George Voinovich

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George Victor Voinovich (Vojnović in Serbian) (born July 15, 1936) is an American politician of the Republican party. He served as the 54th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, from 1979 to 1989 and successfully brought the city out of default in 1980. He also served as governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998. Today, Voinovich represents Ohio in the U.S. Senate, to which he was elected in 1998, and re-elected in 2004, succeeding John Glenn, a four-term Democratic senator who opted not to run in 1998. Voinovich is generally known to be a political maverick with a low-key persona.

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Personal details

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a Serbian father and a Slovenian mother, Voinovich earned a bachelor of arts degree in government from Ohio University in 1958 and a law degree from the Ohio State University in 1961. Voinovich is a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. He married his wife, Janet, in 1962. They had four children: George, Betsy, Peter, and Molly, as well as seven grandchildren. Molly, their youngest child, was killed in an auto accident at age 9.

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Early career

Voinovich began his political career in 1963 as an assistant attorney general of Ohio. He then served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971. From 1971 to 1976, he served as county auditor of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. In 1975, he made an unsuccessful run for the Republican nomination for mayor of Cleveland against incumbent Mayor Ralph J. Perk. From 1977 to 1978, he served as a member of the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners. In 1978, Voinovich was elected lieutenant governor on the ticket with James A. Rhodes (the first Ohio lieutenant governor not to be elected separately from the governor).

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1979 Cleveland mayoral election

By 1979, elections in Cleveland were nonpartisan, and with then-Mayor Dennis J. Kucinich (D) about to enter a tough re-election campaign, Voinovich began to consider running for mayor again. Twice, Voinovich suggested his intent to stand for office but then changed his mind. Finally, on July 26, he made "one of the most difficult decisions in [his] life." He resigned from the office of lieutenant governor and entered the primary election.

Aside from Kucinich, Voinovich's other opponents included state Sen. Charles Butts and city council majority leader Basil Russo. As the election drew closer, The Plain Dealer announced its endorsement of Voinovich. Voter turnout in the primary was greater than that of 1977 race between Perk, Kucinich, and Edward F. Feighan (when Voinovich had endorsed Kucinich). In the 1979 nonpartisan primary election, Voinovich led the pack with 47,000 votes to 36,000 for Kucinich. Russo (who obtained 21,000) and Butts (with 19,000) did not qualify for the general election. The biggest surprise was Voinovich's showing in predominately African American wards, where he was expected to finish last. In fact, he trailed only Butts, with Kucinich last.

Image:Voinovich-campaign.jpg

Most expected a fierce campaign between Voinovich and Kucinich. Early in the race, the mayor jumped on a quote that Voinovich made to The New York Times on August 26: "I like fat cats. I want as many in Cleveland as I can get. Cleveland needs their tax dollars and the jobs they bring." Kucinich later responded: "George Voinovich has proven conclusively...–he is the candidate of the fat cats...and he would love to become the mayor of the fat cats so he can repay their generosity." Voinovich argued that running the city required more than just one person and preached for a cooperative spirit with the motto, "Together we can do it."

Then, a few days after the primary, Voinovich's 9-year-old daughter, Molly was struck by a van and killed on October 8. This tragic event brought the campaign to a virtual halt and made it difficult for Kucinich to attack his opponent. Still, he challenged Voinovich to a series of debates in the Cleveland neighborhoods. However, the former lieutenant governor declined these invitations saying they would be unproductive.

Finally, however, a debate between Voinovich and Kucinich was held at the City Club on November 3. Kucinich began by asserting that the programs his opponent offered were "aimed at destroying Muny Light."

"He wants to put Muny Light in the same position it was in a few years ago when the Growth Association and CEI and their friends in City Hall said 'it's no good, it's worthless, it's rundown, it can't be saved, get rid of it for the sake of the city,'" Kucinich said.

He also said that Voinovich, while serving as auditor, had turned his back on the city's financial issues.

