The Rise of Maple Heights: A Mayor Blackwell Journey
00:00:00 but in the beginning he was there and and I saw that statistic and that was one of the reasons why I was like oh it’s time for you to come on and live with me can’t be one of those STIs right all right we gonna get to a couple of speed round questions okay you ready I’m ready what do you think is the most challenging issue fac in Maple heists and how you want to address that poverty about a 23% poverty rate out of that poverty rate become so many subsets of problems that plague cities right lack of we have a lot of food banks but nutritious food that keeps them healthy food
00:00:35 that makes them feel good and good nourishment which nourishes the brain and the Soul also insecure housing they move a lot so there’s a huge transient population rent on the east side for a three bed room one and a half bath is about $900 to ,000 you come to the west side which a more of a fluent as we back up towards Valley View Bedford and garfo Heights it’s going to cost you 1100 if the medium income is less than 50,000 more than half of your income is going towards rent which is why these moms have to work two and three jobs this is strateg M with K hey what’s up everybody
00:01:11 you tuned in to another episode of strategic moves I’m your host K this is a place where we bring art culture politics and business all together and we do it every week right here on this channel but when I’m not shooting this podcast I am the owner of strategic resources Consulting where we specialize in political campaigns government and public relations been doing it for over 25 years right here in this state and I want to make your next move a strategic move so this program gives me an opportunity to do just that I bring on people who I have met over the years we come in we
00:01:42 sit down we talk about our experiences and maybe just maybe something you’ll get out of it that’ll help you in your business or your personal life if this sound like something that you be interested in all I need you to do is hit the like button hit the Subscribe button and the notification Bell as well so you know next time prog we’re going to get started today because we got a good friend of mine coming right into the program today and she’s is a mayor right here in the city of oh not in this city in the county of kyoga County she has her own City that she’s the mayor of we’re
00:02:16 gonna talk a little bit about what she does for a living and what she’s doing to help progress her city alone also before I get started I want to give a shout out to the best podcast producer in the business and that’s none other than DJ true what’s happening fellas what’s going on Ken everything’s going you ready every day’s a holiday man we trying to get it in I’m ready I’m ready I’m ready man it’s a good day is early we shooting the podcast earlier today we usually shoot in the evening but we do made an exception today for a friend of mine so we’re GNA get to it you got
00:02:47 anything you want to add before we get started yeah since we got a a big time mayor coming into the show I definitely want to know what are these cities doing about these kids going around trying to get in people people’s cars because I had a I just had a bad experience with that okay so see what’s going on with the with the youth out here because it’s been a lot not in just any particular City but just in just in general yeah from parking garages to people coming in people’s driveways seeing if your car is unlocked and a lot of people which was so crazy in this particular incident
00:03:30 this person left pretty much all his identity from bank cards to IDs to everything in his car but it was in a secret compartment but so they didn’t find it so a lot of people leave a lot of stuff in their cars from ID to money to weapons so if you have all that in your car I just would suggest lock your car I suggest you don’t leave all that stuff in your car first of all you’re not supposed to leave any weapon in your car at any time your weapon the reason why you have it is supposed to be on you and if you don’t have it on you you not supposed to have it so leaving it in your
00:04:05 car which is one of the largest reasons why most of these kids are getting weapons now where they are breaking in the cars and when they get in there they get in the jackpot like you say they getting there you getting your IDs you getting your wallets you’re getting your computer stuff you getting their weapons so I think the very first thing and I answered that for her but I imagine that’s what she would say is why would you leave all of that stuff in your car I I saw a guy and we GNA get right to it I saw a guy the other day I went me and Ivonne went down
00:04:35 to the flats to get something to eat and I saw a guy pull up in one of those Jeeps that had the tops off and all four doors off on his Jeep he pulled up got out his car park that thing just as big as day and walk down the street and I said you know what obviously he ain’t got nothing in that jeep yeah I mean obvious usually anybody that we that’s driving a convertible yeah or D in you know a Jeep or anything where you could lift the top off they not leaving anything in that and everybody do leave something in it they got secret compartments they got they locking their stuff up
00:05:13 because anything in plain sight is vulnerable so it’s the same thing so let’s get started let’s get started today we have none other than she is the mayor of the city of Maple Heights she is the first African-American woman also to become mayor of such a city City out there and she’s been doing a great job out there she’s one of the people I believe have a bright future here in our County and we going to probably hear a lot more from her in the future so without further Ado everybody let’s give a warm welcome to none other than mayor Annette lawell to our program May how
00:05:47 you doing I’m good and thank you for having me you know you’re welcome to come on our program we like to have you it’s always an honor though to be invited you got a lot going on in your city you’ve been doing a lot in our community for a while so it’s a pleasure to have you on thank you thank you for that so I want you to give everybody because what we do in our programs we always give everybody a little opportunity to give us some background so most of you politicians y’all got y’all Spiel in your’ back pocket there give us your two minutes who is mayor black I’ve never
00:06:18 been asked to give a two- minute spill because I I I I just speak from whatever the topic is or what the question I try to be very direct but now that you’ve asked me to pair it down in two minutes I would say I am a business professional who chose to see what I could do to serve my city to make a difference to give people a return in their investment and improve the quality of life no I wanted too manye of your background where you came from I know you came you’re not from here you from Alabama I from Alabama yeah you’re from Alabama I want to know Mom Dad brother sister give person
00:06:53 I want the two minutes feel of the background I am here as a child of the second migration I came to Ohio the north as to still calling as if there’s two different countries two yeah south and north but it’s one United Country but I am from a place called Orville Alabama which is a suburb of Selma Alabama everybody knows Selma because of the movie yeah it is birth of a great deal of Pride and civil rights and fighting for equal equality and justice an area of a great deal of Oppression and poverty but I came here as a two-year-old as my dad moved from Alabama
00:07:31 leaving us behind to find a better life in Ohio okay like our immigrants he had a friend here say like a sponsorship we don’t call it that way where is someone in the north that can take care of me and help me show the ROP so his best friend from high school had moved to Cleveland and he came to get a job and then after he got an apartment and a job he came back to get my sister and I so I came here as a two-year-old and been here ever since wow my mother after my parents divorce right out
00:07:57 of high school in 1981 she moved back to South and she lives in Mobile Alabama which is about two hours south of Selma right on the border of the Gulf of Mexico that’s Gulf Shores right there orange beach two hours from New Orleans and by an hour from Pensacola that’s where mobile is so you and your sister yes I have one sister she lives in Warrenville Heights she lives in Warrenville so you guys stayed yes we stayed and so you what high school and stuff you went to I went to vangela Academy which is now vangela St Joe’s St Jo oh so you went to VA I went to
00:08:30 oh okay that’s excellent then what’ you do after high school I got married after high school I got married as a 20-year- old really yes I so you made your husband at my husband worked for a company called Mir okay so my girlfriend was modeling for oh you know what you said it flash me back cuz I said oh but then I really remember who there was they were very popular they were known for the Jerry two in one Cur my father-in-law my late father-in-law who has passed on about six salons okay uh Mir under mirr and they were jumping and so I learned how to neutralize and blow dry the
