Tossing hat into ring for Hough’s Ward 7 seat
The well-known journalist and community
activist, Mansfield Frazier, has announced his intent to run for Cleveland City
Council in Ward 7. His presence will further enliven a race that already
includes the incumbent, T. J. Dow, several other newcomers, including Daniel
Graves and Demar L. Sheffey, and Basheer Jones, who ran against Dow in 2013.
Frazier currently serves as the
executive director of Neighborhood Solutions, Inc., a non-profit organization
that has developed an award-winning vineyard and BioCellar in the heart of the
Hough neighborhood that anchors the ward. He also is a columnist for
CoolCleveland.com and hosts a weekly show, The Forum, Sunday evenings on WTAM 1100 talk radio.
[Disclosure: I hired Frazier as a
reporter in 1998 when I was editor of The
Cleveland Monitor, at that time a weekly newspaper focused largely
circulated on the county’s eastside. I have also been a guest on his radio show.]
In a press release announcing his
plan to pull petitions at the Board of Elections tomorrow, Frazier, who has
been perhaps Dow’s most vocal critic for the past few years, cited safety
concerns, deterioration of city services, and lack of development among issues
confronting the ward, saying, “the situation has become intolerable”. He also
blasted Dow for his alleged failure to return phone calls in a timely manner,
from both constituents and businessmen interested in investing in the
community.
Frazier told The Real Deal Press that he will take leave from his radio show he
in a month or so, after his petitions have been filed and verified, and his
candidacy becomes “official”. He said he would return to the show “after I
win”.
The nonpartisan primary election is
September 12. The top two finishers will advance to the general election in
November.
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