Elected officials in Racine are calling on embattled Mayor Gary Becker to resign, following charges of soliciting a minor . Racine Common Council President David Maack, currently the acting mayor, believes it would be in Becker's best interest to step down. “He has some very, very serious charges that he needs to contend with,” said Maack. “His time and his energy is going to be focused on that, and we as a city need to move forward.”
Alderman Greg Helding thinks the right thing for Becker to do at this time is to step down. “It's clear that he participated in some form of criminal behavior,” said Helding. “He signed the transcript in the (criminal) complaint. That's more than somebody alleging something. There's an admission of of guilt there.” Helding said it would be better for Becker to resign, rather than be removed from office by the Common Council. “Questions of removal become a little complicated, because do risk tainting the criminal process by having a quasi-judicial process of our own? Is this transcript enough evidence to do that, or do we have to consider other things?” Helding said council members have been consulting with the city attorney in those issues.
Alderman are split over whether Becker should resign now, or wait until the court process has played out. The Racine County Republican Party is calling on Becker to resign.
