The Cincinnati Enquirer
Our choices for City Council - - -

Supporters of Cecil Thomas - Celebrate - With You – This Endorsement - - -

The good news is that Cincinnati voters will have a substantial number of able City Council candidates to choose from on Nov. 6. The dilemma the Enquirer Editorial Board faced in deciding our 2007 endorsements was selecting the best nine-member council from the 25-candidate field.

Unlike in many previous terms, the current council members have worked well together during the past two years, keeping their bickering to a minimum and focusing on solutions, often in a nonpartisan way. In short, they've done what we and many Cincinnati voters asked them to do. The savvy, behind-the-scenes leadership style of Mayor/Chief Cat-Herder Mark Mallory gets some credit for that, too.

On the other hand, elective bodies can always benefit from the infusion of fresh ideas, added expertise and new energy - qualities many of the challengers possess in abundance.

Cecil Thomas, incumbent (D): Perhaps no other incumbent enjoys such widespread respect among his colleagues. A former police officer, Thomas is uniquely in touch with the community at the street level, skilled in bringing people together. After the 2001 riots, Thomas took a lead role in re-building trust between police and community, and he's been key in pulling together public safety programs. As Cranley said: "I don't know anybody who has had as much impact" on the success of crime reduction programs as Thomas.

Sunday, October 28, 2007