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At a May 14 Allendale Town Council meeting, Allendale Mayor Larry Cohen was condemned by multiple council members and citizens for comments he made on May 9 regarding the “intellectual ability” of his town’s citizens.
“I’m apologizing to the citizens of this great town from this council,” said mayor pro-tem Pookie Smith. “How are we going to grow when we have leaders making comments [like these]?”
Cohen’s comments came from a May 9 interview on Allendale’s Big Dog Radio, in which he claimed that the remaining residents of the Town of Allendale have “an intellectual ability of average or below.”
“People may not like this, but you have to realize, the population in Allendale, the remaining citizens that are in Allendale has a mentality or an intellectual ability of average or below,” Cohen said to Big Dog Radio host Carl Gooding. A video recording of the mayor’s comments was uploaded to the “Concerned Citizens of Allendale County” Facebook page, creating community outrage.
In an interview, Cohen accused The People-Sentinel of bias and stood by the comments he made on the radio.
“There you go again with your spin,” Cohen said. “I know what I said, they were my thoughts. I said [that] people in Allendale that are here are either average or below average. The above average people has either left here or they decided they didn't want to participate in the chaos.”
The Town of Allendale has a council form of government, meaning that “the mayor has no additional statutory authority beyond that of other councilmembers,” according to the Municipal Association of South Carolina. In 2022, the Allendale Town Council removed Cohen’s gavel privileges and made Smith the presiding officer of council meetings; In August 2023, the council voted to keep Smith as presiding officer of the council until August 2024.
During the May 9 interview on WDOG, Cohen and Gooding were discussing the state of the town’s public works system.
“My focus is behind the scenes,” Cohen said. “I am working on our town’s infrastructure to get it sound so we can accommodate growth.”
Several citizens showed up to the May 14 meeting to speak to the council about Cohen’s comments.
“I’m not the only one that knows what’s being said on the radio,” said Allendale citizen Amanda Pressiegill. “Be mindful of what you say, because if you’re not mindful of what you say, we hear it. Don’t tear down the community in which the people voted you in.”
Below is the context of Cohen’s comments. The recording can be found on WDOG Radio’s website:
Larry Cohen: Mr. Gooding, I’m gonna tell you the straight up truth whether you hate me for this.
Carl Gooding: I don’t hate you, go ahead, let it all hang out.
Cohen: People may not like this, but you have to realize, the population in Allendale, the remaining citizens that are in Allendale has a mentality or an intellectual ability of average or below. Anyone with an average or above intelligence or intellectual ability has either left town or don’t want to say anything to get involved.
Gooding: In other words, anybody that’s left in Allendale is stupid.
Cohen: That’s what you said, I didn’t say that.
Gooding: You insinuate that. I’m one of the ones that are left here, so I take offense to that.
Cohen: I’m not calling anyone stupid, I’m saying that the pool that we are drawing from is not mentally prepared to take on the job of governing our town. They put me down, they question my credentials. I’m holding a master’s degree in engineering. I oughta know something about machines and industrial equipment, but no one wants to listen to me.
Elijah de Castro is a Report for America corps member who writes about rural communities like Allendale and Barnwell counties for The People-Sentinel. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep Elijah writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today.
