Endorsement Committee Of The Determiner Weekly Endorses Ballot Issue 5, Rejects Issue 6, And Endorses Jackson For Cleveland Mayor

Posted Saturday, October 31, 2009
(Regional and Local Cleveland, Ohio Area News)

By The Endorsement Committee of The Determiner Weekly and
Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of The Determiner Weekly and The
Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network


The Determiner Weekly has endorsed Issue 5 and rejected county reform Issue 6, following the lead of Black leaders of Cuyahoga County including U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-11), Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Ohio Rep. Barbara Boyd (D-9), and NAACP President George Forbes. The endorsements came at a meeting on Saturday with a panel of affiliates of the new online Black magazine such as editor Kathy Wray Coleman, new writer and columnist Genevieve Mitchell, Adilifu Sanyiaka, and William Clarence Marshall, an esteemed singer out of the Cleveland, Oh. area.

The group also endorsed incumbent Cleveland, Oh. Mayor Frank Jackson over Bill Patmon, a former Cleveland City Council member.

“The endorsement panel does not believe that Issue 6 is good for the Black community,” said Coleman. “In terms of Mayor Jackson securing the endorsement over Bill Patmon I was out voted on that one and as a team player I know how to go with the flow.”

Issue 6 would replace 9 of the elected county offices, such as the three commissioners, sheriff and clerk of courts, with a subsequently elected 11 member council and elected county head. Black leaders and the Call and Post Newspaper, a Cleveland weekly that targets the Black community, have denounced it with some Black leaders saying the 11 county districts for which respective candidates will be elected to for representation on the county council were gerrymandered without Black input and only one seat is ensured to be won by a Black. Issue 5 is a counter proposal where an elected 15-member committee would study county reform and make revision recommendations to voters in 2010.

The endorsement group also rejected Issue 1, a ballot measure that would authorize the state of Ohio to issue bonds with a 200 million dollar set aside to give veterans of selected wars, including the Iraq War, subsidies of up to one thousand dollars. Here, the panel said that though they support veterans of war the monies could be distributed better such as scholarships for children of veterans. Issue 2, a state-wide ballot measure that would amend the Ohio Constitution to establish an 13-member Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board for the purposes of establishing standards for the care of livestock and poultry, was rejected too. The Humane Society has urged voters to denounce it as a continuance of cruel and unusual practices on factory farms of keeping animals in small cages and crates and some members of the panel agreed, while also saying a board of that nature would further bureaucratic discrapancies.

Ignoring the recommendation of the Cleveland NAACP and a host of others, The Determiner Weekly endorsement panel unanimously rejected Issue 3, a state-wide initiative that would bring casino gambling to major cities in Ohio, including Cleveland, at state horse racing facilities. Panel members raised various issues of concern in discussing it including increased crime in urban centers, the disenfranchisement of the Black community via a vehicle to further stresses from racism and other actions at the gambling hall, and an overall belief that the issue would serve primarily to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Issue 4, which is a proposed tax levy for Cleveland's Cuyahoga County Community College, won sweeping support from the endorsement committee, some of whom are academicians.

Following is a full list of endorsements of The Determiner Weekly for Tuesday's election including positions on Issues 1 through 6, as well as those running for mayor and seats on Cleveland and East Cleveland City Councils.

Issues 1-3: Vote No

Issue 4: Vote Yes

Issue 5: Vote Yes

Issue 6: Vote No

For Mayor of the Predominantly Black City of Cleveland: Frank Jackson

For City Council of the Predominantly Black City of Cleveland:

Ward 1- Terrell Pruitt

Ward 2- Charlene Laster

Ward 4- Marcia McCoy

Ward 5- Phyllis Cleveland

Ward 6- John Boyd

Ward 7- A tie- T.J. Dow and Twon Billings

Ward 8- Jeffery Johnson

Ward 9- Kevin Conwell

Ward 10- Freddie Moore

Ward 11- Michael Polensek

Ward 12- No endorsement

Ward 13- No endorsement

Ward 14- Ray Nagin

Ward 16- Kevin Kelly

Ward 17- Matt Zone

Ward 18- Jay Westbrook

Ward 19- Dona Brady

Ward 20- Mary Patranek

Ward 21- Martin J. Keane


For Mayor of the Predominantly Black City of East Cleveland: Gary Norton (selected via no Republican opposition)

For City Council of the Predominantly Black City of East Cleveland:

Council at Large (choose two)- Dr. Joy Jordan and Nathaniel Martin

Ward 3-Chantelle Lewis

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