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One of the more intriguing
council races will be in District 4 between Yvonne Harper,
the incumbent, and challenger June Boyd, who returns again
to campaign for elected office.
While Harper garnered over
71 percent of the primary vote, expect to see fireworks on
the campaign trail as there is no love lost between the two
passionate politicians.
Whether the underdog Boyd,
a tireless local party regular for more than a half century,
can outpace the energetic Harper remains to be seen.
I was able to track Boyd
down to discuss her campaign and past experiences in Toledo.
Perryman:
Tell me a little bit about June Boyd. You have been around
in the community for as long as I can remember and you don’t
yet seem out of breath. Were you born in Toledo?
Boyd:
I was not. My mother brought me here from Georgia at the
age of two and our first residence was in the good old Brand
Whitlock Homes. In 1943 when I was eight years old, we
moved to City Park Avenue, directly across from what is now
Savage Park, and we were one of the first black families in
Lenk’s Hill or German Village as it was then called, other
than Dr. Edward Hart, who lived next door. We also lived
right across the street from what is now Dale Funeral Home.
Perryman:
Where did you go to school?
Boyd:
My first four years before I converted to Catholicism was
public schools, Washington and Roosevelt and I still have a
lot of good friends from there, but by the fourth grade I
had converted to Catholicism and I went downtown to St.
Francis De Sales because the old St. Patrick’s would not
take black children back then. I went on to high school at
St. Ursula Academy. In fact, I’m the first African American
to graduate from there in 1953.
Perryman:
You’ve also had some firsts with your work history, haven’t
you?
Boyd:
I have had a lot of firsts and its fun being a pioneer, but
the advantage is that when you’re paving the way for someone
you want to make sure you have a good path for them to
follow. Frances Belcher and her husband Dick, who owned the
black newspaper The Bronze Raven, were involved in local
politics and they kind of got me started. I was
volunteering for many of the candidates and I think my first
exposure with the Democratic Party was in 1958 helping
candidates, and by 1959 they got me a job in the Board of
County Commissioners, also a first. And it was a great
experience because I was then working for Ned Skeldon, who
was the President of the Board of Commissioners and that’s
probably where I learned so much about county government.
And it was also a period in Toledo where there were very few
black women even working in downtown Toledo, but gradually
in the later 50’s they started coming in like one woman at a
time.
I stayed there about six years and then left to go to the
Board of Elections and I worked there for eight years.
During this time Ned Skeldon, being probably one of the more
powerful men in the city, I was able to get a lot of jobs
for people in our community that weren’t previously
accessible, like positions in the Lucas County welfare
department because all those were under the umbrella of the
County Commissioners. Carol Rice became one of the first
black supervisors on the voting machines at the Board of
Elections and Janice Collins was the driver’s examiner. So,
I feel when you have these opportunities and that kind of
power, that we should be utilizing it. I don’t see that
happening much today, though.
Perryman:
Many people know that you and Edna Brown were the first two
African-American women to be elected to serve on Toledo City
Council and served together from 1993-1997, but what other
experiences have you had?
Boyd:
I passed the real estate exam in 1966, was quite successful
and I always worked that as a second job. I worked at the
Affirmative Action with Perlean Griffin and also Board of
Community Relations first with Burt Silverman. I was the
associate director there and did a lot in human relations
and anti-discrimination work.
Perryman:
Let’s talk about your campaign. I think you told me before
you were 80 years old, is that right?
Boyd:
No, I’m 84 and proud of it. My doctor says I look 64 and
health wise I did get a physical because I would not have
even attempted to become a candidate without getting a
physical. She says I have a heart of a 50-year-old.
Perryman:
Why, at this point in life when you’re 84, have had a long
career and could sit back and enjoy your children,
grandkids, great grandkids, why get into this now?
Boyd:
Probably, if I had not had to raise my great grandson, I
would not, but I’m running for him and all of these other
children who need better leadership because no one’s really
paying attention to their needs. If I were to be elected, I
would not run for a second term. I would be grooming another
young person to succeed me. But you’ve got to pave the way
for them because evidently, no one’s doing that right now
and someone’s got to do it.
Perryman:
What is your campaign’s platform?
Boyd:
Basically, this whole campaign is about leadership and
integrity and it means that you need the kind of leader that
can recognize the problems in the community, a lack of
economic development and we must stress working with the
schools, both parochial and public, on quality education,
and creating jobs. There are many adults around here who
graduated from school and they’re illiterate and then you
wonder why they can’t get any jobs, and not to mention the
drug problem, the homelessness, the abandonment and the fact
that people have gotten so beat down until they don’t have
any encouragement to do anything else.
Perryman:
So, what do you bring that no one else brings to the table?
Boyd:
Right now, a vision. A vision of what is not being done in
our community and I think if you look around you can see
it. Now, District 4 is the most unique out of all the six
districts. We’ve got our world-famous art museum on Monroe
Street. If you continue down Monroe, you come to ProMedica,
the Mudhens Stadium, the Walleye, you’ve got a lot of
economic development, lofts, new apartments surrounding
Uptown Toledo. But the heart of the central city sits right
in there and no one’s doing anything about it.
Perryman:
What are your strengths as a candidate?
Boyd:
Leadership and integrity with a no-nonsense approach. And,
you know, I don’t have to bully anybody to get anything
done, I can do it just by negotiating and bringing people
together. I just left George Mance Commons this afternoon
and those people are so glad for you to just come over and
talk to them. Some need a sense of direction and then there
are others that just want to follow and say well okay, let’s
get it done.
Perryman:
Can you provide our readers with specifics of your agenda
for the community?
Boyd:
Well, it’s a whole package. The first thing, I have a
question, what has happened to all of the CDC’s, the
Community Development Corporations? They’re all gone. And
you never hear of community development block grant funding
and that’s the reason we don’t have anything going on in the
central city. What happened to it? And that’s going to be
one of my first questions and first projects.
You see all these homes that they built and the people were
supposed to live in them 15 years and own them? There’s a
lot of controversy. Some of them say that now they’re
running into difficulty, but half of them are boarded up, so
what’s going to happen to those homes? Those are things that
we need to investigate and find out because they could
possibly be made into quality homes, but they could also be
stripped by the drug addicts. I don’t know for sure, but
there’s probably not a neighborhood in the heart of the
central city that doesn’t have several of those homes just
boarded up and abandoned. Why?
Perryman:
Do you have a vision to replace the CDC’s or for economic
development in the central city?
Boyd:
Yes, and the city should take some responsibility in doing
that. I’m familiar with the Department of Neighborhoods
somewhat, but I don’t know what their mission is right now
today, but I know what it should be. And of course, the
bottom line is to get into those agencies, work with them
and find out well let’s get moving and get these
neighborhoods cleaned up. They’ve torn down a lot of the
homes, but for the ones that are left at least try to
preserve them and make some decent housing for some people.
Even if the city had to take them over, at least it’d be a
tax base if they could sell them.
Perryman:
What is it about June Boyd and your campaign that you hope
will resonate among voters?
Boyd:
The one thing that I want you to remember is this campaign
is totally about leadership and integrity and that’s what
the community needs, that’s what our children need because
they deserve better than what they’re getting.
And, that I’m a proud mother of two children, a grandmother
to four, I have six great-grandchildren and I’m a fighter
and I’m looking to provide a better future not only for my
family, but for all of these little children that I spend
time with.
Perryman:
Thank you.
Boyd:
Thank you and you have a blessed day.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org |
