6A
NEWS/ The Charlotte Post
Thursday, August 7, 1997
Former Rep. gets longer sentence
By Elaine Hegwood Bowen
THE CHICAGO CRUSADER
While nearing the end of his
jail sentence for sexual miscon
duct, former U.S. Rep. Mel
Reynolds has received more jail
time for bank and campaign
fraud.
When Reynolds initially
faced sexual misconduct
charges for allegedly having
sex with a teenage campaign
worker, many suggested that
he was at times very uncooper
ative in the courtroom. But last
month, Reynolds pleaded for
leniency before being sen
tenced to another six-and-a-
half years in federal prison.
He admitted he made mistakes
and did not follow the law per
taining to his campaign. But
ultimately Reynolds was plead
ing for time to make amends
tohis family.
Reynolds’ wife, Marisol, and
their two children are report
edly living on public aid in
Boston.
In a related matter, Marisol.
Reynolds, who at first stood by
her husband but then charged
him with abuse, was also
charged and convicted of cam
paign fraud. She is expected to
be sentenced in that case. She
has also filed for divorce from
the former congressman.
The current case against
Re3Tiolds was decided on April
15, when he was found guilty of
16 counts of fraud - illegally
raising campaign cash and
defrauding banks of hundreds
of thousands of dollars.
Reynolds is due to complete his
sentence on sexual misconduct
in early 1998 and the new sen
tence will begin at that time.
Reynolds’ attorney William
Hooks said his client is being
imfairly targeted by prosecu
tors. He claimed that instead of
Staff incomplete at W. Charlotte
Former principal
unbowed about his
actions at school
Continued from page 1A
Wallace in the Safe Schools pro
gram.
! In an interview, Simmons said
he told Supt. Eric Smith that he
1)0 longer wants to be a principal,
even if an assignment were avail
able.
■ “I would have been set up, with
out the support from the superin
tendent,” Simmons said. “I will be
accused of being unfair to whites.
I would be open to that kind of
attack.”
Simmons said if he had it all to
do over again, he would do the
same things. “Maybe that was my
mission there,” he said. “Maybe
that’s what God wanted me to
do.”
Smith appointed Chne, a princi
pal at a middle school in Newport
News, Va., where Smith was
superintendent before coming to
Charlotte last year.
Simmons said he was disap
pointed in his treatment by
Smith and said he stUl has not
had a chance to tell the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg school board his
Simmons
accoimt. Simmons met with the
Black Political Caucus last
month to give an account of the
circumstances which led to his
.removal.
“I would love
to meet with
the school
board,” he said.
“The act like
they don’t want
to meet with
me.”
Simmons
said white
teachers began
complaining
when he began hiring more black
teachers and making other
changes to insure that black chil
dren were more successful.
He nearly double the percent
age of black teachers from just 10
percent when he took over in
March 1996 to 23 percent last
year and had hired enough black
teachers to raise the percentage
to 35 percent for the 1997-98
school year. The leadership team
of department heads woxild have
been racially balanced, Simmons
said, compared to just two black
co-chairs out of 14 department
heads when he arrived.
“I had already replaced the 44
teachers who wanted to leave,”
Simmons said.
He was also criticized for reduc
ing the number of suspensions of
black students. White teachers
began spreading rumors that he
was having raciaUy-exclusive
meetings with students and
teachers.
“I had a fireside chat with black
boys doing Black History.Month,”
Simmons said. “The teachers
selected those kids who were not
doine well academically T laod
alx)ut 300 kids and about 98 per
cent of them were black.
“We had a veiy open and candid
discussion,” Simmons said.
“White teachers accused me of
being racist.”
He was also criticized when
black teachers came to him to talk
about their concerns, Simmons
said.
“They wanted to meet with me
off campus,” he said. “I told them
we could meet on campus. They
wanted more black staff mem
bers.
“The white teachers said that
was racist. Everything was exag
gerated. To me that reeks of
racism I have never seen before.”
