Friday, March 19, 1999
NAACP endorses direct election of mayor
Group concludes change would better serve city
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The NAACP has become the first major African-American organization to support the May 4 ballot issue for direct election of Cincinnati's mayor.
“Our organization strongly believes the current system is not serving the community,” said Norma Holt-Davis, who leads the Cincinnati branch's political action committee.
The endorsement by the executive board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was a boost for Coming Together for Cincinnati, the campaign committee pushing the ballot issue.
Two weeks ago, when supporters were successful in persuading city council to place the issue on the ballot, it was not clear whether the NAACP would support it, after being involved in the initial discussions of the charter reform plan.
Other African-American groups — such as the Baptist Ministers Conference, the Urban League and the Sentinel Police Association — have come out against the ballot issue.
The three African-American Democrats on city council — Tyrone Yates, Minette Cooper and Paul Booth — all oppose the plan, saying it would give too much power to the mayor at the expense of city council.
Under the plan, the directly elected mayor would not be a member of council but would have veto power over council legislation and appoint committee chairs.
Ms. Holt-Davis said the NAACP is not concerned about the powers given to the mayor. “It will create a stronger mayor, but council will still have a major role to play,” she said.
Other African-American political leaders have argued that the plan, with its nonpartisan primary for mayor, would make it more difficult for blacks to be elected mayor.
Ms. Holt-Davis said the NAACP “seriously studied” that argument and came to the conclusion that “we believe African-Americans have the voting strength to elect African-Americans, if people turn out and vote.”
African-Americans make up about 40 percent of the vote in the city.
The NAACP, along with the Democratic and Republican parties, was among the original organizers of Build Cincinnati, the group which put the ballot plan together.
NAACP officials had argued that the plan include a district election system for council. Ms. Holt-Davis said the idea was dropped because there wasn't widespread community support.
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