Voting In-Person on November 8th
- Find your polling location here.
- Polls are open from 6:30 am – 7:30 pm.
- You will need identification: driver’s license, utility bill, paycheck, bank statement, or some government document with your name and address on it.
• • •
In two days those of
us who did not vote early but still intend to make our views count, will go the
polls where, hopefully having educated ourselves on our respective local and
statewide issues, we will carry out one of our solemn duties as citizens by
casting well-reasoned votes for the “best” candidates and the “right” side of
the issues.
Too many of us don’t
vote. Reasons vary, but include mostly negative emotions like disillusionment,
cynicism, hopelessness, disgust. Nonvoters ought to be fined for the disservice
they do their communities, principally by giving direct license to public
officials to be less accountable. But hey, that doesn’t apply to Real
Deal readers, because if you visit this small corner of the web
regularly, then you clearly have a keen interest in public affairs.
• • •
I’m going to be setting
forth some nontraditional endorsements in this space today for selected
contests in a number of communities — Euclid, Richmond Heights, Cleveland, East
Cleveland, Warrensville Heights, Bedford Heights, and Oakwood Village. I’m also
going to spend a paragraph or so on each of the three statewide issues, each of
which should be rejected by voters.
I will not be
endorsing any Cleveland Heights city council candidates because I know
virtually all of them personally, count several as friends, and am an officer
of a partisan group that has voted to support certain of the candidates. I will
confess to a modest anti-incumbent bias because long-term incumbents tend to
become inflated with an aura of their own indispensability. There is no reason
for public officials to become public institutions where there is a strong
supply of fresh and capable replacements.
I hope you found the
previous paragraph refreshing for its candor because I am going to be putting
the wood to the Sun Messenger in a
separate post tomorrow for its thoroughly unprofessional endorsements in
Richmond Heights. I encourage you to read it even if you are weary of my
reports on that beleaguered community.
I struggle constantly
in these posts to attain a balance of topics. Some people criticize me for
writing too much about Richmond Heights in this space, but I think most of my
readers appreciate that my reporting there is important, because nobody else is
doing it with any sense of fairness.
Having started to
write about what I saw when I first went there in May, I now feel an obligation
to continue reporting what some all too clearly would prefer to remain hidden.
And I promise faithful followers of that coverage this: some bombshells are
coming soon, and better days ahead are coming into view.
A word or two about The
Real Deal endorsement process for the sake of transparency, all the
more important for when you learn about the Sun
Messenger perversions [no, that’s not too strong a word]. My process is non-scientific.
I don’t treat all candidates or communities alike for the same reason that an
effective and sensible parent or teacher doesn’t treat all of their children
alike except in fairness.
Generally, I wrote
most every mayoral and legislative candidate months ago seeking basic information.
Few supplied it. I went to a variety of council and school board meetings in
almost all of the relevant communities. I studied websites and campaign
literature. I spoke with some of the candidates and I spoke with community
residents in every municipality.
Based
on this work, The Real Deal recommends voting:
State Issues
Issue
1: NO
Issue
2: NO
Issue
3: NO
Local Issues
EAST CLEVELAND
Issue
49: NO [proposed charter amendment to eliminate traffic cameras]
Issue
50: NO [proposed charter amendment requiring approval of Council to appoint
and/or remove the director of law and the director of finance.]
RICHMOND HEIGHTS
Issue
90: YES
Issue
91: NO
Local Mayors
Bedford
Heights: Fletcher Berger
Euclid:
Jack Johnson
Oakwood:
Joe Fouche
Warrensville
Heights: Brad Sellers
Local City Councils
East
Cleveland: Barbara Thomas, Ward 2; Mildred Brewer, Ward 4
Richmond
Heights: Carl Harmon, Ward 2; Nneka Slade Jackson, Ward 4
Area Boards of
Education
Euclid
Schools:
Evette Moton
Kathy DeAngelis
Richmond
Heights Schools:
Frank
Barber Jr., Linda Pliodzinskas [Elect 2]
Bobby
Jordan [[Elect 1 for Unexpired Term
Ending 12/31/2013]
Warrensville
Heights Schools: [Elect 3]
Harold L. Burks, Mary Pat Morris, June E.