00:09:04 first two weeks of the month because people were lining up for $39.95 curl they were competing with another provider not in East Cleveland that was charging 125 for curls wow and so there was a initiative to make curls affordable for everybody now I have never had a Jerry curl really all that you put in I could have got the product free right I have never had a curl but very successful business but my girlfriend was modeling and I we were sharing a car my girlfriend from high school was still best friends and I would go pick her up practice modeling and the man that became my
00:09:39 husband was just picking at me because he didn’t know me nobody knew who’s this girl she’s not a model so they always look for who’s new right okay and five years older than me and just was very impressive right the family had some things going on and so it took him about three or four months I thought okay maybe I should give him a shot my boyfriend at the time was in the Navy okay so I was unattached okay but every time I said no he made he made more grander gestures and I finally made difficult he made it difficult to keep saying no So I Married him excellent I married him like a
00:10:12 year later excellent how long y’all been married he died he he’s he’s my ex-husband that’s in my mind I didn’t want to say that but in my mind I was thinking I remember hearing you tell this story before and that’s what I was thinking so it he got lung cancer after our divorce he moved he’s from Pittsburgh after uh our divorce he moved back to Pittsburgh to take care of his mom okay so y’all were married for a little while then you divorced married 14 years really two beautiful sons two sons out of that marriage we moved back to Pittsburgh CH her’s mom who had gotten lung
00:10:41 cancer spread to her breast wow and then years later he ended up having a spot on his brain which said was not malignant but maybe two year in two years it had spread all over his body and he died so I buried him um help bear him with his with my their my sons are children about six years ago wow yeah so how many children you have three you have three two boys and a girl two boys and a girl excellent yeah and so you got well we gonna get to the new marage so after that what did you do um I
00:11:12 got a question what did I do what you got before you move on what happened to the boyfriend in the Navy he cheated on me he cheated on me with somebody from Guam oh wow and I as I picked him up from the airport he was taking a shower I thought I’d be a great girlfriend and unpack his bags did you go no there wasen some phones back then I unpack I unpacked his bags while he was in the shower to get things situated I’m just those org organized NE person and in the bag were pictures of him and his girlfriend and Guam on lying on a car that he had bought and I go we
00:11:48 survived that the trust had been broken I had been very loyal girlfriend writing letters and taking phone calls at 3:00 on Sunday when he called and I thought I don’t know this is the best best move so I had another boyfriend but that didn’t quite work out but this guy was older successful and he just brought out the whole show right I worked at The Limited part of time at Severance and I worked at at a merit trust okay which is now Metropolitan 9 and so I had saved all these checks from The
00:12:21 Limited because I lived I lived at home so I just would throw those checks in the doorland out of my miror trust check I was a safe deposit Clerk and I my mom had promised I could use the car to go shopping was all the girls would go shopping because they said I had to cash these checks before they became void right because after 45 days like they’re no good and then my mother decided she wasn’t gonna let me use the car and he was he kept calling me I said what do you want this is the mirr mirror guy and he says I just want to take you out I said no I’m trying to do
00:12:49 something with my friends and I’m just really not in the mood I’m trying to go shopping my mother want let used the car he said that can be solved he went to the airport and rented me a brand new car gave me some American Express card and said you can cash a check so they don’t but you put everything in the American Express card I’ll pick up the car on Sunday wow but that’s impressive I like H okay that was it that that that Mir Money was big back if you don’t know you just don’t know how big that Mir Money was back in the day that so and that was all like community and
00:13:25 I’m 18 years old that’s why G me a brand new car in an American black guy has an Express car right exactly no that was so didn’t call me and say where’s the car wow he called me about 9 o’clock he said whatever you doing we gotta get this car back to the airport by midnight so wrap it up wow I’m thinking oh this is gonna be easy I can just get what I want like this that was cool yeah it was very cool that was great so what did you do after did you go to college I did not go to college right away no because I was pregnant when I got married I got preg and I was Catholic
00:14:00 okay and I had worked I went to St F 82 and S there I know that during high school I had worked in the rectory for father Gallagher okay it was a good Catholic girl went to Villa Angela I went to mass all the time and you’re supposed to get married when you get pregnant that’s correct so I was pregnant D okay and so I don’t know if I really wanted to get married but he said I want to get married he had the gentleman that I ended up being with here had been with young Wy for many years who didn’t want children she didn’t want she was very career he didn’t want children so idea of
00:14:29 me getting pregnant was perfect I was 19 and he was 24 let’s have a baby his brother’s had babies his father at the time when the more and the swoop family and more workers you have have a that’s right you know she’s not a model nobody knows her she’s a perfect wife she goes to mass let’s have this baby I have to get married so we got to go to Father Galer and admit that I’m married and C you go through the classes and agree to have the Beres of baby cathol can have a Catholic wedding so had a big Catholic wedding 82nd in St clar St FL married a non Catholic I grew I grew up in that
00:15:07 neighborhood over there anel Road St vas and all that I spent a lot of time up in St so I was a mom and got a job at AER trust okay and was a safe deposit Clerk and stayed at the bank for about eight years and Banking and I worked at the family business the salons and first second Saturdays people have their check we got a bunch of people and I worked in the store selling product okay so that’s what I did wow so what made the transition into getting into I know you got into accounting which is your big thing yes so how did you make that transition into that opportunity just finds
00:15:44 me and I call it favor I call it God ordering my steps and that’s just my faith and just what I was grounded in my dad was a minister he was a minister he worked at for won Hills but he also preached most people from s Alabama preach you got about four or five uncles that preach and go to church all day there’s a morning bench and I just grew up in a very religious uh environment okay churches everything and so when I became Catholic it was just my way of rebelling really I went to Catholic school I didn’t want to be in church all day I saw because you go at 8 o00 you get home
00:16:22 you go to everybody’s Revival everybody’s Church three four days a week yes when you finish this revival there’s one across the bay there’s one over in five point there’s one over in this part of Alabama you just go to church all the time it’s just church out and then you get behind and you see the hypocrisy yeah I’m thinking this can’t be true you know I got an uncle that’s got a wife and two other women in the church and you got to make them chicken and you know when the pastor comes you got to roll out the red carpet these imperfect people right right right I can’t do this so I’m
00:16:54 gonna find a perfect religion so I thought so I grew up in the gville area on Thornhill Drive you grew up in our neighborhood yeah 7:35 D she’s from Glenville from Glenville you know what supposed to happen when we get folks in here he’s trying to figure that out between I’m not a TBL by and the reason we didn’t go to public school I went to Captain Arthur Roth for elementary school but my sister was got jumped every day by the Watkin sisters there’s five Watkin sisters my sister’s light skinn and even at 10 years old she has one of them boom boom bodies and when you’re cute and
00:17:33 got a they don’t like you so what do they do they beat you up I was tall and skinny and didn’t have all that g up but she did and so they de said they’re gonna beat her up wow and so the rule was if one sister fights everybody fight and I’m the oldest I was a good girl captain of the guards teachers pet and here she’s out fighting like yeah come get your sister the walking sisters our hair was over here but we’d go back to back and we we would fight five girls and we didn’t go down wow okay okay we didn’t go down okay all right so I learned how to fight but my mother at
