‘Somebody else’s words’: Mansfield school board candidate admits public comments weren’t his

Abby Church
Updated ·2 min read
14

Before Mansfield school board candidate Quintin Huckaby made a public comment at a March 7 joint meeting between the city council and school board, he approached the lectern and laid down a sheet of paper.

As Huckaby read his comment about the book challenge policy and a book that should be banned, he stumbled over his words, at times pausing and sounding unsure about what he was saying. He called the policy a “joke” that “left the door wide open” to let any books stay in the library.

Huckaby admitted at a candidate forum Tuesday evening at Bethlehem Baptist Church that the comments written on that sheet weren’t actually his — they were written by a sitting school board member for him to read at the meeting.

“That speech that I was giving was not the words of myself,” Huckaby said Tuesday. “So if I froze on that speech, it was not my words in particular. It was somebody else’s words.”

The admission came after the event moderator asked Huckaby about the comments.

Huckaby, a real estate agent, said he believed some books needed to be banned in schools, but if they were in public libraries that was fine. Huckaby said the district had books in circulation that shouldn’t be accessible by students. He said the content should be taught by teachers so it is taught correctly.

The moderator said there was word going around that the comments Huckaby made weren’t his. Huckaby confirmed this was true.

“They were words from another person that I was, let’s see, I was trying to help get a point across,” Huckaby said. “The person wrote a speech for me and I just read the speech and after I read the speech and I didn’t feel like the words should’ve been my words, I felt like I was being duped.”

Huckaby said the words he said were written by someone who was a sitting member of the school board and wanted to “portray it to everybody.” He said in his words, he believes some books should be banned. He did not say which school board member gave him the comments.

Huckaby could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday morning.

Early voting for municipal elections begins April 24. Election Day is April 6.