"For more than five years, when the previous Republican administration [of Ralph Perk] was digging a deeper and deeper financial hole, George Voinovich sat as county auditor reviewing the city's tax budgets [and] allowing gross misspending to go on and on without once raising a single question. Either he didn't know what was going on, which raises questions about his capacity to handle the finances of Cleveland, or he ignored what was going on and helped the Republicans to cover up the financial mess," Kucinich said.

Voinovich countered, saying that the Kucinich administration had only worsened the city's financial situation.

"In looking at those two years [of the Kucinich administration], I'll admit that some of the problems Dennis had to face were inherited and not of his own making," he said. "But as the saying goes: If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Dennis has become part of every problem facing this city. The harsh realities are that Dennis has not spent the time nor has he developed any kind of comprehensive plan to solve our city's problems. Furthermore, he has not attracted the kind of mature, qualified, experienced team necessary to solve our city's difficult problems."

Voinovich also pointed out that if a new mayor were not elected, things would only get worse.

"On August 20, 1979, Sylvester Angel, the Ohio area general manager for HUD, sent a letter to Mayor Kucinich saying, 'You should be aware that due to the city's lack of performance in this fiscal year, your allocation [for federal loans] will be substantially reduced for fiscal year 1980,'" Voinovich said.

"Ever since I began running for the office, I said the task of running our city is not a one-man show," he continued. "Managing a major urban area like Cleveland is a complex job that requires the cooperation, participation and the good will\shave all segments of our community. It is not enough for a candidate to promise that he will do for the community if elected."

On November 6, Voinovich won with 94,541 votes while Kucinch only procured 73,755, winning in only eight of Cleveland's then 33 wards.

At his victory party, Voinovich reminded those gathered of his family's recent loss.

"It was only several weeks ago we were for a primary victory party," he reminded the crowd at the Cleveland Plaza Hotel. Beside him were his wife, Janet, and children. "We miss the presence tonight of our little girl, Molly," he said. "But we know she's here with us in spirit tonight, and we know that she has, with almighty God, given us comfort along with the thoughtfulness and prayers of many of you here today, so that we've been able to endure these last several weeks."

"We know that there's no way we can fill the void we have in our family because of her loss, but we will take the love we had for her and the love she had for us and reach out and do something for our fellow man," he said. "Tonight, I want to thank you for the opportunity to serve as your mayor and the extraordinary opportunity to reach out and help my fellow man."

"I'm proud that we kept our campaign on a high level," he said. "I'm the first mayor that's going to enter this job since '65 that doesn't have to respond or speak to racism."

He also said, "We can provide the quality of life that we all want and need." He concluded, "With God's help we can do it together."

After his victory in 1979, Voinovich won re-election in 1981 against Ohio state Rep. Patrick Sweeney (107,472 to 32,940) and in 1985 against councilman Gary Kucinich, Dennis's brother (82,840 to 32,185).

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Mayoralty

Image:Voinovich-cleveland.jpg

Voinovich was considered a rather low-key politician, a description he adopted himself. Once elected, he announced that he would meet immediately with Ohio Gov. James Rhodes to solicit the state government's help in clearing up the city's debts. He negotiated a debt repayment schedule. In October 1980, eight local banks, with the state guaranteeing the loans, lent Cleveland $36.2 million, allowing the city to emerge from default. Despite this, the city's economy continued to decline and federal funding was cut. Two weeks earlier, voters turned down another 0.5 percent income tax increase. The opposition was led by Kucinich, who had been keeping a low profile since his defeat in the 1979 election. Voinovich said he would resubmit the tax issue on the February ballot to avoid facing a deficit in 1981. This time the voters approved the tax increase.

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"The Comeback City"

By the time Voinovich was elected, Cleveland had long been the butt of late night comedians' jokes. At President Ronald Reagan's inaugural ball, comedian Rich Little quipped that that if the Soviets started to invade Poland, "I'd change the name to Cleveland. No one ever goes there." Clevelanders, with encouragement of politicians, newspaper columnists, and disc jockeys, began sending off angry letters to Little's agent, NBC, and newspapers. Little was surprised and later stated to UPI columnist Vernon Scott: "I guess the people of Cleveland have become a little touchy."

