On Saturday morning, Rev. Eugene Pierce stood at the microphone in front of the Cheektowaga Town Board and recalled one of the previous times he addressed the town’s governing body.
It was 1977, and Pierce questioned why there were no Black town employees.
Ken Young, a Black resident who campaigned as a Democrat for a spot on the board this past election cycle, claims the town’s voting system prevents minority candidates from being elected and is urging officials to consider making a change.
He was arrested and jailed for speaking out, and his family was threatened, but a subsequent federal investigation found the Town of Cheektowaga was guilty of employment discrimination.
Now, Pierce was speaking in support of the town implementing a ward system of voting as a way to ensure that minorities in Cheektowaga are able to elect the candidates they prefer to represent them.
An analysis of voting in Cheektowaga by two national voting rights experts found that “recent voting patterns demonstrate racially polarized voting in the township, especially in 2021 and in the most recent elections.”
The experts’ report backs up claims made by Cheektowaga resident Ken Young, who first claimed there was racially polarized voting in the town. In a…
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