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Nick Licata and Jay Westbrook

the breakfast table
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from: Jay Westbrook

City Politics: Combating Issues on Multiple Fronts

Posted Monday, June 4, 2001, at 12:29 PM ET

Good morning, Nick,

While we in Cleveland are excited about taking a series from the N.Y. Yankees (two out of three games), I must congratulate all Mariner fans on a fantastic start of your season. Seattle is great proof that there is life after hot superstar players. In fact you might be starting a new trend toward lightening the load of superstars as a strategy for developing a winning team.

Here in your old home of Cleveland, we are seeing the beginning of a busy political season. Less than two weeks ago, Mayor Michael White announced that he would not seek another term. There had been much speculation: Would he or wouldn't he run? The announcement caught the whole city by surprise. Now there are about 10 candidates announcing and/or considering. In addition to mayoral politics, the entire council (21 members) is up for election. On top of that, we are redistricting all of the 21 wards. You must be going through some of this as well.

One of the exciting things about city politics is the dynamic of combating issues on multiple fronts. With the recent census, Cleveland was jolted to learn that we have dropped below the 500,000 mark in population--a critical number for purposes of federal funds and designations. Population shifts within the greater Cleveland region have become a major issue of concern. It is sometimes called regional dynamics and has brought forward the attention of academics, planners, and environmental activists. Some of us in city government have engaged the issues of sprawl through the regional planning agency (known as NOACA, Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency). This includes funding priorities for road and highway work. Yesterday, the Plain Dealer began a series of articles examining this dynamic. Essentially, our region has not seen any population growth in over 30 years. What the region has experienced are dramatic shifts in population. These shifts have resulted in major losses in Cleveland and major increases in the outer suburban areas. The census demonstrates that Cuyahoga County (where Cleveland is located) lost population for the first time since its incorporation.

As members of the council and policy-makers here, we are faced with fighting to compete with quality of life in the suburbs and maintaining a productive tax base. Fighting on multiple fronts. Other regions of the country that have begun to address these issues have found some support in state government. Despite the number of large cities in Ohio, our state government is dominated by rural interests and has not been proactive in addressing these issues. Hey, Mondays are a meat grinder here. I'm being called now for a Board of Zoning Appeals hearing regarding a business in the ward. I'm then running to a school for an end-of-school-year activity.

I look forward to hearing back from you today. By the way, (I hope that this is p.c.), I'll probably swing by the neighborhood Starbucks to bring back a coffee for the staff. Would you like one, too?

Until later,
Jay

the breakfast table
entries
12345678910111213141516
from: Jay Westbrook

City Politics: Combating Issues on Multiple Fronts

Posted Monday, June 4, 2001, at 12:29 PM ET
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Nick Licata is an at-large member of the Seattle City Council. Jay Westbrook represents Ward 18 on the Cleveland City Council.
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