The Truth Staff
John Hobbs’s and Vanice Williams’ seats on Toledo City Council, representing Districts 1 and 4 respectively, are up for appointment because they were chosen by council to fill the vacancies while former Councilmembers Tyrone Riley and Yvonne Harper were on suspension.
Now that Riley and Harper have officially resigned, the Lucas County Democratic Party is accepting applications for the vacancies, with the appointment to be made by council.
The opportunity for the appointments has concerned certain groups in the city who fear that council might go in a direction that may not be in the best interests of the community served by Hobbs and Williams.
At the first Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance monthly meeting of the year, the church leaders praised the efforts of Hobbs and Williams and urged council to retain their services.
“We are so proud you represent us,” said Rev. Cedric Brock, IMA president and pastor of Mt. Nebo Baptist Church. “We thank God for these two – it’s important we do this.
The IMA submitted a letter to the president of City Council, Matt Cherry, expressing the desire to keep the two councilmembers in their positions. The letter reads as follows.
Dear Councilman Cherry,
On behalf of Dr. Cedric Brock, president, and Rev. Dr. Lee Williams, 1st vice president, and our executive officers, whereas we would like to express our abject concerns to you and members of Toledo City Council regarding legislative representation of Council District #1 and #4.
The purpose of this communication and outcones are of paramount importance to the faith leaders and elders of the African American community (at large) but will also be a challenge to the elected members of Toledo City Council.
We request an expedited resolution of this impasse by the appointments of Councilman Vanice S. Williams and Councilman John Hobbs III to vacant council seats districts #1 and #4 respectively without delay.
Council Districts #1 and #4 represent constituencies of nearly 89.5 thousand citizens who have been systematically labeled an underserved and marginalized population through no fault of their own. We are fully aware this demand is ambitious, however, as quoted by Geoffrey Canada, “nobody going to save us, we must save ourselves.”
We await your timely response.
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Lee Williams, First VP IMA of Toledo; Senior Pastor Search-lite Community Church, Maumee
Dr. Cedric Brock, President IMA of Toledo; Senior Pastor Mt. Nebo Baptist Church, Toledo