Recall effort against Cleveland Ward 7 Councilman Basheer Jones fails as tensions remain in the largely Black east side ward after Jones defeated incumbent TJ Dow by 13 votes in a contentious election in 2017.....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of www.clevelandurbannews.com and www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leaders, Tel: (216) 659-0473, Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com
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| Current Cleveland Ward 7 Councilman Basheer Jones (left), the first Muslim elected to Cleveland City Council, and former Ward 7 councilman TJ Dow, who lost a reelection bid to Jones in 2017 |
By editor Kathy Wray Coleman
CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-The recall effort against Cleveland Ward 7 Councilman Basheer Jones, an east side councilman and the first Muslim elected to Cleveland Coty Council, has failed after organizers failed to file voter signatures needed to place the proposed measure on the ballot.
Samantha Gray took out petitions last month but failed to file them by Friday's deadline, according to Cleveland City Council Clerk Patricia Britt.
Council President Kevin Kelley, who is White, was elated that Jones escaped a recall effort, and told Cleveland.com that "that didn't even present."
Opponents of Jones told Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog that "it ain't over yet."
Jones defeated incumbent T.J Dow last November in a contentious election, and by only 13 votes, the fallout from that election of which is still ripe in the largely Black Ward 7, which includes historic Hough district, where the Hough Riots took place in 1968, as well as the St. Clair-Superior, Midtown and Asia Town neighborhoods,
While Dow received the endorsement from the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party regarding his reelection bid last year, Jones had staunch support from party big wigs, including Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge.
Both Fudge and Jackson are Black, as are Jones and Dow.
Supporters of Jones say Dow was difficult to deal with and was not responsive enough to residents, while Dow supporters say Jones is too abrupt to residents and that Dow was targeted by Congresswoman Fudge, Mayor Jackson and others for standing up to the powerful Cleveland Clinic that seeks extensive consumer development in Ward 7 to the detriment of residential communities.
The 17-member Cleveland City Council is comprised of eight Whites, eight Blacks, all of them east side councilpersons, and one Hispanic member.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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