11 actions Ed FitzGerald, Cuyahoga County’s first executive, will be remembered for Cleveland.com 12/31/2014

11 actions Ed FitzGerald, Cuyahoga County’s first executive, will be remembered for

Cuyahoga County experienced an eventful four years under Ed FitzGerald. (Jackie Borchardt, Northeast Ohio Media Group)

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By Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland.com
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on December 31, 2014 at 3:24 PM, updated January 01, 2015 at 7:12 AM

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Today is Ed FitzGerald’s final day in office. As he steps away from public life, how will Cuyahoga County remember its first county executive?

Recently, the bulk of attention FitzGerald has received — locally, statewide and nationally — has been for his doomed campaign for governor.

But the campaign shouldn’t overshadow FitzGerald’s tenure as the first chief of the county’s reform government. On balance, he helped restore credibility to a county tainted with the corrupt legacy of the old commissioner-led government.

(FitzGerald declined a Northeast Ohio Media Group interview request, but described his tenure in his own words in a YouTube video and written report.)

Setting aside FitzGerald the gubernatorial candidate for a moment, let’s take a look at FitzGerald the administrator.

TOUTED BY FITZGERALD

Cutting the county payroll: Cuyahoga County’s payroll was long bloated by patronage.

Under FitzGerald, the county cut non-court employees from 5,092 in 2010 (the year before he took office) to 4,534 in 2013. (The number was nearly 6,300 in 2008.)

FitzGerald’s human resources department also created, for the first time, a countywide pay scale and annual evaluation system, based in part on a payroll study that led to pay cuts and job reclassifications for dozens of county employees.

Some employees challenged the changes in lawsuits, alleging the payroll purge was discriminatory and heavy-handed, done to bolster FitzGerald’s political image.

At least one case is still pending.

Building a convention center hotel: FitzGerald decided to demolish the county’s longtime headquarters and replace it with a $270 million, 30-story convention hotel.

Construction is still underway. But it’s already been credited for helping attractthe 2016 Republican National Convention to Cleveland.

If the project is finished in time for the RNC — all indications are that it will be — it will be because of an aggressive timetable set by FitzGerald.

“We made an enormous bet that this construction site behind you, which is going to be the site of the largest hotel in Cleveland, a more than 600-room hotel, that that could get done in time for this convention,” FitzGerald said in July.

Building a new county headquarters: FitzGerald completed a long-stalled plan to consolidate the county’s real estate holdings.

In July 2014, the county opened a new eight-story headquarters on the site of the former Ameritrust complex, which had long sat vacant.

The county sold Ameritrust — which former county commissioners bought in 2005 and abandoned two years later — to private developer Geis Cos. The real estate company converted the other buildings on the site into a hotel and high-end apartments, and plans to open a Heinen’s grocery store in the historic rotunda.

“From our perspective, the county helped generate a $275 million investment,” Joe Marinucci, CEO and president of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, said at the time.

FitzGerald described the building at an opening ceremony: “We took a symbol of corruption and made it into a symbol of good government.”

Finishing the Global Center for Health Innovation: After inheriting the troubled $465 million medical mart and convention center project from the former county government, FitzGerald brought it in for a landing ahead of schedule and under budget.

Regardless of how the mart — now known as the Global Center for Health Innovation — ultimately turns out, FitzGerald helped focus the project, which had long drawn fire for being ill-defined.

Among FitzGerald’s contributions: recruiting a panel of medical and civic leaders to help keep tabs on the project, then signing major healthcare companies like GE Healthcare and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society as tenants.

In September, FitzGerald ousted the project’s operator, Chicago-based MMPI Inc., in favor of SMG, a switch the county says will save between $3 million and $4.5 million a year.

Overseeing reforms at the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision: The county’s Board of Revision, tasked with hearing appeals of the set values for the county’s properties, has largely stayed out of the news.

That’s a good thing.

In 2010, the Plain Dealer Publishing Co. found the agency frequently broke state laws by ruling on cases without public hearings. Newspaper reports also documented that board members lowered the values of their own properties and frequently allowed tax documents to be altered using correction fluid.

In 2014, the board cleared an 18,000-case backlog dating back to 2008. Under FitzGerald, the county increased the number of panels hearing cases from four to seven.

That number of panels scaled down to three earlier this year. And as of December, only one panel is left.

Getting the ball rolling on regionalism efforts: Upon taking office, FitzGerald hired a director of regionalism, meant to encourage the county’s 59 suburbs to save money by collaborating and to take advantage of centralized county services.

In June 2011, FitzGerald announced that mayors of four east-side suburbs — Moreland Hills, Orange, Pepper Pike and Woodmere — would consider merging into one city.

