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Page B8

CENSUS REPORT

A kron blacks faringworse in downturn

Income down 42 percent in 10 years, as middle class moves from cityto escape crime. High incarceration rates contribute to cycle of poverty

By David KnoxB eacon J ournal staff writer

L ooking out from her porch on aquiet street in the mostly black neigh - borhood of W est A kron , E arline E aton has seen good economic times.

Sh e has seen bad times.T hese are the worst times, she says.‘‘I see a lot of foreclosures – even

on my street,’’ said E aton , who hasserved as president of the GreaterW est S ide C ouncil o f Block Clubs for28 years. ‘‘People don’t have jobs.’’

Th e latest statistics from the Ce n-sus Bureau show Eaton is right.

T he recession triggered by thehousing crash and financial crisis hashurt most people. But, in Akron , Af r i-can - A mericans have been hit harder.

M uch harder . T heir median household income –

the midpoint, with half making moreand half less – was estimated at$1 7,8 9 2, a 42 percent drop compared to1999 .

I ncomes for white households inA kron also were down, but not nearly

as much: 13 percent.R esearchers quickly point to disap-

pearing manufacturing jobs as a bigreason blacks are faring worse thanwhites . T hey say A frican - A mericansare more vulnerable to the loss ofunionized factory jobs, which paidhigh wages even to those with only ahigh school diploma or less education.

Bu t leaders in A kron ’ s black com-munity say two more factors are driv-ing the dismal census numbers:

• The accelerating flight of middle-class A frican - A merican families to thesuburbs , in search of better schools orsafer neighborhoods, leaving behindthose with lower incomes.

P lease see B lacks , A1 0

C ongress repealsmilitarygay banObama ready to sign billafter Senate votes to end‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ law.New rules could take year

By David LightmanM c C latchy N ewspapers

W ASHINGTON: Th e S enate voted 65-3 1 Sa t-urday to end the P entagon ’ s ‘‘d o n’t ask ,d o n’t tell ’ ’ policy on gays and lesbians inthe military, a s President Barack Obamadeclared ‘‘i t is time to close this chapter inour history.’’

Th e vote , which sends the bill to Ob a-ma for his signature, not only was a histor-ic triumph for gay rights, but it also setsthe stage for gays to serve openly in themilitary for the first time.

It was lauded as ‘ ‘ one of those momentsin our history when we stepped up andsquared our policies with the values thisnation was founded on,’’ said Senate Ma-jority Leader Harry R eid , D-Ne v.

O bama left no doubt he will push to im-plement the new policy.

‘‘By ending ‘d o n’t ask , d o n’t tell , ’ nolonger will our nation be denied the serv-ice of thousands of patriotic Americansforced to leave the military, despite yearsof exemplary performance, because theyhappen to be gay,’’ he said. ‘‘And no longerwill many thousands more be asked to livea lie in order to serve the country theyl o v e.’’

O bama ’ s signature will not mean in-stant repeal, but Defense Secretary RobertG ates pledged Saturday to move quickly.

‘‘On c e this legislation is signed into lawby the president , the Department of De-fense will immediately proceed with the

P lease see Ga y s, A1 1

L ocal coffers balloonin congressional races

Committees, outside groups for 13th, 16th District candidates give campaigns more than $18 millionBy Stephanie Warsmith

B eacon J ournal staff writer

In the months leading to the No-vember election, everyone knew twolocal congressional districts would behotly contested.

T hey might not have realized howhot : more than $18 million spent onthe races for the 13 th and 16th dis-tricts , including money from the indi-vidual campaigns and numerous out-side groups.

Th e campaigns for the four majorparty candidates each spent more

than $1.7 million , and outside groupscontributed $9.2 million , according tofigures released this week by the Ce n-ter for Responsive P olitics , whichtracks campaign finances.

‘‘It could very well be a record’’for a local race spending total, saidS teve B rooks , associate director of theU niversity o f Akron ’ s B liss I nstitute o f Applied P olitics . ‘‘Ev e r y round wego now, we end up setting anotherrecord . ’ ’

N ationwide , more than $4 billionwas spent on the latest congressional

races – up from about $2.8 billion in2006 and a new high for a midtermelection , said Dave L evinthal , aspokesman for the Center for Re-sponsive P olitics .

