JACKSON: I know that everyone in here can identify with the family and victims. That all of us in our families, all of us including me, have someone who could have been there.

Jackson said the community must stay focused, and save questions about whether the police did enough for when the investigation is over.

Police Chief Michael McGrath urged families with missing persons to come forward, especially if they fit the profile of African American women between the ages of 21 and 60. And, he said police, government, clergy, and the public need to work together to stop this kind of tragedy from happening again. 

McGRATH: Across this nation, there’s an attitude out there that we have to adjust, and the only way we’re going to do that is to do it together.

Council President Martin Sweeney told assembled Third Ward residents that they should not feel singled out that the murders happened in their area.

MARTIN SWEENEY: “This is so senseless; it is disturbing. This could have happened on any street in the City of Cleveland, and we are all standing with you as a council, as a community. And we have to talk about right now… the healing, the mourning.”

Other members spoke, but then as they tried to take questions from reporters, the group was shouted at by angry residents, who accused the city of ignoring the victims because of their backgrounds. As councilman Kenneth Johnson tried speaking, another resident began demanding to know why Mayor Frank Jackson was not at the scene.

BYSTANDER: “It’s a concern in the community, and I understand that he don’t do it, but at this time - it’s not about politics, it’s about making your presence, to let the people of this city know that you can care.”

Sweeney and Johnson answered just a few of the protests before leaving the podium - and a neighborhood that is growing increasingly angry over the deaths of 11 women.

ED TOMBA: In 24 years in law enforcement, we’ve never seen anything like it.

Officials have now identified one of the 11 victims --- 53-year-old Tonia Carmichael, who has been missing for about a year.  After police informed the Carmichael family, Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller provided some of the first forensic details of her murder and that of the others.

FRANK MILLER: They are all African American women. 7 died of ligature strangulation. 1 - Manual strangulation. 2- undetermined / 1- ongoing autopsy. A case of strangulation or homicidal violence.

Miller says some of these crimes may date back as far as 2005, the year when Anthony Sowell returned to his home neighborhood after serving a 15-year sentence for rape. Sowell’s neighbors stood across the street from his white duplex, watching TV crews from around the world setting up cameras and satellite dishes.  Darnissa Wiley says, until recent weeks, there was no reason to suspect what was going on in the house.

DARNISSA WILEY: He had a block party in the summertime. He barbequed for the whole neighborhood. People were going in his house, in his backyard, and no one knew that kind of behavior was going on.

Despite the fact that the a strong stench hung in the air, she never tied it to the house or suspected it was decomposing bodies. Some neighbors blamed it on a nearby sausage factory. Charles Sharp says he figured it was a dead dog that had been hit by a car.  He went downtown to City Hall to complain, but says nothing ever came from it.

CHARLES SHARP: When you smell that odor in the neighborhood and you don’t get nobody’s attention on it, what can you do?

That report to authorities is one of several that remain unexplained. Did officials investigate? When? If not, why not?  Some residents have complained that they had no idea that Sowell was a registered sexual predator and that police were slow to investigate reports of missing women in the neighborhood. That’s understandable, according to Dr. David Licate who directs the Criminal Justice Program at the University of Akron, He says the sheer number of registered predators living in the mainstream population is hard to keep tabs on.

DAVID LICATE: It takes a lot of human resources to do that. Obviously today budgets are not in the favor of law enforcement or any other business enterprise in terms of hiring.

The sheriff’s office handled Sowell’s probation check-ups but whether the Cleveland police were aware that he was a convicted sex offender or when they knew is still unclear.  Ada Averyhart, who lives a couple of blocks from the crime scene says city officials bear part of the blame for being slow to react to the recent events in her neighborhood, but she also worries about a culture of silence that pervades these streets.

ADA AVERYHART: Once upon a time this was a viable neighborhood. Everybody got along. But now, everybody’s going their own way. They just don’t talk anymore.  Whatever happens, happens.

Local councilman Zack Reed has organized a gathering of area ministers this morning at 10:00 for what’s billed as a community meeting to pray for healing and to seek justice.  Reed is also calling for public hearings to get answers to the many unanswered questions about this tragedy. 

Judy Rawson is an Issue 6 co-chair.

RAWSON: The immediate first step is to work with a broad group to articulate standards that we want, both for the behavior of our leaders, the focus of our government, and standards of a government in which we can be proud.

Members of Issue 5, which failed, are already offering to become a part of that broad group working on the new government.  Issue 5 was the competing reform plan that would have created a panel to study reform for another year. It got only 28% of the vote. Issue 5 supporter Ron Johnson says he agrees that it’s time to think about what kind of leaders the county needs, and he wants to be part of that process.

JOHNSON: Now is the time to not focus so much on differences, but now is the time to come together so we can make as smooth an implementation as possible.

Candidates will have a while to get ready. There will be a primary election for county office next September, with the finalists making it to the November ballot. The final winners will take office in January 2011. 

Issue 6 even got 60% of the vote in the city of Cleveland, despite fears among many black leaders that reform would hurt their communities and political influence. 

There have been reform efforts since the early 1900s, but none has succeeded until now. Supporters and critics both think the ongoing corruption investigation and the sluggish economy spurred interest in reform.

Judy Rawson is an Issue 6 co-chair.

RAWSON: I think the corruption probe clearly made people pay attention more. It also made clear that none of us had any idea what was going on behind closed doors in the county. And I think people wanted transparency as well as reform.

Backers of Issue 6 promise the new government will be more efficient, accountable, and will focus on economic development.

Issue 5 supporters Harriet Applegate and Ron Johnson say now is the time to come together. And, they’re starting the post-mortems on their own campaign.

REPORTER: Are you second guessing not having a more formal list of criteria for your side?

APPLEGATE AND JOHNSON: Interesting thought. Yeah, it is interesting.

Both Applegate and Johnson have offered to help in the transition to the new government. 

Patmon, a former city councilman, criticized Jackson for falling performance in the public schools, and for not retaining more jobs in the city.  He also said Jackson lacked vision and innovation. 

DAVID:  Well, they are both pointing to the same reason for the outcome - the federal investigation of what appears to be a long-standing system of corruption in county government.  Parma Heights Mayor Martin Zanotti says the corruption probe which has resulted in nearly 20 guilty pleas so far “made people pay more attention to county government.” Zanotti, a Democrat, helped draft Issue 6 along with Democratic County Prosecutor Bill Mason and Bruce Akers, the Republican Mayor of Pepper Pike. 

Harriet Applegate, the top AFL-CIO leader in the region who opposed reform now also said corruption is what gave reform political legs this time out when similar efforts had failed so many times before.

ERIC:  What does this mean for the Democratic Party which has dominated politics in this county for many decades?

DAVID:  It means they’ve got some talkin’ to do.  Right now it is a divided party and many of the most powerful Democrats as it turns out were lined up on the losing side of county reform - Mayor Frank Jackson, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, former Congressman Lou Stokes among others—all opposed Issue 6.  So, it’ll be interesting to see how they adjust and whether this internal party struggle continues or is somehow healed. 

In any case, the county is in for a lot of change.  Issue 6 backers promised that restructuring county government would produce a more efficient, effective, accountable and honest government.  They’ve got a lot to live up.

Opponents of Issue three had argued gambling would not create the jobs Gilbert promised, would spur prostitution and other criminal activity, and lead more Ohioans down a path of destructive gambling. 

Gilbert said his and other investors’ next step is to draw up plans and secure financing.  The ballot measure calls for the creation of a state gaming board within six months, and barring any unforeseen delays the hope is to break ground on the facilities by the second half of 2010. 

There’s little doubt what gave the reform effort political legs this time ‘round.  As County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones told the Plain Dealer last night, “the public was absolutely disgusted and sickened by what it saw in public corruption” and “whatever flaws Issue 6 has must have seemed insignificant by comparison.” Jones had supported Issue 5 which was rejected by 72 percent of the voters.

Some claimed the police and city housing inspectors didn’t follow-up on leads.

VOICE ONE: The inspectors need to come in and inspect every single solitary vacant house --- starting with this area, starting in this ward.  Hold them accountable. 

