ICYMI: The Startling Statement of Shanerika Flemings, Shreveport City Council's Power-Shift
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The controversy surrounding the termination of former City Council Clerk Shanerika Fleming from her role during a Tuesday meeting of the Shreveport City Council has raged across social media as well as the offices, breakrooms, and kitchen tables of the Shreveport-Bossier area for three days. As of this report, the fallout shows little sign of stopping.
The council voted 4-3 along partisan lines with the exception of Councilwoman Ursula Stevenson-Bowman who voted with the Republican members to fire Fleming. But prior to the vote, the attorney-tuned-city clerk gave an admittedly lengthy 8-minute statement, in which she levied serious accusations of racism and heavy implications of inappropriate conduct
In her statement, Fleming made several serious allegations against Council members Bowman and Gary Brooks. In part she said, “Around the time that I was confirmed I attended a dinner with councilwoman Bowman allowed Councilman Brooks to say the word “Ni**er.” I gave him pushback in that moment and let him know that it wasn't okay for him to use that word. Yet Councilwoman Bowman said nothing.”
She further implied potential inappropriate conduct both between Bowman and Brooks and toward her claiming:
“Brooks had told me that ‘Black women like him, Black women like him’ and other white men can't get away with the same things that he could with black women.”
“he told me he hardly ever comes to the council office but now that I'm working here he may come more often.”
“Councilman Brooks texts me past work hours asking me if I was home or getting out tonight”
“ I also didn't accept Councilwoman Bowman's invitation when she asked me to go to Dallas with her and Councilman Brooks stating she was going to make him take us shopping.”
She added, “It's clear that at one point these council members were fond of me.”
Fleming followed this with further allegations of professional misconduct by Brooks and Bowman, a transcription of her full statement is included below.
As reported by KTAL News, AGR’s own Stephen Parr described the meeting with his gift of understatement as “dysfunctional”.
“Ursula Bowman said that she told Chairman Green that there was a fire going on in the city clerk’s office. And I think we saw that fire come out to the surface,” Parr said.
Parr told KTAL that the public display by Fleming and the council may have eroded public trust. He said, “The number one reason why bonds fail is because people don’t trust government. That’s just been the trend. Under the Perkins Administration, we had seven different bond issues, only one of them passed.”
A poll posted to Facebook by Love Shreveport-Bossier answered by 179 people seemed to support Parr’s assessment with 89% of respondents saying the do not support any Shreveport bond proposals.
As one commenter on the platform noted, “HELL NO -,The leadership of Shreveport can’t even have a City Council Meeting without acting like A BUNCH OF HS KIDS-”
Parr assessed that the council has experienced a shift in power, away from the previous Democrat party alignment under embattled Chairman James Green. “Ursula Bowman and Gary Brooks are in charge. They may not have the titles, but they’re the ones with the votes. And whatever way they vote, is what the city council is going to do.”
As reported in previous weeks AGR hosted Councilwoman Bowman, following the emergence of the ‘pay-gate’ scandal where she was direct about aligning with Councilmen Gary Brooks, Jim Taliaferro and Grayson Boucher. He told the outlet, “She didn’t like that she was told that she had to go along with what Tabitha Taylor, Dr. Jackson, and Reverand Green, wanted her to do, based on race. That’s what she said, sitting in this chair in our studio, was that some of it was based on race. Because she was a Black woman, she was supposed to vote with the other Black members of city council.”
Parr asserted that Green may have been effectively stripped of power by the alliance between Bowman and Brooks telling KTAL, “It’s simply a matter of time before city council acknowledges that fact, and either Chairman Green steps down, or they simply just keep going around him and he lives a very frustrated life as Chairman.”
As of this report, neither Councilman Brooks nor Councilwoman Bowman have posted any comments regarding Fleming’s allegations to social media or via press release.