‘‘Th a t is a significant increasefrom one midterm to another – be-yond a billion in just four years , ’ ’ hesaid .

Th e big spending had opposite re-sults in the two local races. U.S. Re p.

B etty S utton , D - C opley T ownship ,beat back a challenge from car - dealer giant To m Ganley for her 13t h Di s-trict seat, but, U.S. Rep. Joh n Bocci - eri , D - A lliance , lost his 16 th D istrict spot to J im R enacci , a prominentbusinessman and former Wadsworthmayor .

T wo big reasons for the recordspending were independentlywealthy people like Ganley who ran –and offered up their own funds – and

P lease see C ampaign , A1 0

SUNDAY , December 19, 2010A B C

BeaconFirst

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PHIL MASTURZO/Akron Beacon Journal

Clouds andsun with asnow shower;cold

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1989 1999 20091979

Figures in thousands

Akron Beacon Journal

SOURCE: Census Bureau

Median family income in AkronMedian incomes for Akron families declined less than for single-person and other types of households. But the racial disparity was greater. The 20.3 percent drop for black families was four times more than the 4.9 percent decrease reported by white families.

0

$10

$20

$30

$40

$50

$60

White familiesincome

Blackfamiliesincome

Akron Beacon Journal

Amount spent on local congressional races

John Boccieri 16 Democrat $2,139,199 $3,307,627 Jim Renacci 16 Republican $2,379,636 $3,960,164 Tom Ganley 13 Republican $2,844,596 $1,740,426 Betty Sutton 13 Democrat $1,762,692 $206,118 Total $9,126,123 $9,214,335 Grand total $18,340,458 SOURCE: Center for Responsive Politics

Campaign committeePolitical partyDistrictCandidateOutside sources

for/against

Akron Beacon Journal

$10

$20

$30

$40

$50

1989 1999 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Medianhousehold incomes

Figures in thousands

Whitehouseholds

Blackhouseholds

SOURCE: Census Bureau

$39,348

$17,892

Household incomes nationwide generally declined in the past decade, but not all groups have been hit equally. In Akron, median incomes for households headed by whites are down 13 percent since 1999. But incomes for black households dropped much more – 42 percent – with most of the decline coming in the last several years.

INSIDE

A SUCCESS STORY, BUT . . .

J amie P atterson ( center ) , is hoping to move on from A kron , where he raised his children, Iriel and Jamie III. Patter - son , a banker who like many blacks rose economically in the 1990s, says he is concerned about increasing crime.

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T his story is the first of two examining theeconomic status of A kron ’ s blackcommunity based on new censusfigures . Th e struggles of nonprofit groupsthat help the black community will beexamined M onday .

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Page B8

Congressgressgresrepealsmilitarymilitarymilitargay banObama ready to sign billafter Senate votes to end‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ law.New rules could take year

By David LightmanMcClatchy Newsewsew papersrsr

WAWAW SHINGASHINGA TON: Th e Senate voted 65-3 1 Sa t-urday to end the Pentagon’s ‘‘don’t ask,d o n’o n’o t tell’’ policy on gays and lesbians inthe military, as President Barack Obamadeclared ‘‘i t is time to close this chapter inour history.’’

Th e vote, which sends the bill to Ob a-Ob a-Ob ma for his signature, not only was a histor-ic triumph fofof r gay rights, but it also setsthe stage fofof r gays to serve openly in themilitary fofof r the first time.

It was lauded as ‘‘one of those momentsin our history when we stepped up andsqusqusq ared our policies with the values thisnation was fofof unded on,’’ said Senate Ma-jority Leader Harry Reid, D-Ne v.D-Ne v.D-Ne

Obama left no doubt he will push to im-plement the new policy.

‘‘By ending ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ nolonger will our nation be denied the serv-ice of thousands of patriotic Americansfofof rced to leave the military, despite yearsof exemplary performance, because theyhappen to be gay,’’ he said. ‘‘And no longerwill many thousands more be asked to livea lie in order to serve the country theyl o v o v o e.’’