Reducing the myriad of cities and villages has long been a pipe dream of some local government watchers. But the much-hurrahed announcement fizzled into a shared-services study.

Still, FitzGerald’s administration took some steps toward regionalism. In February 2013, the 59th and final mayor signed an “anti-poaching” agreement in which suburbs agreed not to pursue businesses in other communities in the county.

The county is offering a host of services to suburbs, including sewer and road maintenance, healthcare coverage, jail administration, public records archiving and 9-1-1 dispatching services.

Creating $100 College Savings Accounts: FitzGerald sponsored legislation that created $100 college savings accounts for each of the county’s kindergarteners, estimated at 15,000 each year.

The students can only use the money on expenses pertaining to post-high school education. So, it’s going to be around 12 years before the accounts are accessed.

Officials in the FitzGerald administration hope the program will increase educational expectations for kids whose families don’t encourage them to go to school, and increase college graduation rates within the county as well as promote financial literacy.

Opponents, meanwhile, question whether the program will be effective and criticize its overhead costs.

THINGS FITZGERALD MIGHT RATHER FORGET

Breaking county policy by driving without a license: A definite low point of FitzGerald’s term in office was an Oct. 28, 2014, report from County Inspector General Nailah Byrd.

The report found FitzGerald “committed a breach of the public trust” by driving during his term without a permanent, full-time driver’s license. It noted that under FitzGerald, the county government had disciplined other county employees for a similar infraction.

The report also found that 2012 logs, showing when vehicle assigned to the executive’s office were used, were destroyed.

FitzGerald agreed to reimburse the county for roughly $30 in driving reimbursements he claimed while he didn’t have a license.

An irony: FitzGerald helped create the inspector general’s office to help promote accountability in county government, and hired Byrd, a former federal prosecutor, to lead the agency.

Flopping on his ‘sin tax’ proposal: FitzGerald mostly stayed out of a campaign to extend the county’s ‘sin tax’ on alcohol and cigarettes to pay for upkeep of Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena.

But in June 2014, FitzGerald unveiled a splashy plan to allocate tax money designated for stadium upkeep based in part on how well the teams who play in those stadiums perform.

He called it the “win tax.”

The proposal attracted positive attention from national writers and was a talker on local sports radio. But it failed to win support from any local officials needed to make it a reality — including incoming Executive Armond Budish.

FitzGerald never introduced legislation for the win tax, or any kind of stadium funding proposal.

Withholding keycard records: In May 2014, FitzGerald denied a routine requestfrom NEOMG seeking keycard records that would show his comings and goings on county property.

While the records had been customarily released for years by other local elected officials, FitzGerald cited death threats as the reason for not releasing them, supported by security concerns from his appointed Sheriff Frank Bova.

The refusal complicated FitzGerald’s record as a transparent, good-government reformer, and gave ammunition to Republicans, who were happy to exploit the issue.

The Ohio Republican Party eventually filed a lawsuit over the records. The county is still defending the case before the Ohio Supreme Court.

GRAB BAG

We had to cut it off somewhere. But here are some other highlights from FitzGerald’s four years:

Creating the $100 million Western Reserve Fund

Overseeing a renovation of the jail kitchen, which has run over budget.

Beginning an effort to consolidate the county’s jail system (with early mixed results).

Successfully pushing for a ‘voting rights’ amendment to the county’s charter.

Creating the first county-level “Pay for Success” program.

Suing over the county’s original purchase of the Ameritrust complex

A forum discussion about healthcare in Northeast Ohio 1/16/2016

A forum discussion about healthcare in Northeast Ohio

Panelists (from left to right in video):
Sarah Hackenbracht, Executive Director, Cuyahoga Health Access Partnership
Dr. Todd Zeiger, Vice President, Primary Care Institute, University Hospitals
Heather Thiltgen, Senior VP, Medical Mutual

Moderator: Casey Ross, Healthcare Reporter, The Plain Dealer

Tuesday January 19, 2016 7-8:30pm
CWRU Siegal Facility in Beachwood, Ohio
This panel was consumer oriented and focused on accessing and affording health care at a time of rapid change in the industry–all with a Northeast Ohio focus. The panelists talked about changes in the way Cleveland area doctors are providing care and getting paid for care and how this affects patients.

The event cosponsors:
Case Western Reserve University Siegal Lifelong Learning Program, League of Women Voters-Greater Cleveland, Northeast Ohio Media Group

Corporate sponsor: First Interstate Properties, Ltd.