"I am totally fed up with everyone taking a shot at our city, and am not going to accept it meekly anymore," a letter to The Plain Dealer stated. The Cleveland Press caught Willard Scott making a disparaging remark about the city while The Plain Dealer found an insult in the Hollywood Reporter. When Boston mayor Kevin White remarked that the city's finances had gone from "Camelot to Cleveland," Voinovich protested. White responded by saying that Boston had survived facetious remarks from a wide range of jokesters, from Mark Twain to Johnny Carson. "I am sure Cleveland will also," he said.

Image:Voinovich-chart.jpg The defensive attitude projected from the Cleveland media and Voinovich began to make inhabitants of other cities look twice at Cleveland. The Smythe-Cramer Co. especially helped restore the city's former glory by running a series of ads with photographs of downtown Cleveland captioned "Take Another Look. It's Cleveland!" In May, The Plain Dealer sent its Sunday subscribers bumper stickers saying, "New York's the Big Apple, but Cleveland's a Plum." The paper also passed out thousands of "Cleveland's a Plum" buttons and also ran a huge picture of Publisher Thomas Vail, with a smiling Voinovich beside him, throwing out the first plum at a Yankees-Indians game. Sportscaster Howard Cosell hailed the city during a baseball game and Voinovich subsequently presented him with a key to the city. A survey showed 65 percent of the residents of Greater Cleveland were very satisfied with their life in the city and even 57 percent claimed to be very satisfied, even in 1978, the year of default. Also, a national poll rated Detroit as the city with the worst image, with New York City second. Cleveland was fifth-worst.

The New Cleveland Campaign, a promotion agency formed in 1978, began sending out news releases bragging about Cleveland's virtues and proudly circulating reprints whenever it got a favorable story. Unfortunately, to show how much the "new" Cleveland had improved, it had to stress how bad the old Cleveland was. In particular, it stressed on the city's 1978 default, even though New York City defaulted on 300 times as much in 1975 (which they referred to as a "moratorium.").

The restoration campaign reached its peak in October with the society magazine Town and Country. "Cleveland's Come-Around" explained how "businessmen, lawyers and concerned citizens" rescued the city from "the petulant, pugnacious Dennis Kucinich." It called Voinovich's Operation Improvement Task Force under E. Mandell de Windt "the most significant undertaking in Cleveland since Moses Cleaveland stepped ashore on the bank of the Cuyahoga River in 1786." It also enticed its readers of Lake Erie and its "beautiful and exciting year-round sailing."

So confident was Voinovich, that during election season, he even attracted presidential candidates Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan to debate in Cleveland. "Cleveland is making a comeback," Time Magazine declared at the close of 1980, "During the past year, convention business has flourished, school desegregation has proceeded peacefully, and a modest construction boom has begun ... Most impressive of all, the city dug itself out of default."

Image:Voinovich-mayor.jpg

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Downtown development and other improvements

In order to accomplish more, Voinovich felt that the terms for mayor and Cleveland City Council ought to be extended. He offered a referendum to voters to extend them from two to four years and additionally asked voters to approve cutting down the number of council members from 33 to 21 in order to help ease the city's strained economy. They approved both requests.

Throughout the Voinovich years, neighborhoods began to see some improvement starting with the Lexington Village housing project, $149 million in Urban Development Action Grants, and $3 billion of construction underway or completed. In particular the neighborhoods of Hough and Fairfax, then two of Cleveland's worst east side neighborhoods, began to see new houses built and lesser amount of crimminal activity. Voinovich also quietly moved to reconcile the warring groups of the 1970s. He made peace with business leaders and even posed with them in photographs that ran in New Cleveland Campaign ads in business magazines, captioned with the Voinovich slogan: "Together, we can do it." He refined the neighborhood groups which, with the breakdown of the Democratic Party, became the most potent political force in the city. He also extended his hand to unions as well, in particular the Teamsters truck union.