Taylor
Municipal Courts
Cleveland
Municipal Court [term commencing Jan. 2, 2012: Edward Wade
Cleveland
Municipal Court [term commencing Jan. 3, 2012: Pinkey S. Carr
East
Cleveland Municipal Court: Sandra Walker
Euclid
Municipal Court: Deborah A. LeBarron
South
Euclid Municipal Court: Gayle Williams-Byers
Endorsement Notes
STATE ISSUES
NO on State Issue 1
The Ohio Constitution
currently prohibits candidates who are 70 or older from running for judge.
Almost half the states have age limits similar to Ohio. There is no shortage of
qualified judicial candidates in Ohio and no clamor to change the Constitution
except from the judges themselves, most of who could continue to serve by
appointment even if forced by age to retire.
NO on State Issue 2
Ohio’s fiscal troubles
could be improved to some degree by a modest adjustment in the power of the
state’s public unions. But the General Assembly, a gross overreach of
legislative power, rammed through Senate Bill 5 as part of a nationwide
partisan campaign to render public unions as a way of establishing virtual
one-party rule.
A no vote on Issue 2
would force Ohio’s governor and legislature to find a fairer way of improving
the state’s governance and fiscal problems.
NO on State Issue 3
Issue 3 masquerades as
a states’ rights plebiscite on federal health care. Its basic aim is to
undermine Congressional passage in 2010 of the Patient Protection and Affordable
Health Care Act, often derisively referred to as Obamacare. Passage of the
issue would have dubious legal effect, and much more likely to harm health care
for Ohio citizens than its defeat.
LOCAL COMMUNITIES
CITY
OF BEDFORD HEIGHTS
Fletcher Berger has shown himself to be diligent, adaptable,
and reasonable. He has earned re-election without question, especially given
that his opponent, councilwoman Wendolyn Grant, is likely running primarily to
establish her bona fides to run again in four years when Berger will be term
limited.
CITY
OF CLEVELAND
Cleveland Municipal Court: The Stokes name is
the only qualification Ed Wade’s opponent
has for the job. She has shown herself fully qualified for retirement. Wade has
been an energetic and competent attorney for decades. Pinkey S. Carr has distinguished herself as county prosecutor and
is ready for the bench.
CITY OF EAST CLEVELAND
City Council: It is little short
of amazing that Mildred Brewer is
council’s only true supporter of the city’s dynamic mayor, the most forward
thinking leader that city has had in decades. Additionally, Brewer is an
untiring advocate for Ward 4. Despite an over-the-top manner that occasionally
channels her inner Dave Chappelle, she should be reelected.
Barbara Thomas should be retained in
Ward 2.
East Cleveland Municipal Court: We like William
Dawson and think he can one day be a fine judge. But incumbent Sandra L. Walker has given voters no
reason to replace her and deserves a second term.
East Cleveland Board of Education [Elect
3]: This
body is absolutely in need of regeneration.
The current all-female
board for the most part exhibits an unwarranted loyalty towards the current
administration. Abdul Shaheed Jabbaar knows
what a successful school district requires. During his prior tenure on the
board Jabbaar was instrumental in bringing on the current fiscal officer for
the schools and promoting school uniforms. He understands the special issues
that confront young black males in today’s society and how to support them
without making excuses or lowering expectations. He also brings an
understanding of what it takes to succeed in the business and corporate world
and how to translate that to students.
Patricia A. Blochowiak is deserving of another term. She is hard
working and conscientious. Because she is not a part of the old guard clique
that runs the district, she asks questions and pushes for answers. She could be
a formidable support for Jabbaar if she’s temperamentally up for it.
We do not endorse Una
H. R. Keenon. The former judge is a community icon at this point and will
likely win re-election on her name alone. But East Cleveland needs school board members with a drive and vision to
match its new mayor. Jabbaar has those qualities to the degree that his
supporters might consider voting only for
him, to increase the likelihood of his rejoining the board.
Charter Amendments
Issue 49: NO [proposed
charter amendment to eliminate traffic cameras]. This issue seems to have
voters more hot and bothered than the races for school board or city council,
despite the fact that 90% of the tickets generated by the city’s traffic
cameras are reportedly written to nonresidents.
Part of the voters’
ire appears to result from camera malfunction. But, given that the cameras
generate about $1.5 million to the bottom line of a city strapped for cash,
that the cameras have likely contributed both directly and indirectly to a
decline in the city’s crime rate, and that key safety and other forces will be
laid off if the amendment passes, voters should vote no on Issue 49 and find
other ways to express their displeasure that don’t involve cutting off much
more than their noses.
