Homophobic campaign gets Brockton Mayor Harrington's top aide a slap on the wrist...

[Ian David]

Homophobic campaign gets Brockton Mayor Harrinton's top aide a slap on the wrist... I guess that in Harrington's view, face slapping is reserved for firemen.



Kiss ignites campaign tiff
By Maria Papadopoulos, Enterprise staff writer

BROCKTON — It wasn't the photograph of mayoral candidate Jass Stewart kissing his partner, Denzil, on their wedding day that bothered Tony Rodrigues. It was the way in which he received it.

Rodrigues said he received the item from a top aide of Mayor James E. Harrington, who, Rodrigues said, made a disparaging comment about Stewart when he gave it to him.

Rodrigues claims the mayor's director of community services, Moises Rodrigues, no relation, passed him the photograph when the two met over city business.

“He handed me a picture. He just said, 'So this is the guy you're voting for? This is the guy who you want to run the city of Brockton?'” said Tony Rodrigues, 29, of Brockton.

“I told him, 'It's not about anybody being gay or straight, black or white,'” Tony Rodrigues said. “To have somebody bash a candidate on their sexuality, that doesn't have anything to do with running the city.”

More:
http://enterprise.southofboston.com/articles/2007/09/26/news/news/news10.txt