Interview with Everett Chandler

Mr. Everett Chandler is a retired police prosecutor who was appointed by Carl Stokes. Initially, Mr. Chandler was selected as the assistant prosecutor and then became chief prosecutor for the city of Cleveland. Katelyn: Please describe your role in the administration of Carl Stokes. Can you describe how you dealt with the racial tension involved in working for the first African American mayor of a major city? Mr. Chandler: I was appointed as the assistant chief prosecutor for the city of Cleveland. The law director is the chief prosecutor who stays at city hall. I was responsible for handling any crimes that happened within the boundaries of Cleveland and these came through my office. Misdemeanors were handled by Cleveland Municipal Court and felonies were bound over to the county. As far as handling the racial tension at the time, we just had to roll with it. My secretary would comment about how many of the remarks we would receive on calls were something else. I tried not to answer the phone (laughter) but we would try not to pay attention though we received hate mail. Some I had the police investigate. But it was an interesting time when Carl was elected back in 67. Cleveland was something else before then but as a result straightened out for the better from the election. Once I became chief prosecutor, I recall one year, I was invited to various parties and functions from November on into December. I was invited just by virtue of being chief prosecutor so I would go. Often, I would be the only black person around. They were enjoying themselves till I got there and I could hear What the hell is he doing in here? Then someone would mention that it was Everett Chandler the prosecutor and they would go back to normal again. I put in an appearance but just to keep everybody straight. It was an interesting time to say the least. I think one amusing time was when Carl was first elected. We had a meeting of what I used to call the kitchen cabinet. We had ten men there, ten black men who were parts of different organizations in our town. He asked to come into his law office one afternoon and he said I have a question for you. Should I appoint a black or a white law director? he asked. The law director in the city of Cleveland is the same as the vice mayor. Whenever the mayor is away, the law director handles all affairs as the mayor would. So, of course, everyone said hire a black law director. The mayor said Give me three names. We could not come up with three names in 1967 but we did come up with two names.

As we sat there and discussed who could fill that position, we did not have any blacks who were in corporate law. The city is a corporation. As it turned out, the person that he nominated who he appointed first was a long time, well versed lawyer in Cleveland. The second person whose name we came up with was the general counsel of the Illuminating Company at the time. He did not get a lot of publicity but he was the first black in that position. I had known him for years as we went to Ohio State together and he continued to work his way up to that very important local job. As Carl was the first black mayor of a major American city, he was in great demand and was initially busy traveling a lot. People just wanted to look at him and see him. So that left the law director in charge many times. But Carl had very astute members of his cabinet and the city ran very well. I dont think any issues occurred in the city government to offset any positives. There was a race riot but that had nothing directly to do with Carl. Joan: Regarding the people that were involved in the race riots, do you think they were more effectively able to work with a government administration that had more African Americans in office? Mr. Chandler: Yes, Carl walked up and down the streets. At times he heard gun fire near him. Carl issued a proclamation not to shoot. The police department hated him which was no big deal in Cleveland as the police department usually hated the mayor. The police department today hates the mayor. He went out to talk to the people and try to pacify them and it turned it into less a problem. Katelyn: During the Glenville riots, Stokes removed the white police officers and implemented African American officers in the area to calm the tension present in the area. How did that affect that situation as well as others later to come? Mr. Chandler: Well, that is what he needed to do because the first thing when you see a white police officer is that you would shoot you. Because that is what they would do; shoot first and ask questions later. Carl came in as mayor and we had no black police officers on the west side of Cleveland; none whatsoever. Most of the black police officers were stationed on St. Clair Avenue or East 105 Street or Euclid Avenue areas. So he tried to equalize things. In fact he sent a few of these officers to the west side. The west side police officers asked them, What are you doing on this side? You dont belong over here. That did not always fare too well. In terms of getting everyone on the same page, it was hard to do because this was something that had not been done before. The river separated east from west. We didnt go to the west side and west siders did not go to the east side and so it was like two different cities. Carl became mayor and attempted to unite things. Katelyn: You mentioned that were many racial issues plaguing Cleveland before Stokes mayoral election. Could you expand upon that?

