Lakeland, Florida -- A Lakeland official, under for racist remarks he made during a public meeting, will be asked to resign by Mayor Howard Wiggs, according to the Lakeland Ledger.
City commissioners voted 5-2 to request that Wiggs ask Steven Wade, a member of the utility committee, to resign two weeks after Wade made racist remarks.
During a budget meeting Sept. 4, Wade said the culture in Northwest Lakeland has "really gone backward, almost like animals."
He said there wasn't "just a gang problem in Northwest Lakeland. It's the teenage girls; we got to get the teenage girls to say no and quit having these babies. The culture in that community is spreading into other parts of Lakeland."
Wiggs, and Commissioners Phillip Walker, Edie Yates, Don Selvage and Justin Troller voted to ask Wade to resign from his position on the Utility Committee. Commissioners Jim Malless and Keith Merritt voted against the measure. The two wanted to immediately remove Wade from the volunteer position.