00:18:03 the time worked at society which is now Key Tower she work there and 3 o’clock the phone rings to make sure you’re in laty kids you you in the house and you’re safe and we out of breath because we fought the W sisters we fight them and a we run home close the door and she said I can’t take it anymore for me when I got to seventh grade she I’m G send you to Patrick hen because Patrick H is right now really on the same side of the street I live on that side of the street I can’t go through it and my sister’s sixth grade I’m going to find somewhere I’m putting you guys in Catholic
00:18:33 school so we went not because we weren’t good in gr education just trying to get rid of from the Watkin sister we were going to be their target it was almost every day and there was a young guy that just harassed me all the time he would cut my socks he’ pull my hair it was just drama I can’t take it because I was old I got to pick to school and I said I don’t know so I supposed to go to St alicias because St alicias is the closest correct I don’t know I just didn’t choose stas we were riding down the street and I saw s and I like the I’m moved by experience it was just
00:19:07 something about St F nerai being so close to the lake in the park right there I said I want to go to that school she said what do you nice I I just think I want to go there went for the orientation fell in love with it and it took sixth graders because it’s K right through eight and so my sister could go there sixth grade I can take care of her right right and I went to seventh grade so we ended up going to C Catholic School A Philip near you they was been right there off of lakes Shore no 82 in St Clair St not Philip Villa Angela vill Angela in Lake Angela the high school
00:19:38 was down there they changed it though didn’t they it’s it’s a library now and vangela merged with st josephville St because Catholics have lost School enrollment so it’s coet now when I went it was all girls it’s coet now so how did you get into accounting so I got the job at the bank and marit Trust was sold it was we had moved from Kei tower out to tetan the operation center right behind Cracker Barrel um because the rent had become so much per square foot and they’re just like they kind of doing Justice Center they look at that Prime real estate what else can we do
00:20:16 what’s the appraisal term what’s the highest and best use a bank or more they needed more hotels more convention space that was always as they were reenvisioning downtown 25 years ago right so they move operations out to tan and sold it and so for a while it was Wells Fargo and then they brought so it part of it to society which became Key Bank and then there was star bank and then there was what is it uh US bank now all of these radiation so I was working for three vice presidents the vice presidents of installment lending is student loan lending indirect lending which means you can
00:20:52 go to Ganley and get your car loan but it’s really a maror trust funding it and then installment lending you want to borrow 25,000 since I worked for 3 VPS were all let go they were all let go when it was purchased and so the new admin the new uh VPS they brought in from San Francisco loved me it was a high-profile job I am Dr nakam assistant right right I just do huge events for him he lived in Hunting Valley so I did a big uh employee picnic I worked with all the vendors I just had it great a huge bonus he would take care of me and I’m like I’m not leaving Dr nakam overa she said
00:21:29 the world’s bigger do you know what deoy before you turn it down he said I’m not interested she said do me a favor just go on the interview I had just went through this remember with leaving the hosp leaving the bank said here’s another just go on the interview I go in the interview I walk into ly Key Tower it is Big Business everybody has on white shirts the professional casual everybody’s white they all got laptops they’ve got a view of Public Square it’s super quiet it doesn’t have the excitement of the hospital I’m like I I want to work here and so two days later I got the job I
00:22:02 turned the job down I don’t want this job but her husband was partner which to me his owner and he said you just hire I just went through the process and the HR Director said how did you get here because you don’t get to deoe unless you are from a certain zipco C she kept trying to figure it out not knowing that the nurse’s husband was a partner had said you interview her so willingly she makes me this offer but was exactly what I was making I just sit in a cube I had my own office want why would I sit in a cube ster white I had four weeks vacation something happened with the
00:22:35 kids I could do it I was high-profile I don’t want to do that and I said No and then they called me back and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse I’m like you didn’t give me all of that so I went to the doctor because we were very good friends and I said because I was going originally had gotten an offer from a pharmaceutical company he says don’t do that and that Pharmaceuticals are going to go out the way this was Dr nakam moich all was my mentor and friend so when I told him got the job deoe he said I have to let you go I let me go he Saidi cannot
00:23:06 be selfish that is one of the top accounting firms in the world right I do not want you to leave you have to go you have to go you must take this job do your research just train someone you have to go so he encouraged me to go and I went to Del I went in as an assistant but a year later I met a gentleman that came over from eny to to we did personal property returns that means tables and chairs real properties buildings and that kind of thing had become a trainer I worked on clients I worked on right now what’s happening around the tax complaints I thought company thought they
00:23:43 were paying too much taxes I would help with the consultant and the manager working on the financials figure out is there really a savings here are they being over assessed is the property are they taking the depreciation are they taken into the obsolescence because building no longer is handicap accessible I did that kind of work and so with India being on a different time frame while we’re sleep their processing the bills and so I left as a senior property tax analist in the India India liaison and I hosted two of my India employees here in the states they came
00:24:16 here and I just teaching them the American way working with their English and hosting them here in the states so let me ask you how do you think your experience in the private sector prepare you for being the mayor well people don’t understand understand it’s a business and may is almost a $45 million business and so you need to understand the business process right when you when something comes into the city whether it’s an opportunity hireing employees what is it going to cost benefit analysis what’s this going to cost me can I afford it what’s it going to yield me is it a different
00:24:51 skill set that we don’t have that helps me have better time management and service department that I can send out to handle the issue of engaging our residents more do they have a public relations Market do they know how to help me sell because it’s selling too right one of the things I did at L was I sold I would go out on what they call an engagement team be myself it would be maybe this sen your manager I manage the software and I’m showing them how we can save the money if they we take over their tax flow processing we monitor their value notices that comes off of their desk
00:25:25 and they can sell more prod let us handle your real estate taxes and and let’s see if there’s an opportunity if we think you’re being over being over tax let let’s minimize your tax liability I was on a sales team and you get rewarded there’s a bonus right if every time you win so what I do in Maple I sell Maple Heights there’s 59 communities I’m always competing with 58 I sell it every single time and I sell that with efficiency the right talent pool understanding what the being able to articulate with the return their investment is if they choose Maple Heights versus
00:26:01 another city I sell them on me their confidence in me and what I think I can bring I’m not I’m I’m very comfortable in a conference room when nobody looks like me because for six years I was only a black female mayor in the county there was no other now we have two because the other one didn’t run her way so there two of us now I’m comfortable at a sea Suite level I’ve only worked with Executives and so those are the decision makers so I’ve been in conference rooms with blue suits and red ties right I don’t lose my voice my knees don’t shake I can look you in the eye I can
00:26:38 sell it so let me ask you question I assimilate right I can fit in to get it done what would you consider being I I’m gonna ask you a question with three questions in it first tell us when did you get elected as mayor yes then second all I wanted to know what you believe is your biggest accomplishment that you have since you became mayor and then third since you are of the city what is maple High’s biggest selling point sure I became mared in 2016 I’m in my third second first year of my third term 2016 okay yes okay and what was the second question second question was 2006