How to Become an Education Activist in Northeast Ohio 8.19.15

Panelists:
Lyman Millard, Breakthrough Schools
Michele Pomerantz, Cleveland Metropolitan School Dist. (CMSD)
Gregory Hutchings, Supt. of Shaker Heights Public Schools
Mary Rose Oakar, elected member State Board of Education
Moderator: Jill Miller Zimon

Parents and other concerned individuals can be some of the best advocates for education change. This forum covers local education topics and focuses on the ways you can advocate for education and education change. Questions addressed: how to develop and deploy strategies to benefit education, advice to give others on how to influence education policy and whom to influence in matters related to education in Ohio.

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Cosponsored by
City Club of Cleveland
Cleveland Jewish News Foundation
CWRU Lifelong Learning
League of Women Voters-Greater Cleveland

Forum held at CWRU Siegal Facility

“Land Use in Cuyahoga County” Forum – Weds July 29, 2015

“Land Use in Cuyahoga County” Forum – Weds July 29, 2015 w/intros

Panelists:
David Beach, Director GreenCityBlueLake
Glenn Coyne, Exec. Direc. Cuyahoga County Planning Commission
Grace Gallucci, Exec. Direc. NOACA-NE Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency
Lee Weingart, former Cuy. Cty. Commissioner, Founder and CEO LNE Grp.

Moderator:
Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

Co-sponsored by:
City Club of Cleveland
Cleveland Jewish News Foundation
CWRU Siegal Lifelong Learning Program
League of Women Voters-Greater Cleveland

Wednesday July 29, 2015
Held at the CWRU Siegal Facility in Beachwood, OH

Regional Cooperation in Northeast Ohio or How to get 59 Civic Entities to Play Together 6/17/2015

Regional Cooperation in Northeast Ohio
or
How to get 59 Civic Entities to Play Together

Panelists:
Armond Budish, Cuyahoga County Executive
Eddy Kraus, Director of Regional Collaboration, Cuyahoga County
Moderator: Tom Beres, WKYC-TV

Co-sponsored by:
Case Western Reserve University’s Siegal Lifelong Learning,
City Club of Cleveland,
Cleveland Jewish News Foundation,
League of Women Voters-Greater Cleveland

Wednesday June 17, 2015
Held at the Siegal Facility in Beachwood, Ohio

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Ohio Rated Worst in Immigrant Policy (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio’s Gov. John Kasich Moves Closer to 2016 Presidential Bid (CNN)

Budish Focuses on Economic Development in His First State of the County Speech (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Full Text of Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish’s 2015 State of the County Address (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland Schools CEO Talks the Cleveland Plan, Charters, and the Future (StateImpact)

Oil and Gas Tax Hike is Dead For Now, Lawmaker Says (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland Convention Center Report Card (WKYC)

100-Plus Local Governments Respond to Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel’s Invitation to Post Checkbooks Online (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

First Energy Closes 104-Year-Old Coal Powered Plant in Cleveland (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland Region Economy Grew at “Slight Pace”, Fed Reports Show(Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Experts Say Lake Erie Fishing Should Be Productive in 2015 (Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum)

Ohio House to Jettison Chunks of Kasich Budget in Favor of Its Own Plan(Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Republicans Plan to Scrap Gov. Kasich Controversial Tax Plan(Cincinnati Enquirer)

Hospitals Leave Downtowns For More Prosperous Digs (MedPage Today)

Ohio Gov Kasich “Seriously Considering” Run For President (Columbus Dispatch)

State School Board Vote Eliminates Minimum Number of School Nurses, Librarians, Counselors, Arts Teachers (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

New Entertainment Districts Proposed For Some Ohio Cities (Youngstown Vindicator)

Ohio Gov. Kasich: “Jeep is Critical For Us” (Detroit Free Press)

County Executive Budish Envisions a Different Approach For Cuyahoga County (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

A Tale of Two Clevelands: Richey Piiparinen (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Female Tech Entrepreneurs Alter the Landscape in NE Ohio (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Appalachian Communities Scraping By as Coal Taxes Drop (Wall Street Journal)

Cuyahoga County Announces Recipients of $10 Million to Demolish Vacant Buildings (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

No Need For Religious-Freedom Law in Ohio, Gov Kasich Says(Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio Officials Propose Funding a Plant For Fiat Chrysler in Toledo (Wall Street Journal)

Gas-Fired Power Plants Sprouting in Ohio to Replace Old Coal-Burners(Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Sues U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Over Toxic Sediment Plan(Associated Press)

LaunchHouse Targets Teen Entrepreneurs as Its New Focus (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

“Unprecedented” Rise in NE Ohio Homeless Families (WKYC)

Ohio Continues to Bear Marks of the Civil War (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

County Council Members Put Distance Between Themselves and County Executive’s Debt Talk (Cleveland Scene)

Ohio Treasurer Invites Local Governments and School Districts to Put Their Checkbooks Online For Public Review (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

First Year of PARCC Testing Was No Picnic for Ohio Schools (Columbus Dispatch)