Mr. Chandler: Well, to be honest about it, we had just one black councilman and there was not too much going on where we would even bother with the city because the city didnt concern itself with what was going on with the east side. So we did things to keep moving along the best that we could. Then when Carl was elected, he started spreading things around and then you had some councilmen that were pretty powerful. Of course you always had the majority of councilmen being white and that has always been the case. Back in those days we had thirty three councilmen and now it has dropped down to around seventeen. In any case there has always been a majority of white councilmen. But during these earlier times, people got along for the most part until the riots on the east side. Nobody went to the west side to riot. But then issues resolved as we got better housing and more city services. This improved things pretty well. Joan: Throughout our research, we have come across many observers that have noted Cleveland as a pilot project. Meaning, if Cleveland can elect the first African American mayor of a major city, other major cities around the country can do it too. Do you think this was the case? Mr. Chandler: Just about the same time as Carl was elected mayor, a black candidate was elected in Gary, Indiana. Back in those days, if you were elected, the elections occurred on a Tuesday, you would take office the following Monday. Up in Gary, Indiana, you got elected but did not take office until several months later. So therefore, that is how Carl became the first African American mayor but Im not sure Gary, Indiana is a major city. I dont know how unique Cleveland was at the time but he probably gave incentive to some individuals that never thought about running before. So there were men in other cities that said Heck, he did this so we should run. All you have to do to get started is take out a petition to run. So you had just more people starting to run for mayor in other cities. Katelyn: You talked about how Stokes had a mixed administration. Did that prove to be a benefit or detriment to progress in the city of Cleveland? Mr. Chandler: It was a great benefit to Cleveland because, as I mentioned, we didnt have any black people that knew how to run a city. The city is a corporation. You did not have black people in corporations in those days within positions of power. We used to discuss some of the men that he could have appointed. We used to kid around about Amos and Andy (laughter) who did everything. We didnt have anybody prior to Stokes administration with experience with corporate law so that we knew how to run a big business which is what the city of Cleveland is. So you needed to have a mixed body of administrators to successfully run the business. He did appoint very well qualified blacks into different parts of his administration. As a result, the city ran very well for the two terms that he was mayor. Katelyn: Could you tell us about some of the issues you were dealing with then as a prosecutor?

Mr. Chandler: I was watching a movie recently called Kill the Irishman about Danny Greene and Shondor Birns. They were two of the biggest racketeers or hoodlums back in those days. As a lawyer at city hall when I became the prosecutor, I had to absent myself from that office. One of the men in that office used to represent Shondor Birns and Danny Greene. So I met both of them and they were two of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet (laughter). They brought candy and roses for the ladies in the office. It was amazing to me but, in those days, some of the biggest crimes were cars getting bombed. Both of those guys went out that way. Shondor Birns was in his car and Danny Greene was blow up from a car parked next to his. When I watched that movie I thought that I didnt remember those cases coming into the Cleveland prosecutors office. But many of those cases went straight to the county or were handled by the Federal court. It was amazing the types of crime in those days. In fact, when they talk about homicides today around one hundred or so, we used to have three or four hundred plus back in the early 70s. It was accepted then. I would kid with the police officers saying, I saw there was a homicide on the west side. I didnt think you all had homicides on the west side. But I tried to get along with everyone. I mentioned once to a police officer that when I retired and might get caught intoxicated that he would throw me in jail. He said that, no, he would personally escort me home. I had a good rapport with the police department which you needed to have to bring people to court. Reason being is, if you ask the police to bring in a suspect and then you take the papers and say that you are not charging them with anything, that can a problem if you have no rapport with the police officers. But if they dont have faith in you and think you do not know what you are doing, you could be in trouble. Katelyn: You were pleased with what was going on in Stokes administration. Can you elaborate more on some of the intimate inner workings of the administration? Mr. Chandler: I would say that, primarily, it was the involvement of more African Americans in the city government. When Mayor Perk followed, there were still more African Americans staying involved with municipal government. Carl Stokes was the instigator in getting blacks involved in municipal government and learning how to run a city. Now, half of the city council is black and many more now involved in all areas of city government. We then had African American judges both in municipal and common pleas courts. Now we see he was the instigator of many initiatives that are now considered commonplace. Katelyn: How do think Stokes viewpoints on how to run a city ultimately affected Cleveland residents? Mr. Chandler: I dont think his approach hindered Cleveland. Before he was mayor, he was a state representative. He was knowledgeable about the law and how the laws worked. So when he arrived as mayor, he was good because he knew what to do, how to do it and the people to

