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Last week was a trying hour for our community. We mournfully
watched people we have known for decades be placed in
handcuffs and charged with serious breaches of public trust.
Sadly, the world watched along with us.
As it relates to the specific cases of the four accused
black Toledo City Councilpersons, we must let justice be
done. We, however, should not pre-judge anyone based on
“allegations.” Yet, as Zora Neale Hurston once said, “There
is no single face in nature, because every eye that looks
upon it, sees it from its own angle. So, every [person’s]
spice-box seasons his or her food.”
It is also true that “An envious heart makes a treacherous
ear. They done ‘heard’ about you just what they hope done
happened,” Hurston also declared, insightfully.
The truth is that haters are still gonna hate, and
supporters will continue to support, depending on the spice
box they bring with them to the table.
The important thing to remember is that we should allow
“accusations” neither to define us nor divide us. Toledo is
a good community with hard working people who, every day,
perform thousands of silent acts of kindness.
I spoke with Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz to discuss how to
address this and other challenging issues for our community.
There are no easy answers.
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Perryman: With a 40 percent
increase in homicides in June, alleged corruption at
city hall, and protests about police reform, how do
these events speak to the need for change?
Mayor: I would say there are a
lot of things happening in Toledo right now that
aren’t positive, but there’s a lot of things
happening in America that aren’t positive. Of all
of the negative things that have impacted Toledo in
2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic, the economic
collapse that flowed from it, the unrest surrounding
police brutality and I would even include what
happened with these four councilmembers; I see all
of those as things that have happened to us, not
things that we have done. The moment chose us, and
so the question is, what are we going to do about
it? And I’m more focused on that. |
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz |
Perryman: I think I hear
you saying, is that we cannot let these incidents define us,
but at the same time, they still highlight a need for
change?
Mayor: What we have seen
happening this year highlights the need for change in
several fundamental areas. For instance, the debate over
police reform or police-community relations was needed long
before George Floyd was murdered. I will say that Toledo has
already taken some positive steps in the right direction to
bring about some change there. Whether it’s moving internal
affairs out of police headquarters where it has been for 90
years or making our training available to the public,
passing ordinances to codify the ban of chokeholds or to
require that officers intervene if a fellow officer is
engaged in the use of excessive force. There are already
probably a dozen or so reforms that we have implemented.
I’ve banned the use of camouflage. But, there’s a lot more
to do. We formed the Police-Community Relations group last
week to continue to push on issues, everything from
revamping the citizen police review board to analyzing when
and how things like tear gas and pepper spray can be used.
The other thing that is on
my mind and everyone’s mind; is what happened with the four
council members. I think that also exposes a need and an
opportunity for change. Every citizen of this country is
entitled to due process, entitled to a fair trial, entitled
to offer a defense and the same is true for these four
council members. That is a legal process and it’s one of
the core values of the American system; however, city
government works based on trust and whatever happens legally
to these members of council, I do worry that there’s already
been such a fundamental breach of trust. At some point these
members of council are going to need to resign. It’s a
shame that it took this tragic event to bring about this
kind of change on city council, but I think we can be better
in the long run.
Perryman: Specifically,
what changes on the city council would this lead to other
than providing new faces? And why is that good?
Mayor: I am one who believes
that new energy and new ideas are always good. That’s not a
commentary on any one member of council or any elected
official, but generally speaking I think democracy works
better when new ideas and new energy can be introduced into
the process. It also must be said that whenever a breach of
trust has taken place, that good government just can’t
occur.
It’s good because, for
rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly, we are dealing with
a situation now where the citizens do not trust city
council. So, the mere act of replacing those members who
have lost the public trust with those who can have the
public trust, that act in it of itself is a positive thing,
at least in my opinion it is.
Perryman: Well, I look at
those four incidents not collectively, but individually, and
I see each one as being different and unique according to
the accused person. There is also, in my opinion, a
difference between unwittingly wandering and deliberately
violating ethical boundaries. So how do we go about
restoring integrity to city council, the police department,
and all other positions of trust?
Mayor: Well, I think that in
both cases, policy changes could be part of what is needed.
