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WV mayor resigns after comment on racist Facebook post

Charleston Gazette-Mail photo by F. Brian Ferguson Councilman Jason Hubbard (seated at center) gives a statement about the Facebook post that Whaling responded to.
Charleston Gazette-Mail photo by F. Brian Ferguson
Councilman Jason Hubbard (seated at center) gives a statement about the Facebook post that Whaling responded to.

CLAY, W.Va. — Clay residents want to make it clear that a Facebook comment made by the town’s former mayor doesn’t reflect the opinions of the entire community.

At a Town Council meeting Tuesday night, council members accepted the resignation of Mayor Beverly Whaling after she commented on a Facebook post referring to first lady Michelle Obama as an “Ape in heels.” Whaling had three years left in her term. The Town Council said it will move quickly to name a replacement for Whaling.

Pamela Ramsey Taylor, former executive director of the Clay Development Corp., referred to Obama as an “Ape in heels” in the Facebook post over the weekend. A person who answered the phone at the Clay Development Corp. on Tuesday said Taylor had been permanently removed from her position.

Whaling commented on the post soon after Taylor sent it, saying, “Just made my day Pam.”

Councilwoman Joyce Gibson called the situation terrible. She said Whaling was a good mayor but that she refuses to accept her comment. She said Whaling has put the town in a bad light.

“I’m sorry to lose a mayor,” Gibson said, “but I think she has done the best thing for the council and for the town.”

Clay’s Town Hall has received hundreds of calls since the Facebook post went viral, Gibson said. When people in the office answered the phone, they were bombarded with messages she said were inappropriate.

“Yesterday was just terrible,” Gibson said. “Some of them, they talked dirty; some of them, they were swearing.”

Gibson said people are too quick to judge the town based on comments made by the two women. She encouraged people to visit, so they can truly understand how accepting Clay is.

“Spend a day with us. I might even make a cup of coffee. Or if I knew you were coming, I’d bake a cake,” Gibson said. “We’re decent people. We’re God-loving people.”

Jeanie Davis, a former Clay County school board employee, was surprised by the post. She said she’s never seen discrimination in her community.

“Nobody makes a difference,” Davis said. “It doesn’t matter the color; we look at each other as an individual person.”

She said that, last summer, she witnessed the community come together to rebuild the area after June’s massive flooding. She said she watched churches and organizations work together without addressing denominations or titles. They just worked. She hopes the community will come together again after this controversy.

“We come together as people,” Davis said.

Neither Whaling or Taylor could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Clay has a population of 468, according to 2013 statistics from the U.S. Census.

Reach Ali Schmitz at [email protected], 304-348-4843 or follow @schmitzmedia on Twitter.

See more from the Charleston Gazette-Mail. 

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