MARCIA L. MCCOY, current candidate for Cleveland City Council Ward 4 (November 3, 2009 General Election), in conjunction with Ward 4 Pastors and other Clergy of Greater Cleveland met to sponsor 150 residents of Cleveland to attend The Greater Cleveland Job Fair at the IX Center. A breakfast was hosted on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at The Murtis Taylor Center located at 13402 Kinsman Avenue in the Stokes Multipurpose Room. Unemployed residents desiring to participate in the Job Fair met Marcia L. McCoy, the Campaign Team and Pastors. Those in attendance communicated the same theme “It’s time for change”. To build on the enthusiasm in preparation of the Job Fair all recipients were asked to attend a pre-registration workshop on Thursday, October 8, 2009 at the Mt. Pleasant Library located at 14000 Kinsman Road in their Multipurpose Room. A professional PowerPoint presentation was lead by Rev. Lisa Jarrell which focused on etiquette, appearances, interviewing techniques and the necessities of a resume. She then assisted those who was without a resume in preparing one. With this, Ward 4 participants left empowered in their pursuit for employment. On the day of the Job Fair, Friday, October 9, 2009, registration packets, transportation and lunch was provided to each participant free of charge.

Our Councilman would have you believe that you should not consider the candidate, Marcia L. McCoy. His literature regularly states: “[she] does not live in our newly drawn ward … and [she] cannot vote for herself…” The fact of the matter is the Councilman knew the new boundaries would not go into effect until 2010. Nevertheless, before boundaries were finalized he pub-lished this information on City Hall stationery and postage paid by The City (using your tax dollars). Our Councilman, of 29 years is fully aware of the rules which states “candidates DO NOT have to live in the Ward but must live in the City of Cleveland to run for any seat of Cleveland City Council.” While knowing this rule, our Councilman circulated this information to you the constituents, in an effort to sway your vote. We should not tolerate this type of deceptive behavior.

IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE!

The Plain Dealer has featured several articles in 2009 that centered around behavioral patterns or comments from our current councilman. The Plain Dealer describes the councilman as “Incumbent Ken Johnson …has one of the poorest attendance records at City Hall committee meetings, but he relishes his reputation as a councilman who gets things done and goes to great lengths to protect it. Want proof? Look closely at the city service trucks. You’ll see his [councilman’s] name plastered on them [the trucks].”

Below you will find a few of the councilman’s comments and the date in which the comments appeared in The Plain Dealer. Please review the comments and note a few responses from citizens in the community.

On July 21, 2009, 10:08AM—2 comments

1. Regarding the issues, on how to address the aftereffects of the foreclo-sure crisis. It was suggested, working closely with the new Cuyahoga County Land Bank and tearing down dilapidated homes to make way for parks and recreation. Kenneth L. Johnson, the council’s leading advocate for parks and recreation, BALKED at this idea saying “I’m not sure how practical that is … estimating that 80 percent of the ward’s vacant homes can be salvaged. Some of these homes should be torn down, no question.”
2. On education, … Johnson downplayed the council’s oversight of the school district, deferring to the school board. That’s not to say Johnson thinks the schools are doing just peachy. In response to a question about population loss, he said: “No professional is going to come here and send their kids to public schools if they can get a better education in the suburbs.” That line raised an eyebrow from McCoy, who said “education reform must be a priority”.

As a result of the recent article in the Plain Dealer where Ward 4 City Council candidate, Kenneth L. Johnson said, “No professional is going to come here and send their kids to public schools if they can get a better educa-tion in the suburbs.” A family to include the children decided to make a sign to show how they felt about the comments. The sign is posted (on private property, located on Woodhill between Kennedy Avenue and Wood-land Avenue) so the neighbors could see what comes out of the mouths of babes.

Rather than encouraging potential Clevelanders to flee to the suburbs, Cleveland Ward 4 needs to start anew with a new leader that believes in the community, and advocates for the constituents of Ward 4. Out of his own mouth, he will not, has not and won’t advocate. Therefore, the constituents MUST place their hope in God and Marcia L. McCoy on November 3, 2009.

IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE!