Fiore leaves Las Vegas council meeting while being criticized
Councilwoman Michele Fiore walked out of Las Vegas City Hall council chambers Wednesday after coming under criticism for previous comments she has made.
The meeting was underway as a protest led by the Las Vegas chapter of the NAACP took place outside City Hall. Demonstrators called out what they said was the “reckless comments and behavior” of Fiore and the “reckless behavior” of Councilwoman Victoria Seaman and Councilman Stavros Anthony, both of whom expressed support for a Blue Lives Matter protest that since has been canceled, according to the NAACP chapter’s website.
The NAACP had called for Fiore to step down from her role as mayor pro tem, which she did Tuesday after coming under fire for “racially charged” remarks she is said to have made at the Clark County Republican Party convention June 6.
Inside the council chambers, much of the two-hour period of public comment was targeted toward issues of racism, division and Fiore.
The councilwoman walked out of the meeting early into the period as she was being criticized for her past.
A speaker brought up Fiore’s reference to a colleague as “colored” while in the state Assembly and her association with controversial rancher Cliven Bundy, among other things.
Mayor Carolyn Goodman called Fiore’s departure “her prerogative,” noting that any council member could take a recess during the lengthy meeting if at least four lawmakers remained behind. But Fiore, who also had supporters at the meeting, did not return.
Speakers had a minute to address the council. More than 50 online comments and emails were read into the record afterward.
While a recording of Fiore’s remarks at the county GOP convention has yet to surface, Councilman Cedric Crear described in a letter to Goodman last week what witnesses have reported Fiore said in opposition to affirmative action: “I am a white woman, and I should not lose my job because of their black asses.”
NAACP Las Vegas President Roxann McCoy said before the council meeting that although Fiore gave up her title, and the Blue Lives Matter protest was canceled, she still wanted to publicly call into question the council members’ decisions.