Michigan Regional Council Of Carpenters And Millwrights Call For Mayor Jim Fouts' Resignation

MACOMB COUNTY, MI — The Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights (MRCC), which represents hundreds of skilled trades workers in Warren, is calling for Warren Mayor Jim Fouts to resign amid the release of offensive audio recordings attributed to him, according to a press release.

“The Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights is an organization dedicated to the principles of respect and fairness,” Mike Jackson, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of MRCC, said in a statement. Jackson elaborated, “Our union hall has been in Warren for more than a decade and we have hundreds of members in the area. We would not tolerate this kind of behavior in our organization and we will not tolerate it by our elected officials...We are disgusted by the recordings of Mayor Fouts and our members will be there on Tuesday to echo this for the city council."

The audiotapes in question were released to Motorcitymuckracker.com site earlier this month and have not been independently verified. In the recordings, a voice that critics purport "sounds" like Fouts is heard making a series of racially offensive remarks, including "Blacks do look like chimpanzees ..." The voice also is heard criticizing older women, saying "after a certain age they're all dried up, washed up ..." The voice has not been confirmed as Fouts'. Additionally, the person who released the tapes and accused Fouts of making the comments has not identified himself or herself. An earlier batch of controversial recordings attributed to Fouts, which also have yet to be confirmed, were released by Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel in Dec. 2016.

Fouts has maintained that the tapes are manufactured and engineered to sound like his voice. He also insists he will not step down as Mayor, despite revealing he has received death threats.

Photo via Mayor Jim Fouts' Facebook page