Justin Bibb wasted no time in claiming his position after the mayoral election was called Tuesday evening. By midnight his campaign website had been re-titled “Bibb! Mayor-elect.”
The result wasn’t even close: he beat city council president Kevin Kelley by around 63-37, with voters clearly recognizing that Kelley was an avatar of the old way of doing things that clearly wasn’t working. Whether Bibb, at 34 now the second youngest mayor in Cleveland history (Dennis Kucinich, of course, was the youngest), and with no track record in government, can re-steer the ship in the right direction remains to be seen. However, we can be sure it was never going to happen with Kelley.
As far as Cleveland City Council races go, two sitting council people were ousted. In Ward 12, longtime councilman Anthony Brancatelli was beaten by Rebecca Maurer, and in Ward 5, Richard Starr defeated Delores Gray, who was appointed to replace retiring Phyllis Cleveland.
The new Cleveland City Council will have the largest number of women ever, with five — still a disappointingly small number out of 17. Incumbents Jenny Spencer (Ward 15) and Jasmine Santana (ward 4) were easily re-elected, and Deborah Gray claimed the Ward 4 seat left empty when its four-decade councilman was indicted, convicted and, recently, sentenced to prison. And here’s one for Mansfield Frazier: in Ward 7, which includes his home neighborhood of Hough, Stephanie Howse romped all over Mansfield’s nemesis, former councilman TJ Dow, who was attempting a comeback. We’re imagining that big 1000-watt smile on Mansfield’s face right now.
Overall, there’ll be five new faces on council, which is a good thing — and Spencer is also relatively new, having been appointed to fill Matt Zone’s seat a year ago. Let’s hope this is an indication that Cleveland will get some overdue change.
The results of Issue 24 — establishing a civil commission to oversee police — roughly tracked the mayoral results, winning overwhelmingly. Bibb had endorsed it; Kelley predicted doom and gloom if it passed. But its passage may have more far-reaching effects than any of the other races that were on the ballot.
In Mandarin Chinese, the word for crises also means opportunity. For some in Cleveland’s establishment, the passage of Issue 24 represents crises; for others, it means opportunity. For many, the issue was vilified as a takeover of the police department to exact revenge on the department for years of misdeeds by officers who were out of control, inflicting deadly harm on the public.
Others, supporting Issue 24, saw an opportunity to increase community support for those officers who honorably served the public, and to hold accountable those officers who flagrantly disregard the rights of citizens. Issue 24 was not constructed to be a “gotcha snare” for police officers doing their job by serving and protecting the public, but rather, its intent is to protect the public from the deliberate transgressions of officers, and to hold them accountable for their actions.
Issue 24 is also an opportunity to bridge the “trusting gap” between the community and those officers who honor their profession by carrying out their duties with integrity and decency. It gives the citizenry the authority to strengthen its police department by working alongside it to improve working conditions and benefits, to eliminate punitive cultural norms deeply rooted within the department, and to enhance career opportunities for all officers seeking to advance. Bias-free, constitutional policing, deserves to be supported and rewarded. Issue 24 is an opportunity to achieve those ends.
Other results varied across Northeast Ohio’s election results. But in the beating heart of the region, the City of Cleveland’s residents resoundingly let their voices be heard –early in-person, in vote-by-mail, and at the ballot box on Election Day– and they have provided a mandate for substantive change.
One Response to “Cleveland Voters Choose Change”
Carolyn W. Allen
Love your focus on community news!