Cuyahoga County Update, Summer, 2015

Dear Friends,

Thanks for the opportunity to serve as your representative on County Council. I hope you are enjoying the summer. Unlike almost every other legislative body, the County Council does not take a summer recess. Action is continuing on a number of fronts. Here is a summary recent events.

Economic Development Plan

The County Council is currently considering the Year 5 update to the County’s Five-Year Economic Development Plan. The County is required by Charter to have a Five-Year Economic Development Plan and update it annually. The Executive is required to submit the plan to Council by June 1 of each year and the Council has 60 days to review it.

The proposed new Economic Development Plan builds on and extends previous county work on economic development. While the previous plans focused on work done by the County’s Department of Development, the new plan places more emphasis on our ability to partner effectively with the large number of other organizations in the County that are working on economic development. Examples of important partners include municipal governments, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, Team NEO, BioEnterprise, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, Jump Start, NorTech, the Urban League, the Hispanic Business Center, Positively Cleveland, NOACA, and the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium.

The plan also starts moving toward collaboration with other large systems including workforce development; health and human services; and planning, sustainability, and regional collaboration.

Building on research done by the County Planning Commission in the past year, the plan also further develops the concept of place-making, which involves projects that strengthen communities and attract businesses and jobs by creating special and distinctive places. For the first time, place-making is listed as one of the specific programs in the County’s economic development tool box.

Regarding the county’s economic development plan, my major focus is to help develop the plan as a living document that visibly shapes the way economic development is done, rather than merely an exercise to meet a charter requirement. We have made progress toward that goal but have a ways to go.

Sustainability Program

The county created a Department of Sustainability, and earlier this year Executive Armond Budish appointed former State Representative Mike Foley to lead the department. Director Foley’s first major initiative was to create a partnership with a private company called Eutetics, whose mission is to bring clean energy into the mainstream of our economy. Eutetics has up to $120 million in financing capability and will work with the county to find suitable projects that need loan financing. The county will provide $225,000 to help defray the cost of setting up the program but will recover this cost over time as project financing deals are put in place. Typical projects will be for improving energy efficiency of buildings or development of clean energy.

Arts & Culture Levy

By unanimous vote, the County Council placed an issue on the ballot for this November 3rd to renew the cigarette excise tax for an additional ten years to provide about $15 million per year to support arts and culture facilities in Cuyahoga County. Recipients include major institutions such as the Cleveland Orchestra and the Great Lakes Science Center as well as hundreds of neighborhood organizations such as the Beck Center, the Near West Theatre, and the Bellaire Puritas Development Corporation. Funding for arts and culture strengthens our economy and broadens our education, so please vote Yes for this renewal.

The issue number has not yet been determined.

Charter Amendments

The County Council is working on a Charter amendment which would improve the composition of the County’s Audit Commission. The new commission would be comprised of one County Council member and four county citizens with experience in auditing or related areas, making it independent of the Executive and Fiscal Offices, which are the subject of the audits. Such independence is a near universal standard in the auditing world. To facilitate close interaction and effective implementation of audit findings, the Executive and Fiscal Officer would remain on the Commission as non-voting, ex-officio members. I am optimistic that this amendment will be placed on the ballot for this November.

The Council is also considering a charter amendment to clarify the roles of the Personnel Review Commission and the Human Resources Department. However, these issues are complex and the Commission and Department have differing views, so I expect that we will take more time and not place this amendment on the ballot this year. 

Project Cancellations

One of the most difficult thing for any government to do is to cancel a program previously put in place. There is a natural tendency to continue programs, even when not working as intended. For government to be optimally effective, we must be willing to let go of programs when appropriate based on new information.

County government made two such cancellations in the first have of the year, each very large in size. First, County Council, with acceptance by the Executive, cancelled the program that provided a $100 college savings account for every kindergarten child in the county. Idealistic as this program is, we found that it resulted in very little participation from parents and families. Well under 1% of the families of the participants added any money to the college savings accounts. We also did not get collaboration from community organizations. The Council’s action allows families willing to add to the savings accounts to continue in the program if they choose. 

Second, the Executive cancelled the planned Emergency Operations Center project in Broadview Heights, projected to cost between $18 and $23 million. Executive Budish and his Public Safety leadership team determined that the county can achieve almost all of the objectives of the project with an alternative approach costing only $4-5 million, including the cost of winding down the previous project. The alternative plan involves using space in the Juvenile Justice Center, a collaborative agreement with the City of Cleveland, and mobile units to provide three options for command and control of operations in the event of a natural disaster or public safety emergency.

Preparations for Republic National Convention

We are now half way through the two-year preparation time in advance of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, which will take place from July 15-18, 2016. To mark this occasion, we received a progress update from the Host Committee. The Convention will be the largest public event there is, except for the Olympics. We are 3/4 of the way toward our goal of identifying and booking 16,000 hotel rooms for the convention. Our two primary goals are to run a smooth, safe convention and to use the event as an opportunity to showcase what Cleveland has to offer. In my opinion, our biggest challenge is completion of road construction projects. Even though actual construction work will be suspended during the convention, I don’t want 50,000 visitors fighting with orange barrels and detours all over the place. I believe we will overcome this and other challenges and put on a great convention. 

SAVE THE DATE!!

Dale Miller Ice Cream Social & Announcement of Candidacy for Council Re-election

Thursday, September 17 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Lakewood Park Women’s Pavilion

Please call at 216-252-7827 or email at damiller@cuyahogacounty.us if I can be of service. Have a wonderful summer! 

Dale Miller

County Council

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Volume 11, Issue 15, Posted 4:30 PM, 07.21.2015