Return of the Locusts

It has been 50 years since the upper classes have come this close to grabbing complete control of Cuyahoga County government, only to have their dreams thwarted by an energized and united black community.
In 1959, powerful county engineer Bert Porter headed a charter commission that put on the ballot a proposal to replace the county commissioners with a single executive. Many assumed Porter wanted to be that executive. It might have passed if the NAACP and other vocal black activists had not mounted an all out campaign against it. They understood that just as the African American community was on the cusp of significant political power, defenders of the status quo wanted to frustrate their efforts by changing the playing field and moving the county away from concerns about social, judicial and economic justice. Because of the mobilization of black voters, the plan was defeated.
If anyone thinks the current effort has a different motivation, the June 9 Plain Dealer sets the record straight.
The front page map of the proposed county council districts with clusters of affluent suburbs makes it clear that this will guarantee Republicans a presence in county government that they cannot achieve at the ballot box under the current rules.
Even more telling is the statement of Parma Heights Mayor Martin Zanotti, the early architect of the proposal who is rumored to want to head the county. According to the Plain Dealer, Zanotti said the county should no longer concentrate on social and judicial services.
This despite the entrenched poverty, homelessness and depravation of children that is increasing throughout the community.
Bert Porter's real goals became apparent eve of the historic 1967 Cleveland election. As chairman of the county Democratic Party, he sent a letter to members telling them to vote for Ralph Locher and warning that if Carl Stokes was elected mayor instead, Martin Luther King would run City Hall. Such racist transgressions are not punishable, but Porter did later go to prison for forcing his employees to kick back a part of their salaries.
Let's not let the late Bert Porter win a posthumous victory.