Next Tuesday, September 14, voters in Cleveland’s Ward 4 will have an opportunity to elect a new councilperson and hand longtime councilman Kenneth L. Johnson his walking papers. First elected in 1979, the 75-year-old Johnson has served the Shaker Square/Buckeye region continuously for the last 40 years.
His record has been marred for years with questions of nepotism, inflated city expense accounts, I-Team investigations, and questions regarding the so-called adoptions by Johnson of a dozen or more young boys from various parts of the city and the world — a subject that I have written about in the column in the past.
This past July 30, Johnson was convicted by a federal court jury on all counts of a 15-count indictment that involved theft of money from federal youth programs, assisting in the preparation of fraudulent income tax returns, and one count of witness tampering. All in all, the government asserted that Johnson had shortchanged the IRS some $150,000 by inflating the costs of donated cars and underreporting of his income. Johnson, who is currently free on bond, is awaiting sentencing on October 8. He is looking at a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.
In a little-known provision of the Ohio Revised Code, prior to his trial, Johnson was removed from his council seat by a vote of a three-judge panel, appointed by the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. He appealed that ruling but the Supreme Court sustained the earlier decision.
Although he continues to receive his nearly $87,000 salary, pursuant to the law, Cuyahoga County Probate Judge Anthony Russo appointed community activist Maria Anita Gardner to serve as interim councilperson for the remainder of Johnson’s term. She is not seeking election to the office in the November election.But Cleveland taxpayers are paying for two councilpersons for Ward 4.
Cleveland City Council voted to remove Johnson’s name from the Cleveland Recreation Center located on Woodland Avenue that has borne Johnson’s name for several decades.
The irony of our legal system is that Johnson’s name will still appear on the September 14 primary along with ten other candidates vying for the seat. Even though he was indicted in early 2021, Johnson was able to garner enough signatures to get his name on the ballot. Since he only stood accused, he was perfectly within his rights and the law to seek to place his name on the ballot.
With an anticipated low voter turnout in the primary and ten other candidates to split up the vote, it is possible that Johnson could survive next week’s primary and be one of the two candidates on the non-partisan ballot on November 2. If that happen, it is theoretically possible that Johnson could win back his seat in November. With a cadre of long-time supporters he has cultivated through years of cutting grass and handing out jobs and gift cards, Ward 4 residents could see a smiling Ken Johnson looking like the cat that ate the canary on election night, even if he is behind bars.
Legal experts are still struggling to determine if Johnson’s name could remain on the November ballot if he survived the primary — even if ordered to federal prison on October 8. As a practical matter, the Board of Elections will have printed the ballot by that date.
In a worse case scenario, on January 2, when Cleveland City Council goes back into session, Johnson’s seat would be declared vacant, since he would be a convicted felon and unable to serve. That would mean that Ward 4 voters would have to go back to the polls for a special election to again select a councilman sometime next winter to fill the unexpired term and another election for the completion of the term in the next general election.
The current list of candidates includes Vanessa Crumb, Cecil Ekechukwu, Ashley R. Evans, Deborah A. Gray, Kenneth L. Johnson, Rowland Mitchell, Mike Shomo, Arnold Shurn, Mario Snowden, Erick B. Walker and Craig E. Willis.
As a 45-year resident of Ward 4, I am casting my vote for Erick B. Walker. The 26-year-old longtime resident of the ward is employed by the Cleveland Public Library. He is also an executive board member of Local 1199 of the SEIU Union. He has the energy and the experience to represent the ward and the city that has growing challenges and deserves voter support.
There are several other well-qualified candidate amount on the slate, including former councilman Craig Willis, who served another area of the city in the 1980s and former Cleveland police officer Rowland Mitchell, who has sought this office several times before.
The choice is up to the voters. But the important thing for voters in Ward 4 to remember is NOT to vote for Ken Johnson.
C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she serves on the Board of the Ohio History Connection, is currently vice president of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission and president of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.
2 Responses to “Choose Erick Walker for Cleveland City Council, Ward 4, Sept. 14. Do Not Vote for Ken Johnson!”
David Kramer
Would it be possible for me to get together with the candidate for 15 to 20 minutes for coffee sometime before the election? David Kramer, 2879 Ludlow Rd., Cleveland, 44120, 216-496-2003
Anastasia Pantsios
december 8 @ 7pm. Go here: