[1][2][3] The mayor relied heavily on confrontation politics, a style that "alienated business and civic leaders, the news media, and, ultimately, even those neighborhood groups that had been his chief supporters.

"[2] His supporters, however, assert that Kucinich "championed the public good over private-sector rights and pointed to inequities that result when business-centered economic growth (like corporate collusion and tax abatements) is prioritized over neighborhoods.

As a state representative, Feighan chaired the committee that passed tax abatement legislation in the Ohio House and now was unable to backtrack on the issue.

[8][9] Kucinich's term as mayor began in January 1978, a time when Cleveland and Northeast Ohio were suffering from unrelenting snowfall, to the point where the metropolitan area was considered a "disaster zone."

He rejected a $41 million federal grant for an Urban Mass Transportation Administration people mover to be built in Downtown Cleveland.

[3] Kucinich's cabinet appointees were criticized by local media and business and civic leaders for including members who were too young or inexperienced to handle their respective positions.

[3] As mayor-elect, Kucinich appointed the former San Francisco sheriff, Richard D. Hongisto as chief of police, a decision he would later come to regret.

[3] In a televised press conference on Good Friday, Kucinich gave Hongisto a 24-hour deadline to support his assertions.

[14][3] After Hongisto's discharge, both critics and former supporters alike felt that Kucinich's actions against the police were too rash and that his administration was not capable of governing a struggling city.

[2][18] For years, CEI sought to acquire Muny Light and violated federal antitrust laws on several occasions in its attempt to absorb it.

Former mayor Perk had intended to pay the cost by selling the light system, simultaneously disposing of a $328 million antitrust suit that the city had filed against CEI.

[3] They told Kucinich that if he did not agree to sell Muny, they would not renew the city's credit on $14 million of loans taken out by the prior administration.

[24][25] City Council, led by Kucinich's then-political nemesis George L. Forbes, sided with CEI and the banks and pressured the mayor to make the sale.

However, Kucinich still refused and instead proposed saving money by laying off 600 employees, including 400 police officers and firefighters.

[3] In addition, he proposed a $50 million bond issue to pay the Muny debt and even agreed to seek an increase in the city income tax, a controversial stance that he had earlier strongly opposed.

On December 14 at 11 p.m. (EST), Council met to consider a resolution that only gave Kucinich a stark choice: sell Muny Light or claim default.

[29][30] On February 27, 1979, the city held a special election to decide two ballot issues: the sale of Muny Light and an increase on income tax.

His challenger was Republican George V. Voinovich, who initially supported Kucinich in 1977, but decided to give up his position as lieutenant governor of Ohio to run for mayor.

[35] Plain Dealer journalist George E. Condon once referred to Kucinich as the "enfant terrible of Cleveland politics.

"[1] A 1993 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts conducted by Melvin G. Holli of the University of Illinois at Chicago saw Kucinich ranked as the seventh-worst American big-city mayor to serve between the years 1820 and 1993.