As mayor, Voinovich oversaw a huge scale urban renaissance downtown. Standard Oil Company (purchased by BP America in 1987), Ohio Bell, and Eaton Corporation all built new offices downtown (most notably the BP Building). Brothers Richard and David Jacobs astonished the city by rescuing its troubled Indians franchise, ultimately turning it around for the better. The two also improved the desolate area located by the Erieview Tower and turned it into the glass-roofed Galleria at Erieview. Voinovich also attracted the Key Bank company, which eventually led to the construction of Key Tower, the largest skyscraper in Cleveland and the 15th largest in the nation. In addition, the National Civic League awarded Cleveland the All-America City Award three times, in 1982, 1984, and 1986, in addition to its first, won in 1950. At a special meeting held by the League of Women Voters of Cleveland in 1989 to celebrate the city's six surviving past mayors, Voinovich graciously thanked the League for helping him make Cleveland an All-America City once again. "Cleveland was named an All-America City an unprecedented three times in five years. No other city has ever received that distinction." He went on to state, "This extraordinary achievement happened because of the support of the League of Women Voters. Without its support, we could have not done it."

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Voinovich and Municipal Light

One of the key issues surrounding the previous Kucinich administration was canceling the sale of Cleveland Municipal Light (today Cleveland Public Power). In fact, Kucinich's insistance on saving it from being absorbed into the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) led the business community to force Cleveland into default. Fortunately, Voinovich's successful negotiations reversed this action when he first assumed office as mayor. However, despite the fact that Voinovich carried a pro-business attituide did not change CEI's position on the issue. They persisted on making efforts to buy out Muny Light and pressure Voinovich into giving them the right to do so. Voinovich resisted. Early in his tenure, he arranged for capital improvements to strengthen the operation of Muny Light and by 1982, it was able to compete with CEI. He asserted that the company was making attempts to cripple Muny Light by lobbying council against much-needed legislation. "We still have a battle going on," Voinovich said, "They [CEI] are as dedicated as ever to laying away the Municipal Light system."

In 1984, however, Voinovich's pro-Muny attitude began to change, when his administration began negotiations for CEI. The deal allowed for CEI to take over all of Muny's private customers in exchange for various benefits including a cash payment of $40 million. Furthermore, CEI threatened to move its over its one thousand employees to the suburbs instead of placing them in a major downtown development, if Voinovich did not agree to sell. They put additional pressure on the mayor to sell, when they widely publicized its advantages in a full-page newspaper advertisement and letters to all city residents. Perhaps fearing a Kucinich comeback and after stating that he had been "leaned on by everyone in this town," Voinovich cancelled the sale once and for all. CEI itself was eventually acquired and became part of FirstEnergy.

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Criticisms

Despite the achievements of the Voinovich administration, there were still some problems and criticisms. The city's population continued to decrease and its public school continued to experience issues, a problem that still plagues the city to this day. Critics of The Plain Dealer's "plum campaign" produced counter-bumper stickers that read "If Cleveland's a plum, no wonder why The Plain Dealer is the pits."

Voinovich also worked to have peaceful relations with city council, in particular, its then-President, George L. Forbes. The mayor and council channeled the funds to local groups and made sure that the groups knew whom to thank. The grants gave them the ability to reward or punish neighborhood groups. For that matter, Forbes could cut off money to wards of council members who criticized him. Since being elected as Council President in 1973, Forbes had steadily built his power and appointed himself chairman of the Finance Committee, allowing him control of council's two most powerful positions. It was becoming clear to Voinovich that the price of peace was gradually yielding more power to Forbes.

The Plain Dealer also criticized Voinovich after he threatened mass layoffs if a second income tax increase (proposed in 1984) would not pass. It failed by an almost 2 to 1 margin. Instead of offering mass layoffs however, Voinovich apologized saying that he exaggerated the probable extent of the layoffs in an effort to persuade voters.

In 1988, Voinovich announced his retirement from his position as mayor and ran to unseat then U.S. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum while still in the mayor's office. During his campaign, Voinovich charged that Metzenbaum was soft on child pornographers. He was roundly criticized for this attack and lost to Metzenbaum in a landslide. Meanwhile, Forbes, who was in firm control of council, decided to run for mayor in the 1989 election. He was subsequently defeated by his own protégé, Michael R. White, who is often credited with continuing Voinovich's work of urban renewal.