00:27:13 when you became mayor and then you said what’s your biggest accomplishment you think since you became maror I came into a city that was broken okay I came into a city that had been written off I came to a city that was being people were saying labeled the second MH number two we’ll leave at that I’m not gonna name the other city that had almost three million uh delinquency in the journal fund which is the main fund and the city had been taken over finances and fiscal manager by the auditor State’s office where in does a fiscal emergency correct doing a fiveyear recovery plan
00:27:46 did in four wow it’s recovered I did in four they officially release me to five because they kept going over the books they said no way David Yos was the auditor when I came in Dave Keith fa was the AR when I I finished I got out of fiscal emergency during Co and they said there’s no way you may be out with Co with Revenue down you could possibly go in so we don’t want to be premature in releasing you wow I reached out to the congressman at the time who was congresswoman fudge my Senator Yos let me go I have the documents I am out they just just didn’t find they found it unbelievable
00:28:22 it had to be they kept going over my books and finally they fish officially released me and then then six months later we got the clean audit award and Keith Faber came down personally to give me the reward and said I can’t believe you did it is that people who don’t know what that is tell everybody what that is it’s when you go bankrupt you’re ABC company and you have tried everything you could You’ have to lay off employees you sell off your assets and you say I can’t function anymore as a business I have no ACC assets my liabilities exceed my assets after to laid off
00:28:56 my employees I can no longer fun of business I’m bankrupt and you pull Maple Heights out of that I did excellent that’s huge so excellent now tell us what you think is the biggest selling point you say you’re the you’re the head sales person of the city so what’s the biggest selling point of Maple Heights it is our location people don’t believe that but it’s our location you can get to 77 in a few minutes 271 few minutes you stay on 77 long you can hop on 90 now we got ice I 176 we have rail uh norfol Southern runs through our city we’re close to uh Summit County right
00:29:37 down eight we have a lot of businesses um the new business just moved in was right on eight from Summit County it’s our location we sit close to several intering suburbs in the middle We Touch four different suburbs North Rando being a big employment center it’s a bridge separates us right bford having a huge Industrial Road it goes from Warrenville Center Road to just Center they drop the Warrenville we’re close to the bford auto mile we’re close to Valley View where I live across the street from Valley View one of the last streets Walton Hills if you go
00:30:13 past my stop sign wton Hills where my dad worked with for plant which is now noral Center and the Rox Ceno and Ray Cino and North Randa we’re we’re against we’re we’re close to so many employment centers we have a Southgate trans Center that has a bus that takes you to soland where there’s more employment we’re a huge we’re in the middle to get people to so many employment C and we’re less than 15 minutes from downtown it’s our location so what’s the makeup of your city as it relat African-Americans and also age if you don’t mind we’re about 25,000 according to the last census
00:30:48 now the census will tell you that we’re 2 23 I’m sorry 22,000 but was only 65% reporting so we 100% reporting we’re more a little bit over 25,000 we’re the second largest in a ring suburb among the first ring suburbs Garo Heights being 30 Maple being 25 Warrenville is about 13,000 North Randle is less than 1500 heing Hills is maybe 900 Beford is 12 about 12,000 um Beford Heights is not even 10,000 wow we’re huge okay about six square miles what’s the percentage of African americ we’re now about 72% about 72% really 72% W that’s that’s that’s a big number too because when you came
00:31:28 there you were nowhere close that neither probably about 61 that’s it’s changing again when I look at who’s in my building department it’s white people who’ve been priced out of I should say other races who’ve been priced out of the West side because to live on Fulton or duck is 4,000 wow we’re so close to the West Side once you get on Transportation Boulevard and you cross the bridge you’re on the west side you’re in Brooklyn Heights that’s great since we’re so close to the West Side people are choosing Maple Heights so what’s the average cost of a home in Maple Heights
00:31:58 right now it’s about 125 about 125 when I started in 16 37,000 was the medium home price and we just had the highest value appreciation with the 6al East Cleveland and maple people say why because we were the lowest we had the low had the lowest and and the most significant value depreciation 2008 with the housing foreclosure let’s talk about your efforts in addressing affordable housing and development for seniors and multi-generational housing people you got any you guys working on the program to do that we just cut the ribbon in April to $4 million Senior Housing Development
00:32:31 developed by Jennings on time of Street really I reached out to Jennings I was at a fundraiser with Jennings maybe four years ago my director of Sor Services had me go and I was sitting with the CEO and director Allison salapack and they were bragging about the news center they were opening I think it was in brxv and I said why don’t you open one in Maple height as I stuff my mouth with some dessert and she’d laugh because they’re right on Granger Road in carful Heights and three years later she says you know what find me some land and so we cut the ribbon $14 million s your housing of
00:33:06 element Jennings it’s called Beacon Grove Court and so who move gives some background for the millions of people who might want to move in there how did that go what’s going on over there it’s a senior building how old you have to be that kind of thing our medium age is about 43 We’re Young City I’m about to say that ain’t no senior that makes me feel like census they report out like what’s the educational entertainment almost 95% have a high school diploma another about 20% have at least in Associates probably more than 10% has a Bachelors and about 2% has an advanced degree
00:33:38 Masters are better yeah I I I study my statistics so I know who my customer is right who my res is and I can serve them but the medium age is about 45 it’s a young it’s a young City it is and those are two three bedrooms or two bedrooms the oh so that was the medium age you’re asking about the housing the housing is the city of bungalow these are post-war Bungalows built in the 1950s okay that is our Prime our majority housing stock since I’ve been there I’m working hard to diversify everybody doesn’t want a bungalow right two bedrooms downstairs Mass Suite upstairs a kitchen
00:34:11 you can barely turn around in one bathroom the lot side and it’s two Maple Heights it’s the east side and the west side east side is on other side of Warrenville closest to Northville Road primarily Bungalows that is the most black so on that side it’s the most affordable part of Maple Heights no I’m talking about the senior building oh the senior building yeah I was trying if you wanted to go into that program how do you get involved in the you have to actually fill the application out from Jennings it’s based on your income it is a lottery they have one bedroom and they
00:34:39 have two bedrooms a community room it has parking spaces for one car and it has medical staff on at the facility but you have to be ulatory right you you can’t and but all of the rooms are wheelchair accessible course and and how old you have to be to get in there that’s 62 that’s why I would say 45 to get in that’s talking about Medi 62 to get into Beacon Grove okay Beacon grow yeah you’re 62 years old and when you say a lottery what’s the lottery like C’s Lottery yeah so you gotta register and hope you get pull yes wow yes I think there’s four or five sweets left okay that’s my
00:35:14 understanding yeah it’s beautiful now may I know you do a lot and in the past with infant mortality and that thing how is would you tell everybody what you’re doing in your community about infant mortality when I got to the office in January of 16 they told me I had a s problem we didn’t have any money M we were under fiscal emergency we only had five people in the service department two people in the building department and only had I was down 15 police officers it was a ghost town in that place and then they said and your other big issue maybe a month later I had someone from
00:35:48 case first year Cleveland come out and say and you have one of the highest numbers of black infant deaths I said anything else because you guys told me this and so I asked her for the data I began to go to the just the information sessions that that and this is before birth and communities arose or pegma possibilities it was first year Cleveland working with case to understand the numbers understand the root cause of black infant mortality and then I started working with neighborhood leadership I just immerse myself in data data helps me understand how to strategize
