MANSFIELD: The Race Begins

When my wife and I built our dream home in Hough almost 17 years ago we weren’t guessing: We knew that we were moving into a premiere east side community that could only get better. But truth be told, development stalled after the death of our beloved Councilwoman Fannie Lewis. TJ Dow, a young lawyer that we had high hopes for, won the seat to replace her but has turned out to be a complete and utter disappointment.

Four years ago Dow was challenged for his seat by Basheer Jones, who came within 600 votes of defeating the incumbent. Jones didn’t live in the ward, but had rented an apartment in a ratty building a few months before the election so that he could establish residency. Now Jones is trying to fool voters again.

True, the majority of the residents in Ward 7 want to be rid of Dow. But few of us want to go from the frying pan into the fire, which is what would be happening if we replaced him with Jones. The simple fact is, if Jones truly wanted to represent the residents of Ward 7 he would have moved into our community three years ago, after his election loss to Dow, and started doing the grassroots work of improving our neighborhoods, building relationships and building trust. But he chose not to do so.

Currently he spends his nights with his wife and children in their home in South Euclid (where he should), but uses a friend’s address here in Hough for voter registration, in an effort to fool voters into thinking he actually resides in the ward. He doesn’t — and the voters are not going to be fooled.

In a few days Jones is going to announce his candidacy in front of Fannie Lewis’ house, in another effort to pull the wool over our eyes. I usually have no problem with ambition, but not at my expense. If Jones wants to someday be mayor, I applaud his desire. But he has to learn to do things the right way — and trying to deceive voters is downright disrespectful.

Dirt Bikes and Just Plain Dirty

Virtually every Monday night at city council meeting a couple of councilmen from east side wards rise from their seats and poke holes in the air with their index fingers as they demand that Mayor Jackson do something about the high incidence of deaths due to gun violence in the city, which set another record last year. But what do they do when the administration attempts to make some small steps in that direction? They vote against it.

I’m talking about the legislation for the motocross racing track, the idea I put forth in a column almost two years ago. Since I’ve been riding motorcycles for over 55 years, I know the camaraderie the sport can create, in addition to getting young fools off our streets. popping wheelies and doing other dumb stuff.

By giving youth a place to ride, race, learn to repair dirt bikes — and yes, break their damn necks if they’re not careful — perhaps some steam is let off, friendships made and less shots are fired on almost a nightly basis. For the paltry sum it takes to put the plan into action, it seemed like an idea that is worth trying.

That is, until dirty politics got involved — and this is why people are so often turned off by elected officials. The same councilmen who make the loudest noise about violence voted against the legislation to create the dirt bike track — which could reduce violence.

Maybe they voted against it since they didn’t think of it. Why else would they be so petty?

From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author at http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com

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