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Franklin declares candidacy for mayor
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Doug Franklin
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Obrien Mike - submitted by mike obrien mayor of warren 2008
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Jim Graham
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Dan Sferra
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Doug Franklin stressed his experience above all else in announcing Monday that he’ll seek the Democratic nomination for mayor.
“Our city is facing the worst economic times since the Great Depression. There has never been a time where experience in dealing with these challenges is more vital,” Franklin said.
Franklin, who has served as safety-service director under Mayor Michael O’Brien for seven years and was a city council member 14 years before that, mentioned that he’s worked with and under three different mayors during that time. O’Brien said he would not seek re-election.
“I have watched as mayors dealt with the challenges a community our size faces on a daily basis,” he said.
Many of his other remarks, delivered at the Comfort Inn on North Park Avenue downtown, focused on his belief that a mayor “should never have a big ego.”
Franklin, who started out by thanking his mother, son, brothers and sisters, fiance and her son, said mayors who are successful “learn very early that the job of mayor is to uplift everyone so that they can work harder. His only special interests are, and should be, the families of Warren.”
Franklin said, “We can achieve anything if we don’t care who gets the credit, and a great mayor knows that the city cannot be a good place for any of us until it is a good place for all of us.”
Franklin becomes the second person to announce his intent to run for mayor; Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112 at General Motors Lordstown, announced his plans to run last week. Former mayor Dan Sferra, now an at-large councilman, said he’s considering a run also.
Because observers said Franklin would be the city’s first black mayor and because a large percentage of those attending the announcement were black, it was hard not to see some similarities between Franklin and the campaign three years ago of President Barack Obama.
But Franklin said, “Any comparisons are just coincidental,” adding, “I believe I have my own vision, and I’ll be able to communicate that during the campaign.”
Franklin said O’Brien was “a great mayor,” and the city performed “fairly well” during the last couple of years despite 20 percent less money to spend while continuing to deliver essential services, “but I think we can do better.”
Franklin’s mother, Lena Franklin, said after her son’s announcement that she’d be “overwhelmed” if he became mayor, “but I know he could do it. He’s always been a son who cares about people.”
Councilman Bob Dean, who said he would only seek the mayor’s job if Franklin did not, said a Warren voter should “put all the resumes side by side” of the candidates. “Who do you want to hire? He has a track record,” he said of Franklin, who also worked 25 years at GM Lordstown before becoming safety service director.
Margaret Chiarella of Warren said she supports Franklin because of “His mother, his family, the best. Good character. We’ve known his family for years.”
Added her husband, Dr. David Chiarella, “He’s honest and he’s real. He’s a person who understands people, especially in these troubled times.”
Said Ralph DePietro of Warren, “I think he’s going to be fair, no matter whether white or black, and that’s important.”