[personal profile] ron_newman posting in [community profile] davis_square

In this thread, I stated that I personally recalled Charlie Chisholm running racist and anti-immigrant campaigns against then-Ward 6 Alderman Jack Connolly in the early 1990s. At that time, Somerville's "Sanctuary City" resolution welcoming immigrants was a major political issue. People have (understandably) challenged me for hard evidence, so I spent a few hours today at the Somerville Central Library looking over Somerville Journal microfilm from 1991 and 1993. Here's what I found:

from editorial "Hitting a new low on the campaign trail", 11/7/91:

In Ward Six, Charlie Chisholm issued a pamphlet proclaiming "Somerville: It used to be your city; now, it's Jack Connolly's 'Sanctuary City'" interspersed with photographs of houses with "For Sale" signs.

from election coverage on 11/7/91:

Chisholm apparently gained a lot of ground between preliminary day and the final election by linking Connolly to the so-called "Sanctuary City" resolution and saying the resolution was responsible for drawing immigrants that pushed long-time residents out of the city.

from "New face in midst of Ward Six rematch", 9/2/93:

"I don't see myself as anti-immigrant", says Chisholm. "What is wrong is when we have all sorts of unrestricted illegal immigrants coming in here."

Many of those illegal aliens were drawn to Somerville because of the host of service agencies here, says Chisholm. And the city has borne too heavy a burden for its welcoming attitude in areas like education and housing, he argues.

Charles Chisholm answers questions from the Journal, 9/23/93:

... the "Sanctuary City" substitute "City of Hope" resolution, which was sponsored by Alderman Jack Connolly, should be repealed and those groups and agencies which encourage illegals to settle in Somerville should desist from targeting Somerville for a further increase in population. We cannot afford a further influx of illegal aliens. Already, plans are being developed by the School Department's Somerville 2000 Committee to meet the necessity of forced cross city busing to accommodate Chapter 636 of M.G.L. This law requires "racially imbalanced" schools to be integrated. Finally, we should support the passage of a law to report illegals for deportation who have committed crimes. It must be clear that Somerville will not tolerate becoming another crime infested Massachusetts city. Also, the movement to have illegals vote in city elections, which has begun in Cambridge, makes a mockery of citizenship and should be opposed.

In 1993, some people in Somerville circulated a local initiative petition to place repeal of the Sanctuary City resolution onto that year's general election ballot. The city's Election Commission disqualified the petition after finding that many of the signatures on it were forged and faked. The Journal's article on 10/7/93 said:

One signature that was valid was that of Charles Chisholm, a candidate for alderman in Ward Sox who signed the petition on a separate sheet of paper.

I can't support someone who chose to divide the community this way when campaigning for political office. Yes, these campaigns were 22 and 24 years ago --- but in his current campaign, he's claiming that his one term on the Board of Alderman 38-40 years ago (the last time he held public office) is relevant experience.

When you vote this Thursday, please choose one of the other three fine candidates for Ward 6 Alderman: Lance Davis, David Lieberman, or Elizabeth Weinbloom. Thank you for listening.

EDIT 9/16 8 pm: Just to make things completely clear: In this post I'm speaking solely for myself as a Ward 6 resident and voter, NOT as a co-moderator of Davis Square LiveJournal.

Date: 2015-09-16 12:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] keithn.livejournal.com
I have heard people repeat that he has been involved with civil rights/LGBT issues, but I haven't actually heard specifically what his involvement was. Do you have details?

At this point I think he ought to come in here and speak for himself. Even though his web presence might be low, I know he knows how to register on a forum and post, because he did it here: http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/somerville/2007/07/17/progressives-to-endorse-in-city-races/

Date: 2015-09-16 01:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] keithn.livejournal.com
The best part of the whole exchange:
Mr. Chisholm then started ranting about how awful it was that we cared who the Ward 6 Alderman was while the Iraq war was going on. He then claimed that we were making George Bush happy. At that point I ended the phone call.

Date: 2015-09-16 05:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dougo.livejournal.com
He has a lot about his involvement with civil rights/LGBT issues on his website: https://charlesforward6.wordpress.com/ He taught in the Freedom Schools, boycotted segregated schools in Roxbury, stood up for a college dean who was dismissed for being lesbian, joined the Walk for Life during the AIDS crisis, and "is a proud member" of the LGBT community.

Date: 2015-09-16 07:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dougo.livejournal.com
I was replying to [livejournal.com profile] keithn's specific request for more info.

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