Mesquite official fired for racial remarks
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Mesquite City Council has decided to terminate their city manager following racial remarks which were self-confessed to be inappropriate.
During a regular city council meeting, Mesquite residents voiced their support for a reprimand for City Manager Edward 'Owen' Dickie.
'We went from the safest city to the racist city,' one resident said to city council.
Dickie then made a speech in his defense.
'I am sorry, those words were not right,' Dickie said. 'And I do regret it.'
The crowd shouted for Dickie to resign to which Dickie responded, 'I am good with that, I would like to talk to the mayor about that.'
Another part of the crowd shouted for him to be fired. Councilwoman Patti Gallo made a motion for the immediate termination of Dickie and in the meantime have the deputy city manager step into the position as a temporary city manager.
The council voted in favor of terminating Dickie in a 4-1 vote, Councilwoman Karen Fielding was the sole vote in favor of Dickie—Mayor Jesse Whipple did not appear to vote initially. Once Whipple realized he did not vote, he voted in favor, changing the count to 5-1.
Dickie came under fire for racial comments he made during a previous conversation, one he had with Former Mesquite Police Chief Maquade Chesley.
Unbeknownst to Dickie, one of the conversations in question was recorded and leaked.
'This is a person I let go in January, so I can see why they are doing this,' Dickie told 8 News Now.
Dickie fired Chesley for insubordination following a city investigation regarding alleged threats and misconduct toward the city's police department.
During a private conversation with Chesley, Dickie stated that if he was ever let go, he would go down to Louisiana, back to the back parishes and find himself a 6'5' Black woman chief.
'I told them, 'I'd like to go down to Louisiana with the biggest Black Aunt Jemima and just flippin' whip you guys into shape,'' Dickie said.
Dickie also stated that they were probably going to 'hate the next chief more than him,' thus making them regret their decision to fire him.
'I made comments that I regret, but it was just between him and I at the time,' Dickie said. 'What I intended to say was, 'Maybe what I need to do is go down south and get a strong Black Woman and whip these guys into shape.''
He continued, 'It was a comment I shouldn't of made, and I talked to council about it and they will hand down a reprimand.'
Dickie told 8 News Now that he reported himself to HR once the recordings were sent to the Nevada Current.
'I can't believe I said, 'Aunt Jemima type,'' he said. 'I would never say that in public.
'The gist of what I was trying to say was that maybe the department needs some diversity,' he continued.
In regards to the accusations of using racial slurs like the N-word, Dickie denied it.Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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