Obama’s signature will not mean in-stant repeal, but Defefef nse Secretary RobertGates pledged Saturday to move quickly.

‘‘On c e this legislation is signed into lawby the president, the Department of De-fefef nse will immediately proceed with the

Please see Ga y Ga y Ga sy sy , A1 1

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in congressional racesCommittees, outside groups for 13th, 16th District candidates give campaigns more than $18 million

By Stephanie WarsmithBeacon Journal ststs affaffaf writer

In the months leading to the No-vember election, everyone knew twolocal congressional districts would behotly contested.

They might not have realized howhot: more than $18 million spent onthe races for the 13th and 16th dis-tricts, including money from the indi-vidual campaigns and numerous out-side groups.

Th e campaigns fofof r the foufouf r majorparty candidates each spent more

than $1.7 million, and outside groupscontributed $9.2 million, according tofigures released this week by the Ce n-Ce n-Ce ter for Responsive Politics, whichtracksksk campaign finances.

‘‘It could very well be a record’’for a local race spending total, saidSteve Brooks, associate director of theUniversity of Akron’s Bliss Instituteof Applied Politics. ‘‘Ev e ‘‘Ev e ‘‘Ev r yr yr round wego now, we end up setting anotherrecord.’’

Nationwide, more than $4 billionwas spent on the latest congressional

races – up from about $2.8 billion in2006 and a new high for a midtermelection, said Dave Levinthal, aspokesman for the Center for Re-sponsive Politics.

‘‘That is a significant increasefrom one midterm to another – be-yond a billion in just four years,’’ hesaid.

Th e big spending had opposite re-sults in the two local races. U.S. Re p.Re p.Re

Betty Sutton, D-Copley Township,beat back a challenge from car-dealergiant Tom Ganley fofof r her 13ththt Di s-Di s-Di trict seat, but, U.S. Rep. John Bocci-eri, D-Alliance, lost his 16th Districtspot to Jim Renacci, a prominentbusinessman and fofof rmer Wadsworthmayor.

Two big reasons fofof r the recordspending were independentlywealthy people like Ganley who ran –and offered up their own funds – and

Please see Campaign, A1 0

Beacaca onFirst

Akron Beacon Journal

Amount spent on local congregregr ssional races

John Boccieri John Boccieri 16 Democrat $2,139,199 $3,307,627 Jim Renacci Jim Renacci 16 Republican $2,379,636 $3,960,164 Tom Ganley Tom Ganley 13 Republican $2,844,596 $1,740,426 Betty Sutton Betty Sutton 13 Democrat $1,762,692 $206,118 Total $9,126,123 $9,214,335 Grand total $18,340,458 SOURCE: Center ffor Resfor Resf ppor Respor Res onsive Politics

Campaign committeePolitical partyDistrictCandidateOutside sources

for/against

BlacksCrime putting squeezeon black communitiesC ontinued from Page A1

• The relentless increase inthe number of black men withcriminal records and the mount-ing barriers they face findingjobs .

B lack community leaders saywhat makes these trends so dis-turbing is that they feed eachother : If black men with criminalrecords can’ t get jobs, they aremore likely to commit morecrimes that fuel black flight fromthe city.

‘ ‘ N obody will hire them,’’ Ea-ton said. ‘‘So they ’ re walkingaround getting into trouble.Th e y’r e robbing and stealing be-cause they can’t make it.

‘‘Cr i m e is definitely worse inthe last couple years.’’

A gain , government statisticssupport E aton ’ s view .

A ccording to the FBI’s Uni-form Crime R eports , A kron ’ srate of violent crimes – murder,rape , robbery and aggravated as-sault – is up for four consecutiveyears .

T hat trend goes counter tothe national rate, which wentdown in each of the past threeyears .

W hile A kron ’ s overall ratelast year of 92 violent crimes per10 , 000 residents remains lowerthan most of the state’ s otherlarge cities, it’s slipping in rank-ing .

A kron lost the title of Oh i o’ssafest city to Columbus in 2008.L ast year , it slipped to third, withC anton ranked second safest.

