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Franklin, Graham vie for Warren mayor
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Doug Franklin
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Jim Graham
WARREN MAYOR RACE
Two candidates are running in the May 3 Democratic primary for mayor to replace Michael O’Brien, who is not seeking re-election.
DOUG FRANKLIN
Age: 54.
Home: 1064 Homewood Ave., S.E.
Education: Graduate of Warren Western Reserve High School and Kent State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science/American government.
Employment: Warren director of public service and safety since Jan. 1, 2004.
Family: three sons, Jelani, Jamel and Deen.
Priority: Safety and affordable delivery of quality city services, job retention and creation, neighborhood redevelopment.
JIM GRAHAM
Age: 63.
Home: 2160 Hollywood Street N.E.
Education: Graduate of Warren Harding High School and Youngstown State University with a bachelor’s degree in industrial management.
Employment: President of Local 1112 of the United Auto Workers union at General Motors Lordstown.
Family: wife, Nitsa, one son, Nick.
Priority: safety — lower crime and protect the citizens; promotion — bring in new business and grow the existing ones in order to increase city revenue; image — implement short, intermediate and long-term development strategies.
using information from the Poggemeyer study.
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Doug Franklin has been on the front lines of Warren’s economic battlefront for more than seven years as the city’s safety-service director, the mayor’s top assistant.
Times have been tough in Warren over that time, and it has put Franklin in a position to defend the steps the city administration has taken to cope with the loss of income-tax revenue and a resulting loss of police officers and firefighters.
The criticism has come mainly from his opponent in the May 3 Democratic primary for Warren mayor, Jim Graham, president of Local 1112 of the United Auto Workers union.
There is no Republican running.
Graham notes that he’s not running against Mayor Michael O’Brien, who chose not to run for re-election, but Franklin shares responsibility with O’Brien for what Graham says is a loss in the city’s positive image of itself.
Graham has repeatedly said one of his jobs as mayor would be to “clean up the city” of crime and of blight and that he knows how to get back the “swagger” that Warren once had.
Franklin says Graham, who has never run for political office, gives simplistic explanations for difficult problems — such as how to cope with the loss of millions in Delphi Packard Electric income taxes — and shows his “lack of knowledge of the facts” when he criticizes the current administration.
For instance, Graham has said the improvement in the city’s bond rating last year did not indicate the city improved its financial health.
Franklin, however, says the city would not have gotten an improved bond rating “if we would have operated in the red,” so “I think it deserves some credit.”
Franklin said he’s not saying the city has done everything it can to deal with its problems.
“I’m not going to defend the status quo, because I’m not about the status quo,” Franklin said. “We must come to the reality that we’re a shrinking city. We have to look at ways to address blight.”
The city had 70,000 residents 30 years ago and has about 41,000 now, Franklin noted.
“My opponent always talks about how dirty the city is, but I’ll say this, I walk the walk. I don’t just say how dirty it is. I got out and cleaned it up,” Franklin said.
In recent weeks, Graham has focused on his plan to encourage business investment in Warren, describing a process whereby several unnamed businessmen would help him market the city to other businessmen.
Graham said the city currently has “inspectors” who have “discouraged seven businesses from coming in” to Warren.
He declined to identify the city department involved but said “I know that these people will be held accountable.”
Franklin has touted the administration’s ability to save $1.5 million in the past 18 months as a result of concessionary contracts approved by the city’s unions.
Graham said he agrees that the negotiations were successful but the workers “are not dumb” and “understand if the city prospers, they prosper.”