Rural School Districts Rip Gov Kasich Education-Funding Plan(Columbus Dispatch)

Cleveland and Pittsburgh: A Tale of Two Sewer Districts (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Ohio and Other Appalachian States Slammed By Environmentalists For Lack of Fracking Oversight (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Economic Impact of Drones Will Be Huge in Ohio (Columbus Dispatch)

What is Ohio Doing to Stop Toxic Algae? (Port Clinton NewsHerald)

Ohio Gov. Kasich Vetoes Provision That Made It Harder For Out-of-State Students to Vote (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

East Cleveland Mayor to Begin Circulating Petitions Opening Door For Merger With Cleveland (WEWS – Newsnet5)

Prosecutors: Police Witnesses Uncooperative in Cleveland Shooting(Columbus Dispatch)

NE Ohio Based Progressive Insurance to Offer Insurance to Lyft Drivers(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Low-Income Working Families Increase (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Lake Erie Algae Relief Years Away (Associated Press/Detroit News)

The Numbers Behind East Cleveland’s Financial Predicament(Ideastream)

Can Out-of-State College Students Vote in Ohio in 2016? (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Public-Private Partnership: Behind the Scenes of the State of the City Address (Cleveland Scene)

Central Ohio’s Population Boom Isn’t Stopping (Columbus Dispatch)

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish Says “There’s Very Little Capacity to Take On New Projects For Around a Decade or More” (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Legislature Advances Controversial Bill That Could Deter Students From Voting (Huffington Post)

A New Cleveland Lakefront Plan is Refreshingly Pragmatic: Steven Litt (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Euclid Media Group, Owner of Alternative Newspapers Including the Cleveland Scene, Buys St. Louis Weekly (St. Louis Business Journal)

Bill to Reduce Lake Erie Toxic Algae Passes Legislature; Governor Expected to Sign (News-Herald)

Ohio House Passes “Heartbeat Bill” After Emotional Debate (Columbus Dispatch)

Cleveland Will See Largest Economic Impacts Among NCAA Men’s Basketball Regional Host Cities (Forbes)

Tireless Cleveland Music Booster From 1980s and 90s Jim Clevo Dies (Cool Cleveland)

The Long-Distance Relationship Between Americans and Jobs (Wall Street Journal)

Parma Balances 2015 Budget By Closing Pools This Summer (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Proposed 75 mph Speed Limit in Ohio Dead For Now (Dayton Daily News)

Deep Freeze on Great Lakes Halts Cargo Shipments (New York Times)

What Has Gov. Kasich Really Done to School Spending in Ohio? (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Excessive Tests Crimp Lesson Time, Ohio Teachers Say (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio Lawmakers Close in on Compromise on Lake Erie Algae (Akron Beacon Journal/Associated Press)

Absentee Voting Season For May Primary Elections Begins Soon (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

In 2016 Test, Ohio Gov. Kasich Trumpets “Ohio Story” (New York Times)

Citizens Fight For the Future of East Cleveland (Fresh Water Cleveland)

5 Observations From President Obama’s Cleveland Visit (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Ranked #1 in Nation For Transparency in Government Spending (Columbus Dispatch)

Cleveland Clinic Grapples With Changes in Health Care (New York Times)

Tom L. Johnson Has “Left the Building” (WKYC)

Irishtown Bend Hillside Needs to Be Fixed to Avoid Collapse, Says Port Authority (Cleveland Scene)

What Are Ohio’s “Most Irish” Cities and Counties (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Considering 75 MPH Speed Limit on Turnpike and Rural Highways (Dayton Daily News)

Masonry Competition Underscores Future Skills Shortage (StateImpact)

New Ohio School Tests Source of Anxiety, Anger (Toledo Blade)

Who Will Run the Manufacturing Industry After the Boomers Retire? (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

To Restore Democracy in Ohio, Slay the Gerrymander: David Kushma, editor (Toledo Blade)

2018 Elections May Highlight the Convoluted Nature of Ohio Politics: Tom Suddes (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Avon Joins Trend of Doing Away With Shop Class (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

President Obama to Speak at Cleveland City Club on Wednesday March 18 (WKYC)

Construction Unions Will Teach Trades to Cleveland Students (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio’s Medicaid Mess; A Systemic Breakdown That the State Must Fix: Opinion (Toledo Blade)

Cleveland’s Rents Soar Ahead of 2016 Republican Convention (CNN MONEY/Fox 8)

Cuyahoga County’s Approach to Collecting Delinquent Taxes Contributing to Blight, According to Study; Delinquencies Have More Than Doubled Since 2009 (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Bill to Limit Testing Gets Ohio Educator’s Backing (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio Libertarians Face Quagmire in Seeking State, Local Ballot Access (Associated Press)

