Jerry Duncan wished he had a "dirty bomb" to kill every liberal in Fresno

Duncan's e-mail note ignites fury - Fresno council member wrote of using 'dirty bomb' to kill liberals.

Fresno residents and community leaders, outraged by an e-mail message in which City Council Member - Jerry Duncan wished he had a "dirty bomb" to kill every liberal in Fresno, called Thursday for his resignation, recall or reprimand.

What I've learned from this thread is that liberals have become the 'chosen' ones when it comes to victimhood and that anyone who would even slightly appear to want to inflict more suffering upon them (like a stupid email, sheesh!) will be hauled before the alter of their "Victim God" to be crucified.

Having been annointed the victim, the downtrodden- the little guy- the poor sucker with one hand on the last rung of life's ladder, HOW DARE ANYONE FURTHER PILE ON?

If liberal is synomous with victim, what is a conservative? (without a dictionary, I'm at a loss as to it's opposite meaning)

Fact is, Duncan is probably toast as few will standby and watch as someone kicks somebody when he's already down (with an email, of all things) 'cause he might-as-well have been a-stompin' on the fingers of that last hand, holding to that last rung of hope the HRC had of spending $190K on investigating hate crime/thought and installing a few mid-night basketball courts in Fresno. Moral: Do NOT victimize da victim.

Duncan laments e-mailed threat
Critics demand his resignation.
By Pablo Lopez
The Fresno Bee
(Published Wednesday, August 20, 2003, 8:34 AM)

Fresno City Council Member Jerry Duncan on Tuesday issued his strongest apology yet for a controversial e-mail message in which he threatened to "eliminate all the liberals in Fresno" with a "dirty bomb."
Reading from a prepared statement to constituents in his northeast district, the citizens of Fresno and his council colleagues, Duncan said: "I made an error in judgment in sending these e-mails, and I apologize for the attention this action has caused.

"I am not a person who promotes violence as a means of solving problems. To those who have taken this and exploited it for political purposes, I hope now we can move on and get back to addressing the business of the city."

But the apology did little to assuage members of the city's Human Relations Commission -- Duncan's critics and presumably the targets of his e-mail message. About a dozen critics lined up Tuesday to tell the council that Duncan, Council Member Brian Calhoun and Calhoun's staffer Ann Kloose should resign.

And now, Mayor Alan Autry wants commission chairwoman Debbie Reyes to say she is sorry for painting Autry as a racist when she complained about the e-mail message and several others among council members and their staff.

"It's reckless and inexcusable," Autry, reached after the meeting, said of Reyes' comments. "She is quick to want an apology, but reluctant to give one."

At issue are hundreds of e-mail messages council members sent during a series of city budget hearings earlier this summer. The City Attorney's Office made them public last week in response to a request by The Bee.

On June 10, Duncan wrote to Kloose: "If I had one dirty bomb ... I could eliminate all the liberals in Fresno at once."

The e-mail was written during a City Council discussion of the Human Relations Commission's budget for the current fiscal year. Many HRC supporters are politically liberal and were present in the council chambers that day.

During the same meeting, Kloose wrote to Calhoun: "If these HRC folks bring down a crowd and get unruly, I'm calling to send over some officers to 'Cap' these guys ;-)"

Calhoun and Kloose have repeatedly declined to comment.

On Tuesday, the HRC's Reyes honed in on another e-mail exchange between Duncan and Kloose. During a June 27 budget hearing, Autry scored big in his battle with the council over his $726 million budget, saving his signature programs.

Kloose wrote to Duncan: "I just heard Alan's remarks. How did the darkside of the council receive it? Were they respectful?"

Reyes, reading from a prepared statement, told a packed council chambers Tuesday that "darkside" implied racism on Kloose's part. Reyes then questioned whether Kloose was quoting the mayor when she used the term "darkside."

"It's a racist remark," Reyes said. "Is it her thoughts, or is she quoting the mayor?"

Autry, known for letting critics, including council members, take shots at him, said Reyes should resign for making "an unfounded, mean-spirited comment.

"Jerry's comments are inexcusable, and so is this. How she thinks her comments will bring the city together is beyond me."

The mayor then criticized Council Member Cynthia Sterling, who appointed Reyes to the commission. "Is this how she feels about me? Cynthia should have stopped [Reyes] or at least corrected her."

Sterling declined to comment.

The reporter can be reached at plopez@fresnobee.com or 441-6259.

Censure of council members rejected -
Duncan apologizes for offending e-mail while Calhoun threatens suit.
By Pablo Lopez
The Fresno Bee
(Published Wednesday, September 17, 2003, 5:40 AM)

A divided Fresno City Council on Tuesday rejected a resolution that would have condemned council members Jerry Duncan and Brian Calhoun and Calhoun's assistant, Ann Kloose, for sending offensive e-mail messages.
The decision came after Calhoun threatened to sue the council, saying he and Kloose had been defamed and that the resolution is illegal.

Duncan took another tack: Though he had apologized at least twice before, Tuesday he finally used the word "sorry."

After an hour of heated testimony, with some members of the audience jeering Duncan and Calhoun as they tried to make a point, the council sent a clear message that offending e-mail messages were an embarrassment to the city.