Th e average number of rob-beries in the past four years isabout 20 percent higher than inthe previous four years, accord-ing to the FBI reports . Th e aver - age number of aggravated as-saults is up much more: nearly80 percent.

A look at the city’s police de-partment annual reports indi -cates crime takes a bigger tollfrom the city ’ s black community.

A kron is divided into 12 policepatrol districts. Last year’s reportfound the two that cover thepredominantly black neighbor -hoods of West A kron , L ane -W ooster and Summit Lake ac-counted for more than one - fifth of all reported robberies, bur-glaries , car thefts and arson , anda quarter of aggravated assaultsand drug crimes.

I ncome fuels mobilityA t - large C ouncilman M ichael

D. Williams said residents d o n’tneed the numbers to know crimeis a growing problem in theblack community.

‘‘It’s a major issue,’’ he said.‘‘Th e r e are some areas we shouldbe issuing helmets and flak jack-e t s.’’

W illiams said fear of crime isthe reason many middle - classblacks have left the city.

‘‘Th o s e who have the incomecan move, and many of themhave moved to the suburbs,’’ hesaid . ‘‘Th a t’s not just in A kron ; that ’ s a trend across the coun-t r y.’’

W illiams said Ward 4, whichborders Copley Township and iswhere Earline Eaton lives, hasbeen especially affected byblacks ’ decision to leave the city , ironically because it had moreblack households with middle-class incomes.

‘‘It was one of the first areasthat would sell homes to A fri -can - A mericans , ’ ’ said W illiams ,who represented Ward 4 for 10years before being elected a t-large in 1997.

C ensus figures track thegrowing movement of blacks tothe suburbs.

S ince 2000 , the A fri -can - A merican population of thecity has stayed at about 61,0 0 0,according to 2009 Census Bu-reau estimates.

D uring the same period, thenumber of blacks living in Su m-mit County outside of Akron in-creased by about half, to morethan 15,0 0 0. T hat contrasts withan increase of only about 3 , 200 in the decade of the 1990s.

T he loss of higher - incomeblacks – coupled with lack ofjobs – has put many Akronneighborhoods in a downwardspiral , W illiams said .

‘‘Le s s income means less abili-ty to take care of a house,’’ hesaid .

Th e result is seen in the largenumber of homes abandoned inthe city.

A study by the S ummit Co u n-t y Fiscal Office found 2 , 175 aban -

doned properties i n Akron –about one in 36 of the sin-gle - family structures and du-plexes in the city.

As with crime, the problem ismore prevalent in the blackcommunities . M ore than half ofthe city’ s abandoned homeswere found in wards 3, 4 a n d 5,which include the West A kron , L ane - W ooster and Summit Lakeneighborhoods .

‘‘Mo s t are absolutely worth-less . T hey ’ ve been stripped,’’said W illiams , who also is deputyexecutive director of A lpha Ph iA lpha H omes , a local nonprofitagency that manages rentalproperties and sells rehabilitatedhomes in the black community.

‘ ‘ E conomically , you can’t j u s-tify fixing those homes,’’ he said.‘‘Yo u c a n’t sell them for whaty o u’d have to put into them.’’

N eighborhood in declineC oncern about crime and de-

teriorating housing are two rea-sons Jamie L. Patterson is plan - ning to leave A kron .

‘‘Yo u can drive down anystreet in the inner city and yousee more vacant homes,’’ he said.‘ ‘ W henever you live in an areawith a greater potential forcrime , i t’s a concern.’’

A life resident o f Akron , Pa t-terson felt comfortable raising afamily in the city.

‘‘I know how to conduct m y-s e l f,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ve taught mychildren . T hey understand thegood and the bad of the city. Alot of great people have comefrom the inner city.’’

Bu t now it’s time to leave Ak-ron , he said.

‘‘I’m 43 years old; I want toget around some peace and qui-e t,’’ he said. ‘‘At a certain pointin time, you don’t want to walkoutside and see certain things.’’

If Patterson goes, the city willlose a success story.

T he B eacon J ournal first in-terviewed Patterson in 1993, aspart of A Question of C olor , thenewspaper ’ s yearlong examina-tion of the state of the blackcommunity .

