Upland councilman apologizes for inauguration remarks

An Upland city councilman apologized Friday for making racially insensitive remarks, ending an effort by the mayor and other officials to force his resignation next week.

Councilman Ray Musser, 73, said he was sorry for statements he made at Monday’s council meeting when describing his experience at the inauguration of President Obama.

“There was [sic] a lot of nonwhites in the crowd, well-behaved, and that was so gratifying,” he said at the meeting.

The remark caused an outcry, exacerbated when a local newspaper quoted Musser as referring to “colored” people. The council then scheduled the special meeting to demand his resignation.

Musser, who denied any racist intent, at first said Mayor John Pomierski, whom he twice ran unsuccessfully against, had targeted him for political reasons. But after meeting with the mayor Friday, he softened his tone.

“I want to reiterate my sincere apology to anyone who was offended by my choice of words describing the mass of Americans and world leaders” at the inauguration, Musser said in a statement. “My heart was touched by the inauguration, and I was proud to witness history.”

Pomierski said he decided to call off the special session before events spiraled out of control.

“I could see this situation was tearing our community apart,” he said. “I wanted to stop it before it went too far. I thought his apology hit the mark.”

He said Musser, who has been on the council 10 years, was not a racist but a man from a different era.

“When he made the comments at the end of the meeting, we were all shocked -- and the next day the calls came in and I thought, ‘I’ve got to do something; this isn’t right,’ ” the mayor said. “Ray was deliberate, honest and excited, but in all of the adjectives he got mixed up and said the wrong thing.”

Musser said Friday he was “ecstatic” at the inauguration.

“I was thrilled. There was this unbelievable mass of people from the Capitol all the way to the Washington Monument, and there wasn’t a single arrest,” he said. “I wasn’t singling out any one group for being well-behaved. If I had to say it again, I would leave out the color.”

Pomierski said that there might still be hurt feelings among residents but that he hoped they would lay the incident to rest.

“Now is the time to move on,” he said.

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david.kelly@latimes.com