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Who Will You
Vote for in the November 2015 Election?
By Jay Black, President of the Toledo African American
Chamber of Commerce
Guest Column
TAACC Mission Statement
The Toledo African American Chamber of Commerce (TAACC)
advocates and promotes the economic growth and development
of African American owned businesses by focusing on the
development of business opportunities, business alliances,
job creation in our community, and legislative advocacy.
As we approach Election Day I encourage all of you to vote.
It is important for the African-American community to show
up for every election and vote our interest. Listed below
are some practical items that may help you decide who or
what you support on Election Day:
Is election season the
only time you see the political candidate or levy sponsor?
Our community has let politicians and levy sponsors get away
with this one for a long time. We need to be smarter and
stop allowing this practice. One way to stop this practice
is to vote against politicians and levy sponsors who utilize
this strategy.
Did the candidates or levy
sponsors keep the promises they made to our community from
the last election? If they did we should consider voting for
them this time. If they did not we should not vote for them.
What are the
candidates’/levy sponsors’ records for creating jobs in our
community? If their records are good, good. If their
records are not good we should not vote for them.
Did they use their
authority and/or political influence to create procurement
opportunities for black businesses? Very few politicians and
levy sponsors have a good track record on this one. In fact,
one City Council At Large candidate actually worked against
a local black business in favor of out-of-town interests
during her tenure on the Toledo Board of Education. We
should stop voting for people and institutions that do not
support our businesses with their economic resources.
Do you plan to vote for a
candidate just because they are a Democrat or Republican?
We hear this one all the time. Many local Democrats trip
all over themselves to curry favor with the unions. They
will do whatever the union bosses tell them to do. These
same Democrats have a dismal record when it’s time to step
up and represent our interests.
We need to send a clear
message that we expect similar treatment. Many of our folks
have no clue what the platform is of candidates/levy
sponsors. We need to take the time to gather the information
that will help us make informed decisions. Demand that both
Democrats and Republicans represent our interests. If they
don’t or won’t, don’t vote for them. Better yet,
stop voting for anyone who doesn’t have a proven track
record of representing your interest.
Are you planning to vote
for a candidate simply because he or she is African
American? Again, we need to be smarter than this. If
candidates won’t use their influence and authority to help
create jobs in our community and allow your business to have
equal access to their agencies’ contracts, you should not
vote for them. The color of the candidate does not matter if
he or she is not representing our community’s interest.
The same African-American
At Large City Council candidate mentioned earlier voted to
terminate an African-American administrator’s employment
with Toledo Public Schools in spite of an independent
referee’s (who the district agreed should review the case)
report that stated that the employee’s termination was not
warranted.
This same person sided
with the white colleagues on the board to block a fellow
African-American board member from becoming vice president
of the board. The point is, a candidate’s color should not
be the sole determinate whether we vote for them or not. A
track record of representing our community’s interest should
be the most important factor.
Please vote on Election
Day and make your vote count for our community. Also, we
will be publishing the Toledo Zoo’s Scorecard Summary very
soon. Look for it. |
