| In FDL entries here and here, as well as on other web sites, we went all out to help Jill Stein raise the $125,000 needed to qualify for entry into the Massachusetts gubernatorial debates and receive matching state funds. This was an amazing and productive action on the part of Green Party volunteers, online activists, and fed-up voters. We sent a message that we would not be denied entry into the electoral process by the establishment.
I am writing now to help raise money for Green Party candidate David Ellison, who is running an uphill battle for Cuyahoga County executive. His web site is here.
http://www.electdavidellison.com
To understand what this office is and what it would mean for a Green to win, some back story is necessary.
Since the 2008 election, Democrat leaders at the county level have been embroiled in scandal, with the FBI indicting several high-ranking officials in county government on charges of corruption. Wanting to rid Cuyahoga of democratically elected representatives in favor of a less accountable dictatorship, the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, in tandem with powerful business interests, seized upon the corruption charges to ram through a change in county government that created a county council, and especially a county executive with virtually unlimited power. The executive appoints all lower-offices, including sheriff, except for the prosecutor. That last was, in part, the brain child of current county prosecutor Bill Mason, himself a slimeball heavily involved in machine politicking.
This was a bad idea for numerous reasons, many of which were pointed out by the independent weekly paper, Cleveland Scene. Basically, the whole restructuring of county government in Cuyahoga was another power grab by Republicans, wealthy business interests, and corrupt Democrats who, having failed for years to win significant power in the region, decided to do an end-run around the electoral process by replacing the government with one they thought they would have an easier time winning. Ironically, the very machine politician who hoped to preserve his own position in the restructuring, Bill Mason, is expected to resign soon because he is now being investigated in the ongoing corruption scandal, according to Scene.
Another ironic twist is that far from having a sure path to victory in this electoral mess, Republicans found themselves competing not only with Democrats for spots on the new council and the executive position, but independent candidates as well, thanks to a court ruling that finally allowed third party candidates to be officially recognized on Ohio ballots.
This is where David Ellison comes in. He is an architect by trade, but he has been involved with the Green Party for at least twenty years now in Ohio, and he is running for county executive. (His Face Book page is here, if you'd like to add him as a friend.)
Ellison is running on some very sensible ideas, which include creating a state-chartered Bank of Cuyahoga to invest public funds within the community, as opposed to the current setup where the county invests in transnational banks that move money out of the county. He also proposes to eliminate backroom-decision-making by setting up an "independent public access County Broadcasting Cooperative ... to follow, report on and analyze local government issues and decisions."
If these and David Ellison's other proposals for reform sound like a progressive's dream agenda, then please go here to donate to his campaign.
http://www.electdavidellison.com/donate.html
We have a month to go before the November election, and as important as the Congressional midterms are, we mustn't let ourselves forget the local races going on. People complain all too frequently that there are no viable alternatives in elections, but this is a problem generated not by electoral demographics, but by self-fulfilling prophesying to the detriment of the progressive movement. The better Greens do this year, the better our chances of building successful, solid local and state organizations that can take on the establishment parties. |