Certainly, when it comes to the police department, I do
think despite everything that we’ve already done, I do
believe that more policy changes are needed. I think more
accountability and transparency are required, and we’re
moving that direction. So, I think policy changes are
always a part of what has to happen when trust has been
violated, whether it’s the police department or in city
council. But the other change that is needed when trust is
broken is that sometimes you just need new faces, new ideas
and new energy. I think that is what is going to happen on
city council, relatively soon.
Perryman: And, connecting
the circle ….
Mayor: I think that is also
what needs to happen in the police department. I don’t
necessarily think that we need change at the top, perhaps we
will at some point, but I believe that we need change
throughout the organization.
Perryman: Please elaborate.
Mayor: Specifically, we need
more police officers who reflect the diversity of the
community, and we need more diverse officers in command
positions and that’s why we’ve worked so hard in my first
two years to bring in diverse police classes, and in fact,
they have been the most diverse both in terms of raw numbers
and since the early 1980s. We have to continue that work
because change requires change in policies and means
changing some people from time to time. Our police
department needs more diversity, and that’s a part of the
process too. So, I think they are linked in that way.
Perryman: Is the current
chief able to attract racially-diverse candidates and
promote diverse employees in the department?
Mayor: Well, I think he is.
Perryman: Will you use
those criteria as a measure of accountability and evaluation
of his job performance?
Mayor: I would answer yes to
both questions. I think he is capable of it, and I will use
that as a measure of accountability as we go forward. I can
only judge him by his performance based on while I’ve been
mayor, I can’t speak to what kind of chief he was before I
arrived or what kind of police officer he was even before
that. In the two and a half years we have worked together,
the Toledo Police Department’s diversity has improved in a
way that it hasn’t in almost 40 years and to his credit, the
police classes have been extraordinarily diverse. I think at
best maybe I’ll give him a midterm grade, but he hasn’t
taken the final exam yet. I’m using analogies. But we’ve
got more to do. We need to continue to build diverse
classes and to reshape the police department, so it better
reflects our community. I would say he’s capable of it,
he’s shown some progress here on his grade card, but there’s
more work to do before the final exam.
Perryman: Back to city
council. Sometimes ethical boundaries are not clear about
when or when not to participate in a given activity. How do
we prevent unwitting boundary violations? Is there a role
for mandated professional ethics education?
Mayor: Absolutely! I have been
surprised that there’s not a requirement that city council
receive that training. It’s one of the reasons I was
encouraged to see Katie Moline recently introduce an
ordinance that requires annual ethics training. I think
there should be ongoing ethical training for all elected
officials across the board, not just city council.
Perryman: You talked about
needed change on city council? Is it your vision to keep
council diverse?
Mayor: Yes, it 100 percent has
to be. I have said the government’s power is derived from
the consent of the governed. If we have a city council with
one African American on it, but suddenly Dr. Cecelia Adams
is the only black or brown face we have, that’s a really big
problem and threatens our credibility as a public body. So,
there’s no question that new members of council need to
reflect the diversity of our community. I have no problem
saying that. It’s an absolutely mandatory requirement.
Perryman: Finally, we see
today, a new multicultural, multiracial coalition of
“anti-racists,” which I’d like to see building more steam
here in Toledo. For that movement to take root requires that
we become aware of all of the inequalities. We’ve been
talking about police reform, but that’s not the only issue.
In the words of Michael Harriot, systematic racism is the
“constitutionally enshrined, legally endorsed, and socially
accepted system of economic, political, and mental
subjugation of a race of people, whose remnants persist to
this day.” Someone else has defined systemic racism as the
oppression of a racial group through policies and
practices. How does Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz lead an
anti-racism movement from One Government Center to counter
systemic racism?
Mayor: That’s a great
question, and I’m so glad you brought that up. I would say
number one, by talking about it, advocating about it, and
secondly, by spending money to address it. Those are the
two. 2020 has been a tough year for the United States of
America. And, just about everything that has happened this
year has exposed the historical injustices that people of
color have faced in this country for decades.
So, while we’re continuing
our work on policing, we are also going to invest ourselves
in addressing the inequities in housing and healthcare and
education and job training and a number of other systems
that have been historically rigged against people of color.
For instance, we plan to spend $55 million on a series of
primarily housing-based programming that will make a
difference. It is as much a part of the change that needs
to happen as the reforms that we’re pushing the police
department to make. It’s all linked, and that’s how we’re
viewing it.
Perryman:
Thank you.
Contact Rev. Donald
Perryman, PhD, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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