00:36:24 how to move forward what the resources are needed what resources I have what resource I don’t what resource I can leverage what connections and introductions I need to make I want to share with you that in 20 22 we had zero black infant deaths whoa zero zero zero and we had one of the highest numbers now we’ve got new partners on the scene right University Hospitals make it a priority we got birth and communities with Jasmine yes what’s Jas is it’s not long Jasmine long it is long okay and we have we have pregn possibilities open up at Southgate I was one of the Mayors who
00:37:03 was chosen to visit uh gwne a couple years ago and I challenged him to make sure there was money in the budget I was one of the only black Mayors to go in in INF mortality and he said it’s in there and every year I will say he is the money is in the budget they understand it is a crisis uh We’ve shown the movie toxic which is clearly talks about how institutional racism is a big part of this black infant mortality the stress that our mothers are they working a third of the households of maple High areed by single female women who work three jobs you guys had a
00:37:40 statistic also that you had the largest number of foster parenting in the county also I wasn’t aware of that yeah that was some years ago that and I was doing some doing another study and and it was interesting my my son originally was living with his grandmother out of that and that’s when the statistic came up and I realized that and he was out there with a lot of his friends but a lot of there was living with their grandmothers I didn’t know that yeah and so that was that statistic got past me yeah that was a statistic you guys had for a while that it was the largest number of
00:38:14 parents who wasn’t taking care of kids there another parent or another relative who lived in Maple High schoolship kinship care yeah you guys had the largest number of canal care yeah wasn’t aware of that we’ve got a lot of social ills in Maple Heights and I take them one by one yeah and find the right resource the right Partnerships to address them and and I thought that led to some of the issues that I think the city was going through when it was having that because it went through that grandparents raising kids and remember and that was a a result of the
00:38:46 crack epidemic absolutely and parents started raising their kids or incarcerated we raised my husband’s nephew my my current H my husband’s because sister was in out of jail she just said which was because of her addiction she stay in jail and and that kind of thing and Granny and grandparents got older those kids ended up going to Maple Heights High School they were all out of control and I knew that because my son was a part of that man a lot and he went to school with a lot I was active in his life so when I’ll be like man what’s wrong with him what’s going on with that oh
00:39:18 he here come his grandmother picking him up and I’m like and then he ultimately I said you gonna have to live with me right but in the beginning he was there and and I saw that statistic and that was one of the reason re why I was like oh it’s time for you to come on and live with me can’t be one of those statistics right all right we gonna get to a couple of speed round questions okay you ready I’m ready what do you think is the most challenging issue facing Maple Heights and how you want to address them poverty about a 23% poverty rate out of that poverty rate becomes so
00:39:47 many subsets of problems that plague cities right lack of we have a lot of food banks but nutritious food that keeps them healthy food that makes them feel good and good nourishment which nourishes the brain and the Soul also insecure housing they move a lot so there’s a huge transient population rent on the east side for a three bed room one and a half bath is about 900 to $1,000 you come to the west side which a more of a fluent as we back up towards Valley View Bedford and garfo Heights it’s going to cost you 11100 if the medium income is less than 50,000 more than half of your
00:40:25 income is going towards rent which is why these moms have to work two and three jobs so they may work at the hospital we found out most of them work at the hospital or nursing homes now they work at Amazon so that job takes care of the rent but they work at giant ego at night or the gas station the lottery machine or they’ll work at the racing or rocks which are a part of Northfield for the extras the shoes the haircuts the field trips and these kids are left at home as moms trying to to Really make it these three jobs out of that poverty comes the homes that are
00:40:56 not the most well-kept so of course we’re dealing with clean water and Lead which we’re addressing lack of Youth engagement lack of Parental support when they’re trying to do homework and Excel in school so they’re a little behind something I’ve put a lot of money in to address that to teach them there’s Life Beyond Maple Heights there’s a gentleman I was at a school board meeting who said he wanted to go to the zoo the zoo is two exits away had never been to the zoo they don’t leave 44137 they don’t understand all the opportunities available to them so Workforce Development jobs
00:41:27 that um get them to Beyond a waving wage but a wage where they can Excel and they can Thrive but it’s all rooted in poverty black INF mentality is rooted in poverty right it’s not so much the care because you I sit between two hospitals you’ve got South Point on this end you got Beford here I got marry man I’ve got a hoer around the corner it is it’s really this stress that they bring in and so we’re prone to high blood pressure and all of those things that exacerbate our health conditions
00:41:54 going back to my Healthcare background but it’s AED in poverty it’s hopelessness the mental state of mind if I’m worried every month I have to pay the rent I’m going to pay rent in 29 more days that mental that stress and so it’s rooted in poverty let’s go with this one how important is it for you to have a diverse team and to assure that diversity is a part of your Administration and when I say diversity I’m not necessarily saying it has to be a color just diverse and um experience and all the other necessary things it is to make things go better so our important is
00:42:27 to you and your administ extremely important it’s something I’ve achieved I walked into an all-white Administration when they they was calling me ma’am I was walking in an Hall and kep saying ma’am I didn’t know who they were talking to oh they were talking to me I didn’t realize a white officer oh yeah I am I guess I am a ma’am or boss it still is sometimes shakes me when I’m looking because I come from Alabama right my grandmother was saying yes ma’am to kids younger than her and now they’re saying ma’am and all of this respect but relatability is important we know in education
00:42:58 kids do better when the educator looks like them and have similar lived experiences a different level of empathy and different level of Outreach when there’s a connection an innate respect so I really am and am some I’m really big on on understanding the relatability if I am working in Maple Heights and I have all these issues but I have the luxury of going to another suburb where it’s not so big of a deal I got to get through these eight or nine hours what’s the level of commitment beyond the the work hours or the benefits of paychecks that job affords you I want
00:43:32 people that understand what hunger is like and so when they’re at my food pantry I have I have a choice food pantry I have a brick and mortar food pantry it’s a little grocery store right on Broadway you’re sharing that food and making resource with dignity and understanding there’s a compassionate there right there’s a Wilderness because you understand what’s that’s like you’re able to have those conversations without judgment but real compassion real empathy and relatability so really important there’s a diversity in thought when you come from uh a place like me like
00:44:03 Glenville I understand what good safe housing is and what civic pride is you still Pride then maybe I won’t drop the Gatorade bottle when I drink it drink and drink maybe I’ll throw it away because it’s my neighborhood right and we’re all in this together and when we are all together because we look together we look a little bit like one another we have similar lived experience I’ve seen there’s a different level of commitment there’s a higher level engagement and we bring better practices to what the community is now not what it used to be Maple Heights is not what it used to be
00:44:37 so somebody who knows was like 30 years ago can’t help me with the present day Maple Heights and the challenges that it brings today let me ask you here’s a different one too we didn’t talk about him but Mr Blackwell I would imagine that’s your new boo yes we’ve been married to we we’ve been together 27 years yeah been together 27 We we forgot to mention Mr Blackwell and on top of it he is School Board member correct he is the school board president he’s a school board president he’s the president married to the president you’re married to the president so let’s make sure we
