Mayor Reggie Jones of the City of Dellwood is calling for the resignation of John Gaskin III, president of the St. Louis County NAACP, after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Gaskin was being paid by Unite STL to push consolidation of St. Louis city and county by a statewide vote.
Gaskin’s accepting paid work on city-county consolidation by Unite STL was sprung on him by a Post-Dispatch reporter who attended Gaskin’s press conference on April 18 announcing the County NAACP’s support of the proposal.
Gaskin confirmed that he had accepted the paid position – without disclosing it when speaking in the voice of the County NAACP – but claimed the County NAACP board’s endorsement of the proposal was not connected to his accepting paid work to pass the proposal.
“Mr. Gaskin should have revealed his conflict of interest to everyone prior to any vote by the board and have allowed public input,” Jones said in a statement. “The process was not transparent and not fair. It has stained the reputation of an organization whose historic role was the protection of the rights of the African-American community.
Jones said Gaskin was influential in getting the board of the County NAACP “to support the Better Together consolidation plan pushed by billionaire Rex Sinquefield.”
Gaskin was contacted and asked for his response. It will be included in this report when and if received.
The Unite STL website does not list any staff. Its contact page is only a form to send comments. Jones’ statement was emailed via that page to Unite STL and its response will be included in this report when and if received.
Jones also claimed that “Gaskin does not represent the interests of the people the NAACP was created to serve” in supporting the proposition, regardless of the conflict of interest.
Jones stated that Gaskin claiming the County NAACP “supports the forced merger of the city and county, as well as dissolving municipalities and stealing their revenues to fund the consolidation, clearly indicates that he has sold out the very people he is supposed to be representing and the very people who have supported him with his rise in the NAACP organization.” Â
Jones is an African-American mayor representing a predominantly African American community that directly neighbors Ferguson. Jones frequently spoke up for his city and North County’s middle-class public generally during the distortions of the Ferguson unrest.
“We have worked for decades to bring African-American leadership and voice to this region and have succeeded,” Jones stated. “It appears Mr. Gaskin has sold a civil rights organization to the Better Together movement and has betrayed everything the NAACP represents.”
Jones stated that the mission of the NAACP is “to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.” Jones said that the proposed city-county merger – proposed to be enacted through statewide vote, even if the voters directly impacted reject it – would dilute the voice of the very people that the NAACP was formed to represent.Â
Jones said that the proposed 33-member regional council of a newly constituted Metro St. Louis would have less proportional African-American representation than do the current City of St. Louis and majority-black communities in St. Louis County.
“People have worked years to be heard,” Jones stated. “Now Mr. Gaskin wants to silence those voices and have them give up their seats at the tables in the very municipalities where they have chosen to lead and live.”Â
Jones stated that Gaskin “chose to ignore the membership’s voice of the St. Louis County NAACP and failed to discuss his own actions with any community leaders, for the sole purpose of ingratiating himself with his new employer and financial benefactors. His actions go against all that its members have worked for years to achieve and are a reflection on the type of campaign being waged by Unite STL in attempting to buy the St. Louis County NAACP.”
