No doubt about it, these are difficult times. International dealmakers focused on short-term profits at the expense of long-term prosperity. Local communities like Cleveland Heights are feeling the blistering effects of some distant dealmaker’s poor decisions and bad actions. It is now more important than ever for our community to prioritize and focus our attention on what is most important to us. Right now is when we must all work hard to preserve the quality of life features that make our city unique. At the same time, we have to be realistic as we lays plans for a future that continues the best of the Heights while meeting challenges that can sometimes seem daunting.
I’m committed to working with other members of our community to build a better future based on focusing on the following areas of service to the community:
- Planning and Development
- Administrative, Financial, and Organizational Operations
- Safety Services
Planning and Development
Innovative ideas. Practical Solutions. These are core elements of effective Planning and Development. The ideas and solutions that I intend to put forth as a member of council will involve everything from land use to the types of development and businesses that are in our city. The core issues that will drive our planning and development efforts are:
- Create an overall strategy for the community’s priorities in land use, community development, economic development, housing development, foreclosure prevention and housing rehabilitation.
- Define with detail and specificity how to attract additional federal and state dollars for project development and how to obtain additional funding from foundations and regional allocations of government funding.
- Establish annual action plans for projects to take place so that residents can watch a project from beginning to end and see the accomplishments of the department responsible for the results.
- Build capacity to respond quickly to opportunities for development that arise from the changing economy and any business entities ability to grow/expand or locate in Cleveland Heights.
Making these types of changes will help focus resources and clarify our objectives. The result will be a more efficiently run city and a healthier local economy that is ready for the demands of the future.
Administrative, Financial and Organizational Operations
Cleveland Heights municipal government must act like any other organization (private or public) facing change. With reduced income levels the services that municipal government chooses to provide to its residents and property owners must be carefully thought through and analyzed in relationship to community priorities and needs. Surveys should be done, both mailed and intercept instruments that will assist council and staff in defining the priorities for the city. I’ll recommend that we poll residents from each neighborhood and business district. The core issues for attention and discussion in this area are:
- The administration of government and its leadership plan for the future need to be fully accessed. An organizational plan for the leadership of staff should be undertaken and discussed in relationship to budget and operational goals that need to be accomplished. One of the most urgent issues is that the leadership of all the departments is nearing retirement age or have the required number of years of service in the public sector to retire, a plan for that evaluates reorganization of the existing departments, skills sets required of new department heads are, and evaluates whether any of the staff in place can be promoted or does recruitment of new leaders needs to be initiated so that as retirements take place city government continues to move forward.
- Building on the issues defined from citizen input, the budget and finances of the city should be finely tuned. Prioritizing how we spend our city’s funds should be based on core government needs and the previously mentioned input from businesses, property owners and residents. Reductions in the budget should specifically be guided by priorities rather than a percentage reduction of all services. This kind of analysis will allow the city to move forward with some of the higher priority activities.
Safety Services
It has long been known that people vote with their feet. This means that if a community is perceived as unsafe, then that community will begin to see a number of people – good solid residents – make the decision to leave. Safety is not only the responsibility of the police and municipal government. It is also every resident’s responsibility. Because if we don’t report shots fired, stolen or damaged property, or physical attacks/threats of bodily harm, then this behavior will appear to be acceptable.
Defining what is not acceptable is up to us as a community. When violent or criminal individuals know that bad behavior will be reported and neighbors interact in a positive manner with each other to stop bad behavior, we encourage better behavior from people who would allow the wrong things to happen in our community when the police are not around.
I will encourage and do what is necessary to support more interaction with the police, community relations staff and residents at all times. These relationships would help residents cope when there are problems and allow police officers to know who more residents of our community and reach out to them for leadership and information on how to deal with specific problems.
Good government is a team sport help me explore the issues and create priorities the will give Cleveland Heights a better future.
