A Bloody Obvious Campaign Platform

Justin Winemiller nearly had his head handed to him on the streets of Cleveland. That should hand Mayor Frank Jackson his campaign platform for reelection.

For readers of The Plain Dealer on September 9, the irony couldn't have been more striking. On page one, the headline proclaimed, "Jackson coasts to huge victory in Cleveland mayoral primary." On page one of the metro section, the headline described 17-year-old Winemiller's ordeal: "Group videotapes attack on teen outside festival."

On September 5, at the St. Rocco Church festival, a gang of boys attacked Winemiller. They not only beat him but recorded the crime in progress. As of this writing, no one knows for sure the motive behind the assault that broke Winemiller's jaw, only that thuggery has gone perversely high-tech.

Luckily for Winemiller, Cleveland Police Patrolman Gregory Kwan broke up the assault. Working off-duty at the annual outdoor festival, Kwan spotted the attack and used pepper spray and the threat of the Taser to rescue Winemiller. Thank goodness crime fighting is keeping up with these high-tech times, too.

Three days later, Mayor Jackson was basking in his 72 percent share of the mayoral primary votes-a sure sign that City Hall would be his for some more years. Of course, his "landslide" should be viewed in context. Only 10 percent of the city's registered voters came out to cast ballots.

Why such a low turnout? Maybe a lot of voters had heard about Winemiller's drubbing and thought it safer to stay home.

Maybe they knew Patrolman Kwan wasn't working a shift that day.

Maybe they've simply given up on the town that was once called "The Best Governed City in America."

As of this writing, Mayor Jackson is yammering at Cleveland City Council to pony up a $2 million loan for a contractor's plan to build an aquarium in the Flats. If you're not from Cleveland, you don't know that the Flats has been a local entertainment mecca on and off for decades. It's also a great place to be robbed and assaulted.

But whether you're there for a concert or a kick in the head, please bring your own video camera. Not all of Cleveland's thugs are tech-savvy.

Mayor Jackson likes to talk about economic development and how that will transform Cleveland. As any business will tell you, three factors are constant in deciding to establish or expand in an area-low taxes, a good infrastructure and a strong labor pool. Already assumed in that business calculus is public safety.

Maybe that's why neighboring Detroit is not the next Silicon Valley. Maybe Cleveland's CEO should take the hint.

The Winemiller attack is bad for business, both current and prospective. Hizzoner should forget a campaign platform built on "envisioning a sustainable Cleveland." Instead, he should campaign on a platform of delivering safer streets.

That's pretty bloody obvious what Cleveland needs.

Ask Justin Winemiller and Patrolman Kwan.

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McKenna, a native Clevelander, has worked as a reporter, editor and communications consultant. In the early 90s, he learned the definition of "quixotic" while trying to popularize the expression "Total Quality Government" in the pages of Industry Week magazine.