Editor’s note: This article originally included a candidate’s statement that citizens cannot access the third floor of City Hall to meet with council members. City Hall staff clarified that citizens are permitted on the third floor without an appointment and may visit council offices to meet with staff or members.
The article also referenced the Cincinnati Youth Commission (CCY). The CCY ended in 2007 while the candidate was still on council. Its work connecting young people with jobs and life skills has since continued through programs in the Cincinnati Recreation Commission and the Building Futures Program with the Urban League.
On the long list of names of Cincinnati City Council candidates, one name might stick out to people if they were around 22 years ago. Laketa Cole first ran unsuccessfully for a spot in City Hall in 2001 and was eventually appointed in 2003 to fill an open seat, becoming the first African American woman to be appointed to City Council. She remained in office till 2010, when she resigned. Nearly two decades later, she’s returning as a self-described “Independent Democrat,” backed by an endorsement from the Charter Committee of Cincinnati, and says she’s ready to bring a “can-do” attitude and fresh perspective to the city’s fully Democratic council.
Running on the promises of City Council transparency, an opposition to Connected Communities zoning and the revival of the Citizens Committee on Youth, Cole is ready to be the councilperson that listens — something that she doesn’t think is currently happening down in City Hall.
As the vice president of the Bond Hill Community Council and a former employee of Cincinnati Public Schools, Cole is deeply rooted in her community and ready to elevate their voices. At her first job working at a Rally’s in Avondale, she learned to question what Uncle Sam was doing with her money, and since then, she has taught kids to be interested in the government because “politics is always interested in you.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
CityBeat: What does the Charter Committee endorsement mean for you and your campaign?
Laketa Cole: When I first ran, I ran as an Independent, and then I was endorsed by the Democratic Party. So I am the first and the youngest African American female to be appointed to City Council. And so this time, I wanted the charter route because it’s more independent. I believe it’s about the person and not the party, and I also believe it’s one of the things we’re trying to push is that change that’s needed down in Council; we definitely need a change.
So just hearing the different thoughts and bringing it together on one court, that means a lot to me because I think that’s how the city is made up. The city’s made up of various people’s backgrounds and having to make a decision. And they understand that it’s not about party politics, but it’s about what you’re doing for your community.
CB: What do you think influenced that kind of switch from being endorsed by the Democratic Party to being endorsed by the nonpartisan Charter Committee?
LK: I don’t think it was so much of a switch because I’ve always been Independent, but I think what was important to me is the fact that right now we have all Democrats down there. And I just see one thought. I don’t see any different thoughts going into there.
I know when I was on Council, yes, we may have had a lot of fighting going on, but I think we got things accomplished and people knew who we were. And our fighting came out of passion and what we believed in.
CB: So do you believe that having a Council that’s a mix of Democrats, Independents and Republicans will be better than what we have now?
LK: Yes, I do. Because some people might say fighting in an argument, but what comes out of that is a great compromise. And so you get great ideals that come out of that when you have people with different ideologies that come up together. And so I think that’s what’s helpful. You know, it’s not about a one-party system, it’s about coming up with different thoughts and processes and trying to figure out what’s the best solution for our city.
CB: One of your campaign pillars is transparency in City Council. Is being transparent about who you are, your party, your views and what you think of this race as a whole part of that pillar?
LK: Yes, and I also think it’s important to be transparent right now. When I was on Council, people could come up to the third floor and go to the council person’s office, drop off papers, meet with the council people, meet with the council staff without having an appointment. Right now, you can’t get up to the third floor unless you have an appointment. That’s not transparency. That’s, to me, for example, a counselperson hiding out from the citizens. And that’s not what that’s about. City Hall is supposed to be for the people, but you telling me now that they can’t have access to come up to the third floor to meet their councilperson without having an appointment? I think that’s not transparency to me. That’s being close-minded, in a closed government.
CB: Have you had any experiences where people will talk to you about their complaints and you’re like, “Yes, this is part of my campaign?”
LK: Yes, definitely. Compromising and collaboration, that’s for the C in my name. And the L in my name is for listening. They want leaders that are going to listen to them. They’re not saying they want a leader that’s going to agree with them. They want a leader who’s going to listen to them. And right now, I feel like they have leaders and their issues are falling on deaf ears.
