I nominate Mike Nelson, President of 100 Black Men.  

Mike ran for Mayor several years ago and did not do well considering there were several others in the race and because of politics.

I have known Mike Nelson for many years.  He is an intelligent attorney, well liked by all in the community, respected, powerful, speaks well and is good looking.  Mike is also one cool guy and has a very smooth disposition that I believe might encourage young black men to follow in his steps.

I encourage Mike to run for mayor every time that I see him.

You can read about Mike and the mentoring program that he provides to young men here.

The question is who can beat the second-term Mayor Frank Jackson in 2013, if you are one not supporting him. Councilman Cummins is most likely not going to run, Art McKoy lives in E.Cleveland, Triozzi has no chance with his 3 percent showing in his 2005 non-partisan primary loss to Jackson and Michael Nelson is a nice guy but probably cannot win either where he got 2 percent when he ran for mayor.--Kathy Wray Coleman

Mayor Frank Jackson, who is Black, cannot be beat right now with his citywide support and his lock on Cleveland City Council, though if he keeps up with his anti-union tactics by harassing police and Cleveland teachers for the Republicans, his days as a politician are numbered. If the mayor keeps picking at teacher tenure and giving police a hard time, he can lose. Jane Campbell lost to Jackson in 2005 because she got to many enemies of Black leaders and took on police with layoffs, etc, and as council president Jackson convinced west side and east side councilpersons to come his way. Though most teachers live in the suburbs, police and firefighters live primarily in Cleveland. And with the redistricting and upcoming loss of two of the 19 city council seats, probably on the predominantly Black east side of Cleveland, Jackson seems to have the Black council people on a string, and his support among key Black politicians in the predominanatly Black city and regionally remains somewhat strong. I was surprised that Councilmen Jeff Johnson and Zack Reed, both Black, took Jackson on in an editorial  Sept 17, 2011 in USA Today Newspaper over flash mob legislation adopted by city council that Jackson vetoed last month. Whether this signifies any true dissention remains to be seen.---Kathy Wray Coleman