A t that time, Patterson hadbeen unemployed for sixmonths , after losing the last of astring of dead - end jobs .

H is wife , M argaret , was thesole support of the family offour , making $ 14 , 000 a year as ahousekeeper at C hildren ’ s Ho s-pital .

F our years later, when J amie P atterson was interviewed again , prospects for the family werelooking up.

A rmed with an associate’s de-gree in business management,P atterson had landed a job as aninsurance agent in late 1993 . Ayear later, he began selling ‘‘p r e-need ’ ’ burial plots and mauso-leums at Rose Hill C emetery .

E njoying two incomes once

again , the Pattersons bought ahome in West Akron in 1996,and his wife started a day - carebusiness .

J amie P atterson voiced opti-mism for the future . He said heplanned to pursue a career in i n-surance and family financialplanning .

In the years since that inter-view , P atterson largely accom-plished his goals.

‘‘I went into the insurance in-dustry , and from there, I wentinto banking, where I’v e been forthe past 10 years,’’ he said.

S ince 2002 , he has been withF irst M erit , where he is a seniordocumentation specialist.

‘‘I’v e been able to invest inreal estate, and that has gonew e l l,’’ he said.

In his personal life, Pattersonalso found success – and tragedy.Hi s wife died last year after bat-tling cancer.

S he saw her two childrengrow up.

‘‘Ou r son is in his first year atK ent S tate , majoring in educa-tion . He wants to be a primaryschool teacher,’’ Patterson said.‘‘Ou r daughter – she’ s 24 – ha scompleted her bachelor’s at OhioS tate i n African - A merican stud - ies .

‘‘It’s not that I have a ton ofmoney . My kids have always un-derstood that as long as I g a v ethem a household that did not

involve partying, foul language –just a bad atmosphere in general– they had the responsibility tolearn , to go to school every dayand position themselves to takeadvantage of scholarship mon-e y.’’

P atterson said his daughterwon a full scholarship to OSU.

‘‘Sh e’s working on her mas -t e r’s,’’ he said.

A s an African - A merican liv -ing in A kron , P atterson wasn ’ talone in his climb up the eco-nomic ladder to the middle class.He had plenty of company in the1990 s .

I n fact , black households inA kron typically did better thanthe city’ s white households inthat decade.

B etween 1989 and 1999, medi-an income for A kron ’ s blackhouseholds went up 15.3 percent , compared to 12. 5 percent forwhites .

T hat trend was reversed inthe next decade, when blackhouseholds saw their median in-come plunge. T he 42 percentdrop between 1999 and last year

was three times the rate of whitehouseholds .

A closer look at the latest cen-sus report provides more evi-dence of the financial impact ofthe flight of middle - class blacksto the suburbs.

U nlike blacks in A kron , Af r i-can - A mericans i n Summit C oun - t y’s other communities contin-ued to do better than their whitecounterparts during the tougheconomy of the past decade.

B etween 1999 and last year,median household income ofS ummit C ounty ’ s suburbanblacks declined less than 10 per-cent , compared to a nearly 14percent drop for white house-holds , according to a BeaconJ ournal analysis of the data.

S uburbs beckonA kron C ity C ouncil P resident

M arco S. Sommerville said heunderstands the attraction of thesuburbs for middle - class blacks .

In addition to less crime andbetter housing, they also offerbetter - rated public schools.

S ommerville said many ofAk r o n’s more affluent black par-ents are paying thousands in tu-ition to send their children toprivate schools.

Th a t’s what he did.On e of his two daughters at-

tended Ou r Lady of the E lms ele - mentary school before switchingto public schools. His son wentt o St. Vi n c e n t-St. M ary and nowattends private M orehouse Co l-lege in A tlanta .

S ommerville , who owns a fu-neral home, said, ‘‘I’m blessed Ican afford to send all my kids tocollege . ’ ’

Bu t he knows many A frican - A mericans i n Akron can’t affordthe cost of attending a state uni-versity in O hio .

H igher education is critical,S ommerville argued , because thegood - paying blue - collar jobs thatd o n’t require more than a highschool diploma are gone forever.

