"Poli-tricks" from City Hall

In a meeting where citizens displayed a fierce determination to protect the right of self-determination (a display that would have warmed the heart of our recently-deceased representative to City Council, Fannie Lewis) the residents of Ward 7 showed their backbone by rising up as one, in lockstep unison, to mock and jeer City Council President Martin Sweeny, and virtually run him out of Gethsemane Baptist Church this past Sunday evening.

Residents, led by the elected precinct committee members and the ward club president who has served as Fannie’s trusted lieutenant for over a decade, were simply not buying what Sweeny was attempting to sell, and they were quite vocal about it... just like Fannie would have been. After he came to the realization that no matter what kind of spin he attempted to put on the truth and that his version of events was just not going to fly, he looked at his watch and gave the attendees at the pubic meeting the lame-assed excuse that he'd told his wife that he’d be home by 7PM, so he really couldn’t stay much longer. No kidding. It was almost like, "Wow, just look at the time... sorry, I'd like to stay here longer so that you guys can continue to stomp a mud hole in my ass, but, gee, my supper is getting cold." Some leadership.

A bit of explanation of the City Charter, custom, and commonsense is in order to follow this story: When a member of Council dies with more than a year left on their term, the other members of that body have the right to name someone to take their seat, but a special election has to be held within 60 days to elect a replacement. If there is less that a year left on the term no special election is required. My councilwoman, Fannie, went to her sweet reward with more than a year left.

Now, here's where it gets tricky: Council will usually name the person to the seat that the outgoing councilmember wants. But in this case, the people closest to Fannie said that she didn't want to name anyone to take her place, and indeed, at the ward club meeting immediately prior to her death she — because she was bedridden by then — had a letter read stating as much. Sweeny was at that meeting and didn't challenge the contents of the letter at the time.

However, Sweeny came into Hough, and at the abovementioned meeting, said that Fannie had told him, with Sabra Pierce Scott present, that she wanted him to appoint Stephanie Howse to her seat. Virtually 100 percent of the precinct committee members in attendance were outraged, as was 99 percent of the hundreds who were in attendance. A robbery was taking place, in broad daylight and in the House of the Lord. One of Fannie's favorite words was "poli-tricks" and that was what was being played on the resident of Ward 7.

By naming Howse to the position he gives her a huge — and residents say an unfair — advantage over anyone else who wants run for the seat. She gets to run as an incumbent (which usually assures victory because of the thousands of dollars of City Council money incumbents have at their disposal to campaign with). No one was willing to call Sweeny an outright liar in the House of the Lord, but some folks did comment that it seemed as if his pants were on fire as he hotfooted it out the back door like a scalded dog. Fannie had stated over and over again that she would not appoint anyone to take her place; she wanted the citizens to decide for themselves. Again, this was attested to over a dozen people who worked with her closely over the years — could they all had misunderstood her wishes so badly? Not likely.

Why would Sweeny attempt to try to pass off something that failed miserably to pass the smell or straight-face test? Your guess would be as good as mine... but there could be a multitude of reasons, each one more shameful and scandalous than the previous. The stench of a dirty backroom political deal permeated the air in the church and the people were gagging from the smell.

However, Sweeny might prove to be the best ward organizer Ward 7 could hope to have. By having the gall to come into our ward and disrespect us and the memory of our dearly beloved councilwoman with such a cock and bull story... he just might have done the community a great favor: Sweeny has actually galvanized — united — us faster than would have occurred had he honored the wishes of the community. Indeed, it might have taken us years (maybe even decades) for us to achieve the level of cohesiveness that Sweeny created by coming into the meeting and adding a whole new meaning to the term "ham-fisted."

By acting as if he could run roughshod over the residents of Hough and tell them any type of fairy tale that suited his political purpose, he’s created a backlash that will haunt him -- and other members of City Council who support him -- for a longtime to come.

The real stupidity on Sweeny's part was to have Council appoint Howse to the position, rather than name an interim person to the seat who would only hold it until after the special election: A contest Howse probably would have won handily on her own, without him rigging the contest to give her a head start; but now she doesn't stand a chance of winning, since she does not have the support of the community. Sweeny has made her a pariah. Good going, Marty.

If Stephanie Howse were smart, she would refuse to accept the position in this underhanded manner, and instead start the race fairly with the rest of the field; the voters would love, admire and respect her for having the courage and commonsense to do it the right way. But don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

On another note, word has filtered back to me that I am on the "Enemies List" of some members of City Council because I had the temerity to ask hard questions at a public Charter Review meeting a few months ago. Gee, I'm absolutely heart-broken by this turn of events. But to all of the thin-skinned members of that body who dislike citizens who speak truth to power, remember the words of Hip-Hop grandmaster Chuck D, who once said: "You should rather be hated for what you are... than loved for what you are not." Courageous people are always better defined by their enemies than their friends, so I'm honored to be on the list and will work diligently to move to the top of it. Fasten your seat belts folks, the ride is about to get real bumpy.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com
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