Flare ups like this happen with such a frequency that we hardly notice them anymore. Yet again, Pine Bluff Mayor Carl Redus Jr. finds himself at the center of a controversy due to an reported angry outburst. This most recent incident appears to have taken place at Chester Hynes Community Center. It is corroborated by at least three witnesses, and it speaks volumes about the character of our chief executive.
As reported by the Commercial, Redus is accused of “cornering,” “bullying,” and “yelling at” parks employees — principally Chester Hynes Community Center Director Laura Hildreth — during a recent visit to the center. Redus disputes this characterization of his behavior. He denies that he accused Hildreth of “sabotaging” the facility after a recent paint job that has been contested by Parks and Recreation Department Director Angela Parker, Hildreth’s supervisor.
“I can assure you that there was no intent to intimidate Laura Hildreth,” Redus said by telephone Thursday evening. “My only intent was to obtain information on the (painted) walls. As director, she should be aware of what is taking place there.”
Three of Hildreth’s co-workers who witnessed the exchange have detailed their observations of Redus’ behavior it in written statements. From this a simple question emerges: Why would they lie? What purpose would it serve to focus the ire of the notoriously mercurial mayor?
Even so, Redus frames the exchange in terms favorable to his reputation. “I did not accuse Laura Hildreth of sabotaging the building,” Redus said. “There was no confrontation between us. That’s totally off base. As I said, I was simply making an inquiry on the condition of the walls. My only reason for inquiring was that we’re talking about a $20,000 paint job and I want to know how it got messed up.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Given that it the only possible reward for bearing witness to this alleged absurdity is to have a little black mark by their names for not following in silent lock-step, we’re inclined to believe the center employees’ version of events. Moreover, we’ve been the recipient of similar behavior ourselves. On multiple occasions, Redus has raised his voice, yelled and otherwise comported himself unacceptably when Commercial reporters pressed him on matters not of his liking.
“His tone was so loud that we held children in their classroom until he left,” Jerrika Kelly, a mentor in the Arts in Motion Summer Camp Enrichment Program at Hynes, said of Redus’ conduct. “He was yelling. He was very aggressive.”
Kelly, who serves as a local liaison for Pine Bluff native and Los Angeles Angels baseball standout Torii Hunter, said at one point she feared the mayor was losing emotional control, and that’s when co-worker Joyce Suggs intervened and suggested that Hildreth “not say anything else.”
Holding children in the classroom so that they wouldn’t be exposed to over-excited, irrational ranting? This is the standard of behavior we’ve come to accept? Clearly we have, or Redus wouldn’t have been re-elected.
In short, we’re tired of this. It sets a bad example. It demonstrates an insufficient constitution for the work of chief executive. We don’t need a tyrant. We don’t need a bully. We don’t need someone who yells at subordinates as though they were petulant children. That we endure it multiples the bad example. It demeans us.
Here too, the Hynes Center employees bear witness, “We teach our children that bullying isn’t permitted nor tolerated and that they should respect each other’s feelings and property and they should treat others as they want to be treated,” said Linda Nance, a summer program director at the center. “If this lesson is good enough for our children, then it should certainly be applied by our mayor.”
We agree.