Others cast blame on community members who didn’t report the suspicious activities of Anthony Sowell, who is being held on suspicion that he kidnapped, raped and strangled the victims.

VOICE TWO: If we as black men was standing in the gap, like we’re supposed to be, this would have not happened.  There ain’t no where in the world that you’re going to get some vagrant…some bum…walk up and down your street and terrorize your community. 

Vigil organizer Judy Martin said there was plenty of blame to go around.

JUDY MARTIN: We need everybody’s eyes and ears.  Something like this is happening in plain sight.

After Martin lost her son to street violence 15 years ago, she started the organization Survivors/Victims of Tragedy.  She said one of the biggest frustrations for families is the difficulty of getting and giving information.  One solution, she suggested, would be to have a county-wide bureau that tracks missing people.

JUDY MARTIN: Because, as it is now, individual precincts handle missing persons cases.  If I was to get information today, who would I call?  And who will act on it?  You have to call all around to find out who has the case.  We need a centralized location.

Over the course of last night’s vigil, Shannon Mason watched as family members vented their anger over the disappearance of his mother, Michelle, from the neighborhood over a year ago.  Now, pending the coroner’s report, maybe there will be some answers.  Some closure.  He was having a hard time processing it all.

SHANNON MASON: I’m mad about it…and then, I’m deeply troubled about it.  I just want to know what happened to my mother --- that’s all I know for sure.

{Out of about 202 thousand mail-in ballots requested for this election, about 160 thousand have been returned - that’s about 79 percent.  Last November’s rate of return was higher, about 90 percent.  But Board of Elections Director Jane Platten expects considerably more ballots to come in tomorrow. 

As for total turnout, off-year elections produce varied results depending on the nature of the races.  Platten expects between 30 and 40 percent of registered voters to cast ballots for this election - roughly in line with the 36 percent turnout in 2005, whereas turnout in 2007 was only 19 percent . 

Platten:  “In 2005 there was a very heated mayoral race in the city of Cleveland.  And it was a quieter election in 2007.  Even though we don’t have a very heated Cleveland mayoral race, we do have some very hot issue on this ballot.  Therefore I think the voter turnout is going to spike up a bit.”

Those hot issues include competing proposals to reform county government, and the proposal to allow casino gambling in four Ohio cities. 

Platten says there have been precinct changes that may have resulted in changes in some voting locations.  All registered voters have been notified of any changes in their locations, but are encouraged to visit the Board of Elections web site or call its office if they’re unsure. 

It’s customary for legislatures and the congress to need a 2/3 majority to override a veto, but the requirement is slightly greater in what’s under consideration here.  With an 11-member council, a two-thirds majority would be 7.3.  So the writers of Issue 6 decided to round-up and require 8 votes to over-ride; they could just as easily rounded down and made it only seven. In other words, they could have made it slightly harder for the executive’s will to prevail but instead made it slightly easier. 

Williams:  “If the University at sometime in the future decided that it then wanted to take a DNA sample from a part-time faculty member, it would have another opportunity to do so each time that person is rehired.”

But Williams objects to the policy regardless of employment status.  Unlike fingerprinting for purposes of a background check, he says, DNA sampling presents a whole host of privacy and discrimination possibilities. 

Williams:  “DNA provides a window into somebody’s medical history and their medical future.  It could provide clues into temperament and various mental illnesses, and those could be used on a discriminatory basis.”

The University of Akron declined an interview for this story, but in prepared statement it cites national discussions that indicate future reliance on DNA for criminal identification over fingerprinting, and says the policy would position the school to be on the leading edge of the change.  Meanwhile, it say, the school has not yet, nor has it any immediate plans to ask for DNA from applicants. 

The policy has caught the attention of the American Civil liberties of Ohio.  Spokesman Michael Brickner says the ACLU doesn’t know of ANY employers that ask for DNA submissions for background checks. 

Brickner:  “It’s absolutely unprecedented for any employer to have any kind of policy requiring employees to hand over DNA information for purposes of a background check.  This is a total aberration.”

What’s more, Brickner says, ACLU attornies believe the policy would be deemed illegal under several federal statutes, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. 

Dr. Jackson Wright, who heads the Clinical Hypertension Program at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, says the medical school will be one of five U.S. institutions taking a leadership role in what’s called the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial - dubbed SPRINT. 

Several other Health Systems will also participate, including Cleveland Clinic, Metrohealth Medical Center, St. Vincent Charity Hospital, and The Ohio State University Medical Center. 

Wright:  “The fact that Cleveland, Northeast Ohio and Central Ohio has a very diverse population makes this an outstanding location to conduct a study such as SPRINT.”

The study will take place over 9 years, and will involve 75 hundred patients.

Wright says it will measure the benefits of reducing systolic blood pressure against risks posed by increased medication and other factors in treatment of hypertension. 

Bellamy:  “The investor had much lower expectations, understood that a lot of the problems were in its origination, and were looking for a way just to get the thing producing income again.”

But in the case of losing a job, which is happening to a greater degree in suburban households, Bellamy says there are fewer options available to a distressed homeowner. 

Bellamy:  “Now you’re looking at a situation where the loan was well underwritten to a strong borrower, but the money just isn’t there to support the rest of the expenses of the household and the mortgage.”

And so as jobs continue to disappear, Bellamy expects the number of foreclosure cases to continue to rise.  Nationally, experts are predicting that the number of foreclosure filings has not yet peaked.

Bill Rice, 90.3

FRANK JACKSON:
“It is what it is, and it’s pretty good; it’s a balanced budget. It’s no layoffs. Its no reductions in service. It is what it is, is a future for Cleveland. It is what it is - is all these things that make Cleveland great.”

Patmon, the former city councilman, shot back though - saying Cleveland has not seen the resurgence of other cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh—and he blamed poor leadership - and political gamesmanship.

BILL PATMON:
“So this is no game. It is the business of people’s lives. Yes, we are some imperfect people, working in an imperfect world, looking for perfect solutions. I believe the founders of this country did the same thing and that’s what I profess to do as a politician.”

The two candidates did agree on one ingredient necessary for Cleveland’s resurgence - establishing a “green” economy that can provide environmental and economic sustainability.

DAVE SHOUP:  They’re called replacement “gilts” --- a gilt would be a female that’s never had a litter of pigs. 

SOUND: door opens to sounds of pigs UP & UNDER

The dozens of gilts in this barn are just a portion of the 3000 pigs that make up the Shoup family swine operation that covers almost 23 hundred acres in Wayne, Ashland and Stark counties.  Most of the animals here are grouped in pens of 12 and, in a few days, Dave Shoup’s crew will walk a male pig through the barn to try to get the ladies aroused.

DAVE SHOUP: We’re going to take the boar through, and try to detect heat and see who’s receptive that day.  And the ones that we find, we’ll move down here and inseminate them.

What happens to female pigs once they are inseminated is at the core of this major battle between the farm industry and animal welfare advocates.  Most of the Shoup herd will spend their pregnancies roaming in indoor pens with other pigs, but some of them will be put into individualized stalls made from steel pipe that have just enough room for a 300 pound pig to move side to side a bit & back and forth a few feet.  The floor is slatted so that animal waste can fall through.  Dave Shoup says the enclosures protect pregnant females.  But, these so-called “gestation crates” have been condemned by the Humane Society of the United States. 

DAVE SHOUP:  HSUS would probably tell you that this animal is so tightly confined for his entire life and can’t do many things that he normally would do.  But, these animals in these stalls have fresh feed, fresh water, and their waste materials are removed through the concrete slats.  So, they have everything that they need. 

A sow at Shoup’s operation can spend as much as thirty days in the gestation crate; at many other farms though, the sows are confined for as much as three and a half months.  A major lobbying effort by the Humane Society convinced California voters, last November, to ban gestation crates and other tight livestock enclosures.  The group met with Ohio agribusiness officials this past February trying to persuade state farmers to support similar treatment measures here.  Instead, the farmers set out to head-off any Humane Society effort in Ohio.

