Hispanic Roundtable hosts town hall meeting on competing
Cuyahoga County reform
by Joe Narkin

(Plain Press, October 2009) Over 50 residents attending a Town Hall meeting of the Hispanic Roundtable at Emmanuel Church, 3525 West 25th Street, on September 8, 2009, were openly chagrined that the Hispanic community was largely left out of the planning process for the New Cuyahoga Now and Real Reform Done Right reform plans that will compete for approval on the Cuyahoga County general election ballot of November 3, 2009.

Attendees were, nevertheless, eager to ascertain whether either of the plans would enhance the influence of the Hispanic community in county governance. Jose Feliciano, Chairperson of the Hispanic Roundtable, facilitated the town hall meeting.

New Cuyahoga Now

Parma Heights Mayor Martin Zanotti (D), representing the New Cuyahoga Now reform measure, said, “we need reform and we need reform now; we need to reverse the direction that our county is going in.”

Zanotti claims that Cuyahoga County government, shaken by a federal probe into a widespread pattern of corruption by county officials, is riddled with patronage, inefficiency, a lack of checks and balances, and insufficient accountability. This renders the county poorly equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century and incapable of reversing a long-term pattern of job and population loss, said Zanotti.

According to a 2009 report of the U.S. Census Bureau, the Greater Cleveland urban area is 3rd in the nation in population loss, trailing only the New Orleans and Pittsburgh areas.

If approved by voters, the New Cuyahoga Now measure (listed as Issue 6 on the November ballot) would dramatically change the form and structure of county government in three ways, according to Zanotti.

First, it would create a charter form of government that would give the county a greater level of self-determination and self-governance than the current statutory form of government. Under statutory governance, the county is more subordinate to State of Ohio control than it would be under a charter form.

Second, it would eliminate the current governance of the county by three county commissioners, who are coequals in power, and replace them with an elected County Executive and 11 county council representatives, thereby creating a bicameral form of government. The County Executive would be elected at-large and council members would be elected from districts established within the county.

Third, it would eliminate seven of the eight elected positions that act largely as independent entities under the current form of government and replace them with appointed department heads. Only the office of County Prosecutor Bill Mason, who played a primary role in the drafting of the New Cuyahoga Now reform initiative, would be retained as an elective office, an exception that has drawn widespread critical commentary as self-serving on the part of Prosecutor Mason.

New Cuyahoga Now also would change the primary focus of county government from health and human services to economic development in the interest of job and business creation in order to better compete in the global marketplace, said Zanotti.

“It (New Cuyahoga Now) is not the result of a couple of months of study; it is a result of 15 years of study,” said Zanotti, adding that the current county commissioners resisted reform in the past and proposed the Real Reform Done Right plan only after it became apparent that the New Cuyahoga Now measure would be on the ballot with a widespread base of support.

Zanotti pointed out that the New Cuyahoga Now ballot measure contains a provision that the charter would be revisited and revised, as required, after a year in operation in order to correct inevitable imperfections that will arise with experience in a new form of government.

Real Reform Done Right

“Let’s get it right the first time,” said County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones (D) in support of the Real Reform Done Right ballot measure. The New Cuyahoga Now measure “would yield two or three forms of government over a two or three year period,” said Jones. “What you will hear is that we cannot afford to wait another year,” he said.

The Real Reform Done Right plan would not make any immediate changes in the structure of county government, establishing instead a 15-member County Charter Commission to determine the form of government best suited to produce necessary governmental reforms.

The Real Reform Done Right measure (Issue 5 on the November ballot) will call for a “yes” or “no” vote on the creation of the commission and offer a slate of 29 candidates who will not be listed on the ballot based upon party affiliation for the 15 slots to be filled should the Real Reform Done Right issue pass.

It is possible to vote “no” on Issue 5 and still vote for Charter Commission members. If that is not confusing enough, it is also possible that voters will pass both Issue 5 and Issue 6 with an uncertain final result.

The debate

“I do not oppose the creation of a charter form of government, but I believe that this is not the approach that we should take to restructure government,” said Jones, noting that Cuyahoga County voters rejected such a form of government in the past.

In 1995, the Board of County Commissioners took no action on a recommendation by a Citizens Committee for County Government Reform to place a measure on the ballot creating a charter form of government represented by an elected executive and a 7-member council.

