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The reversal of the
appointment of former city Councilwoman Lindsay Webb to
Lucas County Treasurer was seen by many as not only an
embarrassment for the Lucas County Democratic Party, but
also as an ugly outcome birthed from malevolent intentions.
Although a “conciliatory”
Mike Ashford, tried hard to appear like Frozen and not as
Angry Black Man and “let it go,” the process leading to
Webb’s appointment exposes a breach in the Party that,
perhaps, leaves the Dems as divided now as they have ever
been.
Why didn’t the Party’s
screening committee know that Webb could have bonding
problems if appointed to a position where the duties
involved dealing with a large volume of financial
transactions?
The Problem with the Process:
It’s problematic when you
have “an individual who says ‘I’m not going to give a person
the endorsement because I don’t like them as opposed to I’m
not giving him the endorsement for the position because they
are either nonqualified or can’t get elected,” according to
a source close to the interview process. While, there were
no interview questions related to Webb’s credit score, she
responded with “no” to a question about past or present debt
problems, the source added.
In contrast, Ashford, the
source reported, was asked a completely different set of
questions. Very few, if any, of those questions referred to
his qualifications such as budget experience, overall
experience or what value he would bring to the office.
Instead, the interview “seemed to focus on his wife Ruth or
why he didn’t donate more funds to Hicks-Hudson’s recent
campaign for Mayor.”
My take?
Webb is an extremely hard
worker and has been a tremendous asset for the people of
District 6 and the City of Toledo. That is fact.
However, the danger lies in
allowing her hard work to become an “affirmation of
meritocracy that covers up issues of personal
responsibility, a theme that is disproportionately applied
to people of color when they have issues such as bad
credit,” according to a local scholar.
Rather than “I just don’t
like him,” a legitimate question for Ashford, though still
one with racial undertones, is whether he has the ability to
win a countywide election. Ashford’s critics would like him
to reinvent himself because he has a brand “of being cocky
and seems to feel like he knows more and doesn’t have to
listen or be liked by anyone who doesn’t agree with him,” a
brand that has been an asset rather than a hindrance for
several white incumbent office holders.
Repairing the Breach:
In the coming months,
activist philanthropists will invest millions in Ohio and
other states in an effort to flip both Federal and State
Legislatures blue. Thus, Lucas County Dems must get their
act together lest they risk another low turnout by black
voters in the all-important 2018 midterms.
I expect the Dems to bring
Ashford back to certify him as Lucas County Treasurer, this
time bypassing the screening committee (“a stick of
dynamite”) and going straight to the central committee.
In this scenario, former
Mayor Hicks-Hudson is likely to get the Party endorsement
over Councilman Tyrone Riley for Ashford’s vacated House
seat. Next, current Washington Local School Board member
Lisa Canales, and former Toledo Public Schools board member
Lisa Sobecki and/or Nate Livingston all bring value to Ohio
House District 45 which will be vacant as current term
limited State Rep Teresa Fedor shifts to Ohio Senator Edna
Brown’s soon to be vacant seat.
What about Toledo City
Council District 6?
Until Webb’s
(Party-inflicted) wounds have healed, it appears that Joe
Cousino, a former Local 8 business rep, is the front-runner,
although Sobecki keeps her options open as a viable
candidate for a council appointment also.
For certain, Toledo has never
had more than one African American county-wide elected
official (in my memory) and the Ohio Legislature could end
up with a mere single African American from our area.
This time, should a biased
and defensive screening committee (which often chafes and
rebels from constructive criticism) allow the dominoes to
scatter out of control, the consequences could possibly be
worse than before.
Why? Because God Don’t Like
Ugly!
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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