C. Ellen Conally Becomes First Black, First Woman Cuyahoga County Council President With Help Of Blacks On Council, Sunny Simon Elected Vice President
Cuyahoga County Council President C. Ellen Conally (D-9)
County Council Member Yvonne Conwell (D-7)
County Council Member Pernel Jones Jr.(D-8)
County Council Member Julian Rogers (D-10)
County Council Vice President Sunny Simon (D-11)
By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the Determiner Weekly.Com and
the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com
(www.determinerweekly.com and www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
With a 7-4 vote and the help of the other three Blacks C. Ellen Conally (D-9), a retired Cleveland Municipal Court judge, on Monday became the first Black and first woman to lead as president of the new 11-member County Council, the second most powerful job in the county aside from newly elected County Executive Ed FitzGerald.
Conally, 65, beat fellow Democrat Chuck Germana (D-4), and won with support from Yvonne Conwell (D-7), Pernel Jones Jr. (D-8),and Julian Rogers (D-10), all Black and, aside from Conally, all of whom are holding elected office for the first time. Each represents perspective wards of Cleveland and suburban territory of the county, which is roughly 23 percent Black and includes the majority Black City of Cleveland.
Sunny Simon (D-11) of South Euclid was elected vice president of the council, which has only three Republicans, all of whom supported Germana, whose district includes Parma and Parma Hts, among other areas, in his failed bid for the council presidency.
"With a new year and a new government, I hope we can move forward," said Conally, after weathering a storm of criticism by right wing conservatives and the mainstream media for meeting and caucusing for the slot before Monday's vote. And she took heat as a Black Democrat supported by greater Cleveland's Black leadership for the presidency.
Cuyahoga County voters last year adopted a charter amendment dubbed Issue 6 that is the impetus behind the county executive job and the 11-member County Council that voters elected in November. The new form of government swapped the elected positions of the three-member Board of Commissioners, county sheriff, clerk of courts, engineer, recorder, auditor, treasurer and coroner and their elected jobs were up Friday by virtue of the Issue 6 charter amendment. And all but the commissioners,whose job s and job titles were eliminated completedly by voters, remain on the job for now.
Though the three-member Board of Commissioners was eliminated by voters through Issue 6 FitzGerald and the County Council can appoint those previously elected to the positions and ousted on Friday such as the sheriff, coroner and clerk of courts, if their jobs are not subject to revision or consolidation.
The Cleveland NAACP, Call and Post Newspaper, and Black leaders such as Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-11) opposed Issue 6 but supported the presidency on County Council of Conally, a popular vote getter who nearly ousted now deceased and then incumbent Republican Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer for his last term on Ohio's high court. At that time she was an unknown Cleveland Municipal Court judge with a small campaign war chest.
County Council Member Yvonne Conwell (D-7)
County Council Member Pernel Jones Jr.(D-8)
County Council Member Julian Rogers (D-10)
County Council Vice President Sunny Simon (D-11)
By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the Determiner Weekly.Com and
the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com
(www.determinerweekly.com and www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
With a 7-4 vote and the help of the other three Blacks C. Ellen Conally (D-9), a retired Cleveland Municipal Court judge, on Monday became the first Black and first woman to lead as president of the new 11-member County Council, the second most powerful job in the county aside from newly elected County Executive Ed FitzGerald.
Conally, 65, beat fellow Democrat Chuck Germana (D-4), and won with support from Yvonne Conwell (D-7), Pernel Jones Jr. (D-8),and Julian Rogers (D-10), all Black and, aside from Conally, all of whom are holding elected office for the first time. Each represents perspective wards of Cleveland and suburban territory of the county, which is roughly 23 percent Black and includes the majority Black City of Cleveland.
Sunny Simon (D-11) of South Euclid was elected vice president of the council, which has only three Republicans, all of whom supported Germana, whose district includes Parma and Parma Hts, among other areas, in his failed bid for the council presidency.
"With a new year and a new government, I hope we can move forward," said Conally, after weathering a storm of criticism by right wing conservatives and the mainstream media for meeting and caucusing for the slot before Monday's vote. And she took heat as a Black Democrat supported by greater Cleveland's Black leadership for the presidency.
Cuyahoga County voters last year adopted a charter amendment dubbed Issue 6 that is the impetus behind the county executive job and the 11-member County Council that voters elected in November. The new form of government swapped the elected positions of the three-member Board of Commissioners, county sheriff, clerk of courts, engineer, recorder, auditor, treasurer and coroner and their elected jobs were up Friday by virtue of the Issue 6 charter amendment. And all but the commissioners,whose job s and job titles were eliminated completedly by voters, remain on the job for now.
Though the three-member Board of Commissioners was eliminated by voters through Issue 6 FitzGerald and the County Council can appoint those previously elected to the positions and ousted on Friday such as the sheriff, coroner and clerk of courts, if their jobs are not subject to revision or consolidation.
The Cleveland NAACP, Call and Post Newspaper, and Black leaders such as Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-11) opposed Issue 6 but supported the presidency on County Council of Conally, a popular vote getter who nearly ousted now deceased and then incumbent Republican Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer for his last term on Ohio's high court. At that time she was an unknown Cleveland Municipal Court judge with a small campaign war chest.
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