The farmers fear that would force them to spend millions retrofitting their operations.  They got lawmakers to craft the ballot measure known as Issue 2 --- a constitutional amendment that would create an Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.  This 13-member committee would regulate the treatment of farm animals… As we drive to another livestock barn, Dave Shoup says he’s not afraid of state scrutiny.

DAVE SHOUP: We know that we’d much rather have it in their hands than some outside organization come in here and just raise the emotions of people who really don’t know what goes on out here.

The Washington-based Humane Society argues that the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board would be stacked with members favorable to agribusiness who would prevent meaningful animal treatment reform.
The Shoup family has farmed this country for more than a century.  The operation has tripled in size over the past decade or so.  Shoup, who is also a veterinarian, suspects some people might consider him a factory farmer.

DAVE SHOUP:  People use “factory farm” as a negative connotation to disrespect our industry, because they want the general public to think that, all you care about is making money.  You don’t care about the animals, you don’t care about the environment, your goal is to put pigs through what ever is needed, in order to kick out more pigs on the other side.  Well, farms don’t survive doing that. If you’re mean to them, if you’re crowding them, then they don’t eat, they don’t come in heat, they don’t breed, they don’t have good litters. 

SOUND: Soft squeal of piglets and the snorts of their mothers

As we step into a birthing barn, it’s apparent that the Shoups have animal husbandry down to a science.  There are rows of what’s known as “farrowing stalls”, where mothers lie on their sides, as suckling newborns get their nutrition under the warmth of a heat lamp.

DAVE SHOUP: Each sow gives birth to anywhere from 11-13 pigs.  We actually induce these sows to farrow at a certain time --- just like you can induce a woman to have a child the next day, we can induce these one afternoon to farrow the next afternoon. 

SOUND: truck door slams…engine starts…

DCB: Most every yard along these rural roads has a “Vote for Issue 2” sign on it. Shoup says that farmers, by their very nature, are independents who don’t like being told what to do.

DAVE SHOUP:  Years ago, the family farm was just kind of left alone; there weren’t many regulations for it.  As long as the product you produced was wholesome, nobody seemed to care.  Now, we’ve got people looking over our shoulders all the time. 

Still, Dave Shoup figures that an Ohio-based animal care standards board would weed out a few bad apples in the state and keep everybody honest.  But, what isn’t clear is: if you build it into the constitution, will there be enough legislative oversight to keep the Standards Board honest? 

Cimperman:  “As always, the devil’s in the details.”

The current plan from the Port Authority itself would move port operations to the lakefront at E. 55th Street, displacing a long-established marina.  The port’s presence there would also impact the upscale Quay 55 apartments that are less than a decade old.  Cimperman says he’s concerned about these and other issues: for instance, he wants the port to get specific about how it plans to save nature preserve at nearby Dike 14, a now-closed repository for dredged material from the Cuyahoga.  Cimperman also finds fault with the timeline the Port Authority has set for the move - more than 20 years, because the land at E. 55th would have to be created with 20 years of river dredgings.  He says redeveloping the downtown lakefront needs to happen a lot sooner than that. 

Cimperman:  “We know what happens when the Rock hall has an event, when the Great Lakes Science Center has and event.  Yes, it’s those attractions that bring people there, but it’s in the perfect spot - it’s right on the water.  The more we can open that land down there, the more I think people are going to realize they can fall in love with their lakefront all over again.”

BR (on tape): “Is 20-25 years too long to wait?”

Cimperman:  “Way too long.  We don’t have that kind of time.”

Earlier this month Hunter Morrison, head of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at Youngstown State University, called the time line “unacceptable” in an op-ed piece published in the Plain Dealer.  He suggested the Port enter into a regional partnership with ports in Lorain to the west and Ashtabula to the east, both of which currently have an abundance of dock space.  Plain Dealer Columnist Brent Larkin endorsed Morrison’s ideas in last Sunday’s paper.

The articles are creating some buzz over the issue, but Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson isn’t persuaded.  In an interview Monday on 90.3 he suggested the Port Authority’s 20-year plan is adequate, and he’s ready to implement it.

Jackson:  “If these decisions would have been 20 years ago when they shoud have been nade, the we would be living on a new lakefront and this wouldn’t be a question.  The fact that people want to have ideals… that’s nice and I’d like to engage in that, but we have to do things now.”

And while Councilman Cimperman is eager to discuss other possibilities, there is no groundswell of dissatisfaction among council members with the port’s plan - at least not right now.  Several long-simmering projects are now finally getting underway, and in today’s economy, some say, that’s impressive enough. 

Bill Rice, 90.3

FELICIANO: They did not want in any way to participate in this process because of the dissing they had gotten.

Lawyer Jose Feliciano chairs the Hispanic Roundtable. He says representatives from both issues got the message and started separate apologetic efforts to win the group over. In the end, it worked, and the Hispanic Roundtable opted to throw its weight behind New Cuyahoga Now. That’s the group proposing Issue 6, a charter that would immediately replace the current county government structure with an elected executive and council. 

FELICIANO:  I know that they are trying to do the right thing. This, to be sure, is not a perfect document. The constitution of the United States was not a perfect document and is not a perfect document. I do not think this new Cuyahoga plan will stay as it is, and that’s a good thing. But at this point of time, today, it clearly is the better choice.

Feliciano is also optimistic that Hispanics could win a county council seat on the West Side of Cleveland if 6 passes.  Currently, they hold no county offices.  But, like the black community, Hispanics are not all of one mind on the issue.  Latino activist Hugo Urizar threw his support behind Issue 5—that’s the group that wants to study reform another year before acting. Urizar argues that the county executive would have too much power under Issue 6.

The project started earlier this month and employs 200 construction workers. It’ll be finished in the middle of next year. Biden says this Ohio project and other’s funded by federal stimulus dollars have saved and created thousands of jobs. But Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine says the stimulus money is not helping the struggling economy. He says 115-thousand Ohioans have lost jobs since Biden and President Obama took office. Biden also spent time in Cleveland raising money for Tuscarawas County Congressman Zack Space and Congressman John Bocccieri of Stark County. Earlier in the day, he was in Columbus, raising money for Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy. 

SENATOR GEORGE VOINOVICH:
“I cannot believe what I see. I mean, it is just --- In fact, there is so much of it that people have become numb - as a result of it.”

In an interview with 90.3, the one-time Cuyahoga County Commissioner and now U.S. Senator, said he’s already cast his vote for Issue 6, which would create a new government structure in the County.  And he said he fears for the future of the County should Issue Six be rejected.
SENATOR VOINOVICH:
“If this thing loses, you are gonna see a lot of these businesses just slowly leave. Quietly. Goodbye. They won’t say anything. They’ll just slide outta here.”

In a wide ranging hour-long talk to be aired tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, Voinovich also revealed that he won’t decide how he’ll vote on the national health care overhaul, until he sees the final bill.  So far, no Republicans except Maine Senator Olympia Snowe have indicated they’ll consider supporting a Democratic bill. 

Voinovich steps down from the Senate next year, but says he still has much to accomplish between now, and that time.

Rick Jackson, 90.3.

PATMON:  “A lot of things don’t happen in Cleveland because there is no political will to make them happen and I for one believe that if you’re a good mayor, a very political mayor on the national stage, on the state stage, a lot of these things would happen because governors need the Mayor of the city of Cleveland to get elected, senators need the mayor of the city of Cleveland to get elected and the president needs the mayor of the city of Cleveland to get elected.”

Jackson, ever unflappable about his style of leadership, nonetheless takes his opponent seriously.  during the call-in show he pointed to a record of accomplishment amidst struggle on the economic and employment fronts. 

JACKSON:  “I can point to companies that have moved into Cleveland, particularly downtown Cleveland, they’re not huge companies, but they are companies in the professional area.  I can point to the decision on the Medical Mart and the convention center that will create jobs.”

The Medical Mart and Convention Center are still mired in the planning and land acquisition process, but Jackson has pledged to sell the old convention center to the county to become the site for the new building. More immediate problems loom. Whoever wins next month’s election will have to find a way to close a big budget deficit.  Patmon accused Mayor Jackson of using smoke and mirrors to deal with prior budget shortfalls. 