I mean, the Hyde Park issue, they sat there and they had to fight. They had to actually get out there and get all those signatures for the Council to finally begin to listen to them. I thought that that was unheard of, that never happened when I was on Council. But what I find even more ironic is that Hyde Park had to do that, right? So now they’ve appealed their issue. But what about Bond Hill? And here it is; I feel like there’s the Tale of Two Cities. So, this happened for Hyde Park, which people consider as a more affluent neighborhood, white and affluent. But what about Bond Hill, which people consider more Black and not as affluent? But you’re leaving them behind. And I feel like you were taking their vote for granted, but you want to make sure that you don’t take Hyde Park’s vote for granted. Like their vote count more than Bond Hill.
CB: You were appointed last in 2003. So why run again now?
LK: I’m the vice president of the Bond Hill Community Council. And so in that, I still continue to be in my neighborhood and my community, and I keep hearing people complain. They asked me to run last election, and I just said, “No, they’ll get it together. We’ll just work with the Council people and hopefully they’ll turn things around.” Well, it didn’t happen. And people continue to ask me to run.
CB: What do you wish to accomplish if you are elected this time around?
LK: So, there’s a couple things. The last time I was in office, we had what used to be considered a CCY [Citizens Committee on Youth] program, and for the young people, providing them with jobs, but not only just jobs, but life skills, life skills that are necessary. That program, in my opinion, is no longer there. I don’t know what happened to it, but I need to revamp that CCY program for our young people.
I used to have our committee meetings in the evening out in the community for citizens to really be involved and engaged in. I would like to get that back going. We had evening council meetings. Because right now, our meetings are all during the day, when the average citizen is working. And in order for them to participate in the government, they have to take off work.
If the citizens don’t have access, you’re not representing them. Who are you actually representing? The people who can just, to me, the affluent, who doesn’t have to go to work, who have an opportunity to just leave the job at any time they want to. But what about the everyday average citizen who can’t do that? The everyday, average citizens who don’t have vacation time to take because they may have had to use it to take care of their sick child?
CB: What were your thoughts on the City Council’s decisions regarding youth crime over the summer, such as the curfew and the restrictions on public transport?
LK: I’m not understanding, again, how they expect the police officers to babysit these kids from not being outside. And, you know, is it really going to be enforced equally across the cities? You know, are you going to be making sure that you definitely enforce it in the Bond Hill and Avondale area, but if I lived in Hyde Park and Oakley, it’s not enforced? Is that fair?
I’m concerned that it will be heavily enforced, particularly in the Black neighborhoods, but not necessarily in the other neighborhoods.
CB: If you were faced with someone right now who either wasn’t planning to vote or was between candidates, what would be your pitch to them?
LK: I used to teach. And so I say to students, I understand you didn’t care about politics. I didn’t care about politics either when I was your age until I got my first check. And this is how I turned it around. I got my first check and I hadn’t calculated for me getting all this money, right? Well, taxes came about. And I asked my mom, “Where did my money go?” She said, “Uncle Sam.” “I don’t have an Uncle Sam, so where’s my money?” At that point, I didn’t know Uncle Sam was talking about the government. Well, Uncle Sam takes the money for dinner and they do this and do that. I’m like, “Well, I didn’t give him permission to do that, right?” I said it to say, “Well, you may not be interested in politics, but politics is always interested in you because they take your money out.”
CB: After the appointment of Evan Nolan in place of Reggie Harris, the Council was swayed from a Black to a white majority. If you are elected, how do you think your presence is going to affect and represent the community?
LK: I think it plays a big part in it because your background and how you think through things based on who you are.
For the first time, there was a Black majority, you know, and I think people were excited and happy because they felt that finally, the Black community was not going to be left behind. You know, there’s a Tale of Two Cities here. I mean, you know, people don’t always want to talk about it. They want to be like, “Oh, it’s not like that.” Yes, it is. There’s a Tale of Two Cities. There’s the rules for whites, and there’s the rules for Blacks. Whether you want to say it or not, and people don’t like it, people always want to make it seem like we’re all in this big melting pot. We’re not. We know that there’s different rules. We know that Blacks get treated totally differently. There’s no secret.
A general election for the position of Mayor and the nine City Council seats will be held on Nov. 4 in Cincinnati. All current Council Members, excluding Victoria Parks, will be up for reelection, and all have received an endorsement from the Democratic Party. To find the nearest polling station, visit the Hamilton County Board of Elections site.