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Tenure as Governor of Ohio

In 1990, Voinovich was nominated by the Republicans to replace Gov. Richard F. Celeste, a Democrat who was barred from running for a third consecutive term. In that race, Voinovich defeated Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr., a victory that made Voinovich the first Serbian American ever to hold office as governor. In 1994, Voinovich was re-elected to the governorship, defeating Democrat Robert L. Burch Jr. in a massive landslide. He won 72% of the vote.

Voinovich's tenure as governor saw Ohio's unemployment rate fall to a 25-year low. The state picked itself up and was able to create more than 500,000 new jobs. Under Voinovich, Ohio was ranked #1 in the nation by Site Selection Magazine for new and expanding business facilities.

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Senate Career

In 1996, Voinovich hoped to be chosen by then U.S. Sen. Robert J. Dole to be the Republican nominee for U.S. vice president. However, Dole chose Jack Kemp instead. In 1998, barred from running for a third consecutive term as governor, Voinovich set his eyes on the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by long-time incumbent Democrat John Glenn. Voinovich won that race, defeating Democrat Mary O. Boyle.

Particularly in his first years in the Senate, Voinovich was opposed to lowering tax rates. He frequently joined Democrats on tax issues and in 2000 was the only Republican in Congress to vote against a bill providing for relief from the "marriage penalty." In 2002, Voinovich became the target of the right wing when he was one of the moderate Republicans in the Senate trying to put the brakes on President Bush's plan to cut taxes while increasing expenditures. A television campaign labeled Voinovich as disloyal. While he did vote for the tax bills of 2001 and 2003, and has switched his positions to vote in favor of eliminating the estate tax, Voinovich is still more hesistant to support cutting taxes than most in his party.

On gun politics, Voinovich generally supports gun control legislation which has earned him a 'D' rating from the NRA and an 'F' rating from GOA.

In November 2004, in his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate, Voinovich easily defeated the Democratic nominee, Ohio state senator Eric Fingerhut, whose candidacy was overshadowed by persistent speculation that TV talk show host Jerry Springer might enter the race.

Voinovich gained national attention at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's confirmation hearing of John R. Bolton, nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, when he commented "I don't feel comfortable voting today on Mr. John Bolton." As a result, the committee recessed without a vote and thus stalled the nomination [1]. Again, Voinovich faced charges of disloyalty from conservative activists, and has been called a RINO on multiple occasions. Voinovich later allowed the committee to send the nomination to the full senate, but forced the committee to do so without a recommendation. Democrats refused to invoke cloture and end debate on the Bolton nomination - the first time, Voinovich voted to end debate, the second time, he joined Democrats in voting to extend debate and urged Bush to choose another nominee.

Voinovich has since amended his views and determined Dr. John Bolton is doing a "good job" as UN Ambassador praising him by saying "I spend a lot of time with John on the phone. I think he is really working very constructively to move forward."[2]

Voinovich has a reputation of being overcome by emotion in public situations and has choked up on several occasions during important speeches, the latest example being during his May 25, 2005, address in the Senate pleading with fellow Republicans to reject Bolton's nomination. Voinovich lost his composure as he explained that he ran for re-election in order to try to secure a stable future for his children and grand-children. Voinovich also got choked up when the Cleveland Browns announced their intent to move to Baltimore. In 1999, Voinovich said that President Clinton's signing of the "Ed-Flex" bill had brought tears of joy to his eyes.

In a recent interview [3], Voinovich has expressed his intent on running for re-election as senator. He also vowed that he would help "mentor" the future mayor of Cleveland, during the 2005 Cleveland mayoral election. Voinovich aid will most likely go to the election's winner, Frank G. Jackson.

