CPT • Brancatelli defenders reluctant to accept a new day is dawning

Cuyahoga Politics Today

Sour grapes campaign maligns judge and her supporters

Councilman’s defenders unwilling to accept “there’s a new sheriff in town”

By R. T. Andrews

Judge W. Moná Scott

Attorney W. Moná Scott’s defeat of incumbent housing court judge Ron O’Leary has not been well received in certain parts of our town. The reasons are worth looking at.

First, some facts.

Cleveland’s housing court, a special division of Cleveland Municipal Court, was established in 1980. It has jurisdiction over criminal cases involving violations of Cleveland’s housing, building, fire, zoning, health, waste collection, sidewalk and agricultural and air pollution codes. It also hears civil cases involving landlord and tenant disputes.

Arguably, it is the most powerful of Cleveland’s municipal court seats, not just because of its jurisdictional portfolio: it has also has about sixty employees, and the housing court judge has the power to hire and fire most of them.

The court’s activities have become more consequential since the Great Recession of 2008 and the formation of the County Land Bank in 2009.

When longtime housing court judge Ray Pianka died suddenly in early 2017, then-Gov. John Kasich, picked a fellow Republican, attorney Ron O’Leary, to replace him. At the time, O’Leary was director of the city’s building and housing department. In November 2017 he won a relatively short campaign to retain the seat for the balance of Pianka’s term, defeating Moná Scott in a three way race by less than 400 votes.

Scott challenged O’Leary again last year, this time defeating him in a two-way race for a full six-year term. It’s interesting to note that while Scott’s received 246 fewer votes in the second race, O’Leary’s vote total fell by 4,284. Scott won by a decisive 55.6% to 44.4% margin.

Let’s also remember that Scott’s credentials are at least on par with O’Leary’s. She is a former Cleveland fair housing administrator for Cleveland, and a former assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor, with prior experience the prosecutor’s tax foreclosure division. Unlike either O’Leary or Pianka, she ascends the bench with actual trial court experience.

Cleveland is a majority black city, and most of the city’s municipal court judges are black. In fact ten of the 13 city municipal court judges are women, and nine of the judges are people of color [8 black, one Hispanic].

So what’s the fuss about?  

The complainants are publicly grousing through their media connections[1] that Scott won because voters ignored qualifications and blindly voted “D”, and that she then vindictively pursued a complaint against councilman Tony Brancatelli, a Democratic ally of the Republican O’Leary, based on long-established Democratic Party rules.

We’ve already addressed the qualifications issue; that is not substantial issue. We would add only that Scott reportedly spent part of her childhood living in public housing. That’s a credential that likely resonated with many city voters.

As to voters following the “D” in hypnotic fashion — a trope gratuitously pushed and hyperbolically extended in this Plain Dealer hit piece, obviously sole-sourced in the Brancatelli camp — let’s recognize that O’Leary only became a judge because he is an “R” and was able to extend his initial appointment tenure only by virtue of a short campaign in a three-way race he narrowly escaped with less than 40% of the vote.

We’ve not spoken with either candidate or their official representatives, although we have reached out to supporters on both sides.

What we do know is this:

First and foremost, Judge Scott is not a part of the old boy network. She is the first woman to serve as housing judge in the court’s 40 year history, and the second African American [the long forgotten Clarence Gaines was the first].

Second, Brancatelli knew his public support of O’Leary was in violation of Democratic Party rules that he, as a party official, has regularly taken an oath to uphold. Further, while he angelically denies being an active supporter of the O’Leary campaign, he delegated that role to at least one key member of his camp. His various stated reasons for supporting O’Leary in 2019 are suspect because he also actively supported O’Leary against Scott in 2017.

It is thus understandable that Scott pursued her intraparty complaint against Brancatelli; how else does one deter a repeat violator?

The Democrats’ Party Unity Review Committee [PURC], which reviews complaints of this type, is worthy of a separate discussion. Suffice to say here, Brancatelli openly and knowingly violated the rules, and is now recruiting megaphones to complain on his behalf.

That may be one of the reasons that even before his punishment was meted out by PURC, Brancatelli lost in his own ward caucus for the position of ward leader by a more progressive activist in his hard-scrabble community. When you can’t fend off a challenger on the home turf you’ve ruled for more than a decade, you likely should be looking for your next job.