00:45:08 squeeze him on in here in the fact of one let’s talk about how that partnership is working as it relates to what you’re doing and you both of your goals to try to help and building a better City and on your side on um that end of government and on his side it relates to education we you know I started off I I taught a parent Academy program for four years the re the way I got into politics is because I was a propy tax professional the school the city was trying to build new schools and they wanted to get a levy pass and I was very involved with my kids in school and they said you
00:45:46 think you could be the chairperson for the levy I’m like you understand this I said okay it was successful Levy and so people got to know me lady knocked on the door got the levy passed and there was a Parent Academy skill building program then working with parents to get engaged in their kids school how to read the electronic report card the importance of coming to uh openhouse to meet your teacher your partner in education coming to parent te conference to strategize of how to to have your kid be successful and so I taught that program for four years and I had to quit
00:46:17 and became mayor because I I couldn’t be both it was one of the most rewarding experiences because I’d have maybe 20 parents in my class and we talk about skill building we things like chitchat time what is chitchat time really listening taking the Bluetooth out turning the phone off and so when I we say Jimmy how was your day really listening to hear maybe there’s a problem with the teacher maybe there’s a bullying maybe he’s in love with a girl maybe she’s in love with a boy maybe they’re struggling with their sexuality but really listening the importance of reading we did
00:46:47 thank you cards i’ bring I would bring in guest speakers meal planning we do things like Uno I taught my kids how to read numbers and Colors by playing Uno in trouble you got to know what color what’s the number on the die how many times do you move and I would bring those games and just parent strategies and so I created a great relationship with the administration then so when the school board president retired she said I’d love can you recommend someone I said I can’t think of anyone my husband was very involved with the kids his daughter our daughter and because I
00:47:19 worked a lot I worked tax season I traveled a lot and they said what about Mr blackw I said ask him here gave him the phone and so so they recruited him because of his involvement with our daughter because I traveled so much and worked a lot during business season at the tax firm and and then of course I became campaign manager everything okay if you gonna do this I got you and so we have a commitment to education when Barack Obama ran he got my daughter volunteered at seven years old and they hit the streets he’s politically motivated super quiet completely different he’s an introvert
00:47:55 but really astute and read and and being involved and brought her along they were more involved than I was I came around longer later and red he was we met at University Hospitals he managed the medical records part and I would go get the charts for clinic for my doctor because he still saw patients and all of a sudden I couldn’t get my cart my my charts from the desk I had to get them from the supervisor I said why do I have to wait for the supervisor I didn’t know I was being set up the supervisor said nobody gives her charts but me she has to see me wow it didn’t know I was being
00:48:32 chosen right and so finally said look I just want to come and get my charts like everybody else why I have to get my he said because I want to give you your charts I still didn’t catch it so that turned into a relationship of course how long did you do that before you caught what he was trying to it took me months it really to it took the clerk saying I don’t know why you come in here he’s purposely keeping your charts because he likes you he’s single no children he look like he was like 12 though no I mean we look like he was significantly younger he’s two years young
00:49:01 that man’s too young for me I’m I interested she said he is an amazing person so there was all of this matchmaking going on in the department between me and him and of course they ended up working and now we have a 26 year old daughter and been together for a while but went to Lincoln West went to to Cleveland State grew up on Colombia so what’s his name his name is Alonzo blackwall I didn’t know him very well but anyway and I needed that was did he go to Lincoln West he graduated in 83 I came out in 86 at L 83 yeah he’s and I grew up on kton which is around the
00:49:34 corner he grew up yeah he so he’s proud Lincoln West I don’t know much about Lincoln West but the proud Lincoln West gradu because he was part of the busing yeah it was on that bus that took place and he is really big on equity and Justice and education with his sister going out of jail okay with a special needs brother he made his way out through education and he was just the right Choice ex he’s a quiet power you’re not going to hear him say much so how long he’s been on the school board he has to run next year this is his third this is his third year excellent
00:50:07 yeah so we keep it we keep it separate because there was this perception that we were taking over the city and so there’s executive session we respect that but if something comes through the police I’m the safety director of a kit we’ll talk about it I’ll give him what I can share with him he’ll give me what he can share with me and then we in our own ways handle it with a little bit more information but we careful not to cross lines because that’s problematic I don’t want to compromise his position he want to compromise my position and we’ve been able to do it for three
00:50:40 years pretty successfully you made your made some benchmarks that you guys are happy with we are 90 98% graduation rate just hired our he was the Le that first black female superintendent okay end of the month she’ll be installed I’m very proud of what he’s been able to do excellent let me ask you a question if you could trade places with somebody for a day who would it be in what capacity either sit down and talk with them trade places to do their jobs anybody it can be anybody governor dwine governor dwine why would you want to sit down with Governor dwine I want
00:51:17 to know when we’re looking at challenges like the increase of this property sual this valuation how we move our legislators lawmakers to move to give people relief how do you see that problem what it is and become the highest ranking elected official in the state and move that discussion along things sit in committee way too long how do we address the wealth Gap so all people win in this state right that power of the office how does it work for everybody that everybody’s better off because
00:51:56 you’re the person an office what’s your decision making process how do you work well with the people in Columbus because that’s we hear there’s a lot of things just saying in one place how do you use the power of that office and what you know as a as a long service to move the agenda so that people have quicker access how do we work with the federal government get as much money for Ohio as we can and not concentrate the growth to just Central and Western Ohio I get that we didn’t get the Intel plant but what’s next for North or Ohio how do you take what’s happening on the national
00:52:35 level and increased voter engagement and a better quality of life we understand we need cleaner air cleaner water we need to really address the facts about climate control why aren’t you more visible in the more populous parts of this of the state I want to talk to him you want talk to dwine okay I wouldn’t blow my chance trying to talk to him that’s for sure what’s your guilty pleasure my guilty pleasure I don’t know if I have a guilty pleasure you gotta be something that you like to do I like to do I love long drives really I’ll get in a car and drive to New York
00:53:16 and come back I love long you like being driven or you like driving long drive both I just want to be in car moving I like stopping at little I like antiques right I like stopping little picking up little VES and something different and a different candy a different dessert feeling what the culture is in that little piece of the world yeah it’s long rides people watching right nature watching trees what’s that flower what’s that tree oh what’s over there what’s that animal I’m really into nature and places in the world but the wine thing is because I’m in politics and because of
00:54:00 what happens in those areas really matter and just even the role he played during Co that’s why I I didn’t had some good answer I didn’t had Jesus I didn’t had Oprah we didn’t had some doozy so I was and I didn’t had dwine a couple you ain’t the only one this dwine made the chart a couple of times but I’d be like I ain’t wasting my time with dwine what’s the best compliment you ever got It’s Gonna I just got it last night at an event someone came to and said you’re amazing no I amazing and
