Black community activists host Jan. 5
debate in wide-open race for County Prosecutor
Six candidates expected to
participate in most even race in sixty years
Voters in Cuyahoga County are about to have a once in a lifetime
opportunity to participate in the open selection of Cuyahoga County prosecutor.
Ever since the legendary — many would say infamous — John T. Corrigan
began the thirty-five year run that ended in 1991 and made him perhaps as
feared locally for the exercise of discretionary powers as FBI director J.
Edgar Hoover was nationally, and for many of the same reasons, voters have been
faced with insiders and incumbents.
This year, five men and one woman, mostly all well-qualified on
paper, are vying in the Democratic Party primary for a place on the November
ballot. It’s a safe bet the March 6 primary winner will be the next county
prosecutor as no Republican filed to run before the deadline.
The Democratic candidates are former Cleveland law director Subodh
Chandra, who has been a federal prosecutor; police officer Stephanie Hall, who
was an assistant county prosecutor before resigning to run; Cleveland city
councilman Kevin Kelley; former North Royalton city prosecutor James J.
McDonnell; former Common Pleas judge Timothy McGinty; and former judge and
Cleveland law director Robert Triozzi.
All seek to succeed the incumbent prosecutor, Bill Mason, who used
his political muscle to win the critical endorsement of the Democratic
Executive Committee in the fight to succeed Stephanie Tubbs Jones after she
resigned to run for Congress in 1998. Once installed as the incumbent, Mason
never faced any opposition with the potential to oust him.
Three candidates — Chandra, Hall, and Triozzi — had confirmed
their participation by the time the sponsoring coalition, headed by The
Imperial Women and The Audacity of H.O.P.E. Foundation, issued its press
release on Tuesday. The Real Deal contacted the other three candidates —
Kelley, McDonnell and McGinty — yesterday, with each confirming their
expectation to participate, although a couple had reservations due either to
scheduling conflicts or concerns about one of the sponsors.
The debate program will start at 5:30pm on Thursday, January 5,
2012. It will be held at the Lil’ Africa Party Center, 6816 Superior Ave.,
symbolically located in the heart of the inner city.
Cleveland Ward 7 councilman T. J. Dow, a former assistant county
prosecutor, will moderate the debate. A community panel including Ward 8
councilman Jeff Johnson, attorney Michael Nelson Sr., Cleveland Jobs With
Justice executive director Debbie Kline, and Art McKoy, will pose questions to
the candidates. One intriguing aspect of the debate is that two of the
panelists — are formerly incarcerated persons.
The public will be invited to ask questions during a 30-minute
period following an hour of questions from the panel.
Sponsoring organizations include Occupy Cleveland, Occupy the Hood, The
Cleveland chapter of the New Black Panther Party, Peace in the Hood, and
Cleveland Urban News.
Contacts
for the event are: Executive Director Frances Caldwell
[Cleveland African-American Museum, 216-421-0929];
Kathy Wray Coleman [Imperial Women
Coalition Leader, 216-932-3114];
and Griot Y-Von [Audacity of H.O.P.E. Foundation, 216-355-3374].