“Massive Transformation” of MetroHealth Medical Center’s Main Campus Scheduled to Start Later This Year (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Where City of Cleveland Homes Sell For $100,000 or More (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Fellowship of the Inner Ring. Interview with South Euclid Housing Manager (Cleveland Scene)

Cleveland’s CMSD Students at Max Hayes High School Get Path to Construction Jobs (WKYC)

Teachers Tell Ohio Legislators That State Tests Take Too Long (Columbus Dispatch)

Toledo to Sue Ohio Over Traffic Camera Restrictions; City Says New Rules Violate Its Authority of Home Rule (Toledo Blade)

Ohio House OK’s Bill Regulating Fertilizer Runoff. Must Be Reconciled With Different Senate Bill (Toledo Blade)

How Common Core Test Opt-Outs Affect Schools in Ohio (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Fate of Lake Erie Algae Ohio Legislation Not Clear Yet (Associated Press)

The Remodeled Midwest Republican (Bloomberg)

A New Life for Dead Malls (The Atlantic)

Ford Starts Building Newest Engines in Cleveland (USA Today)

Public Square Renovation Starting Monday; Paradigm Shift For Public Space in Cleveland (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Unemployment Rate 5.1%; State Added 25,100 Jobs in January (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Long Lines at the Pantry: Hunger and Need on the Rise in Ohio (Belt Magazine)

Incoming Ohio State Students Must Provide Proof of Vaccinations (Columbus Dispatch)

US Supreme Court to Hear Ohio Gay Marriage Case (USA Today)

Latest Ohio Schools Funding Formula Questioned (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio Secretary of State Husted Wants Online Voter Registration Soon (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Evaluating the Actual Design of the Opportunity Corridor (Rust Wire)

Cleveland Mayor Jackson Talks Police Reform, Schools, Possible 4th Term in State of the City Address (WKYC)

Kent State Study Links High Smart Phone Use With Low GPA (Akron Beacon Journal)

Public Square Flashback: Cleveland History as Revealed in the Heart of the City (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Akron Sues to Stop Ohio’s New Traffic-Camera Law (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

The Buckeye Medicaid Boom (Cleveland Scene)

Tamir Rice’s Mom: “No Apology Yet For Killing My Son”: Video (WKYC)

Where Have All the Teachers Gone? (Ideastream)

Could Ohio Set Up Its Own Health-Care Exchange After All? (Columbus Dispatch)

New Report Shows Urban “Donut” Shifting (USA Today)

US Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Redistricting Case That Could Impact Ohio (Columbus Dispatch)

Debate Over Ohio’s Shift From Income Tax to Sales Tax Continues (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio Charter Schools Identified as Among Worst in Nation (Akron Beacon Journal)

For Detroit Retirees, Pension Cuts Become Reaity (Detroit News)

Exports From Ohio Hit Record Last Year (Columbus Dispatch)

Hundreds Ask Cleveland to Reopen Police Mini-Stations (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio River Deemed Nation’s Most Polluted (Portsmouth Daily Times)

Cincinnati Icon: Boss Cox (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Plan For Congressional Redistricting in Ohio Proposed (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio National Guard to Be Home For 1 of 3 U.S. Cybersecurity Watchdogs (Columbus Dispatch)

Shale and Gas Production in Ohio: the Numbers Tell the Story (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Severance Tax Debate Has Three Sides (Steubenville Herald Star)

Cleveland Cavaliers Suggest 50-50 Split With Cuyahoga County For Costly Arena Renovation (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

New School Tests Spur Anger, Absences (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Detroit Blight Removal Needs More Money: Detroit Mayor Duggan (Detroit Free Press)

Talk of Recalling Cleveland Mayor Jackson Both Petty and Potentially Damaging: Brent Larkin (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Mayor Recall Won’t Rip Us Up; May Even Raise Cleveland Up: Roldo Bartimole (Cleveland Leader)

Ohio Gov Makes Pitch For More Income Tax Cuts, Shift in Tax Structure in State of the State Speech (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

2015 State of State Speech: Video (Ohio Channel)

2015 State of State Speech: Text (Associated Press)

John Kasich’s Crusade. Is Ohio’s Governor Running For President? (Bloomberg)

NE Ohio Schools Suspend Kids Often; Study Shows Big Gaps Between Blacks, Whites (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland Clinic, Veterans Administration to Provide “Seemless Access” to Electronic Medical Records (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

New Cruise Ship to Ply the Great Lakes (Detroit Free Press)

Cleveland Ranks #1 Among “Large U.S. Metros” in Income Segregation: Study (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Opting Out of State Tests Has Costs For Ohio Students, Schools (Columbus Dispatch)