00:54:37 I go amazing and coming from another woman women don’t usually tell other women they’re amazing and the person said it with so much emotion I almost thought there was twoo she just said and you could just like you’re so amazing and it was like the way she said I’m like what amazing and the other would be my staff and especially the staff and the police the just I am the most transformative thinking person they’ve ever met I’m like number of 17 or 18 I hear that and these are people been in the city for a really long time but amazing from another woman and the way said amazing it was
00:55:22 amazing means a lot of things it stunned me for a minute oh yeah before I could even say thank you I had an amazing what does that mean something you wish you was better at dancing you want to wish you could dance better I can’t Dan I’m not a dance I’d love to learn how to Li dance really good oh you saying you just really want to get down you want a line dance people I’m the person sitting there when they’re line dancing so why don’t you never just got up and try but I’m not I try I have a big music in the park series similar to wait over use the same artist and two or 300
00:55:58 people show up and during intermission I hired Roba Johnson L and I try and everybody always wants to turn and twist me but after about three minutes I get frustrated do I turn right do I turn left do I step back do I oh just get I never so you grew up I don’t with what was it JD Bell and all of those never did none of that stuff never wow I have interesting don’t feel bad I can’t second would be and I I’m talking like I jump up there and second for me would be becoming a really good swimmer I think going to all girl school I grew up with Pat benitar and sting and that’s why
00:56:42 you went Madonna and Phil Collins I went through a stage where I got into that but I still love the music I don’t know people call me a rock and roll call me hillbilly but my dad loved Elvis Presley he love he loved Frank sonre and he loved s he’s from the south that’s what I grew up with and so I grew up with that appreciation then went to school really love the music bana is one of my favorite artists Fleet with Mac as Fleetwood Mac is in my CD right now I listen to Fleetwood Mac like every day old big on rumors and so just when you don’t go to the school in the neighborhood
00:57:16 you’re the person everybody knows and likes but you’re an outsider in your own community so I didn’t get really invited to the house parties they because I wore a uniform he was that girl walking down the street in uniform you didn’t talk to nobody and you went no I tried to well you no but I I get it because I grew up on the street it was the same thing every day they walk down the street it was a different vibe y’all gave on I talk different exactly and you was respect people didn’t bother you that’s the boys was a little different because the boys came out and played
00:57:48 with the girls they so I never got on the scene like I wasn’t in sha High hand dancing at what do you call it free periods because you can’t leave unless you know how to hand that’s correct that’s correct what’s the worst piece of advice you ever got my worst piece of advice to wait to go to college okay I finished I graduated from I went I got my associates from wesland in 2 I think 18 I graduated from Ur I got my bachelor from urland in 2019 I wish I would have gotten College earlier if I because there was so many opportunities not afforded to me there I’ll tell you the story which
00:58:24 I I was working uh for the doctor and I felt like it just wasn’t enough then I got satisfied but then when I got to deoe I kept getting Passover for promotions and some of the bigger engagements because there was a but you don’t have your degree so I said you know what I’m really good at what I do we went almost every engagement I’m the lead salesperson I know the software like no one else I should be getting more money so I got I went to an employment agency and did all the testing and there was these three letters on the application PWD and I thought what is PWD so I asked the
00:59:07 receptions PWD is a person without a degree I never heard about PWD I said I don’t want to be a PWD a person without a degree I’m not GNA PWD wow PWD it’s not so much the case in politics you don’t have to have a degree but the level I was having a pwg was a bad thing when they put it like that on there you they definitely you checking that on the box and they probably slid your application don’t get you don’t the door doesn’t open it holds you back in Opportunity it holds you back in in promotions and and and creating a certain wage I made up my mind that
00:59:47 day I’m not going to be a PWD anymore right and so I got my it was almost through my associal between you have a baby and my had a divorce MH I was a single mom for a while trying to raise two boys and money was tight I was teach I taught part-time at sha I taught a a secret when welfare reform they were looking for adult Educators so for three years I taught a medical secretary class at Shaw and so just but it was just to feed these boys and shoes and I just couldn’t quite of make it so when I got married I I got to finish school finished my degree for my socialist degree at uh
01:00:23 Indiana wesland going part-time and then I was for a big promotion deoy and it came with me you have your Associates but we really you have to have a bachelor’s so they keep moving the bar so okay go back get to bachor I went back got to bachelor’s then I won for mayor in my senior year okay at uren I’m like I got I’ve never been a mayor before I got aund and some employees or so and it was the the the director of admission said Blackwell you have four classes to get I know you won from mayor
01:00:55 you’re walking across that stage mhm you’re going to finish we will work with you and they changed my class they worked with me and I walked AC and I finally graduated in 2019 I just was appointed to the Board of Trustees for urin Wow three months ago wow and I was her commencement speaker two years ago finished my degree end up being the commens speaker and was just appointed to the Board of Trustees a couple months ago but that PWD screwed you up when you saw that to you up huh because I’ve been a higher achiever and I like PWD that less than coming from Alabama where you’re
01:01:37 too dark or too country or whatever I just didn’t want anything in my way and if PWD was going to stop it so the worst advice was and and and it was I won’t say who it is because it’s somebody that I really respect you don’t need a degree you don’t need a degree be careful saying that unless you know what that person’s aspirations are or what they aspire to achieve that doesn’t work for everybody what I was doing now I don’t need a degree to be a mayor a mayor before me didn’t have a degree a lot of Mayors don’t have degrees a lot of officials don’t have degrees but for the
01:02:12 space I was in not having degree held me back significantly being a PWD was not acceptable in the space I was in my last question for you mayor what never cease to make you laugh at the end of the day if you need something that makes you feel good and you flash back on it could be a funny moment back in your life it could have been something your kid did that you be like my son did this and every time I think about it he was four years it could be anything what pulls your I’m not a funny person so it doesn’t I know they don’t get jokes people don’t tell me jokes because
01:02:45 they’re wasted on me I’m like what’s the point no funny moment I know but I’m just try to think funny for me but what makes you feel good you say it could be I put in Fleetwood Mac it could be ice cream it could be what is the thing that makes you feel good my mud deer’s lap my mother had me at 16 years old in Orville Alabama and they call it mud deer but it’s really mother deer if you pronounce it correctly we as black people drop syllables exactly all comes mud deer I didn’t learn on until
01:03:21 I was Lo always supposed to be mother deer not mud deer I’m tell you you just told me I never knew what it meant I hear him in a deer all the time I never knew d d e r it’s really mother deer but we dve so it’s m I never knew that till you just told me that say Mia right m a d EA but in or is Mia there’s no is she had a way of long breast right very country was a cook for the white family’s land that my family lived on after slavery sharecropping became the new form of slavery if I hit my if I fell and hit my knee if the snake scared me if pumping water was too hard going to
01:04:06 an ouse where there was a barrel and stinky poop no matter what because I was this different child sitting in her lap was the safest place in the world what makes me laugh is I used to bury flies I would kill flies because I hate flies but in Alabama there’s little matchboxes but I felt like they needed dignity and so I would mimic the pastors of preachers in my family I would collect the Flies I’d put them in the matchbox I dig a hole in my grandmother’s yard because we went back every summer because my mother was here in North trying to get a job and finish school so we