Issue 50: NO [proposed
charter amendment requiring approval of Council to appoint and/or remove the
director of law and the director of finance.]
It is depressing when
a legislative body with important work to do wastes its time and taxpayers’
money with silly measures that impede sound governmental practice while doing
nothing to improve the community. No matter what council members may say, Issue
50 was conceived and put on the ballot because the Council majority doesn’t
like the mayor. Passage of the issue would not likely be earth shattering, but
it could encourage some council members to seek veto power over whether the
mayor should part his hair, and on which side.
EUCLID
Mayor
In many ways this is
one of the most interesting and significant races on the ballot in Greater
Cleveland this year. There are three candidates with distinctly different
personalities and track records. They offer Euclid residents very different
visions of the city and approaches to governance.
Incumbent mayor Bill
Cervenik is running for a third term, which would be a final term due to
Euclid’s term limits. His tumultuous eight years in office have included
historic litigation and a recall attempt. After a point he refused to oppose
property development plans promoted by Provident Baptist Church that were
upsetting to many Euclid residents as an unwanted challenge to an accepted way
of life.
The city’s hostile
reaction to the church likely intensified a US Department of Justice investigation
into Euclid’s electoral apparatus. The Justice Department eventually determined
that Euclid’s electoral protocol involving several at-large seats had become
discriminatory in operation if not in design.
At a certain stage
Cervenik’s pragmatic nature manifested itself as courage when he opposed those
diehards who wished to challenge the Justice Department even unto municipal
bankruptcy.
On Cervenik’s right
flank is Charlene Mancuso, a veritable dynamo of energy and ideas, and an
action-oriented, take-charge persona who pledges to drag Euclid into a new day.
There are a couple of
flies in her prescriptive ointment, however. One is her history as champion of
the city’s reactionary forces in the battles with the Justice Department and
Provident Church, battles whose prolongation cost the city hundreds of
thousands of dollars.
The other major
concern is whether this city of raw nerves could hold together under a mayor
whose personal style and public agenda seem more likely to incite virulence
rather than camaraderie.
The third major
contestant in the mayoral race is a black man, Jack Johnson, making his first
entry ever into electoral politics. Johnson is a manager, a finance guy, a
technician, an analyst. He was finance director in the Cervenik administration
and a get it done guy for many municipal projects. He is now seeking to make
the transformation from manager to leader.
After a slow campaign
start, in which he seemed unsure whether he was actually running to win or just
scratching an itch, Jackson seems to have found his political legs. Short on
funds compared to Cervenik certainly and perhaps Mancuso as well, Jackson has
taken to the web and churned out a daily series of email missives designed to
show his ideas and leadership style.
Jackson is clearly the
least polarizing of the three major candidates. He comes closest to being the
right person at the right time to lead Euclid into a new era.
Jack Johnson should be Euclid’s next mayor.
Euclid
School Board
Frankly the
differences aren’t huge here among the three women candidates for school board.
Kay Van Ho is a longtime incumbent who wants to be in office one more term to
celebrate the dedication of Euclid’s new elementary schools. But we think fresh
blood could help this challenged system, and under Van Ho’s watch hundreds of
families have opted for charter schools. We would encourage Euclid voters to elect
Evette Moton.
Our second choice
would be Kathy DeAngelis, a mention
made necessary because under the terms of the court order in the DOJ lawsuit,
voters can select only one candidate even though there are two vacancies.
Euclid Municipal Court: Longtime lawyer and
school board president Barry Sweet cited as one of his qualifications his
eagerness to expel Euclid school students as the arbiter of last resort. Given
the uneven record of Euclid school discipline, he should have been running away
from that record instead of embracing it. Why would Euclid voters give this guy
unbridled power?
Judge Deborah A. LeBarron received excellent ratings from every bar association and
should be retained.
RICHMOND HEIGHTS
City Council
The race in Ward 2 is between two political newcomers.
Carl K. Harmon is
a businessman with a sense of reasonableness and an understanding that change
is needed at City Hall. Russell L. Johnson, a retired city of Cleveland police
officer, is impatient with his city’s state of affairs.
It’s a close call but
we favor Harmon’s more nuanced approach. Cool heads are certainly going to be
needed at City Hall over the next few years.
