Portland officials have criticized a member of the city’s new Charter Commission for a tweet she posted calling City Manager Jon Jennings a white supremacist after winning her seat.
Newly elected at-large commissioner Nasreen Sheikh-Yousef tweeted on Wednesday that Jennings would soon be pushed out, the Portland Press Herald reported.
“Jon Jennings! You about to lose your job. We are going to make you the last white supremacist city manager. We are coming!” she wrote.
The charter commission will discuss the city manager position, however, Jennings plans to step down at the end of his contract next summer and won’t be affected by recommendations of the 12-member panel.
The commission will discuss potential alterations to the basic structure of city government for a full year before making recommendations to voters.
A key goal of some members is to shift power away from the appointed city manager to the elected mayor.
Jennings, Mayor Kate Snyder and City Councilor Spencer Thibodeau have called for Sheikh-Yousef to apologize or step aside from the commission.
“I am appalled by the hate filled tweet from a newly elected member to the Charter Commission,” Jennings wrote in a statement. “This person does not know me or what is in my heart. To call me a white supremacist because of the job I hold is a disgrace and an attempt to assassinate my character.”
Sheihk-Yousef said in an email Wednesday that she was not available to discuss the election because she was attending a funeral for a family member.