PATMON:  “The evidence of it is that we’re projecting a 50....and these are his projections...a 50 million dollar deficit for the 2010 budget.”

Jackson was able to balance a more-than half billion dollar budget for 2009 with no layoffs or service cuts. And he expects to do the same next year: 

JACKSON:  “We are building up a carryover balance and we will be okay for this year, we’re looking at next year and looking at ways to increase our carryover balance.  We’ll reduce the expenditure side of that 50 million and also raise some dollars that will allow us to fill the gap.”

Patmon also criticized the mayor for not rooting out wrongdoing in the city’s Building and Housing department where six employees were recently indicted for accepting bribes.  Jackson replied his administration has fully cooperated with the FBI investigation that brought the charges, adding that his administration won’t tolerate illegal behavior. 

“In Ohio it went from seven percent of kids in afterschool programs to twelve percent.”

Ohio is one of six states “on the move” in getting kids into after school programs, Grant says.  But there are still many kids that are going unsupervised after school - 30 percent,, or more than 600 thousand, according to the survey, up from 28 percent five years ago.  Grant says a lot of that is because of the economy. 

Grant:  “We think other types of arrangements are falling through, So where kids might have been in supervised clubs or with a nanny or an oper or in a different type of child care arrangement, those have fallen through.  So as a result we’re seeing more kids taking care of themselves.”

Most of those are middle and high school students, although a small number are younger.  There are also more kids being cared for after school by older siblings rather than adults. 

Nationwide, more than fifteen million children go unsupervised from 3-6 pm on school days. 

APPLEGATE: The big business Republican proposal creates an overly-powerful CEO, making the county more susceptible to corruption.

Big business, Republicans, and more corruption: three red flags in this heavily-Democratic county reeling from an ongoing FBI probe. Only problem is that leading defenders of Issue 6 don’t fit that bill.  Democratic State Senator Nina Turner doesn’t and neither does Parma Heights Mayor Martin Zanotti, who answered Applegate this way at a Cleveland State debate.

ZANOTTI: As a Democrat and a small business owner, I’m very pleased to be here with my fellow Democrat representing the Big Business Republican Plan.

Republicans were barely represented in the group that drew up the reform plan to switch to an elected county executive.  Most involved were Democrats or independents.

True: the Cuyahoga County GOP has endorsed Issue 6, but they are under no illusions about it leading to a power grab. The county hasn’t elected a Republican commissioner since 1992.

Democrats win county and statewide elections here by huge margins.  In 2006, for instance, Senator Sherrod Brown and Governor Ted Strickland got more than twice as many votes in Cuyahoga County as their Republican challengers. 

Political consultants say the GOP would have some shot at 2 or 3 seats on the proposed 11-member county council, but no more.

So, this is really a fight about which Democrats will control Cuyahoga County. It pits more independent minded Dems like Zanotti, Turner and prosecutor Bill Mason against some of the biggest guns in the party establishment:  Cleveland’s mayor, Congresspeople Dennis Kucinich and Marcia Fudge, and all of the current county commissioners.

Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones and the others support Issue 5 – which calls for a year of study by an elected group before any changes are put to the voters.  …but he does agree with Issue 6 supporters on one point.

JONES: Both sides favor reform. We know that we’re all works in progress, under construction, and we’re endeavoring to get and be better.

Jones’s side raises some serious concerns regarding Issue 6.  They worry that the county executive would be too powerful, and that this form of government would lead to an over-emphasis on economic development at the expense of maintaining health and human services.  And Jones says his side is being sincere when they say reform is needed, just later. 

JONES: They have pledged, number one, to adhere to their constitutional requirement that they draft a charter. They have also pledged that over the next year they’ll host, throughout the county, public hearings where they can receive input from all the stakeholders. They have also pledged that the charter they produce will represent real reform.

But one reform veteran doesn’t buy it. Kathleen Barber chaired a committee in the mid-90s –dominated by Democrats—that proposed a county executive form of government…not dissimilar from the proposal contained in Issue 6 this year.  However, the county commissioners at the time put the proposal on the shelf where it has sat ever since.  Today, Barber is backing Issue 6 and says the Issue 5 crowd is being disingenuous. 

BARBER: I think they’re against reform because what Issue 5 does is stretch it out for ever and ever and people will lose interest. If they ever had any, they’ll lose interest. It will just take too long. I mean, people don’t stay focused on a ballot issue for a year.

Many voters do seem to be interested in the issue right now.  That’s due in no small part to the racially-charged underpinnings of this debate.  More on race and county reform tomorrow. 

FORBES: It was perceived as being basically anti-black. As the city began to progress, they wanted to spread the form of government on a county-wide basis where the people, the residents of the county could have more control over what happens in the county.  So we knew that, we view that, and it hasn’t changed today.

Forbes and other black leaders say the idea of a powerful county executive running things is a proposal for elites that puts the interests of big businesses over the needs of workers and the poor. And, one more thing. These opponents of Issue 6 say they weren’t consulted early enough or fully enough by those pushing reform now.

TURNER: People of color were there. I was one. I think I qualify under that. We were there.

That’s State Senator Nina Turner at a recent Cleveland State debate. 

If she sounds a little defensive it’s because Turner now finds herself at the center of a fierce maelstrom.  Other black leaders have come after her with fury; she had been seen as a rising star in the Democratic party before she came out in support of Issue 6. Now powerful blacks in the party say they will try to unseat her in the next election.  This was George Forbes’s reaction when he heard Nina Turner was backing Issue 6.

FORBES: I was absolutely surprised. I was shocked. I knew that she did not know the history of this and if she knew it, she was swayed by the white, rich power structure, whatever you want to call it.

Turner says Issue 6 would actually help the black community; create more jobs and provide better services. 

TURNER: I think what some of the proponents of Issue 5 are doing is fear-mongering. Because when you bring up race and class, that’s very personal. And, so, people are now fearful because the truth is not being told. African Americans were asked to come and be a part of the crafting of the charter. Again, some of us decided to come to the table, some of us decided not to. But we can’t blame anyone for our lack of attentiveness to this issue.

Senator Turner is also incensed at the attacks on her integrity. 

TURNER: It’s been hard. Especially when you believe you’re doing the right thing. And to have people call you a sellout. I think the Call and Post said that I’m carrying white folks’ water. That was their exact quote.

So, what is the basis for the fear that blacks would lose power if the current system is replaced with an elected executive and 11-member county council? 

Right now, African Americans hold two elected offices in Cuyahoga County: recorder Lillian Greene and Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones. Their jobs would be eliminated by Issue 6 and leaders like George Forbes assert that blacks would be mostly shut out.

FORBES: I think we’ve estimated that at the most, at the most, there will be two blacks elected. The county executive will be white and there will be no chance for black folks to do it. So why should we trade one county commissioner and one county recorder for one councilman. That’s about the best we can get out of it.

But political consultants for Issue 6, including Larry Brisker, who is black, say the council districts are designed so that blacks are virtually guaranteed to win at least four seats.  Cuyahoga County is overwhelmingly Democratic. Blacks make up nearly 30 percent of the population in the county, more than twice the national average.  More than twice as many people voted here for Mr. Obama than John McCain. 

Nina Turner says the “blacks can’t win here” rhetoric just doesn’t wash.

TURNER: If President Obama can win the United States of America, my goodness, an African American can win the county if they so choose.

Forbes remains unconvinced.

FORBES: Don’t mix that up with Barack Obama. The county is a very conservative county. It’s not known for its progress in the region as pertained to blacks. And we just know that the county executive is not going to be black. We just know that.

Restructuring county government, whether it comes this year or sometime later, may, one day, help bring the region together. But at the moment it’s highlighted our divisions. 

Allen says what little injectable vaccine HAS come in has been used to immunize EMTs and paramedics, along with SOME pregnant women. 

When there’s more vaccine to dispense, it will be taken into daycares, school-based clinics, and some large community clinics.  But the Centers for Disease Control has adjusted down their vaccine production estimates from the producers for October and November, and Allen says that makes planning difficult. 

He says the county is asking people to be patient.

Cases of flu have been on the rise and they’re generally believed to be H1N1, although that’s not confirmed because most people who become ill aren’t tested for that particular virus.  Most cases are no more severe than a typical bout of the flu. 