T wo of every five manufac-turing jobs in Summit Countyhave disappeared since 1999, ac-cording the Bureau of Labor St a-tistics .

‘‘I d o n’t see those jobs comingb a c k,’’ S ommerville said . ‘‘If theyd o, they ’ re not coming back ingreat numbers.’’

S ommerville said that an in-creasing number of black menface a nearly insurmountablebarrier to getting a job becausethey have criminal records.

Th a t’s the situation in whichR obert F uqua finds himself.

F uqua , 3 9, has been out ofwork since early 2009, when helost his job as a machine operatorat an aluminum wheel plant inC uyahoga F alls that closed.

S ince then , he estimates hehas applied for more than 100jobs , mostly in manufacturing.

F uqua thinks his criminal

record is hurting his chances –especially when so many peopleare looking for work.

In 2008 , he pleaded a marijua-na trafficking charge down tomisdemeanor drug abuse and re-ceived a suspended jail sentenceand nine months of probation.L ast year , he was convicted ofdisturbing the peace, also a mis-demeanor .

F uqua said it doesn’ t ma t t e rthat he doesn ’ t have a felonyrecord .

‘‘Th e y want you to put every-thing down – a felony, a DUI orwhatever , ’ ’ he said. ‘‘If you have200 people and they are all ap-plying for the same five positionsand you have a misdemeanor ora felony, the application may bepushed to the side.’’

If Fuqua had a felony record,h e’d be much worse off. Th a t’sbecause Ohio law bars convictedfelons from many occupationsand places many other restric-tions on them.

M any of the prohibitions,such as keeping violent offendersfrom working with children orthe elderly, make obvious sense,said Stephen A. Joh nson G rove ,an attorney with the nonprofitO hio J ustice and Policy Centeri n Cincinnati .

Bu t many others don’t.‘ ‘ T here are a lot that aren ’ t

sensible , ’ ’ he said. ‘‘Yo u’v e gotsome really ham - fisted , almostridiculous barriers.’’

J ohnson G rove cited the ex-ample of the construction trades.

‘‘Yo u can ’ t be an independ-ent , licensed , bonded handymanif you have a felony record , ’ ’ hesaid . ‘‘Th a t’s any constructiontrade – electrician, plumber, car-penter . ’ ’

J ohnson G rove i s a member ofthe state E x - offender R eentryC oalition , established by theO hio legislature in 2008 to rec-ommend ways to lower legalbars to employment and limitother ‘ ‘ collateral consequences ’ ’of criminal convictions, includ-ing denying felons public hous - ing and educational loans.

‘‘We can sensibly roll some ofthis back in a way that still pro-tects the public but opens thedoor to people who have turnedtheir lives around,’’ he said.

L imited opportunitiesL aws and business practices

that make it difficult or impossi-ble for people with criminalrecords to find work especiallyhurt urban black communities.Th a t’s because A frican - A meri -cans – especially men – are muchmore likely to run afoul of thelaw .

B lack men make up onlyabout 12 percent of Oh i o’s popu - lation of men , but fill nearly halfof the bunks in the state’s bulg - ing prisons.

A ccording t o January ’ s cen -sus of Oh i o’s prisons , 1,3 8 6 o f atotal 24 , 257 black male inmateswere sentenced i n SummitC ounty courts .

M ost of those inmates even-tually will be released, joiningthe ever - growing ranks of blackmales with felony records.

Th e state doesn’t keep count,but a B eacon J ournal analysis ofinmates who served time inOh i o’s prisons in the 1990 s iden - tified 56 , 073 black men born be-tween 1956 and 1975. Of thatnumber , 3,5 2 2 were from SummitC ounty , representing more thana third of all the county’s blackmen of that generation.

S ommerville said the difficul - ty black men with criminal pastsface getting jobs contributes tothe rising poverty rate i n Ak-r o n’s A frican - A merican commu - nity – especially among womenand children.

M ore than 60 percent ofblack single moms are living b e-low the poverty income line, ac-cording to census data.

‘‘In the old days, people withfelonies who had paid their debtto society could get w o r k,’’ So m-merville said. ‘‘Not today.

