September 9, 2009-- The Plain Dealer
Jeffrey Johnson, Zack Reed, Brian Cummins gain spots on Cleveland City Council ballot; Joe Santiago falls short.
By Cliff Pinckard, Reporter
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Jeffrey Johnson, Zack Reed and Brian Cummins pulled away from crowded fields of candidates in Tuesday's Cleveland City Council primary to win spots on the Nov. 3 ballot. Councilman Joe Santiago was not so lucky, and with his defeat goes the panel's only Hispanic representative when the new leaders take office in January. Unofficial vote totals showed Santiago finishing third in a race to keep his Ward 14 seat. Cummins, who currently represents Ward 15, a district splintered in the council's recent reduction seats, advanced along with former council aide Rick Nagin, who is also the former chairman of the Ohio Communist Party and a writer for the Communist People's Weekly World newspaper.
Two other candidates in the Ward 14 race of Hispanic decent, Nelson Cintron and Moises Torres, placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Santiago was the city's only openly gay elected official. Santiago's rivals approached the race to represent the city's largely Hispanic Ward 14 as a referendum on four drama-filled years that the incumbent spent under constant scrutiny. Nevertheless, Mayor Frank Jackson campaigned with him. Santiago was seen as a loyal ally to the popular mayor, who cruised Tuesday in his five-way primary. Jackson's coattails, though, were not long enough to carry Santiago.
August 25, 2009 – The Plain Dealer
Cleveland City Council candidates a mix of felons, old political voices and newcomers
By Henry J. Gomez, Reporter
Clevelanders in eight redrawn City Council wards have some hefty choices to make in the Sept. 8 primaries. Once voters get past the confusion of new boundaries, they have to sort through fields of candidates that include felons, fresh faces and old political hands reaching for comebacks. The top two finishers in each ward will advance to a Nov. 3 runoff election. With two fewer council seats up for grabs because of the city's shrinking population, there are significant consequences in play, particularly for minorities, who could lose power.
In addition, the possible election of more independent thinkers and the return of outspoken mavericks could bring more checks and bal ances to a traditionally pliable council. "I believe the City Council as a body has lost its way," said Jeffrey Johnson, a former councilman who is running for the Ward 8, Glenville- area seat he gave up 20 years ago. Johnson is prob ably the most buz zed-about candi date in this year's municipal elec tions. When he last roamed the council chambers, Johnson often clashed with Council President George Forbes. In a memorable moment, an agitated Forbes once swung a chair at Johnson.
August 10, 2009 – The Plain Dealer
Voters in Cleveland's Ward 8 should elect Jeffrey Johnson to City Council
By Editorial Board
Back in the 1990s, Johnson's smarts and swagger made him a star in Cleveland and Columbus. Then hubris won out: An FBI tape caught him apparently soliciting a kickback from a local grocer, and he went to prison. Now Johnson insists that he is humbler, wiser and less confrontational. He also has encyclopedic knowledge of the ward and raises issues, such as AIDS and immigration,that many politicians won't touch.
Jeff Johnson is a fighter. You have to give him that. After he was stripped of his freedom, his dignity, his good reputation and his license to practice law, he was written off for dead. After the once-rising political star was found guilty of extortion in 1998 and sentenced to 15 months in federal prison, the final chapter on his political biography seemed cast in iron. But that was not the case. Johnson's back. He's running for Cleveland City Council, and he has a good chance to win.