Johnson:  “The only slate of candidates that’s actually made a commitment to do that is the Real Reform Done Right slate.  The Citizens Reform Assn hasn’t made that commitment.  In fact, they’ve gone on record as saying “we’re an insurance policy to make sure that Issue 6 proposal passes.”

The Citizens Reform Association was represented by Tom Kelly, a radio talk show host at the conservative WHK.  Remember, The Citizens Reform Association has already proposed a new charter under Issue 6 and doesn’t want a charter commission, but if Issue 5 passes and there is one, they want to be on it.  Kelly had this to say about the opposing slate of candidates. 

Kelly:  “There are many many lawyers.  There are many many members of the democratic party executive committee.  These are natural allies of the commissioners and the powers that be in county government.  Don’t we want to have people that are free from influence of those in office now?”

29 candidates for the charter commission will appear on the ballot, of which voters can choose up to 15.  The ballot will not indicate which slate individual candidates belong to. 

Bill Rice, 90.3

Opponents say Issue 2 is an attempt to head off efforts by animal rights groups like the Humane Society to establish, through their own ballot issues, standards for animal care. 

Ward 14 Councilman Joe Cimperman is among those who have pushed for the resolution.  He says urban farming is becoming more prevalent, and the proposal represents only large rural agriculture interests. 

“It takes power out of the Ohio Department of Agriculture and puts it in the hands of people who are appointed,” Cimperman said, “and does it in a way that I think smacks of big business basically dictating what food policy should be.”

Supporters of Issue 2 say farmers are committed to humane animal care, but that the demands of animal rights activists are extreme, and undermine efficiency in the livestock industry.

Conversation was often animated, as in this exchange when the Mayor charged the proposal was crafted for the state constitution; only to ‘protect’ casino owners in the future.

MAYOR JAY WILLIAMS: “There is no way on earth this creates anything other than a monopoly. That’s why it’s in the state constitution. You can’t have legislative action amend the constitution (Gilbert interjects, argues they could repeal this...)
ends: (Williams) it was difficult to get this amendment… Ohioans have shot it down four times.”

Gilbert calls the strict language a `protection’ for Ohio taxpayers, while also defending charges the state charged too little for gaming licenses, which have sold in PA and NY for up to eight times Ohio’s $50 million fee.

But Gilbert did say that should Issue Three lose, he would not stand in the way of another effort to choose casino operators.

DAN GILBERT: “It’s a well thought out proposal that we think is going to pass and make sense. If it doesn’t, I’m not going to give up on Cleveland and everything else that we’re doing here. I’m in it for the long haul.”

Issue three is endorsed by labor groups, the state police union, and several big city newspapers - opposed by Senators Brown and Voinovich, religious groups, and casino operators in Michigan and West Virginia.

Rick Jackson, 90.3.}

State officials in Ohio said last week that some 13,000 jobs have been saved or created here with stimulus dollars.  But we’re told that’s just a fragmentary figure; a lot of things weren’t counted and most of the stimulus money hasn’t been spent yet. 

Confused?  So are we.  But ideastream® reporter Ida Lieszkovszky has been trying to figure out just what all these numbers mean.

According to a report by the Beacon Journal, sewer-system renovations will be completed within 19 years under the agreement, instead of the 30 years Akron had been seeking.  The paper also says customers’ rates may double, or even triple, as the city pays an estimated 370 million dollars for sewer projects. 

In a press release, Mayor Don Plusquellic said he accepts the terms of the agreement, which includes the city paying 500 thousand dollars in civil penalties for years of violating clean water compliance rules.  The agency had originally demanded tens of millions in fines in its lawsuit.  Plusquellic accused the agency of having been -quote - “especially unreasonable in applying rational, affordable standards” to Akron’s situation.  He said the city can now start cleaning up the Cuyahoga instead of hiring attorneys to argue with bureaucrats in Washington. 

Now, with backing of both towns’ mayors and city councils, 190 acres of Girard’s land is being annexed by Youngstown - but with a tax-sharing plan that guarantees benefits for both cities.

The deal will give Girard 55% of the income taxes generated at the plant, but the border adjustment means Girard will lose 40% of its zoned industrial land. Girard Mayor James Melfi says the city is giving up a lot; but the change for his town also meant considering what is best for the region.

JAMES MELFI: “We recognize the fact that this was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime situation and that we had to make it happen, but we had to do our job, we couldn’t shortchange our community.”

Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams points to the regional impact of 400 new permanent jobs and up to 700 construction jobs.
But even with the agreement, it’s not certain V&M Star will come through.  Williams says it’s still weighing the Youngstown site against one or two others. 

JAY WILLIAMS: “We feel that we would be more competitive than any of the other sites, but even if ultimately this project isn’t built here, we now have a site that is ready to accept other economic development issues that would still be of benefit to the community.”

V&M is expected to decide on a site by year’s end.

Both city leaders say the bigger victory is the example set here for co-operation among other towns in Northeast Ohio.

Rick Jackson, 90.3.

JONES: Those ward councilmen and councilwomen will soon be butting heads over who gets an economic development project, which community-based organization gets a county grant….

WCPN’s Dan Moulthrop, who moderated the debate, asked Issue-6 backer and Parma Heights mayor Martin Zanotti why some of the council districts look engineered to satisfy certain constituencies, assuring strong black majorities in several districts and potential Republican victories in a few.  Zanotti says that diversity was the point.

ZANOTTI: I don’t think we’d run from that.  I think that’s the right way to do it. You have demographics in the county. If you’re going to draw districts, you should make sure that the districts represent those demographics.

Some opponents of Issue 6 have expressed the fear that the new structure would hurt the black community which makes up nearly 30 percent of Cuyahoga County’s population. 

The group is criss-crossing the state to alert voters to the potential impact on `their’ livelihood.

Patty Rebman is a third generation owner of one of Lorain’s largest entertainment centers - built around its 48 bowling lanes. She’s studied the research of casino impact in other states, including a Hiram College report released at the end of September.... and she’s scared.

PATTY REBMAN: “Yes I want jobs, but I want to keep my customers. I’m afraid of them bowling a couple of nights a week, they might say, `Ahhh, I won’t be doing that any longer’, so less and less people come into the bowling center… obviously less business for us.”

Owners of similar entertainment operations, bars, and restaurants gathered in Cleveland to reiterate the negative aspects of casinos highlighted by the Hiram report - and to question why the state legislature isn’t looking at more options for gambling.

David Corey heads the Coin Machine, AND Bowling Center Associations of Ohio.
He fears the state is handing out monopolies to the casino’s future owners.

DAVID COREY: “It’s important to create a strategy in Ohio. Just not have one idea, but a balanced, fair, expanded gaming strategy, that will give the state a good deal, Ohioans a good deal, and homegrown local businesses an opportunity to share in the potential rewards.”

The group contends that much of the cash collected in casinos is homegrown as well - they point to research indicating 80-90% of the money spent, will come from Ohioans, not from tourists.

Rick Jackson, 90.3

Raising taxes rarely brings cheers from a crowd but Monique Menifee gladly joined a group chanting to do just that at a rally at tower city Friday.  Issue four - is a proposed levy that would substantially increase what county homeowners contribute to the Cuyahoga Community College budget.  Menifee is a student there.

Tri-c president Jerry Sue Thornton was at the rally too ....explaining that the state is cutting its support for community colleges and the decline in property values also has reduced what they’ll have to operate on ....without the tax hike.

DR. JERRY SUE THORNTON: “ It’s not that we would have to do slight changes if this levy does not pass; it’s major changes. It would be a very different college.”

The cuts have come at a time when enrollment at tri-c is growing as the newly unemployed flock back to school.  Thornton says the school has already trimmed costs in the facing of rising demand for its services. 

The change ...if voters approve...would translate into an 18 dollar tax increase for every 100,000 dollars in home value. 

Rick Jackson, 90.3.

GARY THOMPSON: We ask where they live.  And when they give their address, it turns out they’re in the Township.  So, we say, “We’d love to help you, but you’re not in our jurisdiction.”

