BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LUDLOW -- Seven years after his city council term was cut short by a criminal conviction, mayoral candidate Fred Brooks wants voters to know that he's become "a stronger and better person."
"I feel as though I've paid for my mistake," said the 61-year-old owner of the Ludlow Chevron service station. "Now I'm ready to move on."
Mr. Brooks, a 25-year business owner and resident of Ludlow, is running for mayor against incumbent Gerald Holloway, a Cinergy retiree; and Thomas D. Stacy, a two-year council member, former interim mayor and manager with the U.S. Postal Service.
The winner will serve a four-year term and earn $200 a month. Elected to Ludlow's council in 1989, Mr. Brooks began his two-year term in January 1990. He resigned in April 1991, just before entering a plea for his role in a three-year scheme to steal thousands of gallons of gas.
While his opponents have refrained from mentioning Mr. Brooks' criminal conviction, Mr. Brooks did not shy away from the issue. He even mentioned it in a political flier.
"While I make no excuses for my actions, I feel it is important to note that I was granted a pardon for voting rights from the governor of Kentucky three years ago," Mr. Brooks wrote. "I look upon this experience as a significant lesson. It taught me a great deal about myself, and I feel that it ultimately made me a stronger and better person."
As mayor, Mr. Brooks said, he would transfer the management skills honed from running a small business to the operation of City Hall.
"From managing employees to watching the bottom line, the struggles of a small city government and a small business are very similar," he said.
Mr. Holloway, the seven-year mayor and a former 11-year Ludlow school board member, has said redevelopment of Ludlow's business district will be his priority, if re-elected.
"We feel that redevelopment will be coming our way, and we want to be ready for it," said Mr. Holloway, 65. He added the city is securing options on a downtown block bordered by Elm, Ash, Carneal and Locust streets that it hopes to redevelop as retail.
Both of Mr. Holloway's opponents criticized his record.
Mr. Stacy, 37, said the mayor could have done more to solicit other businesses after the town's IGA closed.
"After our local IGA closed, I feel (the mayor) was waiting for solicitations," Mr. Stacy said. "The city should have gone out and aggressively campaigned for someone to come into town, and not have waited for someone to approach us."
Mr. Holloway said that Mr. Stacy, as a council member, could have done more to address the issue.
"If he had questions about how fast we were moving, he should have said more," Mr. Holloway said. "We are checking things. We've got that block going. We're applying for grants and doing everything we can now."
Mr. Stacy said that he has successfully fought to eliminate wasteful expenditures from the city's budget, such as $10,000 proposed for a mayor's car. Unlike his opponents, the Ludlow native said, he owns no businesses or rental property in town, and he said he has no agenda, other than serving the city.
