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After casting deciding vote on Amoroso, Wicker discusses praise and criticism
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BATON ROUGE- Following a contentious East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council meeting Thursday, Councilwoman Tara Wicker spoke about what led to her decision that went against her democratic colleagues.
"I was never allowed to cower down or be intimidated," Wicker said. "That's not who I am. If I believe in something, I'm going to stand for it even if I have to stand alone."
Wicker faced intense criticism from people who showed up at the meeting and from some in the community. Her decision to vote for Denise Amoroso, put the widow of the late Buddy Amoroso into his seat until March.
"I asked my staff, 'Have I gotten calls? Have I gotten emails?'" Wicker said. "There was a guy saying, 'Call Tara Wicker's office and call her out!'" she recalled. "Yes, please call my office so people can hear both sides of the story and what went into the decision I made. My staff said everyone who has called and emailed has been positive."
According to Wicker, some of the people who showed up making the most noise were just a loud minority.
"I had one African-American man call me and he said, 'I pointed to you to my grandchildren and told them that's what it looks like to do the right thing for the right reason,'" Wicker said.
Wicker agrees that there is much work to be done about the inequities facing our community. But, she said there's a time for that, and last night was not that time.
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