I say this based on past experience with Houston politics where a mayoral candidate was the subject of a phone scampaign to black voters. He had not voted to support a symbolic measure to back hate crimes legislation. One of Byrd's relatives made a taped phone message to link the candidate to the dragging deaths.
Giving such political ploys airtime at council meetings (it was raised by Lee P Period Brown (the incumbent who ran against the unfairly maligned mayoral candidate)) is purely a political move at a time that city services are sorely lacking.
Some of the behind the scenes cause for the local black outrage for Berry is that he got support from the black community in his campaign for city council. One of the political movers and shakers, Sylvester Turner, claims that Berry made a pledge to him that he would not compete against Turner in the next mayoral campaign but he's already announced his intent to run for mayor. Turner is black. Berry is white. The "racist" mayoral candidate was a Cuban born Hispanic Republican. Any questions?