Ariel Lynn Guidry
November 11, 2008
Southern Smith
November 13, 2008
The challenger for the Terrebonne Parish NAACP branch presidency reached an agreement last week with the NAACP national and local offices and had his lawsuit against both parties dismissed.
According to the terms of the agreement, Houma-Terrebonne Housing Authority Manager Troy Johnson, who is challenging Jerome Boykin for president of the local branch, will get to review the chapter’s membership list. Also, 16 of Johnson’s supporters, who Boykin declared ineligible to vote at the Oct. 23 branch meeting, will have their memberships and voting privileges reinstated.
The election has been rescheduled for Monday, Dec. 15.
“It’s a victory for truth and justice,” Johnson said. “It goes to show that at that last meeting, Jerome was so out of hand and unprofessional that the national office and the state office told him you can’t do what you did that night.”
Boykin said he has not been instructed to do anything by the national NAACP office, but will comply with whatever they tell him.
“I don’t expect to hear anything from the national office until later this week,” Boykin said. “So, as far as I’m concerned nothing has changed.”
Unlike the election scheduled for Nov. 1, which was going to be conducted by state election staff, NAACP national staff will conduct the Dec. 15 election.
Another change to the process is that NAACP national staff will conduct the Dec. 15 election, according to the agreement. State election officials were going to run the election originally scheduled for Nov. 1.
Johnson and Tyra Brown, one of the 16 people Boykin declared ineligible to vote, filed a lawsuit against the NAACP Oct. 30. A local judge issued an injunction the next day.
Johnson claimed Boykin ‘s moves barring him from seeing the membership list and dismissing potential voters were against the civil rights organization’s bylaws.
“Sixteen members are a lot of votes in a small election,” Johnson said. “When you have an election with only 350 or 500 voters, 16 people make a big difference.”
With access to the list, Johnson believes he can make a more personal connection with local NAACP members when he asks for their vote.
“Viewing the list gives me an opportunity to go out and talk to members,” Johnson said. “I can look them in the eye, shake their hand, and say, ‘I would like your support.’ Sending a mailout is good, but calling someone on the phone, that means a lot.”
While he cannot get a copy or record the membership list, Johnson said he would begin looking at it this week. However, he and Boykin’s counsel, Louisiana NAACP Conference President Ernest L. Johnson, disagree on whether any of Johnson’s supporters could also view the list.
Troy Johnson claims he and five of his supporters can see the list. Ernest Johnson says that is not true.
“He (Troy) as an individual candidate running for branch president can review the membership list. Nobody else can review it,” Ernest Johnson said. “If that’s what he said, he knows more about the rules than I do.”
Troy Johnson said the settlement is also a vindication for another of his supporters, Richard Thompson.
At the Oct. 23 meeting, Boykin claimed the reason the 16 people were not allowed to vote was because Thompson wrote a bad check to pay their membership dues.
Thompson vehemently denied the charge, and said Boykin never tried to deposit his check in the bank.
“He (Thompson) has a tough time dealing with what happened,” Johnson said. “He’s just been burned out by what Jerome tried to do to him.”
Boykin sticks by his defense and also his prediction of winning the election.
“I still have the check. If the national office wants to give him (Thompson) the opportunity to make the check good, then those people will be allowed to vote,” Boykin said. “I don’t think will matter. I still think the membership will vote three-to-one, four-to-one in my favor.”
Despite the charges and countercharges leveled during this race, Johnson said he would put it all behind him after the election.
“I hope to win this election, but even if I don’t, I’m going to call Mr. Boykin to congratulate him and hope the best for him,” Johnson said. “There’s not going to be animosity. Even though he said some things about beating me three-to-one, I’m not going to fight fire with fire.”
Johnson apologized for having to delay the election by six weeks, but not for fighting for what he believed in.
“I just had to stand my ground and say, ‘You can’t get away with this,'” he said.
Challenger Troy Johnson and Terrebonne’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People President Jerome Boykin speak at a recent meeting. * Photo by HOWARD J. CASTAY JR.
