MANSFIELD: Going Off Message

Mayor Frank Jackson, whose laconic style of delivery is legendary, is at his absolute best when he goes off script and speaks from his heart. The best line in his State of the City address came when he was discussing funding for education.

Everyone knows that proponents of regionalism constantly tout the benefits of putting Cleveland’s “Crown Jewels” — the airport, the water department and control of the ports — under a broader, county-wide authority, but the stumbling block to such talks always comes down to schools and safety forces. The conversation, while unspoken, goes something like: “Clevelanders, give us all of your assets but keep your liabilities.” Which is just not going to happen, not under this mayor or any other.

But Frank Jackson did hold out a solution in his speech. In effect he said that whenever talks about equalizing funding for schools on an area-wide basis comes up he’s told how difficult and complicated that would be to pull off. He said, (again, I’m paraphrasing) that’s it’s not difficult at all… just pretend they are your children. Simple. Powerful. To the point. “Just pretend they are your children.”

The Cost of Justice

Anyone really concerned about opulence in publicly-financed buildings should go back and scope out the almost 10-year-old Federal Courthouse which sits on Huron and Superior. The yet-to-be-opened but already controversial juvenile facility (which now seems to have built itself since no one can be found in the entire county who remembers signing off on anything) can’t hold a candle to the federal palace when it comes to extravagance. Excuse me, but wasn’t it also built with taxpayer dollars? Where was the media outrage then?

Why wasn’t there any public uproar? Could it be that the new Juvenile Court building will almost exclusively serve clients and families of color, and happens to be located on 93rd and Quincy Avenue, in the heart of a minority community… is that the real problem? Hey, I’m jus’ askin’.

52 years?

No one would argue against the fact that former Cleveland police officer Robert Bonness is as twisted as a pretzel. He not only collected child porn, but he attempted to set up a sexual tryst with a 12-year-old child. He certainly deserves to go to prison… but for 52 years?

The collective criminal justice system — police, prosecutors and judges — knows full-well that no one will argue for a sane, fair sentence for a sick puppy like Bonness, so they feel free to shoot the moon… play to public outrage… and in the end make a mockery of the system they represent. There’s supposed to be parity in sentencing, and others who have committed similar crimes of soliciting (Bonness never actually touched a child, mind you) have been sentenced to far, far less time.

The case can be made that Bonness, due to his background in law enforcement, should be held to a higher standard… but again, 52 years? If this sentence is allowed to stand, our kids and grandkids will be paying their hard-earned tax dollars for a 80, 90, and perhaps a 100-year-old (probably infirmed and therefore more expensive to house) prisoner to be kept behind bars. This is not only foolish, but costly. The problem is, when the system is allowed to run amok like this, no one knows who’ll be next.

Violating Judicial Canons?

Some folks are saying a candidate for Municipal Judge (her name rhymes with “bar”) is creeping very close to violating judicial canons by telling folks in open meetings that she is on the team that is prosecuting Anthony Sowell. They posit that either she doesn’t know any better (which makes her a scary candidate) or she thinks she is above the law because she works for Bill Mason (which makes her an even scarier candidate). Also, it’s alleged that she is sometimes being accompanied to meetings by the Muny Court jury commissioner — who supposedly wants to be her bailiff… if and when she gets elected. Obviously they didn’t get the memo that this kind of political incestuous behavior is no longer acceptable hereabouts.

From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://www.neighborhoodsolutionsinc.com.