Carolyn Vermont won the presidency Thursday night of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP in a vote by chapter members at Messiah Baptist Church downtown, defeating challenger Wayne Winston.
Vermont won her first full term as president. She had served as president for one year filling out the unexpired term of Craig Kelly. This election became contentious in the final days with charges and countercharges over qualifications and community commitment filling candidate statements. And in the tradition of Bridgeport elections, Winston claims numerous voting irregularities took place Thursday night. Meanwhile, congratulations to Carolyn Vermont who shares this statement:
November 19, 2010
Thanks to all the NAACP members who came out last night to cast their votes. The National NAACP Office called upon the State Conferences of NAACP Branches to conduct the election process for the Greater Bridgeport Branch to ensure transparency and accuracy. Special thanks to Joan Gibson, Virginia Monteiro and Brenda Milner form the State NAACP for all of your time and patience with our local Branch.
It was gratifying to see Mr. & Mrs. Julian Braxton at the voting poll. Julian Braxton served as President of our local branch for many years. It was Julian Braxton who opened the door for me to serve as Youth Advisor and Chair of the Stay-in-School/Back-to School Program twenty eight years ago. Through his leadership and guidance, I was able to successfully serve the youth of Bridgeport. The training, mentoring and support that I received as a NAACP youth member has contributed to the individual that I am today. It was also great to see Mr. & Mrs. James Dancy. They too, served under the candidacy of Julian Braxton. James Dancy developed the Black Agenda back then and that agenda is still relevant today. Mr. & Mrs. Ted Meekins also cast their votes in the election. Ted Meekins has also been involved with promoting the mission of the NAACP for as long as I can remember. He always made sure that the NAACP had a relationship with the Department of Justice. Craig Kelly, the immediate past President of NAACP, came out to cast his vote also. Mr. & Mrs. Preston Tisdale came out to cast their votes too. Attorney Tisdale grew up in the NAACP. His parents, James & Loyse Tisdale, were true NAACP Freedom Fighters along with his uncle Charles Tisdale. Craig Kelly, the immediate past President of NAACP, came out to cast his vote also. Craig Kelly has remained on the Executive Committee of our local Branch since resigning as President.
I plan to put together a team of NAACP members who have the expertise, passion and time to devote to promoting the mission of the NAACP. The NAACP is the oldest, largest and strongest civil rights organization in the United States. The NAACP is committed to achievement through non-violence and relies upon the free press, the petition, the ballot and the courts. We are persistent in the use of legal and moral persuasion even in the face of overt and violent racial hostility (www.naacp-ct.org).
Officers and Executive Committee members will be installed at the IMA Emancipation Day Service on January 1, 2011.
Again, thank you all for your love and support.
Carolyn Vermont, President
Greater Bridgeport Branch NAACP
And what irregularities is he going to challenge? “Not enough ballots?” The entire Election Committee were his supporters.
Good Morning Friends and Supporters.
My name is Wayne Winston and I ran for President of the Bridgeport Branch NAACP.
Thanks to everyone who came out in this election. My phone has been ringing off the hook so I felt a reason to respond. It is clear what the numbers show in the election result.
Most everyone knows me as an NAACP guy and civil rights fighter for many years and I didn’t need to be President to do it. I can’t hit all the details, but there were people who voted in the election who weren’t members by our constitutional guidelines. It’s like continuing to register voters up to November 1st and then allowing them to vote in the election on November 2nd.
If I could have done that trust me there would be a significantly different outcome lol. I am a civil rights guy and I respect my organization so I abide by the rules and if I fight for others’ rights, I intend to fight for mine too.
I believe the NAACP is a special organization and being its President is a sacred trust. It’s a civil rights organization not a social club. It’s not about how many facebook friends who cast a vote, or the most committees you are on, or the best smile. It is an organization created to be a voice for the least of us, or the abused. Bridgeport has never needed the NAACP more than now. I have served continuously for the last 14 years rain sleet or snow in service of the NAACP and didn’t have a 14-year hiatus. Whether it is the white wolves, school board, or community policing issues I have been there for the citizens of Bridgeport. I have been the guy people have called and recommended personally to others to help deal with the issues we may times find ourselves dealing with. There is no pay but if you love to serve your community it is payment enough.