For the better part of two centuries, Olmsted Falls and Olmsted Township have been separate communities --- on paper.  But, they have more in common than just their names.  They already share the same school system, the same churches, the same zip code.  And in about three weeks, area residents will vote on the idea of taking that one step further --- the creation of a commission to study the idea of merging. For Township native Jeanine Kress, there are all sorts of reasons to merge.

JEANINE KRESS: Economies of scale would be one.  But, there are other issues, including clout in Washington and Columbus.  Being a bigger city, that could be a relevant issue. 

As it is, Olmsted Township residents have watched neighboring cities nibble away at them for years.  For instance, Berea was able to annex land along a major industrial corridor because the city offered landowners improved services and waterlines that the Township wasn’t able to provide.  Local historian Bruce Banks says that when they lost that land, they also lost revenue.

BRUCE BANKS: The tax base keeps shrinking, because you have less real estate tax, so it gets more and more challenging, the smaller you get. 

But, Banks says not everyone in Olmsted Township …population 10,500… is so sure that banding together with the Falls…population 8,000… will be to their benefit. 

BRUCE BANKS: Some of the people in the Township feel that their control of their destiny will be diluted if we become part of something bigger.

This isn’t the first time a merger between the Township and Olmsted Falls has been proposed.  Several previous attempts have failed to win over the public but more may be willing to at least consider the idea this time.  Longtime Township trustee Karen Straka has opposed past merger efforts, but says she won’t stand in the way of residents who would like to see the issue studied.

KAREN STRAKA: I support the people’s right to vote on the issue, and I’ll help them in anyway I can, but I don’t feel there’s an overall financial benefit for a merger to take place.

Olmsted Falls mayor Bob Blomquist is more upbeat about the prospects.  By conducting a merger study, he thinks that these two small communities could be trail blazers that others would emulate.

ROBERT BLOMQUIST: It would be the perfect case study.  As the region looks to consolidation, as it looks to combinations of different ways to deliver government services, we could answer a lot of broader questions, and perhaps demonstrate a little leadership to the rest of the county and to the region.

Voters from the Falls and the Township will decide November 3rd whether or not they want to be part of such a case study. 

FOLEY: At a time when all the allegations of corruption of county elected officials, that a proposal is being put forward that has no campaign finance limits, and no laws or limits on who can contribute and how much they can contribute is a significant flaw, and something that should disqualify Issue 6 as something people should vote for.

Earlier this week, this same group backing Issue 5 blasted County Prosecutor Bill Mason for fundraising from his employees. Mason is a strong advocate for reform now.  He says all his donations were within the law.  Mason and others behind Issue 6 say leaving out campaign finance reform was an oversight in their reform plan that can be fixed later – after the county commissioner form of government is replaced. 

Those charges would cover the cost of the bulbs and delivery, plus a portion of revenue first Energy would lose as a result of the reduced sale of electricity.

Speaking on 90.3 this morning, First Energy spokeswoman Ellen Raines justified the program, saying that the law allows the company to recoup revenue lost as a result of a state mandate. 

Raines:  “Can you think of another business that is mandated to sell less of its product?  And if so, would you not consider that there’s a cost associated with that?  That cost is not recovered forever, but for some limited amount of time to allow that company to adjust.  I think that was the thinking behind this.”

Word of the program hit the newspapers on Wednesday.  By the end of the day the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio had received nearly 13 hundred complaints by phone and email, and Governor Strickland and several lawmakers asked that it be suspended.  Raines says the next step is to sit down with the PUCO. 

Raines:  “This program had been approve, but based on some of the reaction, the reaction that we’ve all seen, we’re going to take a look at it and discuss with the commission what our next steps should be.  There hasn’t any decisions to postpone the program at this point, but we’re going to get those conversations underway.”

Bill Rice, 90.3. 

Gilbert:  “It’s another way for us to compete against the other states around us that all have casinos, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan and now even Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.  And thousands of people every day are leaving and voting with their feet.  And we’re not getting any economic benefit from it, no job creation and no tax money.”

Brian Rothenberg ...another guest on the call-in program...is Executive Director of Progress Ohio, which is full force opposed to Issue 3.  little good can come of it, he says, arguing that gambling is a vice that, once it takes hold, can drain both residents and the local economy.  . 

When you go into a casino you’re spending a lot of money.  People’s incomes are set.  People in the city of Cleveland and in that surrounding area are struggling financially.  Average incomes are going down in that area.  And when you’re dealing with that and people start spending money in a casino as opposed to in local restaurants and local entertainment….  It can really hurt the economy. 

Rothenberg says he isn’t just relying on his own analysis.  He cites NATIONAL studies on the detrimental social effects casinos can have. 

Rothenberg:  “The gambling National Security, Terrorism and Military Readiness Study, it’s by the U.S. International Gambling Report, these are all studies that were sworn before Congress, shows that bankruptcy costs go up 1.5 million dollars every year because of problem gambling.”

Supporters of casino gambling have their own studies to buttress their arguments.  For example, does gambling spur increases in crime?  Dan Gilbert says not according to the numbers he’s seen. 

Gilbert:  “When you do it proportionally, crime will actually go down on a proportional basis.  You have 8 million more people coming to an area, if you look at it in raw numbers there’s going to be a difference, but if you look at it as a proportion it actually goes down.”

Also joining the conversation was Christopher Diehl, executive director of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative at Kent State University, who takes a generally dim view of casinos.  he framed the challenge this way. 

Diehl:  “Is there a way to have a casino integrated into a downtown without killing it?  And so far I haven’t seen evidence of any situation that hasn’t actually been to the detriment of restaurants and hotels and city life because they gravitate to the hotels or casino where the restaurants are and avoid the vibrancy of E 4th Street and the vibrancy of Playhouse Square or the Warehouse district.”

Gilbert acknowledges casinos can cause problems if not planned right.  He agrees that most aren’t, but says this time will be different. 

Gilbert:  “Our whole intent her is integrate this, work with the best architects and urban oplanners in the world to make sure this is a boom for downtown.  It does the exact opposite of what people fear.”

Wainwright:  “Motor vehicle emission are less, people drive less, the truckers are moving less freight, the two railroads that cross Northeast Ohio are moving less freight, and I think it absolutely had a big impact on air quality.  It’s sad to say that the economy took a downturn, but pollution took a downturn along with it.”

The economy might even better account this year for lower particulate pollution this year - soot from diesel engines, power plants and other industrial sources - which occurs regardless of temperature. 

For years, Northeast Ohio has struggled and failed to meet federal pollution standards.  It almost succeeded last summer for ozone - but just as it became evident that the summer readings would put the region into compliance, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tightened the standard. 

SOUND: (ACOUSTIC GUITAR UNDER) The livestock we raise are healthy and well-cared for, because they feed our families and yours.  Let’s keep it that way. 

The way to “keep farm animals healthy and well-cared for,” the ad says is to vote amend the state constitution with Issue 2 which would create a new regulatory agency to oversee the standards and practices of livestock farming.  It would cover chickens, pigs, cattle and the like.

Issue 2 has the backing of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation - the state’s largest farm industry association.  Jack Fisher is (? President).

JACK FISHER:  We’re very committed to the highest quality of animal care for all of our food production animals.  We were seeing an erosion and some challenges to our efficiency and to the quality of our food production system, led by activists who were looking at our industry with a single point of reference.

Paul Shapiro is one of those “activists.” He’s (what position and organization) and he says Issue 2 isn’t about protecting animals at all…..  it’s about protecting the status quo.

PAUL SHAPIRO: It’s essentially creating an industry-dominated council that would allow the foxes to guard the hen house.

Shapiro and Fisher were guests on Tuesday’s Sound of Ideas call-in program on 90.3 explaining why a food industry lobby says it wants more regulation while a group dedicated to humane treatment of animals is against it.  Normally, those positions would be reversed. 

Here’s the backdrop.  Animal rights supporters have been winning battles in some states….California being the latest…to more strictly proscribe the conditions farm animals can be raised under, requiring that all animals at least be able to turn around in their cage and be able to spread their limbs.  Currently, it’s not uncommon for chickens, for example, to be packed so tightly that they never can spread their wings and so-called “gestation crates” highly restrict the movement of pregnant sows.