‘‘Th e y c a n’t provide for theirfamilies . ’ ’

T here is work to be done, saidA my H anauer , executive direc-tor of P olicy M atters O hio , anonprofit think tank specializingin economic research and gov -ernment .

‘‘We still very much needthings rebuilt and newly built inthis country,’’ she said.

H anauer argued the problemis lack of vision and commit-ment .

‘ ‘ T hese things are choices,’’she said. ‘‘We have all this wast - ed labor out there; we’v e got allthese people who aren ’ t work -ing . W e need a fundamentalchange in our system.’’

B eacon J ournal staff writer Katie Byardcontributed to this report.D avid K nox can be reached at 330 - 996 - 3532 or dknox @ thebeaconjournal . com .

CampaignRenacci’s campaignoutspends Boccieri’sC ontinued from Page A1

major contributions from out -side groups like corporations andlabor unions, thanks to a recentU.S. Supreme Court decisionthat loosened the rules on suchdonations .

O utsiders spend bigO utside groups spent nearly

$7.3 million in the 16t h District

race , according to the center’sO pen S ecrets We b site .

T hat figure put the race nearthe top nationwide of recipientsof outside dollars.

‘‘Th a t means the vast majori-ty of what people were seeing orreading were attack ads,’’ Levin - thal said. ‘‘Few were intended topromote one of the candidates orthe other. They were quite nega-t i v e.’’

M any of the television adsand mailers in the 16t h Districtrace were nasty – portrayingR enacci as a slimy businessmano r Boccieri as a puppet forH ouse S peaker N ancy P elosi ofC alifornia .

W hile some question whetherunfettered contributions will al-low outside groups to buy influ-ence , others are more concernedabout the shield of secrecy thesedonations permit. Outsidegroups must disclose their con - tributions but aren’t required tosay who provided the money tothem .

‘‘Yo u d o n’t know for surewho is part of that group,’’B rooks said . ‘‘Yo u have a fairlydecent idea of who the donorsare . T he political world is asmall , private world. But younever know for sure.’’

O utside groups spent nearly$ 2 million on the 13t h District

race .

S pending in millionsIn that race, Ganley outspent

S utton by about $1.1 million , andthe campaigns together doledout about $4.6 million , accordingto the center’s figures .

T his compares to a combinedtotal of about $ 750 , 000 spent inthe much lower - profile 13 th Di s-trict race two years ago.

M any campaigns nationwidein which candidates spent$ 500 , 000 or more of their ownmoney – like both Ganley andR enacci – failed.

S ome of the wealthy candi-dates didn’t even make it out of

the primary.‘‘Th e idea that you can come

in and buy an election, withoutdoing much more than beingrich – the 2010 election cycle wasproof that most were not inter-ested in that,’’ Levinthal said.

Bi g changes from 2008I n the 16t h District contest,

R enacci ’ s campaign outspentB occieri ’ s , but not by much . Th etwo combined for about $4.5million .

T his is substantially morethan the $2.9 million spent onthe 16t h District race in 2008,when Democrat Boccieri wonthe seat long held by retired U.S.

Re p. R alph R egula , a Republi -can .

I n this year’ s race , B occieriand Renacci spent all but a fewhundred dollars in their cam-paign coffers. Ganley finishedwith about $ 13 , 000 and Suttonhad about $ 54 , 500 remaining .

M any think the campaign fi-nance rules, particularly pertain - ing to outside groups, mightwarrant further study.

‘‘I think you will see discus-sion over the secrecy piece , ’ ’B rooks predicted . ‘‘I think thatamount of money bothers thepublic . ’ ’

S tephanie W arsmith can be reached at 330 -996 - 3705 or swarsmith @ thebeaconjournal . com .

A10 lanruoJ nocaeB norkA • d ww 0102,9 1rebmece D, yadnu S m o c.o i hO.w

1999 2009

70%46%

Medianincome disparitySteeply declining incomes among black households in the past decade reversed a trend toward greater equality in the 1990s, when black median household incomes went up slightly faster than for whites. Since then, the gap has widened dramatically. In 1999, the typical black house-hold took in nearly 70 percent of the whites’ median. By 2009, that percentage had dropped to less than 46 percent.