Former NAACP President Mr. Julian Braxton is an amazing guy and it was under his leadership I started my journey 25 years ago. I later reactived under the boisterous Carolyn Nah who was without a doubt one of the strongest advocates of social justice I have ever seen. To this day I still enjoy her support.
I won’t list all the who’s who people in Bridgeport who came out and voted because it only shows who was concerned and not who they cast their vote for. I am confident 90% of the members who are active members in the branch voted for me and that gives me great pride despite the numbers because during the years of fighting for this city they are the people you work with. It is not easy to earn their respect. Active members are the people who attend the regular meetings and do the actual work of the organization.
It has been suggested I am a liar or sore loser so I feel it important to state these undeniable facts. These are positions of record.
The National NAACP office came down not of their own accord as stated by Caroyln, but because a complaint was filed against President Vermont for denying the branch membership its right to choose a nominating committee for the upcoming election in our September meeting. I requested their oversight for transparency. Over 25% of the branch membership of the time were at that meeting. It caused even more tension and confusion in our branch. That is a clear violation of NAACP election policy.
Even with the involvement of the national office however, membership records remained a point of contention. In fact there was no financial report at all of any sort all year from President Vermont despite her handling all the funds of the branch. A President CANNOT be the Treasurer and President. Only the Treasurer is the CFO of branch funds.
It is understandable why President Vermont got so much support from new members or inactive ones. It was as much a popularity contest as an election. They had no idea how the branch was being run. They have no idea that President Vermont played the role of President and Treasurer all year and refused to give a financial report to the executive committee or to the branch from February to now that is mandated through our bylaws. Or that she used branch funds like they were her own personal pocket book with no accountability to branch members. That we had a fund raiser back in April that we still do not have a report on to date. That we had not paid our national assessments all year which put us out of compliance with our national office. That over 50% of the meetings were canceled for own personal reasons on her behalf. That we have been out of compliance all year in every way imaginable and worst of all we didn’t fight for 1 civil rights issue at the side of President Vermont beyond her making a statement in the media.
With all that being said President Vermont lost the support of the majority of the branch ready to do the work months ago. The final straw for branch members is that with all the financial issues going on in the branch, the membership voted in September to postpone the October fundraiser at the Holiday Inn until we got a financial report until a later date this year. Two weeks later we saw in the CT Post President Vermont went ahead with it away. That is a violation of every organization’s policy that I know of when that happens. It’s a violation of the NAACP’s too.
Why discuss all this? We are a public organization and if you signed up as a member of the NAACP and/or voted, that is the reality you voted for and you will be responsible for fixing it.
President Vermont had all year to create the branch she talked about on this site as did President Kelly. It is really is an insult to the current members and their dedication to imply the type of people to move the branch forward aren’t involved now. People pay $30.00 a year to help other people in their community. There are extremely talented and well connected people in our branch right now who are and have been more than willing to work if they were given the opportunity.
You will find nowhere in any of her statements in any publication that she reflects upon her accomplishments as 2 years as secretary, 1 year as Vice President, and now 1 term as President.
The silver lining is that Bridgeport firefighter Keith Williams won as Vice President, as well as long-time community activist Jeff Baldwin. The new Secretary is Delores Crawford who was a former state NAACP secretary. All were on my ticket.
The vision President Vermont states here is NOT the branch NAACP Members experienced during her tenure fulfilling the remainder of President Kelly’s term. In fact it sounds a lot like the one I outlined in an article in another publication. If she had implemented that type of branch, she would have had my vote, and active membership’s as well.
Just remember, the Good guys don’t always wear white hats and win in the end. That’s the Hollywood hype. Reality was 8 years of George W. Bush despite the best efforts of many. Hey don’t take my word for it, ask any of the members or most of the executive committee members who served under it.
God Bless and thank you for your time.