District 14: For Rep. Martin Sweeney, home is where his heart is
By Emmanuel Brown
When you think about voting for any candidate, you want to elect someone who best represents what your community needs. In Ohio House District 14, Rep. Martin Sweeney hopes you’ll decide that person is him.
Growing up with the Jesuit philosophy “Men and Women for Others,” Sweeney says that being active in the community is one of his many aspirations. He participates in his local church and a variety of different community groups, including the local neighborhood safety organization, he said in an interview.
He is also a family man. The front of his house, where he sits with his young interviewer on the porch, has been decorated for Halloween by his 12-year-old daughter. There are various cobwebs and monster masks, but also a Clinton/Kaine sign standing firmly in the front lawn.
Family man, community activist and politician, Sweeney is running for another term as a Ohio House Representative for District 14, which sits in the farthest Northeast corner of Ohio
For 20 years, from 1997 to 2014, Sweeney was a member of Cleveland City Council. In 2014, he ran for the Ohio House of Representatives for the first time, to represent District 14.
When asked “What goals do you have currently that you would like to achieve this term?” his first answer is to increase voter interest. According to Sweeney, 6,600 members of City Council’s Ward 6 community came out to vote in 1997. Seventeen years later the number dropped to 3,400 voters in 2014.
“If the voter interest drops, the ability to have a full, participatory election is not met. The more people that choose to take the opportunity to vote, the better the outcome will be,” said Sweeney. If voter interest were as high now as it was in the late 1990s, the potential for political change would be greater, he said.
Sweeney said he really wants to rebuild the city of Cleveland. When you look up images of Cleveland on general search engines, you usually see the most beautiful images. You don’t see the images that citizens see every day — the really impoverished communities that receive little to no attention. Sweeney said he wants to lend a helping hand by figuring out a way to mend those broken communities.
Though he is no longer on City Council, Sweeney said he is still working with Mayor Frank Jackson to plan a strategy to do just that. Though it is still a work in progress, he is steadily working towards that goal of rebuilding all of Cleveland — this time, from the statehouse.
Sweeney was very easy to get in touch with. After just one email, he was anxious to call and schedule an interview. During the interview, he was very enthusiastic about his position and the issues that he supported.
His nephew Colin Sweeney, a sophomore at John Carroll University, was also more than willing to speak as well about his uncle’s political career.
“One memory that sticks out is St. Patrick’s Day. My family comes from a strong Irish background. When Marty was the Council President of Cleveland, I would march in the parade with him and as I walked next to him all I heard was people chanting “Marty! Marty!” Everyone loved him because of his leadership,” Colin Sweeney said.
During the front porch interview, Martin Sweeney asked his student interviewer “What are some issues that are important to you?” The student answered that the education system and police brutality mattered most to him.
“If I was pulled over by the police, there is a strong possibility that at some point I could take my last breath. And that frightens me,” said the student interviewer, a young black man. Sweeney’s facial expression during this conversation was worried and he leaned in closer. There was no question he was listening attentively.
In 2014, Sweeney had rivals for the District 14 seat in the Ohio House. This time around, he is running unopposed. He still wants his constituents’ votes, though. From immediately contacting our reporter to schedule an interview to holding that interview on the front porch of his house, Sweeney was enthusiastic to tell the community about the work he puts forth on their behalf. He’s hoping voters come out to support that work—hopefully, at levels last seen in the 1990s.
