Now that it appears that current Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty and Parma safety director (and former assistant county prosecutor) Michael O’Malley are going to engage in a knock-down, drag-out fight in next year’s prosecutor’s race, some black political operatives are casting about for a candidate of color to put in the race. And it makes sense — of sorts.
With two Irish candidates going toe-to-toe contending for the most powerful job in the county — and no doubt splitting the vote fairly evenly between them — it’s quite possible for a viable candidate of color to ultimately walk away with the grand prize on election night. But as always, the devil is in the details.
First a black candidate with built-in name recognition has to be identified, meaning one that has a proven track record of having won elective office before. One obvious choice would be juvenile court Judge Michael J. Ryan (who, because of his surname, would win the vote of some white west siders), who has shown no inclination to leave the bench — something he would have to do. The fact that any judge desirous of running for prosecutor would first have to retire from the bench will keep all of the current black judges out of the race.
That leaves us with retired judges, and C. Ellen Connally’s name is the first one to pop into my mind, even though I know that after she retired from her seat on county council (where she served as president of that body) firmly stated that her career as an elected official is definitely over. I can still dream, though can’t I?
Perhaps, rather than simply looking for a black candidate, the search should be for someone whose love and knowledge of the law, sense of fair play and justice, desire to serve the public is beyond question — no matter their race. Indeed, there are some black lawyers in the county that I damn sure wouldn’t care to see running the prosecutor’s office.
An attorney like Robert Triozzi, a former municipal court judge who currently serves as law director for Cuyahoga County, would fit the bill nicely. He has the right temperament and all of the qualifications to do an outstanding job as prosecutor, and besides, he ran for the job last time around.
Instead of a “Great Black Hope” how about a “Great Brown One?” Subodh Chandra, the attorney currently representing the family of Tamir Rice, also ran for the prosecutor’s job the last time around and might be willing to give it another shot.
If not for his mishandling of the Rice case, I would gladly support current prosecutor Tim McGinty. He has surprised some folks with some of the positive changes he’s made since taking office, the most important of which is his stance on the death penalty. As he said that he would, he has sought the death penalty in far fewer cases than his predecessor Bill Mason.
He also has changed the way juveniles are charged with crimes. Previously, juveniles in the city of Cleveland were treated far more harshly than those in the suburbs, but Mason did nothing to rectify the problem (he also fought against the establishment of drug courts and other alternative sentencing reforms). But McGinty handed the job of dispensing juvenile justice to Duane Deskins, a black former federal prosecutor, and outcomes for black youth in Cleveland, and indeed the county, have improved.
The fact is, the county prosecutor is the most powerful person in any county in America, and if we are to see a sustained reduction in the number of young blacks killed at the hands of trigger-happy white cops, these positions have to be filled by individuals who always put the phrase “With liberty and justice for all” paramount when dispensing their duties — the police unions be damned.
The young folks of the Black Lives Matter movement are gaining in experience and power; now the question is, can they use their newfound clout to influence the outcome of the prosecutor’s race here, as well as others around the country? It’s going to be critical that these valiant young people learn to master political processes if real change is to occur.
The only alternative to the ballot is the bullet, and we’ve certainly had too many bullets in this country already.
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 again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.