First, the council members unanimously approved a resolution that directs them to be fair and respectful to all residents, regardless of race, creed, religion, political affiliation or skin color.

Council President Tom Boyajian then was given the green light to arrange a "sensitivity" workshop for council members so they could learn "effective leadership and collaboration."

The council, however, stopped short of publicly rebuking two of their own and Kloose.

In the end, Cynthia Sterling and Mike Dages cast the key votes, siding with Calhoun and Duncan to reject the censure resolution.

Council Members Brad Castillo and Henry T. Perea supported Boyajian on the censure move.

Though Sterling said e-mails that targeted her were "hurtful and offending," she sided with her attackers, saying "I want to mend the fence" and move on to more important issues such as double-digit unemployment.

Dages also wanted to move on to more important issues, saying the e-mail messages are "an embarrassment for the city."

He criticized Boyajian for bringing forward the resolution. "What we are doing is wrong. This has gone on long enough."

Boyajian, however, said the resolution was important to members of the public, "who feel disconnected from the council." Doing nothing, Boyajian said, sends a message that city leaders don't care about people's feelings or thoughts or that they approve of Duncan's and Calhoun's actions.

"This is not about me, or Calhoun or Duncan. Quit making it personal," Boyajian said. "A lot of people in the community are upset. If I didn't act, I couldn't live with myself."

While Duncan said he learned that he had made a big mistake and apologized to the public and the Human Relations Commission, Calhoun spent nearly 30 minutes criticizing Boyajian and City Attorney Hilda Cantu Montoy.

Leaving his seat at the dais, Calhoun addressed the council from the public lectern and scolded Boyajian. "I will not let you impugn my integrity or the integrity of my council assistant."

Calhoun, visibly shaken, was upset with the resolution that said he and Kloose made "disparaging remarks, bias and prejudices toward certain groups."

In essence, Calhoun said, the resolution accused him and Kloose of being racists.

Though, Calhoun said, he stayed publicly silent on the e-mail fiasco, he said he had privately talked to Kloose and that they had answered every complaint from members of the public who had called him or sent e-mail to his office.

"I felt no need to tell you, Mr. Boyajian. You are not my boss," he said.

Then he threatened to file a lawsuit if the council approved the resolution, saying that the resolution was illegal because Cantu Montoy had ruled that the council does not have the power to censure or discipline individual council members. Calhoun also vowed to start writing his own resolution against any council members with whom he did not agree. In addition, he said he would consider resigning once the lawsuit was ruled upon.

But the issue became moot when the council rejected the resolution.

Debbie Reyes, chairwoman of the Human Relations Commission, appeared stunned after learning that Sterling had sided with Duncan, Calhoun and Dages and did not comment. Sterling appointed Reyes to the commission.

Commissioner Cary Catalano, said he, too, was surprised by Sterling's vote. He said without the resolution to condemn Calhoun, Kloose and Duncan "it diminished the whole package" of what Boyajian tried to achieve.

Commissioner Sudarshan Kapoor, however, said the council discussion brought sensitivity and awareness to the fact that Fresno is a multicultural community. He said the council members will benefit from the sensitivity workshop "as long as they don't do it by themselves. They should do it with the HRC."

The controversy began when the City Attorney's Office made e-mail messages public in response to a request by The Bee.

In one e-mail, on June 10, Duncan wrote to Kloose: "If I had one dirty bomb ... I could eliminate all the liberals in Fresno at once." The message was written during City Council discussion of the Human Rights Commission's budget for the current fiscal year. Many commission supporters are politically liberal and were present in council chambers that day.

During the same meeting, Kloose wrote to Calhoun: "If these HRC folks bring down a crowd and get unruly, I'm calling to send over some officers to 'Cap' these guys."

Another e-mail message, between Duncan and Kloose, has caused a stir:

During a June 27 budget hearing, Mayor Alan Autry scored big in his battle with the council over his $726 million budget, saving his signature programs.

Kloose wrote to Duncan: "I just heard Alan's remarks. How did the darkside of the council receive it? Were they respectful?"

The reporter can be reached at plopez@fresnobee.com or 441-6259.

Sensitivity training.

We get sensitivity training everyday in every newspaper, news broadcast, films, and any other media outlet. Where we don't get it is from the occasional radio show that is often branded as 'hate' radio simply because it's conservative in format.

The fact that this HRC is nothing more than a front for affirmative action doesn't escape those who are immersed daily in the PC vat of modern liberal culturalism.

Our forefathers wouldn't recognize society today. They didn't do group hugs. Liberals are communitarian at best and socialists in the extreme. Not only do they do group hugs, but they'll pass laws to ensure that everyone has an incentive to 'hug', even though their first impulse might be to throw-up.

This theatre playing out in Fresno is happening each day on the national stage. Good to see someone finally standing up to their 'script' and telling them that it needs a re-write. Playwrites the Left will never be, as their 'feel-goodisms' trump 'common sense', allowing them the luxury of cornering the market in the production of fairytales. ET, phone home.

Not that I'd wish an end to the compassion and caring exhibited by liberals, but a wake-up call would be nice. Cell phones for the homeless?, for example. Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but the day you give someone something for nothing and then later expect them to give you something for nothing is the day I know you're one picture frame short of a garage sale.

Work with human nature and it'll work with you.

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