Simmons said his removal was
a strategy of white teachers early
in the school year and the mass
transfer was part of the plan.
focusing on “real” criminals the
U.S. Attorney’s Office is bent on
further punishing Reynolds,
who grew up poor, became a
Rhodes scholar and eventually
a promising force in
Washington.
U.S. District Judge Charles
Norgle, who sentenced
Reynolds, said the former
politician is also guilty of
numerous obstruction of justice
violations.
Reynolds has lied to the
court and concealed and/or
destroyed evidence, Norgle
charged.
Even though Reynolds might
be sorry for his action, the
judge reportedly thinks he has
not shown enough remorse and
is only now attempting to avoid
more jail time.
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Keep Medicare plan, CBC urges
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
The Congressional Black
Caucus has sent a letter to
President Clinton urging him
to stand firm against a Senate
provision designed to impose
co-payments on individuals
receiving Medicare home
health care.
U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)
initiated the letter and gath-
lered signatures from all 38
jnembers of the CBC, including
;Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.),
•chair of the CBC and Rep.
^Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), the
Tanking member of the House
^ays and Means Committee.
The letter was sent to the
White House as the House and
Senate Medicare conferees
debated the Senate provision.
“We cannot raise revenue on
the backs of seniors,” said
Lewis. “Forcing senior citizens
to pay co-payments will hurt
those who can least afford it.”
According to a recent report
by the Kaiser Medicare Policy
Project, low-income seniors,
minority women and those liv
ing alone have the greatest
home care needs. “We must
preserve affordable health care
for senior citizens. We must be
fair. We must not burden our
most vulnerable populations
with additional costs,” said
Lewis.
The Senate-passed bill
includes the provision that
would require Medicare benefi
ciaries to pay $5 for each home
care visit they receive, up to the
amount of the hospital
deductible - $760 in 1997, and
an estimated $960 by 2002. The
provision is expected to raise
$4.9 billion over five years but
opponents believe the co-pay
ments are an inappropriate
way to reach the budget sav
ings required by the budget res
olution.
improve relations, schools
jBy Paul Shepard
’jxHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
• WASHINGTON - National
JUrban League President Hugh
I;B. Price appealed Sunday for
^improved race relations and a
Jrejection of the status quo in
Imrban schools.
i “We must purge our souls of
Jracism, anti-Semitism and
J-immigrant and Asian bashing if
Jwe are to become the most suc-
5cessful democracy in the histo-
iry of mankind,” Price said in
{•prepared remarks opening the
JUrban League’s annual conven
tion Sunday evening,
j Price said the Urban Lea^e
{has joined with several other
{advocacy groups for an initia-
jtive called National Voices for
Jan Inclusive 21st Century,
•which held a symposium in
•June and is planning other
• events to improve the dialogue
{between racial and ethnic
f groups. Partners in the initia-
Jtive include the National
♦ Council of La Raza, the Anti-
♦ Defamation League and the
• National Congress of American
I Indians and Leadership
* Education for Asian Pacifies.
Z Addressing his comments to
{President Clinton, who
{addressed the convention
I Monday, Price said “collectively.
the groups in National Voices
are wired to almost everyone
around the country that you’d
want to engage in a conversa
tion about race.”
“Mr. President, we’re here to
help. Use us,” Price said.
But Clinton was planning to
discuss aspects of his urban
agenda, such as empowerment
zones and cleanup of brown
fields, that are “helping
America’s cities participate
fully in the great economic
strength we’re experiencing,”
said White House spokesman
Barry Toiv.
On education. Price said
state takeovers of urban school
districts and the growth of
charter schools represent
forces of “revolutionary
change” seeking to improve
schools.
“As consumers of public edu
cation, we can no longer accept
the status quo in urban
schools,” Price said. “Too many
of our kids are served too mis
erably to allow it to continue.”
The convention, which ended
Wednesday, attracted 5,000
visitors. In addition to Clinton,
speakers included Vice
President A1 Gore, House
Minority Leader Dick
Gephardt and 'Transportation
Secretary Rodney Slater.
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