Irondequoit town supervisor responds to social media posts made years ago
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — The newly elected Irondequoit town supervisor is responding to what he’s calling “inappropriate” social media posts he made in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Town Supervisor Andrae Evans said he took to social media to express some political frustrations, including about the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. He said that as a veteran, he was angered over the violent attack and the police officers harmed. Evans served for 35 years.
In the politically charged tweets, Evans spoke about Republican leaders, like former President Donald Trump. He used a vulgar expression to describe Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a statement on Friday, Evans said: “I believe in the future of our community and will not let this define my leadership of our town. Instead, I will focus on the issues I raised throughout my campaign.”
Eriketa: You released a response, but some people are asking ‘are you going to take the tweets down?’ What is your response to people on social media calling out the tweets?
Evans: I regret the language I used; it was anger, frustration, watching my brother police officers being attacked and abused. That’s what that anger came from. I apologize for the language I used, it was inappropriate. What’s most important is that if I said something, I own it, and I owned it. I don’t run away from it, it’s a point of integrity, I’m not trying to hide it, I said it, and I do regret it and I do apologize for it and hopefully that doesn’t cloud my leadership, and past experience.
Evans is the first Black town supervisor in Monroe County. He follows Republican Rory Fitzpatrick, who served as supervisor from 2021 to 2023.
Eriketa: The past few election years show Irondequoit has a strong presence of both Republicans and Democrats. How do you plan on balancing those constituents? How do you win people on your side?
Evans: It’s not a balance because at local government, I think we get wrapped up with the term “Republican, Democrat.” The local government is really about pragmatism — who can best serve the community.
Evans said he has always been involved in the community, and has lived in Irondequoit for 30 years. He has helped out with local organizations like Keeping Our Promise, and has had interests in helping the homeless population and RCSD students with tutoring.
Evans said he believes he was elected supervisor for those reasons.
Eriketa: A lot of people may not know this stuff about you; do you plan on restarting your social media, or trying to reach people there, whether that be a Twitter presence?
Evans: Everything I do represents Irondequoit, so all my social media is through the town, except for a small amount that I have. I am not a big fan of social media. I think you can get a very distorted view, obviously, of the person. … I’m a passionate advocate for police. Watching my brothers and sisters being attacked in the Capitol that hasn’t been attacked since 1812, desecrating the very foundation of our government, elicited in me a response.
Evans said he wants to build a safe space for everyone to live, improve economic development and create a government accessible to everyone, no matter their background. He said political affiliation shouldn’t matter, and he views everyone in his town as a fellow neighbor.
Evans said he is inviting women to apply for board positions, to ensure half of each board — from conservation, to planning to zoning appeals board — are properly represented with female candidates and representatives.
“Right now, we’re really male heavy. Also, Black police officers, Hispanic officers, I want to make sure that we hire more police officers, and provide the resources for our police officers that they need,” he said.