Ward 4 is perhaps the
marquee race in Richmond Heights this year. Nneka Slade Jackson became a household name in the city earlier
this year for her persistent challenge to the status quo in Richmond Heights
schools, initially but by no means exclusively around the crisis involving the
unprofessional conduct of the boys high school basketball coach.
We think the young
woman has exemplary leadership qualities. If she is able to secure the Ward 4
council seat from the incumbent, it will be a day of victory for the entire
city.
Richmond Heights Board of Education
The appointment of Bobby Jordan to a vacant school board
seat this past spring brought to light the need for serious change in the
district. Jordan speaks softly but his habit of asking questions in public
meetings has led to a harsh series of 3-2 votes. Jordan’s arrival seems to have
rejuvenated veteran board member Linda
Pliodzinskas, and she has joined Jordan in questioning many of the board
majority’s puzzling personnel and financial decisions.
Jordan and Pliodzinskas should be returned to the Board. They
should be joined by Frank Barber Jr., a
college professor with a business bent. Together these three could begin to
chart a return to excellence for the district without getting sidetracked by
the cronyism and personal vendettas that seem to animate the current board
majority.
Issues
Issue 90: YES. This is a no-brainer. This charter amendment
will permit Richmond Heights to participate in joint service districts to share
in service delivery of municipal services. It is the wave of the future.
Issue 91: NO. This proposed charter amendment reduces by
25% the tax credit a city resident gets for income taxes paid to another
municipality. It amounts to a tax increase on Richmond Heights residents who
work outside the city but not on those residents or nonresidents who work in
the city.
The City Council has
put this amendment on the ballot without adequate civic debate, perhaps because
they have not wanted to force to address deficiencies found by state audits
regarding missing funds and irregular reporting.
Richmond Heights
leaders are going to have to deal with harsh realities soon in a city where
both the government and the schools are short not just on funds but also plans,
shared priorities, a sense of accountability and a necessary commitment to
greater transparency.
SOUTH EUCLID
South Euclid Municipal Court: This court needs a
judge equipped to deal with the dynamic range of issues in a transitional
community. Gayle Williams-Byers possesses
the temperament and the experience necessary for the job.
WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS
Mayor
This contest has taken
on some unpleasant overtones with scurrilous material being circulated via the
US mail and the Internet. [An anonymous letter arrived in our mailbox imploring
us to ask a series of questions of presumptive frontrunner and hometown
favorite Brad Sellers. We would
have, if the questions had had any
bearing on his fitness for office or his ability to do the job.]
Fact is, with or
without a college degree or domestic bliss, Sellers is the most knowledgeable,
capable, imaginative, self-confident, polished and well-spoken candidate in
this three-way race for mayor. He has ideas, energy, and much useful
experience. The realization of his potential could prove make him the best
mayor in the city’s history.
Warrensville Heights Board of Education
[Elect 3]:
This district school board suffers from some of the same maladies as the
Richmond Heights Local Schools, where a three-man coalition holds power,
micromanages, undermines the superintendent, and generally runs amok. The
battle lines are not as clear here, but the fingerprints are similar.
Warrensville Heights
has a strong, talented, and dedicated superintendent who has accepted personal
responsibility for improving the district’s substandard performance. She
deserves and needs strong board support. Incumbents June E. Taylor and Mary Pat
Morris are running as a team with Harold
L. Burks to ensure that the superintendent gets that support. That’s enough
to get our endorsement. [See clarification here.]
Oakwood Village
Mayor
I begin by declaring
myself a Joe Fouche {“Fu Shea”] fan. I am a friend of Joe Fouche. We worked
together briefly on a business venture that did not pan out but I discovered
him to be a man of his word. He is candid, smart, and hard working, personable,
and honest.
He’s a cop with
compassion. He gets along with folks of all ages, persuasions and stripes but
he does not suffer fools. He’s not impressed with how much money you have or
don’t have.
On top of all that,
he’s got a lot of ideas about how to make the village of his birth a better
place. A former village councilman, he is one of the savviest political fellows
around, knows everybody but chooses to work only with the straightest shooters.
He is decisive without
being close-minded, confident without being cocky. Respectful of elders but
attentive to the young.
Joe is also a
successful businessman. He knows people, politics and government. He should be
mayor of Oakwood. If you live in Oakwood Village, a vote for Joe Fouche is a vote for your present
and your future.
