New Irmo mayor’s first speech was meant to inspire. Were they his own words?

Barry Walker Sr. delivered his first address as Irmo mayor last week: a speech with several passages that mimic almost word-for-word the prior inaugural addresses of at least four other mayors, an analysis by The State found.

Shortly after being sworn into office on Dec. 3, while standing in front of new council members Erik Sickinger and Kelly Busch, presiding judge Rebecca Adams and Lexington-Richland 5 school board members, Walker delivered a 22-minute address with sections that matched other mayoral speeches from as far back as 2011.

While Walker said he received oral permission from one of the mayors, Denver’s Michael Hancock, he said he had not received written consent to use Hancock’s words as of Dec. 10 — a week after Walker delivered his speech.

A spokesperson for Hancock confirmed that the mayor spoke with Walker. When asked if Hancock gave Walker permission to use his 2019 inaugural address, the spokesperson said she could “only confirm a conversation took place.”

In his address, Walker spoke of the history of Irmo, how it began over 100 years ago, with German and Swiss immigrants who moved to the area.

“They didn’t know it, but they came to make a town, and a town was born,” Walker said. “From those early beginnings, a town grew, a town that aspired to one day build its own railroad station so that progress would not pass it by, a town that was resilient through every boom, every bust, every generational shift, through every change in our national consciousness.”

Irmo did not construct its own railroad or station. The town grew as a result of its position along the Columbia, Newberry and Laurens Railroad, according to a town history on Irmo’s website.

Hancock’s speech included the following paragraph:

“160 years ago, the first westward-bound settlers came to the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek. They didn’t know they came to make a city – but a city was born. From those early beginnings, a city grew. A city that aspired to one day serve as Colorado’s capital. A city that built its own railroad so that progress would not pass it by. A city that welcomed new immigrants and new communities and new ideas. A city that has been resilient through every boom and every bust, through every generational shift and through every change in our national consciousness.”

Hancock’s speech was written by members of the Denver mayor’s team with “heavy input from the mayor on the language,” according to spokesperson Michael Strott.

“I used his speech as a framework for mine, but the message was tailored for Irmo,” said Walker.

Walker denied copying other mayors’ speeches or even reading them in the course of his research. He later asked a reporter for The State if plagiarism is “a crime” and asked if he would be admonished for reading Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech aloud without crediting King.

Walker insisted he wrote the entire speech himself, with some help from a constituent who Walker said assisted him in finding appropriate phrasing for his address.

“I’m sure you can find every word that I spoke, somebody has said it before. I don’t have a clue about those other people,” Walker said. “I can assure you that I didn’t Google everybody’s speech around the country and say, I’ll take this, I’ll take this, I’ll take this.”

An analysis by The State found that beginning portions of Walker’s speech were nearly identical to parts of a 2011 address by Holly Brinda, mayor of Elyria, Ohio. Walker’s thank-yous to his family are similar to Brinda’s address, in which she thanked her parents; her spouse, who “sustained” her, and praised the “kind and caring people and contributing citizens” her children are.

During his speech, Walker stood at the front of Irmo Town Hall and delivered a piece of Brinda’s 2011 message nearly word-for-word.

“As I look around the room, I’m reminded about what makes our town great, and it’s clearly you, the people. For you are truly a kaleidoscope of white, black, brown, young, old, middle-aged, white-collar, blue-collar, liberal, conservatives, rich, poor and everything in between. Our diversity is our greatest strength.”

Brinda’s speech included the following section:

“As I look around, I’m reminded about what makes our city great — and it’s clearly our people. We are truly a kaleidoscope of white, black, brown, old, young, middle aged, white collar, blue collar, liberals, conservatives, rich, poor and everything in between. Our diversity is our greatest strength.”

Brinda’s speech is available online, as are the addresses of the other three mayors whose speeches appear to be transplanted into Walker’s. Brinda told The State via email that she writes all of her own speeches, and that the Irmo mayor “needs to be genuine” if he wants to earn constituents’ trust.

In the next part of the speech, Walker’s words matched a 2015 address by Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser. Like Bowser, Walker described himself as “not a ‘pie in the sky’ politician,” to talk about how he is “not afraid of a challenge” and how he won’t run from debates.

“I actually kind of enjoy them,” Walker said, echoing the first woman mayor of D.C.

