Transcript of a Conversation with Courtis Fuller
Courtis Fuller: Meet Herman Najoli. He is an educator and author, a soccer, basketball, and track coach. And last year, a candidate for Hamilton County commissioner.
Herman Najoli: I decided to run for mayor of Cincinnati because of the terrible situation that our city found itself in last year. Last year, this time, I was running for county commissioner as an independent, the first independent to ever make it to the ballot for county commissioner. And come into the month of November. I was so confident that that was the seat that I will win. But things did not turn out the way we wanted. And so much happened during those last few months of last year at City Hall. And I looked at that, and I just felt this great pressure to step up and run for office. After the U. S. Attorney, the FBI lawyer said that there is a culture of corruption. I felt like I am the right person to come in — a complete outsider of politics — to come in and get the politics out of City Hall so that the experts — the administrators can do their job. I am an educator, just an ordinary teacher. I feel like I have the right mindset to come in and be an educator for the public and bring in new concepts into City Hall. Just someone who is not an insider — who is completely new with a strong vision — who loves our city. It is very unfortunate to see the rise in crime over the past a couple of months and more so last year during this pandemic. One. We need to get illegal guns off the street, and I think most important, we need to have after school programs which can provide that kind of motivation for individuals so that they have purpose in life. I believe that my candidacy is so unique in that it is an inspiring candidacy. When so many of our young men and women across the city see, an individual of my caliber, run for office. I think it will be inspiring for people to want to pursue more of their purpose and potential and not get involved in negative vices like crime. Thankfully, so much has been accomplished in terms of just having a police force and crime reduction strategies that are helpful for our community. But over the past one year, obviously we’ve seen that increase, and I think a lot can be done to really push that down. Regarding policing, I think we are short sighted when we focus on the actions of police officers as opposed to the direction of the entire policing system. There is a big difference between a police officer and a policing system. Here we are talking about one individual. Yet on the other hand, we are talking about a system, and I think the best changes that truly transform the culture of a community and the city are system changes. I have a doctoral degree in organizational leadership. I understand systems theory and organizational leadership. I want to bring that to City Hall.
Link to View Interview
My segment starts at the 7:38 mark and ends at the 11:06 mark. See below.
https://www.wlwt.com/article/let-s-talk-cincy-cincinnati-s-mayor-race/35890712