Troubled youth at heart of Columbia mayoral forum

The mayoral candidates also discussed race issues.

By Pierce Courchaine

Published March 17, 2010, last updated 6:31 p.m., Nov. 13, 2010

Columbia’s NAACP branch hosted a mayoral forum about minority issues Tuesday at the Second Baptist Church.

Candidates were given a minute and a half to answer race-related questions from the audience, including questions regarding racism in Columbia.

Mayoral candidates Paul Love, Bob McDavid, Sean O’Day, Sid Sullivan and Jerry Wade were present at the forum. Sal Nuccio was not in attendance.

“Racism is a problem we all have to face,” Sullivan said. “It is not a black problem. It’s not a white problem.”

Miguel Horn, a Columbia resident at the forum, said holding police officers accountable is a step to combat racism.

“(The mayor) needs to make sure that there is some kind of diversity training taking place in the police department,” Horn said. “He needs to make sure that they live up to their mission statement. The review board that they are talking about is essential, because it creates a forum that can facilitate these grievances.”

Candidates were also given the opportunity to comment on troubled youth in the community.

“We need to get the kids involved not just in the black community, but in the white community,” Love said.

The best way to keep kids off the street, Love said, is to help the youth find jobs and be more active in the community. But there might not be money in the city’s budget to fund youth-oriented programs in the next couple years, he said.

Following Love’s comments, forum moderator Virginia Law offered her own commentary on Columbia’s youth before asking the candidates the next question.

“We need to look at the priorities of the city,” Law said. “Consider that people run the community, and if you don’t take care of the people, you aren’t going to want to live here.”

A change in mindset is one of the first steps to helping the struggling youth in Columbia, Horn said.

“(The mayor) needs to not allow people to use language such as ‘What are we going to deal with the troubled youth?’ ” Horn said. “They need to use language, such as ‘What are we going to do to help the trouble youth?’ ”

Horn said he wants the next mayor to not only lead the city, but also to be a role model to kids.

“You have to teach these young men that integrity is a cool thing,” Horn said. “You have to have someone that has convictions in their heart to go down and work with the community and then they need to be acknowledged from the mayor or deputy of police.”

Although none of the mayoral candidates is black, race was not a deciding factor when choosing to host the forum, said Mary Ratliff, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Missouri State Conference president.

“What we are concerned with is someone who will look at the issues that affect African Americans more so than the color of one’s skin,” Ratliff said.

More active communication with the NAACP is something Ratliff said she hopes the next mayor will have.

“Whoever the mayor is will have to be communicating with the NAACP, because we insist upon it for one thing,” Ratliff said. “We want someone to be able to really work with to try and make the difference that needs to be made in Columbia.”