success that the
City of Austin has had in letting
more city contracts to Black owned
businesses. Thornton said that, if
elected, he would push to see that the
upcoming Convention ('enter
expansion contracting was reflective
of the city’s population, and said that
he had discussed the Austin plan
with Cedric McCrary, a Black
businessman, and was exploring
putting the program to work here.
VOTE
as it xour future tlcpciuleil on it.
S;iturdiiN. M;i\ ft
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San Antonio Register (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 63, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 4, 1995, newspaper, May 4, 1995; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth842054/m1/1/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UT San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.