Group Believes Opportunity is Still There For Opportunity Corridor (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Most of Great Lakes Surface Frozen For Second Year in a Row (Associated Press/Akron Beacon Journal)

2016 Ohio Senate Race Already Taking Unpredictable Turns (Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum)

Saving Cleveland’s Poorest Neighborhood (Politico)

Pioneering Black Soldier From Ohio Gets Belated Recognition (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Sprawl Grew the Most in Cleveland, Other Rust Belt Metro Areas (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Online Voter Registration Would Save Money, Reduce Errors, Ohio Officials Say (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Colorful, High Energy Former Columbus Mayor Dana G. “Buck” Rinehart Dies (Columbus Dispatch)

Former Columbus Mayor Buck Rinehart Interviewed by Mike Curtin on 2/27/14: Video (Columbus Metropolitan Club)

Bill Targeting Lake Erie Algal Blooms Passes Ohio Senate in a Unanimous Vote; House Debating a Similar Bill (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Peace Corps Continues to Draw Volunteers From Ohio and Its Colleges (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland’s First Live and Local Internet Radio Station Set to Launch (Fresh Water)

Gov. Kasich Budget Plan Increases Funding to All Charter Schools (Columbus Dispatch)

Ex-Ohio Governor “Testing the Waters” For Senate Bid (USA Today)

Local Governments Cannot Regulate Fracking, Ohio Supreme Court Rules (Columbus Dispatch)

Is the Economic Impact of LeBron James’ Return to Cleveland Real? (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

NE Ohio Retail Vacancy Rate Reaches Lowest Point Since 2007 (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Do Lawsuit Payouts Equal a Pattern of Police Misconduct (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cuyahoga County Again Pays Sports Owners’ Bills: Roldo Bartimole (Cleveland Leader)

Cleveland Black History: Garrett A. Morgan Water Works Plant (WKYC)

Debt of Ohio Public Universities Tops $6.5 Billion (Dayton Daily News)

Manufacturing to Remain Primary Driver of NE Ohio Economic Growth, PNC Bank Report Says (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Pennsylvania Governor Wolf Places Moratorium on Death Penalty in State (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Women in Ohio Earned Less Than 83 Cents For Every $1 That Men Made, Labor Department Says (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Columbus Loses Bid for Democratic National Convention; Philadelphia to Host in 2016 (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Gov. Kasich Meeting With Advisors About White House Bid (The Hill)

Tougher Rules for Ohio Charter Schools Getting Widespread Support(Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio Gov. Kasich Orders an End to U.S. Corps of Engineers Sediment-Dump in Lake Erie (Columbus Dispatch)

With NASA in the Class, LaunchHouse Graduates Ready to Launch in New Direction (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cloudy Skies For Ohio’s Clean-Energy Industry (Columbus Dispatch)

Allegations of Cleveland Police Misconduct Have No Neighborhood Boundaries: Map (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

America’s Changing Demographics: audio file (Ideastream)

Cleveland Residents, Leaders Frustrated By Unplowed Streets(Associated Press/Morning Journal)

55% of Ohio Voters Approve of Gov. Kasich (Toledo Blade)

Term-Limited Northeast Ohio Lawmakers Mostly Stay in Public-Sector Jobs (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Student Apartments at Playhouse Square’s Edge Win OK from Cleveland’s Planning Commission (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Carl Stokes: A Pictorial Retrospective (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Shale is Suffering in Ohio Due to Declining Oil and Gas Prices (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Arts and Culture Group Seeking Levy Renewal in November 2015 (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Farmers Face Shocking Tax Jolt (Columbus Dispatch)

How Metro Detroit Transit Went From Best to Worst (Detroit Free Press)

East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton Now Open to Merger Discussion(Cleveland Scene)

East Cleveland Mayor Holds Community Meetings on Bankruptcy, Merger(Ideastream)

Number of Uninsured Ohioans Nearly Cut in Half (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio School District Winners, Losers in Gov. John Kasich’s New Budget Plan (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Training Under Way For Cleveland Police Body Cameras (Cleveland Scene)

Lake Erie Algal Bloom State Bill Could Be Law This Spring, Ohio Senators Say (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

President Obama Spending Plan Would Cut Cash For Great Lakes Restoration By $50 Million (Chicago Tribune)

After Nearly 100 Years, Great Migration Begins Reversal (USA Today)

Cleveland City Council Approves Funding For Pedestian Bridge to Lakefront (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio’s Fracking Tax Would Jump Significantly Under Gov. Kasich’s Budget Plan (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Gov. Kasich Wants Hike in Sales Tax, Medicaid Premiums(Cincinnati Enquirer)

