Julian Rogers: Democrats Should Be 'Down With O.B.B.'

County Council incumbent Julian Rogers told a group of about 30 people at Thursday night's to remember this when going to the polls — O.B.B.

"Remember the song, 'Down With O.P.P.?' I've been saying 'Down With O.B.B.' — Obama, Brown and Brown. So we've got to make sure we get (Sen.) Sherrod Brown, (Justice) Yvette McGee Brown and (President Barack) Obama re-elected," said Rogers, who represents District 10, which includes his hometown Cleveland Heights and University Heights.

Because he is running unopposed, he's working on Sen. Sherrod Brown's campaign.

"This is a tough race. We've already had Josh Mandel (Brown's challenger) and the Super PACs that are supporting him spend $17 million on TV ads against Sherrod Brown. As you know, there's no bigger champion for the working man, the little guy, (than Brown)," Rogers said. "We really need to focus on getting him re-elected."

And that was the focus of the event — educating voters about important issues in the 2012 election and giving them an opportunity to hear from endorsed, Democratic candidates.

Most of the attendees were Cuyahoga County common pleas or juvenile judge candidates, or people speaking on behalf of them.

Because they don't have a "D" or "R" next to their names on ballots, judicial candidates said Democrats who vote down party lines should remember who they are. Noah Dion, who works for the Democratic Party, emphasized the importance of electing Justice Yvette McGee Brown, who was appointed to the Ohio Supreme Court and is running to keep her seat.

"The kicker to all of this, folks, is that (Brown) is running against a woman named Kennedy," said Dion. He was met with knowing sighs and giggles from the audience in the . "And you all know that Democrats who go to the polls and look down the ballots and see a Kennedy say, 'Oh, well there's our guy' and just check the box."

Representatives also spoke about two issues, which will likely be at the end of ballots.

Issue 2 asks voters who they want in control of redistricting. A "yes" vote would leave redistricting in the hands of 12 citizens — four Democrats, four Republicans and four Independents. A "no" vote would leave the decision to elected officials.

Cleveland Heights Vice Mayor Dennis Wilcox spoke on behalf of the Cuyahoga County Port Authority about a renewal and replacement levy.

The levy must be renewed every five years, he said, but this time they are raising it from .13 mills to .67 mills, which means $1.67 per month for every $100,000 in property valuation.

"It's the smallest levy by far in the county, and it's got a great return. This is an opportunity to invest in the infrastructure of our lake and our river and our future," Wilcox said.

Attendees heard from the following judicial candidates running in the 2012 November election:

• Tim McCormack, Court of Appeals, 8th district
• Dean W. Van Dress, Court of Common Pleas
• Michael Jackson, Court of Common Pleas
• Cassandra Collier-Williams, Court of Common Pleas
• Cullen Sweeney, Court of Common Pleas
• Frankie Goldberg, Juvenile Court

The following judicial candidates sent people to speak on their behalf:

• Steve Gull, Court of Common Pleas
• Alison Nelson Floyd, Juvenile Court
• Colleen Ann Reali, Court of Common Pleas

Many judicial incumbents did not attend because of a conflict with a judicial conference in Columbus, according to the Cleveland Heights Democrats.