First, the history: County Finance Director Carol Bonchalk has been accused by Gwen Sanders, former assistant to one-time County Manager Enrique Serna, of telling Sanders, "I guess they don't need a token black upstairs anymore." Bonchalk says she doesn't remember saying this to Sanders, who is black. But the attorney general's civil rights division has already found Bonchalk created a discriminatory, racially hostile work environment.
Enter our blundering hero, Pima County Supervisor Mikey Boyd. As usual, the interrogator in the following official court deposition is attorney Bill Hanson:
Q: She's at least acknowledging that it's possible that she made the statement?
BOYD: That's possible.
Q: OK. Does that concern you?
BOYD: It just--it just depends under the context in which Ms. Bonchalk made the statement.
Q: Would it be appropriate if it was a joke?
BOYD: It may not have been a joke, it may have been something seriously said. And it may have been something Ms. Bonchalk meant and not as a racial slur. In other words, I think someone could also perceive that as almost being a comforting thing to say, that she understands her position and that it was almost a slur to the folks who gave her the job actually.
Q: Are you serious about that?
BOYD: It's just a possibility. I'm not sure of the context under which it was said. I just know Ms. Bonchalk not to be a mean-spirited, nasty person. And if it was said in a nasty way, it would've been out of character.
Q: I guess I'm just puzzled by how you could say that it's possible that it was intended to be a comforting statement when Bonchalk...
BOYD: Repeat the sentence again.
Q: The sentence is, "I guess they don't need a token black upstairs anymore."
BOYD: Well, I'm just not sure under the context and the circumstances Ms. Bonchalk said it....
NEXT WEEK
Mikey Defines Truth!
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