talk to as well. He didnt ruffle any feathers except for those in the police department. People within the administration got along well and this affected their service to the city during his time. In fact, he left after two terms as mayor and moved to New York City but then came back and was elected as municipal judge. After being judge for many years, he was appointed United States Ambassador to Seychelles. That is where he was when he died. I think just merely by his being around and managing to appoint the right people to different places, this worked out well for the city. Katelyn: What were some of the major problems Stokes administration face and what did they do to confront those problems in light of having one of the first mixed administrations? Joan: Yes, what were some of the major problems facing all common people of Cleveland at this time? For instance, Stokes focused a lot on housing and urban development in Hough and other areas to revitalize the neighborhoods. Mr. Chandler: One major impact was that the administration encouraged people to get more involved with their governments within their wards. The citizens thought that if we could lead as the mayor, at least they could help keep the city running straight with their participation. His work on housing helped with the tension in the city. For instance, I came to Cleveland in 1958 and a woman who was a resident of Cleveland told me two things. One was stay out of Hough and then stay out of East Cleveland which was ninety nine percent Caucasian. I remember going there for a court date and the judge there had fined someone $75 for littering and, today, when you look at East Cleveland, it is all litter. So it is hard to imagine someone in the late 50s being fined like that for dropping a piece of paper on the street which did happen. East Cleveland was a nice, clean place then. Councilwomen Fannie Lewis became very vocal in the Hough area. She helped the mayor in the fight to build livable quarters for residents. Now, they have some beautiful housing in the area. So with Stokes being at the top, he got many qualified people in government and business to meet with him to solve problems. Katelyn: Can you talk about how you contributed personally to Stokes administration? Mr. Chandler: Besides putting many people jail (laughter), personally I tried to run a tight ship and enforced the law equally. At the time we had only one black municipal judge and then we gained two more. One major incident at the time was with motorcycle gangs. We had issues with some tragedies where we had to charge over fifty people with first degree murder. But we worked hard with police to follow these criminals and many were charged and prosecuted for other charges that had not been pursued. This was national news. Back before Stokes election, a black person would not go like Shaker Heights and especially not there at night time unless you wanted to get put in jail. None of the suburbs really like East

Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, or any suburb for that matter were an option. But as a result of his election, people started moving into different suburbs. Then, people didnt want to go into the suburbs. Today, a few of my fraternity brothers live in Solon. When I came to Cleveland we didnt go to Solon unless you wanted to end up in jail just for being there. Since he became mayor, many things have opened up and spread out. He tried to help everyone in many professions. Many people were able to get into different businesses and a lot of job opportunities became available. It was the start of a great thing. Katelyn: Can you talk more about how this was a great new era for previously underprivileged Clevelanders? Mr. Chandler: In other words it was a new time to give everybody a chance to show what they could do. And as a result of Carl Stokes getting into that position, it enabled African Americans in Cleveland to branch out and get into services that had not gotten into before and they brought others with them. Many started their own private business that grew. Prior to Carl Stokes, all black businesses were located on Cedar Avenue, all on just one street. But then, people and their businesses branched out all over and even to the near west side.