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The special election on May 5 to fill the remainder of the
term for Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson’s vacated council District
4 seat, a mayoral primary in September and general election
in November is creating a possible political collision at
the intersection of the “need to govern” and the “need to
campaign.”
At this same time in 2013, Opal Covey, Alan Cox, Joe
McNamara, Mike Bell and Michael Konwinski were already in
the race for Toledo’s top prize. So far in 2015, however,
Covey is the only person officially running for mayor.
Although Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson has not made a formal
announcement, those close to her say that she “would like”
to hold onto the job and that she plans to be a candidate in
the September primary election for the unexpired term of the
late Mayor D. Michael Collins.
Yet, Hicks-Hudson has been “hunkered in” working on previous
issues started by her predecessor and noticeably absent from
the Toledo campaign trail.
Some Hicks-Hudson supporters complain that it is her
adversaries who, out of self-interest, are orchestrating her
commitment to projects begun by Collins. The enemies’
ultimate goal, supporters say, is to cause Hicks-Hudson’s
political future to crash and burn.
“We’re tearing all our hairs out about how do we help Paula
Hicks-Hudson. She doesn’t return anybody’s phone call.
Everybody keeps saying she’s overwhelmed, but Reinbolt and
these guys are making sure she stays overwhelmed. They’re
not doing anything to clear the wood out. They’re piling
wood on,” said one political ally.
What also makes navigating the political terrain
particularly dangerous for Hicks-Hudson is that she faces
hazards coming from multiple directions, including
unexpected angles.
“She’s got like 20 targets
on her back from both sides, from the right and from the
left,” said a long-time political analyst. “She’s got the
Republican Party, anybody from the political right knows
that they can beat her, whether that’s Sandy Drabik, Rob
Ludeman or Tom Waniewski. With Sandy Drabik and the people
that she has backing her and that are critically working for
her as mayor, they’re going to implode any candidacy that
she has. They are watching her every move, every single day
and making note of any mistakes that she makes and
that’s not fair and it’s not right. And then you’ve got
almost every former mayor of Toledo thinking of running. I
know Mike Bell is thinking about running. Jack is and so is
Carty because they’re all like: ‘With Paula’s lack of
citywide name recognition, I could win this election.’
So then you’ve got
Democrats who are looking. There are Democrats like the
Anita Lopezes, the Pete Gerkens, and the Wade
Kapszukiewicz’s that were planning on running in 2017, and
now they’re looking at Paula like, ‘That should be me.’
What irritates me about
party politics is if this were anyone else, if this were a
white male as mayor and any other democrats were talking
about running, they would crucify them. They would stand
together as a party and say that we need to support our
incumbent mayor in the party. But because Paula was
appointed and I also think it’s because she’s a black woman
that they don’t feel that those rules apply.”
With the Neo-Nazis
planning to return to Toledo to mark their 2005 protest and
ensuing riot, and with racial hostilities scorching the
nation and simmering just beneath the surface locally,
Hicks-Hudson’s skill set and demeanor could be exactly
what’s needed to broker racial reconciliation, as race is
predicted to be a large issue in Toledo over the next few
years.
What is certain is that
Hicks-Hudson must shift her mindset from running a district
race to running a mayor’s race if she is to keep her job.
This will require that she jettisons dead weight on the 22nd
floor, a move for which she could “get swung on,” but
otherwise risk certain sabotage from the inside. The key
will be for to clean house in a way that sets her up for
success if she decides to run but also leaves the city in
good hands, should she choose not to. This is a “tricky”
maneuver at best.
Yet, ultimately, it comes
down to Hicks-Hudson herself and what she wants. If her
reticence in making her candidacy public means that she
doesn’t really want to be mayor, then she should not be
forced into running. Nor should anyone else be making the
decision for her.
Although she is driving
through dangerous political intersections where various
motives, agendas and futures collide, at the end of the day,
Paula Hicks-Hudson is the one who has the wheel.
Contact
Rev. Donald Perryman,
D.Min,
at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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