We think the real reason Judge Scott’s name, temperament and qualifications are being tarnished is that she has disrupted the white boys club. It’s a stark statement but one supported by the evidence. It’s most obvious in the tone of Brancatelli defenders who think Scott couldn’t possibly be deserving of the position, though she checked every darn box, including the most important one: she got 55% of the vote.

Those on the losing side have argued, and their minions have echoed, that Scott somehow knew she was unqualified because she failed to participate in judge4yourself.com, the establishment blessed gauntlet for judicial candidates. That attack fails in the light of what is increasingly being acknowledged: the judge4yourself process contains some inherent biases that must be addressed before it is worthwhile for many black candidates to participate. As we reported this past week, other organizations have stepped up to initiate new judicial candidate vetting. We will report on their initial results tomorrow, assuming they adhere to their previously announced schedule.

Scott’s success has disrupted the cozy network established by the former regime. It’s what happens when seats change. Brancatelli wasn’t the first to be PURC-ed [party regulars pronounce it “perked”] for violating the rule and he shouldn’t be the last. Incidentally, black Democrats will face the same dilemma this fall when deciding whether to support the highly competent appellate judge Ray Headen notwithstanding his “R” credential.

Cleveland in many ways sits at a crossroads. All the signs say that change is coming. The results of this year’s Census will be a huge element. The voters’ decision whether to amend the city’s charter to reduce the size of council from 17 to nine is another immense choice point. And whether a challenger will arrive to convince the Mayor not to extend his administration to twenty years is another crossroads moment.

What will not help us progress is playing three-card monte with principles and rules, and then claiming foul when the card that comes up isn’t yours, and it’s your turn to — if not rise and fly — then at least open up the table to a new player.

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[1] The Neighborhood News, Brancatelli’s ethnic neighborhood newspaper, wrote a rare front page editorial decrying his modest punishment by the Party. It read, in this reader’s eyes, like a call to return to an era when black people knew their place.

Black women celebrate, network around electoral successes

Just about fifty years ago, Nina Simone released To Be Young, Gifted and Black, a powerful, majestic ode to joy written in memory of her friend, Lorraine Hansberry, author of the Broadway smash, Raisin in the Sun, who died prematurely in 1965 at the tender age of 34.

The song was aimed at young people but it quickly electrified generations of black people of every age who were in the midst of discovering, internalizing and then proclaiming that Black was beautiful. It quickly became kind of a new national anthem for black Americans, one that lifted every voice that sung it, echoing the fervent joy and fierce determination of people who had nearly exhausted themselves in the Sixties bursting holes in America’s Berlin Wall of segregation, discrimination, and humiliation.

South Euclid councilwoman Ruth Gray, president of
National Congress of Black Women Cleveland chapter,
welcomes attendees, flanked by Kim Brown of  the
Black Women's Commission of Cuyahoga County
and county councilwoman Yvonne Conwell.

That sort of energy was in the house last night as more than 150 people assembled on the first floor of an old mansion in University Circle to celebrate a wave of electoral victories by black women candidates in local municipalities this past November.

Maple Hts. Mayor Annette Blackwell and
Essence Doucet of Shaker Hts. were on
hand to congratulate new public officials

Celebrated last night for their recent successful election campaigns were new city council members Davida Russell of Cleveland Hts., Shayla Davis  of Garfield Hts., Dana Anderson of Maple Hts., Cassandra Nelson & Kim Thomas of Richmond Hts., and Juanita Gowdy of East Cleveland, along with Ashley Thomas and Nichelle Daniels, each elected to the Garfield Hts. Board of Education. 

The event was initially planned as a post-election celebration for National Congress of Black Women members. However, a second group, the Black Women’s Commission of Cuyahoga County, signed up as co-sponsor, expanding the list of honorees. Other newly elected officials celebrated were Carmella Williams of Shaker Hts. City Council, village council members Cynthia Beard and Geavona Greene of Highland Hills, and Nakeshia Nickerson and Vivian Walker of Woodmere, and Stephanie Stedmire-Walls, East Cleveland school board.

Newly elected officials honored by Cleveland chapter of National Congress of Black Women [L to R]: Front row, Cassandra Nelson (white jacket)), Cynthia Beard, and Nichelle Daniels. Back Row: Aiyana Hamilton [representing Ashley Thomas], Kim Thomas, Carmella Williams, Juanita Gowdy, Shayla Davis, Dana Henderson, Davida Russell.