Having succeeded elsewhere, the Humane Society began to target Ohio next.  That spurred the Farm Bureau and its allies to take a pre-emptive step. 

JACK FISHER:  Your choice of what you eat and what’s available is at stake here.

The constitutional amendment the Farm Bureau wants would establish a livestock review board that would be dominated mainly by farmers and others sympathetic to their needs.  Paul Shapiro thinks that’s a terrible idea.

PAUL SHAPIRO:  This is a real power grab, seeking not only to self-regulate but to put this in the constitution, which I think makes it an even more onerous proposal.

Candace Croney, a bioethicist from Ohio State University and another guest on the Sound of Ideas said both sides have valid points…but that both the Farm Bureau and the Humane Society are presenting oversimplified views of a complicated issue.

CANDACE CRONEY: The idea that animals should be more comfortable and have more freedom to move around is an idea that every behaviorist I know would probably support.  The problem is that, to meet that reasonable request, requires retrofitting existing facilities that actually is really expensive. 

That is the nub of the argument.  That giving greater protection to farm animals ….could cost farmers millions.  Recognizing that financial strain, contending faction in other states have compromised, including phasing in new regulation.  That hasn’t happened here.

Fishman:  “...an 18 story, nearly 500 thousand square foot office tower that will be the new corporate home for Tucker Ellis and West and Earnst and Young, a 550-car parking garage and 150 room boutique hotel in addition to 3 or 4 restaurants, a health club and a conference center.”

The developers expect to break ground on new construction this winter, and have the office tower ready for occupancy by the spring or summer of 2012.  The second phase of the project will center around new residential construction, which Fishman says can’t begin until capital markets improve and banks are more willing to lend. 

Voinovich: “It’s so important for people to understand if you want to get a change made you vote no on 5, and yes on 6.”

Issue 6, proposed by a group called “New Cuyahoga Now,” would replace the current county commissioner system with an elected county executive and an 11 person council. All other currently elected officials would be appointed with approval from the council, except for judges and the prosecutor.

Voinovich, who was mayor of Cleveland for most of the ‘80s, tied the need for change to the ongoing investigations of corruption in Cuyahoga County.

Voinovich: “I’ve never seen anything like this. I was just talking to somebody before I came to this press conference, I don’t know if there’s any place maybe but New Jersey that you see the corruption that we have here in Cuyahoga County. I cannot believe it, how pervasive it is. I cannot believe that’s what’s happening to my county that I love so much.”

Those trying to kill reform now say they are just as outraged about county corruption, but a county executive system wouldn’t necessarily fix that.  Here’s labor leader Harriet Applegate.

Applegate: We think there’d be more opportunity for corruption. 

Applegate supports issue 5, which would study reform more before adopting a specific plan. 

Another criticism of reform now, made mainly by Democrats, is that it would make it easier for Republicans to be elected in a heavily Democratic county.  Senator Voinovich says that’s nonsense.

Voinovich: “There isn’t a Republican way to run a country or a Democratic way. There’s a right way and a wrong way.”

Peter Lawson Jones, one of the county commissioners who’d be out of a job if Issue 6 does pass, downplayed Voinovich’s endorsement of reform now, calling it “predictable.”

Ohio sent the state’s request for $400 million by way of a computer upload that was displayed on a big screen TV in the middle of the Amtrak station, across from Browns’ Stadium.

Several dozen train enthusiasts were on hand to celebrate the occasion, including Wickliffe council member Sandra Luther.

SANDRA LUTHER: “it’s just an easy mode of transportation. I do not like driving my car in large metropolitan areas.”

Should the application be approved, the so-called 3-C corridor, abandoned in 1971, could finally connect the state’s biggest cities by rail.... 40 years later.

Ohio faces a lot of competition for the federal grants from 270 other states or regions.  In all, they’ve asked for 103 billion dollars to improve or expand rail service but congress may not even approve the 8 billion the president has requested. .

But there is a sense that Ohio stands in a good position, as currently being the largest populated corridor in the nation - without passenger rail service.

Ken Silliman, Chief of Staff for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, is optimistic and says the project would not only bring much needed jobs to Ohio, it would help bring the state together.

KEN SILLIMAN: “If the funding is secured, it will help communities throughout the state of Ohio connect with Cleveland’s unique location, providing a direct path to the global economy.”

That would affect 10 specific industries, including petroluem refiners, steel, glass, and aluminum makers - all prevalent in Ohio.
Combined, the targeted industries employ more than four million people nationally...about 195,000 in Ohio, according to the Economic Policy Institute, the Washington, D.C. based think tank that released today’s report that urges caution on emissions caps. 
Dr. Robert Scott, the principal author. 

DR. ROBERT SCOTT: “If we do the policies that we’re developing now; if we make them intellegently, if we do them well, they can support creation of millions of jobs in the United States, but if they’re done poorly, they’re a threat to a number of energy and greenhouse gas intensive manufacturing industries.”

Scott and some other analysts fear U.S. manufacturing companies might shift production to non-regulated nations with higher pollution levels, lowering their producting costs. The report says Ohio stands to lose more jobs from cap and trade than any other states except Texas and California.

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is one of five Democratic Senators who recently asked President Obama to slow all this down and conduct more study of the economic impact cap and trade could have on the U.S.  He cites today’s report as evidence that this route to pollution control needs a lot of reworking.

SENATOR SHERROD BROWN: “It makes no sense for a plant to be closed here because we followed the international climate rules, the international environmental rules, and open up in another country that doesn’t follow them. They should not be rewarded for that, because all of the world suffers as a result.”

The House passed cap and trade legislation in June; the Senate is still working on its version.

Business is booming at the Gypsy Beans coffee shop at 65th and Detroit, on Cleveland’s west side.  Through the window you can see workers planting trees, installing benches and laying colorful paver stones. The city has sunk three and a half million dollars into this spruce-up job, which has been timed to coincide with the re-opening of the historic Capitol movie theater, across the street.

NIKI GILOTTA:  I think the Capitol being here is huge.  I know it’s going to be huge for my business. 

Niki Gilotta opened Gypsy Beans four years ago when she learned of plans to redevelop this old working-class neighborhood into what’s been christened the Gordon Square Arts District.  The new movie house is the latest piece to the ever-expanding district, which includes the several stages that are part of Cleveland Public Theater and the Near West Community Theater.  The area also includes a number of art galleries, shops and restaurants. Niki Gilotta says her coffee shop has been reaping the benefits.

NIKI GILOTTA:  I think it’s this buzz of the Capitol getting opened, CPT, Near West --- everything’s coming here, so people want to be here.  It’s just been difficult to get here because of the construction (laughs).

John Gest clutches a cup of coffee as he eyes the workers reshaping his neighborhood.  An Admissions officer across town at Case Western Reserve University, Gest moved here last year.

JOHN GEST: I was looking to move into more of an urban environment.  A place where you could walk to shops, walk to cafes.  It could be a place where, on the weekend, I could drop my car off and not have to get in it again until Monday.

He’s also looking forward to being able to walk to his new neighborhood movie theater.  So, is Linda Eisenstein.

LINDA EISENSTEIN: I can’t wait.

She and her husband Bob Schnellbacher have found a two-seat table in the crowded café where they recall the far different neighborhood they moved to twenty years ago.

BOB SCHNELLBACHER:  It had reached its nadir, I think.

Linda nods.

LINDA EISENSTEIN:  We had to shoo away the prostitutes from the cars nearby.  And, for awhile, it was just very dark.

She credits the local community development group for the transformation. 

LINDA EISENSTEIN:  You cannot underestimate how powerful the Detroit-Shoreway Community Organization has been.  Buying up properties.  We had dodgy apartment buildings that they eventually took over, cleaned up.  Now, there’s a lot of new blood with the townhouses and condos.

But, it isn’t all gentrification.  There’s a mix of the new and the old, with upscale lofts being added to a stock of affordable, older homes.  A sly smile slips across Bob Schnellbacher’s face as he considers the long path his neighborhood has taken over the past couple of decades.

