According to Marysville Mayor Dan Damman, Jean Cramer has submitted a letter officially withdrawing from the running for Marysville City Council. The resignation comes after widespread controversy over her remarks at a candidate forum Thursday, August 22. At the forum, meant for residents to get to know candidates running for three open city council seats and one mayoral seat, the moderator posed the question, “if you look at the population growth in the Great Lakes Region, in terms of migration, 1.5 million people were foreign-born and 1.5 million were natural-born which indicates there is a high level of folks moving to the region, but they’re not moving here (Marysville), so as a philosophical question, should Marysville be more aggressive about making that happen?” Cramer answered, “my suggestion, recommendation: keep Marysville a white community as much as possible…in other words…no foreign-born citizens.” Cramer’s comments received national and international attention. In her resignation, Mrs. Cramer offered no reason for the resignation,
Marysville City Manager Randy Fernandez said Cramer’s name will still appear on the November 5 ballot because according to state law, the withdrawal happened past the withdraw date of April 26, 2019 @ 4:00 p.m.
In light of the situation, Mayor Damman says this an opportunity to move forward in a positive way to encourage more diversity in the community. Along with Kevin Watkins, President of the NAACP Port Huron Branch, the two are working with other community partners to develop a county-wide initiative for diversity.
Cramer’s remarks along with Mayor Dan and local Pastor Alex Crittenden’s remarks can be seen here