Two black women — June Taylor of Beachwood and Gigi Traore of Newburgh Hts. — were elected to their respective seats for the first time, although each had been serving by appointment to this year.

Members of Cleveland chapter, National Congress of Black Women

Many of the women in attendance had never met, a reflection of the county's byzantine political subdivisions. They were coming together from several of the many suburbs that ring Cleveland from north to east to south. This seemed to contribute to the sense of excitement the gathering held. The typical barriers that work against cooperation — differences in community, occupation, generation, social status, appearance, etc. — were minimized in the evening's enthusiasm. 

Leslie White-Wilson and Ray Freeman
share networking moment. White-Wilson
was elected 11th Congressional Delegate
to Democratic National Convention earlier
this month. Freeman is a member of the
Warrnesville Hts. school board, and the
National School Boards Association.

Several of the women in attendance appeared to draw inspiration from the reception's vibe. An attorney in the room was overheard saying that she would continue to run until she was elected judge. A Shaker Hts. data analyst said that while she has always paid close attention to state and national elections, she now realized the importance of local elections, vowing to become more involved.

The NCBW was founded in 1984 by Shirley Chisholm and C. Delores Tucker and has grown to more than 100 chapters. A local NCBW officer said that the Cleveland chapter, in only its fourth year, has already become the nation’s largest chapter with 63 members. South Euclid councilwoman Ruth Gray is chapter president, and county councilwoman Yvonne Conwell of Cleveland is first vice president.

The organization has an IRS 501c(3) tax exemption that requires it to be nonpartisan, a fact Gray acknowledged even as she gave a shout out to Shontel Brown, chairwoman of the local Democratic Party.  A spokeswoman said the group’s emphasis is on empowering black women in their respective communities, voter registration and education, and scholarship aid.

Following the introduction of each newly minted public official and the scrimmage of enthusiastic picture takers as they stood a front room of what is now part of Hawken School’s urban campus, attendees continued in cordial celebration, not just of the recent ballot successes, but in their newly discovered sorority of strength.

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Fudge fumbles again in local judicial endorsement process

Congresswoman's endorsements carrying less and less weight

Almost two years ago to the day, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge attempted an “ill-conceived and ineptly concealed private maneuver” to shape the outcome of the local Democratic Party judicial endorsement process. The botched effort to secure endorsements for two black women candidates, which we reported on here, brought to the surface the uneasy racial tensions that infects so much of local Democratic politics.

But if you thought the Congresswoman would be deterred from long distance interference, you were sadly mistaken. Last month she endorsed five candidates for county judgeships.

Despite there being several competent black women candidates, including two sitting municipal court judges, all five candidates Fudge chose to endorse are white.

U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge chairing hearing on
voting rights at Cuyahoga Community College
on April 25, 2019

Not a single one of the Congresswoman’s choices won the endorsement of the party’s Executive Committee.

What does this mean? For starters, it says that Fudge, who has represented Ohio’s storied 11^th District since 2008, wields astonishingly little influence within party ranks. Her choices gain little benefit from her announced support, and those who run against her candidates do so without political cost.

Our highest ranking elected official is essentially impotent when it comes to advancing our political interests.

This is a disastrous state of affairs for the black community. The political weakness of our Congressperson may not be apparent if one looks only at the election returns every two years. But after this year’s Census, Congressional districts will be expanded and redrawn, and there are lots of factors at play that could mean that the 11^th District seat may no longer continue as a safe preserve of black representation.

Signs of discontent are beginning to emerge within the District over the current state of affairs. The Cleveland NAACP recently joined forces with two political action groups to organize the Unified Endorsement/Ratings Process [UERP]. The three groups plan to vet candidates based on specific criteria of special import to the black community. Judicial candidates will be examined, for example, for their understanding of cultural competency, their appreciation of implicit bias, and their commitment to systemic reform.

The focus this year will be on judicial candidates, expanding over time to include legislative and executive races on local, county, state and national levels. The process launches this week with interviews scheduled for tonight and tomorrow from 5p-9p at the Harvard Community Center, 18240 Harvard Ave. [44128].

