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One of the drawbacks of
our two-party electoral system is that it often sorts
candidate selection preferences into one of two camps based
solely on “political identification rather than substantive
analyses of policy issues.”
We have, in fact, “the
Demopublicans,” decried one labor leader, describing the
political ideology that the two major parties often hold in
common. The truth is that both parties disappoint and either
party can provide tangible outcomes, provided that one
climbs, early, aboard the bus that is “traveling in the
right direction necessary to arrive at its intended
destination.”
I caught up with Sandy
Spang at Plate One, her dap, new downtown coffee shop to
discuss her policy views as she begins her campaign as a
candidate for the Board of Lucas County Commissioners. This
is the finale of our two-part conversation.
Perryman:
Councilwoman, we’ve talked previously about the regional
water issue and the proposed new jail site. I’d like to
delve a little more deeply into your candidacy to join the
Lucas County Board of Commissioners.
Spang:
So here’s probably the most surprising. I don’t think that
my opponent Gary Byers has built relationships in the black
community, while Councilwoman Yvonne Harper and I have such
an interesting relationship. I think grudging respect under
her is how I would characterize it. She sometimes tells
people about herself, ‘I’m starting to sound like Sandy
Spang.’
I’ll tell you what it is.
She’s not afraid to at least listen to what I’m saying
because she knows that I do my homework and she says people
have asked her, “How can that little goody two-shoes stand
toe to toe with the likes of Pete Gerken?” And she says to
them, “Oh you so don’t know her the way I know her.” I
thought that was fun.
But you know I’m not
running to be obstructionist, I’m running to work with
Gerken and Skeldon Wozniak. I look for creative solutions
and I think that relationship will be good because that’s
the way I intend it to be. Look at where I’ve had to be on
council. I’ve been the minority before. I am a minority on
city council. I am one stand-alone person and yet I’ve been
able to get a lot of stuff done and so I think that’s the
key.
I don’t think Tina, Pete
and I are going to have different goals. I don’t think
there’s one issue on which we’re going to have different
goals. So that’s the way I’m approaching it.
Perryman:
Who are some of those who have been reaching out to you in
support of your candidacy?
Spang:
Folks from Maumee, for instance. Folks in western Lucas
County still have something stuck in their craw with Gary
(Byers). He really ticked off Maumee City Council and the
entire western Lucas County corridor, and it wasn’t just
over this latest thing about the water. He sued them for
not funding his court as much as he wanted and he shunned
transparency. So, I think that he’s going to have a hard
time in the western part of the county. I’ve got some
obstacles too. Somebody told me Republican Kevin Haddad had
everybody rumbling around that apparently he believes Mary
Taylor is begging him to run as an independent for
commissioner. I’ve been in those big races where you’ve got
four or five people running and that’s not helpful. John
Stainbrook, by running somebody else named Sandy and that
certainly was no mistake. Remember when he ran Mark Wagner
against Mark Wagoner? You never saw the guy, you never
needed to, it was the name confusion, and he never calls her
by her last name, everything he says is Sandy this and Sandy
that, so thank you very much John Stainbrook. So this is
going to be, I think, a very winnable race for me.
Perryman:
What is your opponent’s message?
Spang:
Byers’ message seems to be that he brings valuable criminal
justice reform expertise to continue Carol Contrada’s
legacy. So I actually did a little investigating and he was
on the committee as the representative of the suburban
cities, but they complain that they had to drag him kicking
and screaming because he represented Maumee and Sylvania and
a different point of view.
Perryman:
If Byers is framing his candidacy as a continuation of
Carol’s work or as a “criminal justice expert,” what is your
message?
Spang:
That criminal justice is important. The MacArthur grant has
been so important to our beginning to reform the way
that we view prisoners and there’s been real progress made
and I want to see that continue, but that is only
1-dimensional. There is so much more to the work of the
county. That $600 million budget focuses on many other
things. Workforce development, which is so critical to
changing lives, employment is critical to changing lives.
The budget is also critical to economic development. The
county has so much more juice (than the city) when it comes
to economic development.
So much of that money
flows from the state. Community health, the county has so
much involvement in community health. The environment
sustainability and helping Lake Erie is also a major piece.
These are the broad issues and I’m prepared. I’m ready and
I’ll always be first on the issues.
Perryman:
So can you crystalize your message for our readers?
Spang:
So, to speak of who I am, I have idealistic goals, but
pragmatic methods. So that’s my work piece, people know
that. I do my homework, I do the research, I have the lofty
goals, but I want to get the job done, I want to see
results, and so that’s my style.
Perryman:
Let me ask it like this. What is your vision for Lucas
County?
Spang:
Well, without a doubt, it is “Inclusive Growth.” It is
always a good thing when we can start to blur borders and
bring or take things in different directions.
Perryman:
Before I let you go, can we talk about the proposed youth
curfew legislation that’s being talked about?
Spang:
Okay, so my gut reaction to this is that I think this is
really restrictive on young people that are not doing
anything they shouldn’t be doing. It felt to me as if the
legislation’s sponsor may have had some bad press and he
pulled a Trump. When you’ve got bad press, come out with
something outrageous, get everybody to look in another
direction and I felt like that was what it was. And, he was
just a few days out of a bad situation and he’s calling for
curfew. What do you think?
Perryman:
I have never been a fan of punishing children in order to
get them to conform to adults’ beliefs. I’ve always felt
like that is a tool of domination. It certainly is not
effective in this era of youth nihilism or hopelessness
where many behavior problems are the outcomes of boredom
resulting from demands to conform. I think that more
opportunities to allow young people to express their
creativity and giftedness would be more effective. But
also, you already know who’s going to be targeted or
overrepresented among the people who are picked up.
Spang:
Kids out in the community doing stuff, especially 16 and 17
year olds. I had freedom at that age. We were doing
positive things.
Perryman:
Right, but my concern is that they’re going to pick up young
black kids for minor nonviolent offenses and that’s going to
have needless negative consequences for their futures.
Spang:
And then the whole thing, it’s also going to come down hard
on the parents. There’s an extra thing in there about the
parents. I can’t see any way that it’s going to make any
real difference in young lives, because you know what? That
gun-packing kid, he is not going to honor the curfew.
Perryman:
Any final thoughts on your campaign that you would like to
leave with our readers?
Spang:
I told my team, I said ‘I want to work very hard in the
African-American community because I don’t know that a white
judge from Maumee can fill the bill. Yes, he’s going to
have that D besides his name, but I don’t know if he’s going
to resonate.
He knows that his
relationship with the African-American community is not
strong. So let’s talk about that. I have done reasonably
well as a council candidate when people could choose 6
people. I’ve done reasonably well in center city
neighborhoods. As a matter of fact, surprisingly well.
Perryman:
A lot of people will choose, perhaps, based upon the D
label. But I think the name Spang might provide even more
name recognition.
Spang:
Well, Jack Ford…before he died, he had a lot of interest in
me. I think I amused him, and he said ‘we’re going to get
you out to the African-American communities,’ but the thing
is, I always go when I’m invited and I always want to be
respectful.
I really want this
commissioner’s position. It is a fit for me. It is the
right fit for me. I am excited about this work. I want
to do this work. So, and I need guidance, but we think that
there is opportunity for me to continue to build upon a
strong vote and following within the African-American
community.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
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