Ohio School Districts Facing Cuts in Gov. Kasich Plan (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio Near Bottom For Vaccinating Kids (Dayton Business Journal)

Intermodal Center for Buses, Trains to Be Studied (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio, Canada’s Mutually Beneficial Relationship Grows Stronger(Columbus Dispatch)

Longtime Shaker Heights Shopping Center Being Transformed (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Ohio’s Gov. Kasich Stands Up For the Common Core (Daily Beast)

Downtown Cleveland Residential Occupancy Grows; Office Supply Shrinks (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Charter School Legislation Seeks to Improve “Accountability, Transparency and Responsibility” (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Gov. Kasich Proposes Dramatic Cut in Ohio Small Business Taxes (Akron Beacon Journal)

Pennsylvania Bans New Gas Drilling on Public Lands (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Bumper Crop of Urban Farming Can Be Found in Ohio (Mansfield News Journal)

Home Prices Up For Most of Cuyahoga County in 2014 (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland’s Public Square Overhaul Could Begin In February (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

1 Vote Decided 7 Ohio Local Elections in November 2014 Election (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland Hospitals Grapple With Readmission Fines (Medpage Today)

Ontario Waste Blamed For Tainted Ohio Drinking Water (Toronto Sun)

Ohio House Speaker Says He Won’t Repeal Medicaid Expansion (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland Police Segment on CBS 60 Minutes 1.25.15: Video (CBS)

As Ohio Vouchers Expand, Thousands Remain Unused (Newark Advocate)

Two Years After “Right-to-Work” Laws Pass, Union Membership in Michigan Drops Sharply (Detroit News)

Ohio Jobless Rate Drops to 4.8% in December; Lowest Since 2001(Toledo Blade)

Many Errors By Cleveland Police, Then a Fatal One (New York Times)

Many Ohio Charter Schools Overstated Attendance Rates, State Investigation Finds (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Police Diversity Lags in Many Cities (USA Today)

30 Year-Old Democrat to Challenge Ohio Senator Portman in 2016 (The Hill)

Cleveland State Trustees Agree to Mather Mansion Renovation and Enrollment Goals (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Nearly 1 in 10 Ohio Bridges Found to Be “Structurally Deficient”(WEWS)

Former Congressman Louis Stokes at the City Club in Honor of MLK Day 2015: Video (City Club)

“Equal Treatment” Promised in Historic Pact Signed by Cuyahoga County Juvenile Prosecutors, Judges (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

New Ohio House Education Committee Chairman Wants to Cut Testing and Reduce “Toxic” Talk About Common Core (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Property Tax Rates Are Up in 2015 For Most in Greater Cleveland (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland Ranked Among Best Startup Cities in America (Cleveland Scene)

Idea is For Fewer Polling Places, But You Can Use Any of Them(Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio Clean Energy Policy Freeze Stalls Investment, Report Says(Cincinnati Enquirer)

Ohio Department of Education Recommends a Cutback on Testing(Ideastream)

Identity Theft Reports Rise in Ohio: Attorney General (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Are Ohio’s Older Voting Machines a Risk for 2016? (Columbus Dispatch)

Nearly All Cleveland Hotel Rooms Are Already Booked For 2016 Republican National Convention (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Republican National Conventon in Cleveland Dates Are Set: July 18-21, 2016 (Ideastream)

“Extraordinary Design” Offered in Proposed Cleveland Skyscraper (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

How Do Ohio Tax Policies Rank in the Nation? (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio Secretary of State Wants to Track Absentee Ballots On Line(Toledo Blade)

Cleveland is Enjoying Economic Revival, Federal Reserve Official Says(Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland Hts Losing 60% of Its Water, Millions of Dollars, in the Ground Beacause of Leaks (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

East Cleveland is Out of Options: Opinion (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

The Oregon Ducks Lost – and Ohio’s Senators Won (Washington Post)

Ohio House Committee Leadership Announced (ohiohouse.gov)

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty at the City Club Talks About Public Safety in Cuyahoga County: Video 1/9/15 (Cleveland City Club)

Medicaid, Taxes to Dominate 2015 in Ohio (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Hyland, Cleveland’s Largest Software Company, Plans to Hire 200 More in 2015 (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Supreme Court Case and US House Speaker John Boehner Delaying Ohio Congressional Redistricting Reforms (Columbus Dispatch)

Plummeting Price of Oil is Weakening Steel Industry (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Great Lakes Teaming With Tiny Plastic Fibers, Scientists Say (Chicago Tribune)

Beefed Up Budget is Big Development for NE Ohio’s NASA Glenn (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Developer Sees Prospect Avenue Apartments as First of Several Cleveland Projects (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Research Links Earthquakes to Fracking Wells in Ohio (New York Times)