With the Jack Abramoff scandal in Washington, the Senate has been debating lobbying reform. Voinovich has expressed opposition to the creation of an independent "public integrity" office to police members of Congress because he believes that the Senate Ethics Committee, which he chairs, already handles that job. "Why create another entity that will do the same thing we are already doing and build up a big staff?" asked Voinovich. He stated that his committee will "get into the Abramoff situation" after the Justice Department finishes investigating the lobbyist's claims of bribing members of Congress.

The Senate voted on March 8 to ban lobbyists from buying meals for its members and will continue its reform debate today. The House of Representatives has not yet discussed a lobbying bill, though House Majority Leader John Boehner, Republican of Ohio, expects a vote by mid-April. The new bill under Senate discussion would require lobbyists to more frequently report their activities to Congress among other things. Voinovich backs most of the reforms in the bill and is particularly pleased with a section that would require his committee to publicly divulge its activities at the end of the year without revealing who was investigated unless they were sanctioned.

Still, Voinovich worried that his committee's confidential nature makes the public wonder whether it's doing anything at all. "We do a tremendous amount of work in terms of following up on anything we feel would bring dishonor to the Senate," he said. "It bothers me that I am working my tail off in this committee, spending hours and hours, and I can't talk about what I'm doing."

On March 17, Voinovich brought issues regarding the Great Lakes to the Senate, stating that failure to promptly fix the Lakes environmental problems could lead to a catastrophe as severe as Hurricane Katrina.

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Electoral history

  • 2004 Race for U.S. Senate (Ohio)
  • 1998 Race for U.S. Senate (Ohio)
  • 1994 Race for Governor (Ohio)
    • George Voinovich (R) (inc.), 72%
    • Rob Burch (D), 25%
  • 1988 Race for U.S. Senate (Ohio)
  • 1985 Race for Mayor (Cleveland)
  • 1981 Race for Mayor (Cleveland)
  • 1979 Race for Mayor (Cleveland)
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References

  • The Encyclopedia Of Cleveland History by Cleveland Bicentennial Commission (Cleveland, Ohio), David D. Van Tassel (Editor), and John J. Grabowski (Editor) ISBN 0253330564
  • Cleveland: A Concise History, 1796-1996 by Carol Poh Miller and Robert Anthony Wheeler ISBN 0253211476
  • The Crisis of Growth Politics: Cleveland, Kucinich, and the Challenge of Urban Populism by Todd Swanstrom ISBN 0877223661
  • Seven Making History: A Mayoral Retrospective by The League of Women Voters of Cleveland
  • 25 Years of Cleveland Mayors: Who Really Governs? by Roldo Bartimole
  • The New York Times, August 26, 1979. Mayor Kucinich Himself Is Issue In Upcoming Cleveland Primary by Edward Schumaker.
  • The Cleveland Press, September 21, 1979. Mayor Accuses Rival On Funding by Walt Bogdanich.
  • The Cleveland Press, November 3, 1979. City Club Debate: Candidates Go At It by Brent Larkin.
  • The Cleveland Press, November 7, 1979. Mayor-Elect Voinovich Moves To End Default by Brent Larkin.
  • The Cleveland Press, November 7, 1979. The Winner: Voinovich Is Subdued Victor by Fred McGunagle.
  • The Plain Dealer, August 7, 1999. Our Century: Muny Survives, But Kucinich Is Out of Power by Fred McGunagle.
  • The Plain Dealer, August 14, 1999. Our Century: Cleveland Climbs Out Of Default by Fred McGunagle.
  • The Plain Dealer, August 22, 1999. Our Century: Beleaguered Cleveland Prunes Its Image – 'Plum' Campaign To Rescue City From the Nation's Punch Lines by Fred McGunagle.
  • The Plain Dealer, September 5, 1999. Our Century: A Welcome Breather At City Hall While Voinovich Keeps Peace and Mends Fences, Kucinich Begins His Comeback, And Forbes Consolidates Power On City Council by Fred McGunagle.
  • The Plain Dealer, March 9, 2006. Ethics Panel Chief Voinovich Opposes Key Lobbying Reform by Sabrina Eaton.
  • The Plain Dealer, March 17, 2006. Great Lakes Need Help, Voinovich Says by Sabrina Eaton.
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See also

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External links

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