Walker did not participate in any debates during his campaign for mayor against incumbent Hardy King.

Bowser’s speech included the following segment:

“And you’ve probably learned recently that I’m not scared of a challenge, I won’t run from a debate— actually I kind of enjoyed them.”

Even an anecdote from Walker’s speech was the same as one Bowser used, although the main character in Walker’s speech was his wife, Susan Walker.

“But I bet you didn’t know that the single biggest surprise and the delight of this campaign was a reaction I got from our First Lady, for sure, who cheered me on, who inspired me to keep on pushing, to live up to my hopes and dreams after this was the third time I was running for this job,” Walker said.

He spoke of how his wife took his iPad away in the final days of the campaign to keep Walker from responding to “mean-spirited attacks” online.

In Bowser’s speech, she was referring to different supporters:

“I bet you don’t know this, though: one of the single biggest surprises and delights of this campaign was the reaction I got from little girls—the 8 year olds, for sure—they watched me, they cheered me on and they inspired me to keep pushing, to live up to their hopes and dreams.”

The State reached out to Bowser’s staff for comment. Walker said he stands by his stated appreciation for his wife, and the encouraging message he wanted to send to Irmo residents.

During his speech, Walker talked about how he was accountable to his constituents and how he “was elected to lead an ethical government for hardworking employees and serve with integrity,” again using Bowser’s words. “... I have grand expectations, and I expect you will too.”

It echoed an excerpt of Bowser’s speech:

“I was elected to lead an ethical government of more 30,000 hard-working District government employees and to serve with integrity the 660,000 residents of our city. I will have grand expectations…and I expect you will too.”

Parts of Walker’s address appear to be original, including talking points and slogans pulled from his campaign website. He outlined how he wanted to find out why utility rates were so high in town, and how the Irmo Police Department can retain officers and better connect with the community.

“I want to get the officers out of their cars and on bike and foot patrols in the community, [and] allow the officers to meet citizens and develop personal relationships,” he said.

Walker also said he will establish committees to work on beautification, roads, water and sewer, streams and flooding, and community events. And then he made a final declaration, a twin of the proclamation Boston Mayor Marty Walsh made at the end of his 2018 address.

“Today, we take another step forward together, mindful of our history as a town of purpose and progress, optimistic about our future and determined to fulfill a vision that grows with each generation,” he said. “Today, we are a town upon a hill, with the eyes of all people upon us. We are a town built by all the people of the world, as they turn hunger into hope, crisis into recovery and conflicts into communities. Together, we will build a town of neighborhoods that care, a town of second chances, a town of learning and healing, a town of courage and creativity, a town of heart and hope.”

Walsh, in his address, spoke of the urgent need for Boston to address the opioid crisis and homelessness, among other issues. This is the corresponding section from his speech:

“Today we take another step forward together: mindful of our history as a city of purpose and progress; optimistic about our future; and determined to fulfill a vision that grows with each generation. We are more than ‘a city upon a hill, with the eyes of all people upon us.’ We are a city built by all the peoples of the world, as they turn hunger into hope, crisis into recovery, and conflict into community.

“Together we have built a city of neighborhoods that care, a city of second chances, a city of learning and healing, a city of courage and creativity, a city of heart and hope.”

The State reached out to Walsh’s office for comment.

While Walker insisted he did not plagiarize — calling similarities “coincidences” — he said he was unfamiliar with the common practice of properly attributing when writing and delivering speeches.

“I didn’t know that. I’ve been mayor for seven days. I didn’t know that,” he said. “I apologize to anybody who I need to apologize to.”

Irmo mayor pro-tem Kathy Condom and new council members Erik Sickinger and Kelly Busch said they were not concerned about the speech. The address was not a reflection of Walker’s integrity or ability to lead, Sickinger and Busch said.

“I think we ought to give him the mulligan on this,” Condom said. “Let’s let him try to be mayor. It’s going to be hard enough anyway, and I think he’s off to a good start. I’m sorry this happened but we’re doing a lot of good things.”

All three council members told The State the inaugural address was minor when compared to all the town council has undertaken during its first week in office. Plus, copying happens a lot in politics, Sickinger said.

“There is a storied history of politicians borrowing from other politicians’ work without attribution,” he said.

Read the full text of Walker’s speech

This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 5:00 AM.