Jones reported that, of 88 counties in Ohio, only Franklin County has a better business bond rating than Cuyahoga County. Delaware County is tied for 2nd with Cuyahoga, said Jones in support of his belief that the current form of government is effective in business and job development.

In 1978, the Ohio Constitution was amended to permit a charter form of government at the county level. In 1980, Cuyahoga County voters defeated a ballot measure calling for a county executive and a 9-member assembly apportioned by district. Currently, of the 88 counties in Ohio, only Summit County is governed under a charter.

There is a “fatal flaw” in the New Cuyahoga Now proposal, said Jones. “The last thing you want to do is carve the county into districts,” he said. Currently, commissioners represent the interests of the entire region, said Jones, adding that representation by district would reward elected officials for putting aside regional needs when they conflict with more parochial interests. The Real Reform Done Right measure was not presented for personal political reasons since Jones and Commissioner Tim Hagan have said they will not be running for reelection, according to Jones.

Jones also disagreed with Zanotti’s contention that the New Cuyahoga Now would produce cost savings for government since it would create a greater number of elected officials, while still requiring staffing of departments currently supervised by elected officials whose positions would be eliminated. “You would still have to pay someone to perform the functions of the elective offices eliminated and appointed officials make far more money than elected officials,” said Jones.

Zanotti responded to Jones’ criticism by noting there were over 200 Cuyahoga County employees in the Audit Department and less than 50 employees assigned to economic development. The New Cuyahoga Now plan “will eliminate the fiefdoms that exist in Cuyahoga County,” said Zanotti, asking, “Does anybody absolutely believe that there is not patronage in the current form of government in Cuyahoga County?”

“Cuyahoga County government cannot be a clearinghouse for patronage jobs,” said Zanotti. Eliminating the cost of jobs that are not necessary would increase the money available for job creation efforts, he said.

“We did not do a good job in being able to get Hispanic leaders to the table,” admitted Zanotti, who told the group the process was, nevertheless, inclusive and that the most pertinent point to consider is, “Do you like the way it (county government) works now?” He added that, by developing legitimate job opportunities, Hispanics and other minorities would benefit under New Cuyahoga Now.

The districts as drawn by New Cuyahoga Now include one district on the west side of Cleveland in which Hispanics will have significant voting power and two other districts where the Hispanic population is well represented, said Zanotti.

Only one Hispanic is in elected office in Cuyahoga County – Common Pleas Court Judge Jose Villanueva.

“If you look at the way it (the district plan of New Cuyahoga Now) is cut out, I don’t see it (election of Hispanic officials) in the near future,” said Adrian Maldonado, former Cuyahoga County Director of Procurement and Diversity, adding that, based upon population projections, it would take 25 years for a Hispanic to be elected to represent a district in Cuyahoga County.

Jones countered by saying that the 15 members elected to the Charter Review Commission would be charged with holding public forums throughout Cuyahoga County, thereby assuring that the Hispanic voice will be heard in developing final recommendations. Jazmin Torres-Lugo, a former Cleveland Municipal Court Judge and currently an attorney in private practice, is on the slate of candidates for the charter commission, said Jones.

Neither issue on the ballot is fully consistent with the recommendations of the Abbott Commission on Cuyahoga Governmental Reform of 2008, which met under appointment of Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. This commission, chaired by David Abbott, Executive Director of the George Gund Foundation, recommended that the current statutory form of government be retained since voters have rejected the charter form of government in the past.

The three commissioner structure would be maintained under the Abbott plan, but one commissioner would be elected by voters as county president, rather than elected by the commissioners to play a largely ceremonial role as is currently the case. The county prosecutor and sheriff would continue to hold elective office under the Abbott plan

“When a government no longer serves the best interests of the people, then the people must change that government, according to the introduction to the Abbott report. As stated in the report, sometimes a change of office holders alone does not suffice.

Editor’s Note: The Plain Dealer reported on October 1st that on Wednesday September 30th The Hispanic Roundtable announced its support for Issue 6. The New Cuyahoga Now plan. (Once neutral on reform plans, Hispanic group backs Issue 6, by Plain Dealer Reporter Laura Johnston)

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