Election Day Watch
We talked in our earlier post today about
the power of voters to initiate transformative change in various local and
statewide elections in this misnamed "off-year".
In this post we list several races in Cleveland
and its suburbs that we will be watching as Election Day unfolds. But first we
touch on some ballot issues, foremost of which is Issue 61, the bond issue for
Cuyahoga Community College.
Yes on Issue 61
Tri-C is approaching its 55th birthday, which
means there are few active adults in these parts who can clearly remember when
we had no community college around. Confession: I’m one of them. I remember
when the College started, seemingly not much more than a glorified high school
in a ramshackle collection of old buildings. Its growth since that inauspicious
beginning, guided by strong lay and professional leadership, has been more than
remarkable. Tri-C has become an indispensible member of our area’s institutions
of higher learning, an economic driver, a business innovator, and so much more.
The growth of its physical plant has carried its flag all over the county to
such an extent that I was astounded to hear in a presentation on Issue 61 that
this was the College’s first-ever capital bond issue. It would be difficult to
think of a more worthy YES vote than
Issue 61.
Yes on Issue 2
Like most
of you, I have been perplexed by the cacophony of nonstop messaging pounding us
relentlessly on Issue 2, the proposed statewide ballot measure
to tie the cost of prescription drugs. I tried with great difficulty to tune
out the incessant commercial messages and to seek out the facts. News articles
were inconclusive; experts were all over the map.
To my surprise, I was
persuaded by an excellent television news report on WKYC-TV3 last week. The
report debunked one of my main concerns — allegations about the State having to
pay for private attorneys to fight challenges to the Amendment, which proposes
to lower costs of prescription drugs. And the report further informed me that
the measure’s chief supporter nationwide uses his company’s revenues to provide
low cost medications to third world countries, many of which are in Africa.
Amidst all the
conflicting claims, that was good enough for me.
Notable area electoral contests
• Will Beachwood residents finally vote out
its incredibly greedy mayor? Will Gail
McShepard become the first African American to win a seat on city council,
thereby becoming only the second African American ever to hold elective office
in Beachwood? [David Whitaker, both a practicing attorney and a licensed
psychologist, was elected to the Beachwood Board of Education in the 1990s.]
• Will Lora Thompson become Lyndhurst’s first-ever African American
council member?
• Garfield Heights features two council
races that may impact that first ring suburb’s tortuous adjustment to new
demographic realities. There may be an old guard somewhere farsighted enough to
embrace change, but it’s not in Garfield.
• We’ll
be watching the election returns for Cleveland
City Council closely to see the outcome of several hotly contested council
seats. The collective outcome of several races could result in drastic change
at Cleveland City Hall no matter who wins the mayor’s office. Those races
include: Ward 1, where former
councilman Joe Jones is expected to
oust incumbent Terrell Pruitt; Ward 2, where a newcomer will replace
the departing Zack Reed; Ward 4,
where all sensible human beings will support a ticker tape parade when double
dipping Ken Johnson’s ponytail
finally departs council chambers. We will also be watching Ward 5, where Phyllis
Cleveland tries to hold off the up and coming Richard Starr; this is the Frank Jackson’s ward, so she and the
mayor may rise and fall together.
Then
there is Ward 6, where city hall
insider and Jackson loyalist Blaine
Griffin, appointed to the seat earlier this year, will likely hold off
articulate newcomer Josh Perkins McHamm.
Ward 6 is of pivotal importance for its location and diversity. It includes the
Fairfax, Buckeye, and Little Italy neighborhoods, and is home to University
Circle, and corporate behemoth Cleveland Clinic.
Ward 7 is also of strategic
importance for its location in and adjacent to University Circle. Incumbent T.
J. Dow is clearly no establishment favorite, owing at least in part to his
emphatic embrace of his Hough area residents. Corporate funds appear to have
flowed to challenger Basheer Jones, but his embarrassing pre-primary defense of
his status as a legal resident of Hough before the Board of Elections seriously
dampened any enthusiasm this corner might have had for his promise as a public
official.
Finally,
there is Ward 14, where Jasmin Santana is hoping to duplicate
her primary victory over incumbent Brian
Cummins, and bring a new and much needed Hispanic perspective to the
council floor.
• Perhaps
the most intriguing suburban race is the mayor’s contest in impoverished East Cleveland, where Devin Branch, running as an independent
with the support of the Green Party, has an excellent chance to defeat
incumbent Brandon King. Branch led
the successful recall movement that ousted former mayor East Cleveland, leading
to King’s elevation to mayor from city council. In some byzantine dealings,
King was subsequently appointed to council but barred from serving due to some
alleged charter chicanery.
What
interests us most about Branch is his unalloyed love for his town and his
vision of how to make it a better place. He is an eloquent apostle for East
Cleveland and an unabashed lover of black people. East Cleveland’s political
culture is as toxic as the notorious Noble Road dump that the EPA is spending
$6 million to dismantle. If anyone can restore a semblance of sanity and fresh
air to East Cleveland City Hall, it is likely to be an indefatigable believer
like Branch.
There are
also numerous judicial races in and around Cleveland. These seats often
directly impact the quality of life and the life chances of many area
residents. Voters should make sure they go all the way to the end of the
ballot, armed with info gleaned from friends, neighbors, and sites such as
www.judge4yourself.com.
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