Robert Sayler

    

Robert Joseph Sayler
Chief Alderman of Bernheim
In office May 1st, 1966 – November 10, 1968
Preceded by	John Wilson
Succeeded by	Lionel Reading
Personal details
Born	October 3, 1933 Liberty, Neches, Brazoria
Died	November 11, 1968(1968-11-11) (aged 35) Cormac Bar, Bernheim, San Joaquin, Sierra
Resting place	Sentinel National Cemetery, Santa Nella, Santa Clara, Sierra
Political party	Continentalist
Spouse(s)	Martha Sayler (m. 1955)
Children	Toussaint
Religion	African Methodist Episcopal Church

Robert Joseph Sayler, (October 3, 1933–November 11, 1968) was an African Sierran politician of Brazorian nationality who became the first African Sierran chief alderman of Bernheim, San Joaquin and the 42nd chief alderman of Bernheim. He was best known for his revolutionary politics and oratory skills, and was a visible activist for the African Sierran community until his death in a terrorist attack in 1968.

In the 1950s, Sayler joined the Continentalist Party and co-founded the Defense Guard, which protected party activities and events from anti-Continentalist and racist groups. He became a prominent anti-derzhavist activist. He also organized food drives, community outreach events, and other charitable activities for San Joaquin working-class families and youth. He was later elected as the first African Sierran chief alderman in Bernheim and the first Continentalist mayor in the country.

Early life

Sayler was born in Liberty, Brazoria in 1933 to Joseph and Amanda Sayler as the third of four children. His mother was a farmhand, while his father worked as an auto mechanic. The family moved to Bernheim in 1940 due to economic reasons, where Sayler spent the majority of his childhood in the African Sierran neighborhoods of the city. He graduated from high school in 1951 and worked as a construction worker, where he first came into contact with organizers of the Continentalist Party of Sierra, which he joined in early 1952.

Political career

Sayler joined the Continentalist Party of Sierra in early 1952. According to himself, he joined after a strike at several construction sites and a rising opposition among lower class Blacks in Sierra, who felt left out from the changes and advances of the cultural revolution, which led him to question the monarchist order of Sierra. Sayler continued his activism especially in the predominantly black neighborhoods of Bernheim, while quickly becoming a prominent member of the Continentalist Party. In 1959 he was engaged in forming "Defense Guard" groups to secure rallies by the party against groups such as the Ku-Klux-Klan or the Purpleshirts, as well as opposing the police during protests. However, with the outbreak of the Second Great War and upcoming elections, Sayler shifted his focus on an anti-Derzhavist platform, supporting the Landonist Internationale in particular in its struggle against the Axis powers while denouncing many conservative opponents as secret Derzhavist sympathizers. Furthermore, Sayler organized campaigns to provide meals for impoverished families and promised to improve the security of the city after years of rising crime. This proved to be effective, especially with the working class, African Sierran and Latino communities of the city against his Democratic-Republican opponent Lionel Reading who ran on an anti-war platform and mostly appealed to the white upper-middle class. Sayler was elected with a majority of 51.3% of the vote to be the first Continentalist chief alderman of the city.

Chief Alderman of Bernheim

Main article: 1966 Bernheim mayoral election

Despite vehement opposition from white republicans, Sayler enjoyed a high popularity among union organized blue collar workers, Great War II veterans and young voters, university students in particular. With rising tensions between monarchists and republicans in Bernheim, especially in the monarchist enclave of South Bernheim. Increasing violence between those two groups was a challenge for the city administration. To ease the tensions, police checkpoints between monarchist and republican quarters were set up, along with the so called Bernheim Separation Fences. These fences were around 3 Meters tall and were supposed to reduce interaction and thereby escalation. The royalist vigilante groups were tolerated, as several royalist citizens have been attacked by radical republicans. One of his more controversial policies was the capping of rents for apartments in the city and gave subsidies for citizens who attempted to build houses. This was harshly criticized by the liberal Republicans, Libertarians as well as the Royalists who feared attempts for a "crimson land reform" but found support from the Catholic minority and non-eurasian ethnicities. His breakfast program for schoolchildren became an important part of his party's activism throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Many of his contemporary critics pointed out the lack of support for local businesses and the concerns of the white middle class.

Death

Sayler attended a birthday celebrations of an secretary on Saturday 9th of November 1968 in the prominent Cormac Bar in the city center of Bernheim. The establishment was a prominent gathering point for Sierran Royalists and conservatives, at the time owned by Steven Cormac, a monarchist himself. Around 0:30 AM several gunmen of the radical republican terrorist group Sierran Liberation Army entered the establishment and started to shoot into the crowd, killing 37. Among the dead was Sayler, who was killed by one bullet through his shoulder and two into his chest. When the paramedics and the police arrived at the scene, Sayler was heavily injured. He was in a coma for about 24 hours until he died from the injuries in the morning of November 11th.

Personal life

Robert Sayler married his wife Martha Sayler (née: Sheffield) in 1955, his son, the Sierran civil-rights activist Toussaint Sayler was born in 1957. Sayler was a known supporter of the Sierran basketball team Bernheim Kings, known to regularly attend their home field games. A basketball signed by the 1965 team from his private possession was donated to the Sierran National Museum of Sports in 2004 and is currently on display in the Bernheim Arena.

See also

• Chief Alderman of Bernheim
• Terrorism in Sierra
• Continentalist Party of Sierra