South Bend Common Council member Henry Davis Jr., who is running for re-election as an Independent, demanded that his opponent in the 2nd District race end her campaign because of the money she owes the city of South Bend.
Davis hosted a press conference on Thursday, Oct. 29, saying that “there is no excuse” for “the South Bend political machine” to support Regina Williams-Preston because of the vacant and abandoned homes she owns, including those that were demolished, WNDU reported.
When asked what the “South Bend political machine” is, Davis didn’t respond, according to WNDU.
“If you look at the dollar amount that is owed and also the taxes that are owed, there is no excuse,” Davis said.
Williams-Preston has been open about the money that she owes — about $64,000 to South Bend and about $13,000 in back taxes — and has pointed to them as an example of why she should be elected.
- RELATED: South Bend Common Council candidate owes about $77,000 in fees, penalties and back taxes, Oct. 27, 2015
She and her husband purchased the homes in a tax sale and planned to remodel them, but her husband fell seriously ill three weeks after the tax sale and he was unable to work for more than two years.
“Things happen in this world, we get sick, people die, we lose our jobs. When stuff happens to working class people it’s not so easy to recover,” she said in a statement to the media. “We are accountable for this and are already in the process of making it right. But if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. I want to use my experience to help make our community better and ensure it doesn’t happen to anyone else. This is my story but it is the story of many people in the 2nd District and what do we do? We handle it. We work through it, we keep going.”
- RELATED: Complaint filed against Henry Davis Jr. accuses him of filing fraudulent campaign finance report, Oct. 21, 2015
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4.