This initiative arose out of concerns that the judge4yourself.com process, while well-regarded, nonetheless had some flaws best addressed by this new process. A representative of GPAC, which is comprised largely of activists and clergy, and is a NAACP partner in the UERP process, says its work will complement, not displace, judge4yourself.

The third partner in this new effort, FIINPAC [Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Necessary Political Action Committee], has distinguished itself in years past with some productive voter registration efforts.

A unique feature of the UERP process is that while the NAACP will limit itself to rating candidates, FIINPAC and GPAC intend to endorse candidates and to extend campaign support to those it endorses.

Signs of Clergy Unrest

A more ominous indication that Congresswoman Fudge could be out of step with her constituency arose yesterday when she appeared at the weekly meeting of United Pastors in Mission. UPM, originally formed as an association of young activist pastors, has now matured into a collective of some political sophistication, with regular programming that has become part of the bipartisan campaign circuit for state and local public officials.

Fudge was there to tout her slate of judicial candidates but got pushback from several clergy members on at least two counts. Attendees wanted to know why she did not endorse Joy Kennedy, a well-qualified black attorney, for Domestic Relations judge. Fudge’s answer seemed to indicate surprise that Kennedy had remained in the race.

More problematic for Fudge by far was her avowed support for Gabriella Rosalina, whose father, Basil Russo, gained local renown as a ward leader and city councilman representing Little Italy, eventually rising to majority leader. before becoming a judge, first in Common Pleas, and then the Court of Appeals. Along the way, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor 1979.

Russo has long been a formidable ballot name county wide. Basil’s brother is chief judge of Probate Court. But another brother, Frank, tarnished the family name when he resigned as County Auditor in 2010 after pleading guilty as a ringleader in the county corruption scandal.

Basil has been pulling out all the stops to get his daughter the nomination, making contributions and pledges of financial support left and right, along with calling in old political favors. Some combination of these efforts was apparently enough to win Fudge’s support, along with that of 14 out of 17 Cleveland city councilmen.

Candidate Rosalina, however, has an undistinguished record as an attorney and is clearly uncomfortable on the campaign trail. She was the proverbial doe in headlights when seeking the party’s endorsement last month, which went to her opponent, Lisa Forbes, by such a surprisingly wide margin that Basil reportedly felt double-crossed.

The sense that Rosalina is an inferior candidate and that Forbes handily won the party endorsement led some UPM members to question Fudge’s game plan.

Part of the Congresswoman’s problem is the absence of any discernible criteria for what it takes to win her blessing.

An opaque process, resulting in an announcement of support without an accompanying rationale, followed by the proffer of zero resources beyond perhaps a played out radio commercial, and no consequence for ignoring or contravening the endorsement, have reduced a once-prized 11^th District endorsement to little more than a trinket.

The extreme political weakness of the black community has been developing for several years. As we head to Black History Month we’ll talk about why that is and what the future may hold.

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Hon. Annette Garner Butler [1944-2018]

Former Common Pleas judge and civic activist Annette Garner Butler died December 31, 2018.

Butler was appointed by Gov. John Kasich to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in November 2011 to succeed Timothy J. McGinty. She lost an election the following year to Steve Gall and her term expired at the end of 2012.

Butler was well known in civic circles. She held numerous leadership and board posts at Cleveland State University, the City Club of Cleveland, the Shaker Heights Library, the Cleveland Heights-University Library, the Federal Bar Association, and numerous others.

Throughout her career, Butler made herself available to counsel and guide young people in their lives and career choices, often acting as a one-woman employment referral agency.

Butler grew up on Cleveland’s east side where she graduated East High ’62. She earned an undergraduate degree in sociology and psychology from Case Western Reserve University and her law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Butler spent the bulk of her legal career with the U.S. Attorney's Office, serving as an assistant U.S. Attorney for Civil Trials and Appeals. She has also worked in the private practice of law and later taught legal courses at the Academy of Court Reporting & Technology and the Justice Department National Advocacy Center.

Butler is survived by her children, Christopher Butler and Kimberly Butler, and several siblings.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday, January 9 at 3p at Amasa Stone Chapel, 10940 Euclid Ave., on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. The family will receive friends on January 8 from 4-6p at Brown Forward Funeral Home, 17022 Chagrin Blvd., Shaker Hts. OH.

Best Wishes for 2019!

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