Akron Beacon Journal

SOURCE: Census Bureau

Figures in thousands

Akron Beacon Journal

SOURCE: Census Bureau

Poverty in AkronLast year, there were about 6,500 more Akron blacks living below the poverty line than in 1999 – not much more than the increase in the poverty count for whites. But because blacks make up only about 29 percent of the city's population, their poverty rateshot up much more – to nearly 40 percent.

1989 1999 20091979

1989 1999 20091979

15

20

25

Num

ber

in p

over

tyR

ate

in p

erce

nt

Persons in poverty

Poverty rate

Change from 1999 to 2009white +6,049 black +6,497

White

Black

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

White

Black

ED SUBA JR./Akron Beacon Journal

WORKING TO OVERCOME THEIR PAST

E bony W right (l e f t), a transitions trainer at the Akron Urban L eague , works with Derrick Gillepsie ( center ) and Robert F uqua . Th e programis geared to helping people with criminal records find jobs. Fuqua says he believes misdemeanors have hurt his chances to land work.

MO

CampaignRenacci’s campaignoutspends Boccieri’sContinued from Page A1

major contributions from out-side groups like corporations andlabolabola r unions, thanksksk to a recentU.S. Supreme Court decisionthat loosened the rules on suchdonations.

Outsiders spend bigOutside groups spent nearly

$7.3 million in the 16ththt District

race, according to the center’sOpen Secrets We bWe bWe site.

That figure put the race nearthe top nationwide of recipientsof outside dollars.

‘‘Th a ‘‘Th a ‘‘Th t means the vast majori-ty of what people were seeing orreading were attack ads,’’ Levin-thal said. ‘‘Few were intended topromote one of the candidates orthe other. They were ququq ite nega-t i v i v i e.’’

Many of the television adsand mailers in the 16ththt Districtrace were nasty – portrayingRenacci as a slimy businessmanor Boccieri as a puppet forHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi ofCalifornia.

While some question whetherunfettered contributions will al-low outside groups to buy influ-ence, others are more concernedabout the shield of secrecy thesedonations permit. Outsidegroups must disclose their con-tributions but aren’t requrequreq ired tosay who provided the money tothem.

‘‘You don’t know fofof r surewho is part of that group,’’Brooksrooksrook said. ‘‘Yo u‘‘Yo u‘‘Yo have a fairlydecent idea of who the donorsare. The political world is asmall, private world. But younever knowknowk for sure.’’

Outside groups spent nearly$2 million on the 13th District

race.

Spending in millionsIn that race, Ganley outspent

Sutton by ababa out $1.1anley

$1.1anley

million, andthe campaigns together doledout ababa out $4.6

pai$4.6

paign$4.6

gnmillion, according

to the center’s figugug res.This compares to a combined

total of about $par

$par

75757 0,000 spent inthe much lower-profile 13th Di s-Di s-Di trict race two years ago.

Many campaigns nationwidein which candidates spent$500,000 or more of their ownmoney – like both Ganley andRenacci – failed.

Some of the wealthy candi-dates didn’t even make it out of

the primary.‘‘Th e idea that you can come

in and buy an election, withoutdoing much more than beingrich – the 2010 election cycle wasproof that most were not inter-ested in that,’’ Levinthal said.

Bi gBi gBi changes from 2008In the 16th District contest,

Renacci’s campaign outspentBoccieri’s, but not by much. Th eTh eTh two combined for about $4.5million.

This is substantially morethan the $2.9 million spent onthe 16th District race in 2008,when Democrat Boccieri wonthe seat long held by retired U.S.

Rep. Ralph Regula, a Republi-can.

In this year’s race, Boccieriand Renacci spent all but a fefef whundred dollars in their cam-paign coffers. Ganley finishedwith about $13,000 and Suttonhad about $54,500 remaining.

Many think the campaign fi-fi-fnance rules, particularly pertain-ing to outside groups, mightwarrant further study.

‘‘I think you will see discus-sion over the secrecy piece,’’Brooks predicted. ‘‘I think thatamount of money bothers thepublic.’’

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.