WAS THE WHISPER LOUD ENOUGH TO BE BELIEVED?

Submitted by Roldo on Tue, 08/19/2008 - 16:28.

Did Fannie really whisper in their ears? Did she say, Stephanie Howse?

I find it hard to believe.

I find it difficult to believe that she could have ever anointed anyone to take her place.

 

However, that’s what Council President Martin Sweeney and three colleagues say she did. She told them and no one else apparently.

She wasn’t a selfish person. But about who controlled Ward 7, she was most self-centered. It was hers and no one else’s.

So I’m suspicious of a death bed reversal of such a strong strain in Fannie Lewis.

“I want to believe Fannie told them,” said one Council member who might be more doubtful and distrustful.

Now it is said that Fannie had revived some days before her death.

Then, it seems to me, she would have had more time and judgment to make a decision that she had finalized a successor known to all, not just to Council leadership, but to her neighborhood and to her ward club members.

What makes it more unbelievable is that the young woman chosen said that Fannie had never told her and that she didn’t think “Fannie like her.”

Fannie likely didn’t since she had run against Lewis. She was not generous on this score.

“I can’t see her anointing anyone who ran against her,” said a Councilman.

However, the quick move by Sweeney help divert any possibility that the seat would fall into hands that didn’t fully support the present Council leadership – and since that leadership depends upon Mayor Frank Jackson – Mayor Jackson.

It was all too neat.

Now, however, what has been set in motion is a bitter fight within an explosive ward as to who owns the leadership. In October two contestants will be chosen in a primary by Ward 7 voters will face off in November.

One can expect a large field. More candidates will help Howse, who is young but appears to have credentials for the office.

If anything that may leak reveals the whisper never was uttered there could be an unraveling at Cleveland City Hall that reaches the mayor’s office, already an unstable space. 

I'd like to see polygraphs regarding Fannie Lewis

If Fannie Lewis did not name her own successor to the few people who claim she named her successor to them, then those people conspired, together and/or with others, probably at very high levels, like at the top of City Hall, the GCP and the Foundations, to name "their" own successor and attribute that to a beloved dead person, have committed fraud and grave-robbing at a level that deserves Federal attention and time in prison - that beats PoolGate any day.

Considering the seriousness of this situation - considering it will become more controversial going into the actual election for Fannie's seat - I believe this must be "nipped in the bud". Any people who claim that, on her deathbed, Fannie told them her intentions for her succession should undergo brutal private interrogations and submit to polygraph tests to absolutely confirm their stories. This must be highly independent.

Already having 200 FBI and IRS agents investigating other regional political crimes, it is safe to say the word of local politicians, leaders and the mainstream media is no longer at all believable. We must have polygraphs from Sweeney and anyone else claiming to have been touched by the dying Fannie Lewis or her angel regarding her successor.

Disrupt IT

Who needs to be interrogated?

Sweeney! Who else needs to sweat under the spotlight on this one?!?! Short list - shouldn't be hard!

Disrupt IT

does it matter a whit, which twit?

Norm, you're acting as though it matters who succeeds Fannie. That implies you harbor the feeling that a politician can effect conditions working within the system. I think we have to work around them and eventually cut them back a whole lot, to semi-volunteer positons at the council level in Cleveland.

 

Today, I don't think it really matters who sits in Fannie's seat; she was a good person of conscience, and swam against the current for years. We need to change the flow. The system needs a makeover.

 

Aren't you the guy who says "Disrupt it!"?

Prison uniforms will offer an excellent "makeover"

I believe many political and community leaders here need to go to Federal prison for a long time, in addition to rotting in hell, if they lied about Fannie Lewis' death-wishes. I want to see justice served regarding any fraud committed regarding the Fannie Lewis appointment - I do not know a single person who believes Sweeney et al, and if they are lying then they should be prosecuted, all the way to the top of co-conspiring corporations, "business chambers", political offices and foundations, as just. As Mansfield Frazier writes, in an important piece on CoolCleveland, "Fasten your seat belts folks, the ride is about to get real bumpy."

As for replacements for Fannie, I know of good candidates who intend to run, so don't worry about Hough finding good leadership, if it may escape the corruption of regional leadership.

Disrupt IT

Fannie Lewis still speaking through others?!?!

I'm astounded to see Fannie Lewis blamed today for an oversight committee of City Council not meeting for the last 16 months... astounding! From the PD...

The committee stopped meeting after chairwoman Fannie Lewis became
ill. But Sweeney said Lewis continued to monitor contract issues until
her death in August even though her committee did not meet.

"Her body was physically failing, but her mind never wavered," Sweeney said. "Miss Lewis was taking care of business."

Committee Vice Chairman Joe Santiago, who faced health problems of
his own and fought a recall campaign last year, could not be reached to
discuss why he did not call a meeting.

As council president, Sweeney could have called a committee meeting
on his own, but he said he did not do so out of respect for Lewis.

"I wouldn't do that to Miss Lewis," he said.

 

Disrupt IT

Idiots

See BFD's Unbelievable post.

85% of REALNEO believes Fannie Lewis' family

In a surprisingly timed development, the PD reports today that "Fannie Lewis' daughter says late councilwoman did not pick Howse". Of course, if this is true, many people are in serious trouble.

In a survey of REALNEO visitors, about 85% of respondents did not believe the claims Fannie Lewis secretly named a successor to the City Council President. Nobody I spoke with who knew Ms. Lewis believed the claim, either. Now, Ms. Lewis' family intends to defend her memory, legacy and honor.... more on this will certainly post after the family discusses this further, in a press conference today.

Will Ms. Lewis' family now be negated and vilified to protect others more powerful. Is this what Ms. Lewis dedicated her life to end with as her legacy?

Is this the saddest story of Cleveland leadership history-writing ever?