Mich. Clerk Recorded Using Slur Won't Step Down

BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP (WWJ/AP) - A Michigan township clerk who was recorded using a racial slur to describe a black official says she's staying on the job despite renewed calls for her resignation.

The Saginaw News reports that Buena Vista Township clerk Gloria Platko said Monday night that the Saginaw-area community needs "to heal."

During Monday's township board meeting, Saginaw City Councilman Norman Braddock spoke during a public comment session, asking for Platko's resignation on behalf of the Bridge Center for Racial Harmony.

Braddock serves as the president and co-chair of the nonprofit organization.

In an April 22 meeting, the township's interim manager Dexter Mitchell played an audio recording of a January phone conversation between himself and Platko, which included Platko using the slur when talking about township Supervisor Dwayne Parker.

A resolution passed in May by the board seeking Platko's resignation was largely symbolic, since the board, can't fire an elected official.

Following another meeting on May 30, Platko said she believed the recording was made in an attempt to  humiliate her.

"I'm here," she said. "That's what the citizens put me here for. I'm not resigning and I'm not backing down."

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