01:04:46 would have to go back to Alabama I would find a scripture in the Bible I’d bury them i’ get two Papa sck sickle sticks and I create a cross my sister had to from the church when I did their eulogy and when I think about that and my sister brings it up we talk about my fly burials that is an original that’s the best one we didn’t have flies deserve to be buried too and you did the whole funeral did the whole funeral I would prepared for it I we’re having a funeral and my grandmother my M dear the funeral is at 3 o’ she sit on the porch she get me my matchboxes I get
01:05:24 it all ready I get the stickers ready she’d help me with the scripture I’d say it very fly very fly and I remind people not to step there because flies are Buri there you see the cross excellent I think of the crazy stuff I did in Alabama as a person who was very different people say you have the most different granddaughter and I I think of that and my sister brings up all the time she she tell my kids your mothers is weird right I have to go to these fly funerals and she’d have the and and and then we’d sing a song we’d send a spiritual song that’s excellent Mar you
01:05:58 did a great job on my program you excellent we sat here we talk a while DJ you sending up you got something you want to send us out with yeah I got a question mayor yes you are the first female and first africanamerican mayor of Maple Heights yes what made that possible what change in that City made that a possibility for somebody like you to come in and assuma you know the to be the head of the city people lost hope in 2008 in 2008 most people M Heights lost over 30% of their valuation most almost more than half of the homes were underwater people owed
01:06:40 more including us than the house was worth we were labeled as the next East Side suburb down the street you said it there was a m there was already a lot of white flight in the 70s but there was a Max Exodus of white flight people moved to Twinsburg that’s the new place you live Twinsburg you live in not so much o Sol in south or Oakwood you live anywhere but Maple Heights you moved to be Heights Maple Heights became this place that was not a good place for people you said Maple Heights you almost had to whisper it it was a place of Shame and so people
01:07:11 lost all of this hope there was nobody in the service department swimming pool closed Parks weren’t being maintained and the city became darker the population of single moms increased the population of blacks increased and they were just looking for anything something different something better something that offer some hope possibilities and I showed up and I actually ran on expect something different that’s what that was one of my taglines they saw my background I was from White Corporate America I had gone to Villa Angela I had a great family my daughter my son
01:07:53 played football was a football star my husband was educated it my daughter who ended up being class president and and graduated with 4.2 they just and we we bought an all American veterans hall on Broadway it’s an event center we’ve owned for 10 years we bought they had rent at the hall from us I was a lady that had gotten School ly pass I was a lady that had worked with parents for four years in our Parent Academy and had bought an American veterans hall and I was a business owner and they thought I was somebody they could bet on the mayor at the time had gotten to know my daughter
01:08:25 he had can it came back he was dying I had run for City Council unsuccessfully in 2013 for my district at the urging of the mayor at the time ran a pretty impressive campaign but I graduated from urland I had a business degree for wesland but I graduated from urland with a corporate Communications public relations background which is further my sales my sales history and my sales success so I pretty much organized all my own information and people thought it was well written and professional because I hire professionals to do it I didn’t just put something out on
01:08:56 copy machine and they said This Woman’s different she’s different and she will serve us well and so they bought what I was selling and really believed in me and I’ve been able to deliver he she’s been doing a great J congratulations on that very good job did that answer your question yeah that that definitely answered the question and I’m impressed by you getting rid of that that PWD so if you see it now you don’t know what titles they’re using when we cycle in their places but I said she wrote it too big I said what is that and so we’re not sure always what’s
01:09:34 holding us back it’s like band box no right and so here it is that I was meeting all of my because a a professional Prof Professional Services firm is like a law firm I had chargeable billable hours I would meet my chargeable hours a00 hours at billable hours good work that we could build back to the client was meeting all the metc scorecard but I had this thing I didn’t know and it was a PWD I was a person without a degree or you could say a professional without a degreee but it’s something that holds you back what we do when we end our program we give you an opportunity to take
01:10:09 us out and you get a chance to look right here at this camera and this Cam that one one right yeah this one been the whole no that one’s too got four cameras they all over the place but this one here I want you to look at and you get take your time and give them yourself a moment you get to talk about whatever you want to talk about if I I definitely wanted you to let people know what are your plans for the future you think you would like to see Maple Heights going into I think would be awesome but then also give them some more information and everything that the mayor is
01:10:41 going to talk about all her information as it relates to your will be in our description so go ahead when I think about Maple Heights I think about where we are the thing that is difficult for me is that our story isn’t told there is so much enthusiasm and so many people and Publications will even talk about our demise what was wrong in Maple Heights and people have heard me say this term three several times and don’t like it but we were a city that was too dirty too much litter I’m sorry too dark and too dangerous crime had risen blacks were the predominant majority of
01:11:18 population dirty people were dropping paper trash was overflowing people weren’t maintaining their property that’s the story that was being told over and over again we were the next something undesirable the next fail City the next sad story we have not been that we were too broke right we’re in fiscal Emer we haven’t been that City in almost a decade and I say that because I’ve been mayor in ninth nine years I became the mayor in 15 and now in my first year of my my my third term no one’s telling our new story and so if I left as I leave this broadcast today I want the news to
01:11:57 come back the people that were reporting or pining or commenting on Maple Heights and its failures to come back and tell the story today talk about the success talk about the resilience of the people talk about the good things of that are happening in our city the investors that come and don’t mind buying 15 Parcels on building brand new homes second floor homes energy efficient homes the fact that solar all has $156 million EPA Grant they want to start putting solar panels first in Maple Heights as a pilot program because they believe in Maple Heights I want the new story
01:12:37 of Maple Heights to be told and with that my story I am from Selma Alabama I came here as a two-year-old in the Second Great Migration I grew up in extreme racism and poverty and yet I sit as a CEO of Maple Heights really responsible for over a $40 million budget and we are thriving with more success to come that is what I want people to come back and tell the new story Maple Heights the good things the amazing things the things that make us a winning city thank you everybody that is Mayor Annette Blackwell like I said you’ll be able to look in our description and
01:13:18 we going to leave details of how you can catch her on social media how you can catch her down there at her office and information of how you can get involed involved in Maple Heights so till next week we’ll see you later peace thank you great job thank you for is it just senses me why don’t they come back they write the news story they they does sell newspapers they don’t sell newspap they don’t want to hear anything thank you for the opportunity for me to tell what’s happening and this is an open form so again as things come up even if you can’t come in because we’re going
01:13:48 to be doing a lot of Zoom stuff too so it may be some stuff that comes up hey you want to jump on a zoom and make a comment about this I got three other people on and you may say you know what I’ll do that we’re gonna be doing all kinds of little things like for that opportunity and thank you for coordinating everything thank you for the hospitality I appreciate it I appreciate it good stuff I told you you ow my list so we watching you got you I KN that dwine would throw you yeah