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2008 ELECTION:
Democrat Fudge debates GOP Pekarek at City Club
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BY Elizabeth Weinstein
Staff Reporter
“The 11th Congressional District is one of the most challenging in the state,” Marcia Fudge told the audience at The City Club of Cleveland Oct. 21 – many of whom were enthusiastic Fudge supporters. “I am the most prepared person to represent you (in Washington).”
The mayor of Warrensville Heights for the past nine years, Fudge is considered a shoe-in to succeed her longtime friend, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D), who died in August of a burst brain aneurysm. Fudge worked briefly as chief of staff for Tubbs Jones before becoming mayor.
The Democratic candidate debated with her Republican opponent Thomas Pekarek, a self-employed businessman and Navy veteran who previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress, the state legislature and the county commission.
According to Pekarek, his personal ups and downs – career success, unemployment, and a brush with foreclosure – have prepared him to lead. “My life has been my experience,” he said.
“In executive positions, in legislative positions, in judicial positions, from my days in law school to my time with a number of government agencies, until my … time as mayor of Warrensville Heights – I believe those are the things that have prepared me (to lead),” countered Fudge.
District 11, which includes Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Orange, Pepper Pike, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, University Heights, Warrensville Heights and Woodmere, is one of the most diverse districts in the U.S., Fudge said. It encompasses some of the country’s richest and poorest residents, living side-by-side. The district is also 10% Jewish.
The City Club debate focused mostly on the nation’s current economic crisis and what each candidate would do to help ease the burden. Fudge said she would work to create new jobs and provide people in the inner city with better access to jobs by improving public transportation. She also proposed better access to affordable healthcare programs, a revised No Child Left Behind Act, and more regulation of mortgage companies.
Fudge also said she would work to bring federal dollars to the district: “If I can find some kind of training program for young people – you call it an earmark – I’m going to try and bring it here. If there is a re-entry program – if we can teach people in prisons before they get out and (look for) a job … I’m going to bring it here.” She also assured the audience, “I’m not going to build a bridge to nowhere.”
Pekarek spoke mostly about an economic plan he called Capital Homestead Act, which would loan individuals $7,000 a year to invest in property.
Fudge’s priority, she said, would be “to make people’s quality of life better today … not 20 years from now.”
eweinstein@cjn.org
The mayor of Warrensville Heights for the past nine years, Fudge is considered a shoe-in to succeed her longtime friend, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D), who died in August of a burst brain aneurysm. Fudge worked briefly as chief of staff for Tubbs Jones before becoming mayor.
The Democratic candidate debated with her Republican opponent Thomas Pekarek, a self-employed businessman and Navy veteran who previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress, the state legislature and the county commission.
According to Pekarek, his personal ups and downs – career success, unemployment, and a brush with foreclosure – have prepared him to lead. “My life has been my experience,” he said.
“In executive positions, in legislative positions, in judicial positions, from my days in law school to my time with a number of government agencies, until my … time as mayor of Warrensville Heights – I believe those are the things that have prepared me (to lead),” countered Fudge.
District 11, which includes Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland, Lyndhurst, Mayfield Heights, Orange, Pepper Pike, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, University Heights, Warrensville Heights and Woodmere, is one of the most diverse districts in the U.S., Fudge said. It encompasses some of the country’s richest and poorest residents, living side-by-side. The district is also 10% Jewish.
The City Club debate focused mostly on the nation’s current economic crisis and what each candidate would do to help ease the burden. Fudge said she would work to create new jobs and provide people in the inner city with better access to jobs by improving public transportation. She also proposed better access to affordable healthcare programs, a revised No Child Left Behind Act, and more regulation of mortgage companies.
Fudge also said she would work to bring federal dollars to the district: “If I can find some kind of training program for young people – you call it an earmark – I’m going to try and bring it here. If there is a re-entry program – if we can teach people in prisons before they get out and (look for) a job … I’m going to bring it here.” She also assured the audience, “I’m not going to build a bridge to nowhere.”
Pekarek spoke mostly about an economic plan he called Capital Homestead Act, which would loan individuals $7,000 a year to invest in property.
Fudge’s priority, she said, would be “to make people’s quality of life better today … not 20 years from now.”
eweinstein@cjn.org
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