Stuart Mayor Eula Clarke facing call to step down after flap over comments

STUART — The city is reeling in the wake of a comment from Mayor Eula Clarke, who used the derogatory term "pig" in the presence of a police officer at a local grocery store.

The issue has thrust Stuart into an unwanted spotlight after the comment was widely circulated over the weekend on social media, including comments posted on Clarke's Facebook page. City commissioners said they have received hundreds of emails from across the country, decrying the mayor's remark.

All four of the other commission members have demanded Clark resign from the commission.

Clarke, 59, who is serving her fourth term as commissioner, on Monday declined to say if she will step down.

The City Commission on Monday morning postponed its discussion of moving City Hall after learning of Clarke's comment. It is to meet again at 5 p.m. Wednesday when it's expected to vote in a new mayor. It also could open an investigation into Clarke for violating the city's harassment policy.

The Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association, the union which represents police officers, also has called for Clarke's resignation.

According to the union, on Jan. 11 Clarke walked into Taylor's Grocery, 610 S.E. 10th St. in East Stuart, where police Officer Ed Fitzgerald was speaking with the store clerk. According to the union, Clarke said, "I didn't know we were serving pig tonight."

"That's an insult to me (and) my officers," said union President John Kazanjian, who urged Clarke to get all city police officers in one room and apologize to each individually.

Fitzgerald, who has been on the force about seven years, could not be reached for comment.

Clarke, has confirmed she made the comment and has apologized, including in a letter she sent to the union on Friday and during Monday's meeting.

"I am absolutely sorry for what was said and how it was perceived and taken," she said, also calling her support for police "unwavering."

She said she uses the term "pig" to refer to meat, not as a derogatory term.

"The words have been said. I use that word when referring to certain meat products. It's one of those things," she said at Monday's commission meeting, as some in the audience groaned. "I hear you, I am telling you. I'm sorry. That's not the instance that that was used."

Clarke's apology failed to sit well with Commissioner Troy McDonald.

"At the same time you were apologizing, you started to try to back off and say, 'Well I was talking about pork products' or 'meat products,' which makes me question your sincerity at this point. That's troubling," McDonald said.

"I'm sincere," she responded.

Under city policy, Clarke's comment is employee harassment, City Attorney Mike Mortell said. That allows the commission to open an internal investigation.

The commission can remove Clarke as mayor, but cannot remove her from the commission.

Vice Mayor Tom Campenni and commissioners Kelli Glass Leighton, Jeffrey Krauskopf and McDonald have called for her resignation.

She could be removed from office by a recall election; it would require signatures from 10 percent of city voters. Gov. Rick Scott could remove her for malfeasance, or wrongdoing by a public official, but that's unlikely, Mortell said.

Clarke's comment comes at a time when predominantly-black East Stuart and the Police Department have been working together to improve safety in the neighborhood. Police increased patrols there in December 2015, after a town hall meeting over gun violence in the area.The effort is meant to create more trust and collaboration between East Stuart residents and police.

Clarke's comments could be a setback, said Jerry Gore, a pastor in East Stuart.

"We have been learning how to trust," he said of East Stuart residents. "We finally built up some hope and now we are going to throw it all away?" Clarke should be removed from the mayor's post but should be kept on the commission as she, too, has been important in improving the relationship between police and East Stuart residents, Gore said.

"We trust her. She's in our homes. She's in our churches," he said.

Fitzgerald was in uniform and on duty when Clarke made her comment in the grocery store. He is one of the officers assigned to East Stuart to patrol and build trust with the community, Nicoletti said.

He has "gotten the community to open up to him and talk to him," Nicoletti said.