Opinion: I have the experience and reputation to lead in troubled times Cecil Thomas The next mayor of Cincinnati should be someone with vision who you trust to lead our city through troubled times into greater prosperity. The best way to trust what someone will do is look at what they have done. For 27 years as a police officer, five years as executive director of the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission, eight years on Cincinnati City Council and the last six years as Cincinnati’s state senator, I have spent my entire career serving this city. But I’m also more than my job titles. I grew up in rural Alabama until my family had to flee our home because the Ku Klux Klan came looking to lynch my father. We then left the South for the hope of a better tomorrow in Cincinnati.