First Look at Proposed 54-Story Tower in Downtown Cleveland (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Ohio Schools Earn a “C” in Nationwide Review (Columbus Dispatch)

More Senators Have Come From Ohio Than Any Other State(Washington Post)

Lake Erie Dead Zones: Don’t Blame the Slime! (Live Science)

US Steel Lays Off 756 Including 614 in Lorain Ohio, Blaming Low Oil Prices (Wall Street Journal)

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish Says He’ll Meet with 100 Business Leaders in 100 Days (Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Racial Divide Widens in Ohio Classrooms. Minority Students Less Likely Today to Be Taught By Own Race (Akron Beacon Journal)

Four Years Later, a County Reformed (Crain’s Cleveland Business)

Heavyweight Response to Local Fracking Bans (New York Times)

Ohio Libraries Fear More State Cuts (Marion Star)

5 Key Policy Objectives Ohio Gov. John Kasich Will Likely Pursue in 2015(Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Cleveland Seeks Outside Probe of Tamir Rice’s Shooting (Columbus Dispatch)

2015 Northeast Ohio Transportation Projects: Potholes to Superhighways(Plain Dealer/NEOMG)

Total Ohio Traffic Deaths Likely Higher for 2014 (Associated Press/Toledo Blade)

Why Mike Curtin’s retiring from politics May 13, 2016, Tom Knox Reporter Columbus Business First

A political scribe’s pen can pack more wallop in Columbus than a politician, especially when the writer is an outnumbered Democrat in the conservative Ohio House of Representatives.

Mike Curtin knew what he was getting into in 2012, when he traded in his reporter’s hat for a seat on Capitol Square. The homegrown journalist who rose from reporter to president of Dispatch Printing Co., owner of the Columbus Dispatch, won election nearly four years ago to the 17th District that covers much of the Hilltop, Valleyview and other down-and-out west side neighborhoods.

Even as a lawmaker, Curtin kept penning political tomes, including recently updating the Ohio Politics Almanac with a third edition.

But legislating is a time-consuming job, especially in one of the poorest districts in Ohio. Curtin, who turns 65 this summer, won’t run for re-election this year so that he can spend more time traveling with his wife and watching his grandkids grow.

“And quite frankly, I want to research and write more,” Curtin said. “If I have a talent, it’s more of a journalistic talent than a policy maker talent.”

Curtin started in 1973 as a reporter at the Dispatch and focused mostly on politics. He rose through the ranks to become the daily newspaper’s editor and eventually vice chairman in 2005. Along the way, Curtin became one of the state’s most respected journalists. He retired in 2007 but consulted with the Wolfe family-owned newspaper until he began his short legislative career.

“I was the Jim Siegel of this place in the early to mid ’80s,” Curtin said, referencing the Dispatch’s current Statehouse reporter.

As a state legislator, Curtin noted just how stark partisanship can be, which he blames in part on gerrymandering. But that’s an obvious analysis for many who follow politics.

More nuanced might be his observation about law enforcement’s diminished status at Capitol Square. In the 1980s and ’90s, police-affiliated groups could flex considerable political muscle when they were united on issues like firearms legislation, Curtin said. Words of caution from the Fraternal Order of Police, Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association, Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police carried clout when they urged tighter regulations on guns.

“Today they’re patted on the heads and they (legislators) say, ‘Thank you very much for your input,’ ” Curtin said. “The attitude here is there ought to be no regulations. It’s a national trend in the Republican Party and certainly true here. Just the disdain for regulation – in my view reasonable regulation like background checks – that’s the biggest disappointment and biggest surprise.”

Indeed, a May 8 column by political writer Thomas Suddes identified utilities, banks, insurers, nursing home operators and oil and gas drillers – but not the police – as those with the most influence at the Statehouse.

Curtin thinks expanding term limits would help some of what ails policy making. Since 2000, Ohio lawmakers in both chambers have had their stays limited to eight years, though they can spend more time on Capitol Square through a loophole that allows them to switch between the Senate and House. Curtin would like to see the maximum extended to 12 years, preserving institutional knowledge on complex issues such as energy and the environment that can take up to five years to master.

“In my view we need the Ron Amstutzs, we need the Jack Ceras. We need the people who have the long view and understand how we got to where we are,” he said of the experienced Republican and Democratic representatives.

That’s a part of why Curtin wants to get back into explanatory journalism – taking a public policy issue and reaching back in time to explain how it came to be. He did that in the 1990s during the DeRolph v. State of Ohio school funding debate that ended in the state Supreme Court’s ruling Ohio’s funding mechanism was unconstitutional.

More recently, changing the composition of the Columbus City Council to 13 members from seven and moving to district representation are proposals ripe for the kind of analysis Curtin hopes to provide.

Category: Policies