Ed Hauser continues “to lead the way to Whiskey Island”
by Chuck Hoven

(Plain Press, June 2009) Friends and admirers of the late Ed Hauser gathered on Saturday May 2nd on Whiskey Island for a dedication ceremony renaming Whiskey Island Drive as Ed Hauser Way. Hauser dedicated much of the last ten years of his life to advocacy for public causes. One of Hauser’s major undertakings involved backing City and Cuyahoga County plans to build a public park on Whiskey Island over a competing plan by the Cuyahoga County Port Authority to expand the port on the peninsula just east of Edgewater Park. Hauser, a Ward 18 resident, passed away in November 2008 at the age of 47.

Former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim McCormack said, “Ed Hauser is one of the most courageous persons you will ever encounter.” McCormack described the room of powerful people that Hauser often entered when pursuing the public interest. “It was their room… their power… their authority. Ed Hauser walked into a room where he was not welcome. A room where decisions had already been made in another room,” said McCormack. Despite being ridiculed and made fun of, Hauser “persevered year after year,” said McCormack.

County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones said, “Ed Hauser, and those rare individuals like him, put the “d” in democracy making sure the voice of the public is heard and not shut out.”

Dan Moore of Whiskey Island Partners, whose property Cuyahoga County eventually purchased for a park named in honor of his late daughter Wendy, said “Ed Hauser had a passion in the right direction.” He said Hauser’s advocacy for a park at Whiskey Island created a space along the lake “where you can have a kayak and leave it there.” The lakefront can now be enjoyed not just by owners of yachts and speedboats, but by those with smaller watercraft as well, said Moore.

Moore said Hauser filmed every single Cuyahoga County Port Authority meeting, and made public record requests to secure photocopies of 1,000s of pages of testimony. Moore noted the amount of time this took and said of Hauser, “He was an amazing person that was able to do this.”

Sylvia Hauser, Ed’s sister, outlined some of the history of the creation of the park at Whiskey Island. The purchase of the property by the county in 2004, the creation of Wendy Park in 2005 and the dedication of the bridge to Whiskey Island in 2007. She said at first she didn’t understand why her brother was working so hard to save this land for public use and block the Port Authority’s expansion plans. “I now get it. I now know why he fought so hard for this green space,” said Sylvia Hauser. “Thank you for letting Eddie to continue to lead the way to Whiskey Island.”

Mayor Frank Jackson, City Council members Matt Zone, Brian Cummins and Jay Westbrook were on hand to help unveil the new street sign and present Sylvia Hauser with a duplicate.

Friends of Ed Hauser are maintaining a website where some of the history of the struggle to save Whiskey Island is documented. The site www.citizenvision.org also highlights some ongoing advocacy efforts by area citizens.

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