Organizers said that all eight of the mayoral candidates were invited to participate, namely former mayor Dennis Kucinich, Council President Kevin Kelley, state Sen. Sandra Williams (D-21), former councilman Zack Reed, non profit executive Justin Bibb, Ward 7 Councilman Basheer Jones, attorney Ross Dibello, and Landry M. Simmons Jr., a West Park resident and Cuyahoga County deputy sheriff, and the only Republican in the race.
The non-partisan primary election for Cleveland mayor is Sept.14 and the two candidates who get the most votes will square off on Nov. 2 for the general election.
The city's current mayor, Frank Jackson, is not seeking an unprecedented fifth term, the first time that the office of the city mayor has been open since 2001 when then mayor Michael R. White opted not to seek a fourth term.
"We will provide the candidates for mayor of the City of Cleveland an opportunity to share their ideas on police reform with community members," organizers said on Facebook."Candidates will be asked questions on how they envision the Cleveland Division of Police can best serve the needs of the community, in particular youth and Black and brown residents."
Forum questions will include questions on criminal justice reform, police-community relations, consent decree efforts, and on how well police reforms are working in Cleveland.
Cleveland's court monitored consent decree for police reforms with the U.S. Department of Justice was instituted in 2015 behind several excessive force police killings of unarmed Black people, including 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, and escalating problems in the city's largely White police department.
Led by Black on Black Crime Inc. and the Imperial Women Coalition, activists rallied on June 9 on the steps of Cleveland City Hall to call for the consent decree to remain intact after the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, led by its union president, Jeff Follmer, held a press conference and publicly called for an end to the consent decree.
That end can only come about with consent from the district court, namely District Court Judge Solomon Oliver, the overseer of the consent decree, and a senior judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Cleveland is a largely Black major American city of some 385,000 people, and a Democratic stronghold.
It is the second largest city in Ohio behind Columbus, the state capital.
It sits in Cuyahoga County, also a Democratic stronghold and Ohio's second largest of 88 counties, behind Franklin County, which includes Columbus.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.