BOB SCHNELLBACHER:  Now, we have a problem.  We have to keep the yuppies out.

HELEN, EUCLID: “I DO MOST OF MY EXERCISING AT HOME.  I’M A WIDOW, I LIVE ON A VERY CLOSE BUDGET.  I GO TO MARCS, I GO TO ALDI’S.  THERE ARE PLACES… I STAND IN LINE BEHIND PEOPLE WHO ARE BUYING POTATO CHIPS, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.”

Rachel in Shaker Heights, on the other hand, believes bad behavior is more of a matter of degree. 

RACHEL, SHAKER HEIGHTS:  “IF WE MAKE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN UNHEALTHY BEHAVIORS, WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINE?  FOR EXAMPLE, I AM A STRICT VEGETARIAN BUT OCCASSIONALY I LIKE TO HAVE A GLASS OF WINE.  MY GOOD FRIEND DOESN’T DRINK OR SMOKE AT ALL BUT HE LIKES TO EAT RED MEAT.”

Jessica Berg, a professor if Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University agrees that it’s frustrating when people deliberately do things that are unhealthy and don’t take advantage of opportunities to improve their health.  But she doesn’t think penalizing people financially is a good solution. 

BERG: “ FROM A SYSTEM LEVEL IT’S NOT CLEAR THAT WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES OR EVEN THAT WE SHOULD IN SUCH A WAY THAT WE’RE PENALIZING THESE PEOPLE BECAUSE FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL YOU’RE NOT SURE WHAT IT IS THAT’S CAUSING THAT UNHEALTHY BEHAVIOR.”

Berg believes there’s a more sensible way to coax people toward developing healthier lifestyles, expressed in this exchange with Sound of ideas Host Dan Moulthrop. 

BERG: YOU KNOW IT’S ALWAYS I THINK IN SOME SENSE MORE PALATABLE TO SAY IT’S AN INCENTIVE THAT WE’RE GOING TO GIVE YOU RATHER THAN A PENALTY THAT WE’RE GOING TO IMPOSE.

MOULTHROP:  “HERE’S AN INCENTIVE, YOU GET TO KEEP YOUR JOB!”

BERG: WELL, HERE’S AN INCENTIVE, WE WILL SUBSIDIZE YOU IN THAT WELLNESS PROGRAM.  WE WILL SUBSIDIZE YOU IN THAT SMOKING CESSATION PROGRAM.”

A caller named Tracy from Rocky River said his employer’s wellness program offered a large cash prize to employees for reducing their body mass index.  He’s lost 20 pounds.

While that may have worked for Tracy, J.B. Silvers, a professor of Finance and Healthcare at Case Western Reserve University doesn’t condone offering financial incentives.  He says people can’t be bribed into good health.

SILVERS: “They’re into good health because they’re educated, because they have - socio demographics are good, because they live in good neighborhoods, because they get to go to schools.  It’s a much broader framework than just a few incentive dollars that are thrown out there.  That moves you to the right direction, it’s not going to be enough to get you there.”

Carl Biats, President of Morningstar Insurance and Financial Services says work wellness programs have not been well attended and most employers are just trying to keep their heads above water.

BIATS: “MOST EMPLOYERS RIGHT NOW ARE TRYING JUST TO KEEP THEIR HEALTH PLAN.  I MEAN THEY’RE UPPING DEDUCTIBLES, THEY’RE UPPING CO-PAY, THEY’RE DREADING THE RENEWAL.”

As far as reducing risk based behaviors, Katy sent an email describing herself as a healthy 39 year old woman with great blood pressure, who exercises regularly, but weighs 254 pounds.  She wrote “For those who wish to penalize behavior, I’ll make a deal with you:  I’ll develop bulimia to help control my weight, if you promise no knee replacements for marathon runners.”

For 90.3, I’m Bridget De Chagas.

Mayor Georgine Welo says she’s constantly being approached by what she considers less-than-reputable mortgage firms; ready to offer the city “deals” to get bodies into large numbers of currently vacant homes - whether the new residents are qualified to own them - or not.

GEORGINE WELO: “After they tell me that very nicely, I very nicely tell them that it’s not going to fly here, and that I will hunt them down like a dog if I have to - and I have said it and they know it - I have done it. And I’m not going to stand by any longer.”

Keith Benjamin is the city’s Community Services Director, who says one roadblock has been that South Euclid, and other communities less than 50 thousand in population ....are ineligible for direct funding from the federal government to fight their foreclosure problems. 
The city has received a $300,000 grant from the First Suburbs Development Council to begin its green neighborhoods agenda… and is in line for a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s $6 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

KEITH BENJAMIN: “Someone has to step up to the plate and be a leader, in Cuyahoga County to educate people and the government - on the challenges that we are facing, and how we can best go about revitalizing and maintaining our neighborhoods.”

Members of two federal reserve banks and the National Abandoned Properties Campaign heard of their efforts Monday, as they visit communities around the country, to see how the federal money is being used, and whether local officials are encountering roadblocks.

South Euclid hopes for immediate impact - such as attraction of new businesses and an increase in their tax base. And they hope to see other communities in the county - follow suit..

VALERIE McCALL:  We had the weight of everybody --- the governor was involved, every council member, the General Assembly, our senators, our congress people, and pretty much said, “nothing beats a failure like a try.  And if we don’t try, we’ll never know.”

One of the judges was Darl Schaaff, who headed the site selection committee that visited the three finalist cities, this summer. 

DARL SCHAAFF: I came there without any pre-conceived notion, and I said, “You know, Boston’s a bidder and Washington’s a bidder, and those are big cities that I’ve been to, and Cleveland’s going to really have to live up to some big shoes.” And, I was blown away.  I thought it was the most amazing place.  I loved it.

Dan Williams of Positively Cleveland --- the local convention and visitor’s bureau --- says the Gay Games dwarfs any other sporting event the city has hosted.  Williams estimates attendance will be in excess of 100,000 people. 

DAN WILLIAMS: You know, you’re going to have people here, they’re going to be in our hotels, our restaurants, and this is going to extend down to Akron, go out to all the suburbs.  The people are going to be in our museums --- they’re going to be everywhere

The Cleveland Synergy Foundation, which organized the city’s bid, will now focus on ironing out the dozens of details involved in coordinating sporting venues from Cleveland to Akron for 34 events that will take place over a two week period in the summer of 2014.

The argument is that if BOA shareholders had known about that and huge bonuses about to be handed over to Merrill executives, they might have voted the merger down.

Among those shareholders were the pension funds for teachers and other public employees in Ohio.

Paul Rose is a securities law expert at the Ohio State University and he says this case is, in a sense, Main Street versus Wall Street.

ROSE: This case is an opportunity for a lot of folks to express their displeasure with the way Wall Street has been doing business.

Attorney General Richard Cordray wants to get some of those lost billions back-though Cordray doesn’t say exactly how much.

Rose of OSU says the suit has merit, but there’s at least a tinge of politics here.

ROSE: You see the attorney general really drawing attention to the fact he’s bringing this case, you can’t help think there’s some political motivation behind that. But even if there’s political motivation, this is the kind of case he would pursue and that he should be obligated to be interested in.

Ohio’s attorney general isn’t the one going after Bank of America. Andrew Cuomo of New York charges the firm committed securities fraud. Bank of America says it disclosed all the information required and says it’s confident it will prevail in court.

Platten:  There are three statewide issues, three county-wide issues, and then smaller municipal issues.  And we encourage people to sit at their kitchen tables and vote, rather than go to the polling location and feeling pressure to hurry up.  Because it’s a ballot that you don’t want to, nor can you, hurry through. 

Ballot referenda include Issue 5 and Issue 6 - measures that pose competing choices on changing the structure of Cuyahoga County’s government.  Attached to Issue 5 is a choice of who would sit on a commission to consider a new county charter - 29 names in all, of which voters would pick 15.

Platten says voters should have already received a vote-by mail application, or, if they didn’t receive it or it’s lost, they can call the board of Elections and request that one be sent to them.  The deadline to request an application is October 31st.

Bill Rice, 90.3.