Dirty, Deuce Komradz, Rubberband OG, JR Boss, D’Aye, Hefe, Super Nard, Self Made, Rle Ant, and Skagletti have joined Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed for a “Rock the Boat Vote” rally ahead of today’s municipal election.
Reed is running for re-election as mayor for the second time.
While the concert is officially labelled as a “Turn Up the Vote” event, Reed supporters are using the recent riverfront violence to rally support.
Reed stated that the brawl was implicitly racial.
“My perspective as a Black man in Montgomery differs from my perspective as mayor,” Reed said. “From what we’ve seen from the history of our city, a place tied to both the pain and the progress of this nation, it seems to meet the moral definition of a crime fueled by hate, and this kind of violence cannot go unchecked.”
Monday night, Reed addressed the neighbourhood throng from a makeshift stage:
“It’s about to go down,” Reed said. “It’s about to go down on tomorrow.”
He mentioned the “urgency” of re-election and “not allowing folks to take us back.”
He’s referring to his biggest opponent in the election, businessman and philanthropist Barrett Gilbreath, who has made his run about the challenges he sees as a chronic threat to Montgomery.
“When Montgomery is thrust into national headlines by an armed eight-year-old who leads police officers on a high-speed chase in a stolen car, it offers solid evidence the city we call home is headed in the wrong direction,” Gilbreath said.
“Crime does not care if its victims are black or white or rich or poor. It does not care which neighborhood you live in, where you worship, or where you were born. It does not care that it hurts your property values and prevents jobs and businesses from locating here.”
Gilbreath also slammed Reed’s leadership for what he terms a “trash crisis” accumulating in municipal communities. He recently urged voters to support “real change.”
The polls in Montgomery are open today from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Read More:
- Two people killed near Montgomery, car leaves interstate
- Alleged shooting at a vehicle carrying 5 individuals involving a 19-year-old from Montgomery
