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Nov
21
Zach Reed round-up, in Cleveland Clinic rehab as of late this afternoon
Filed Under Cleveland+, Government, Politics, Scandal | 10 Comments
According to this article, Cleveland City Councilman Zach Reed, Ward 3, is in the Cleveland Clinic, following his posting bail today on DUI and seatbelt violation charges.
How do the people who should matter as much as anyone else feel? Read here from WKYC:
Darius Highsmith said, “He’s supposed to be a role model. We’re all supposed to to look up to him and trust him and this is what we get? Kick him out. Impeach him, whatever the term is.”
Helen Smith said, “He just needs to go to rehab.”
Reed is now in rehab at the Cleveland Clinic following his Wednesday morning arrest after police say they found him passed out in his car at East 139th and Kinsman.
Some residents are upset that Reed’s highly publicized drinking has moved from the Warehouse District to his home ward.
[snip]
Disgruntled constituents or opponents could try to organize a recall but there are no signs of that yet.
And Council could vote to expel Reed, stripping him of all official duties. But that would take a two-thirds vote and it seems unlikely.
A Council member who misses ten consecutive Monday night and committee meetings without an excused absence is automatically expelled from council. If Reed gets a long sentence that could happen over several weeks.
Reed’s brash, outspoken and full of ideas. He’s not a favorite with many council colleagues. But critics and friends agree on one thing. Right now trying to save Reed’s life comes before trying to preserve his political career.
I suppose Thanksgiving is as inspirational a time as any to go for it. Godspeed to Zach Reed.
WCPN’s Sound of Ideas today discussed Reed’s plight first thing on the round-up this morning. You can listen here. Joe Tone of Cleveland Scene wrote this piece about the incident as well.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:00 pm November 21st, 2007 in Cleveland+, Government, Politics, Scandal | 10 Comments
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Nov
21
Thanksgiving Address to City Wide Inter-Religious Thanksgiving Celebration
Filed Under Cleveland+, Culture, Foreign Affairs, Ohio, Religion, Social Issues | 1 Comment
Below is the Thanksgiving Address my Rabbi, Steven Weiss, gave at Monday’s City Wide Inter- Religious Thanksgiving Celebration. The celebration was sponsored by InterAct (Inter- Religious Partnersin Action) of Greater Cleveland and hosted by B’nai Jeshurun Congregation, the synagogue to which my family belongs. Enjoy.
There is a story of a grandmother who was playing with her grandson on the beach when a powerful wave came along and washed the child out to sea. With a heavy heart she prayed, “Dear God if only you would return my son to me, I will be indebted to you forever.” A miracle occurred and a huge wave washed her son ashore. Sweeping him up in her arms she looked up at heaven, and said “Hey God! He had a hat!”
How often are we like that? What’s the old adage? “It’s not what have you done for me, its have you done for me lately”? It seems that no matter what good comes our way in life we are never satisfied. There is always something more that we want. Always one more thing.
Rabbi Mordecai Leiner, who is known as the Itzbisher Rebbe (because he is from the town of Ishbitz), asked a simple question: why is it that animals never overeat? And he said that this is the single trait that distinguishes human beings from animals. Animals never overeat because they do not have the capacity to reach beyond themselves. We on the other hand are always reaching beyond ourselves, striving for more. The problem is that too often we end up striving for more of the wrong thing. We strive for material things – clothing, money, cars. We strive for status and fame and power. We should be striving for higher things: Striving for connection to God, striving for inner healing and peace, striving for love.
That’s why we are here tonight. To remind ourselves what it means to strive for love. Because that is the ultimate meaning of thanksgiving, is it not? After all what does it mean to give thanks for God’s love? To merely say the words is not enough. Even to feel the words is not enough. We have to share the love, to share the blessings that God gives us.
You know, there are two large bodies of water in the land of Israel. The first is the Kinneret also known as the Sea of Galilee. The Kinneret is a vibrant lake filled with that delicacy known as Saint Peter’s fish, and home to thousands of migrating birds. Its fresh sweet water is pumped into large pipelines that bring life to agriculture and communities all over the country. As the Jordan River flows south from the Kinneret its banks are alive with greenery.
The second of Israel’s lakes is the Dead Sea. Even though the sweet waters of the Jordan flow into it, but they do not flow out. The water of the Dead Se is so salty that nothing can live. No fish or plant life exists in the heavily salty waters and no plants grow around the Dead Sea’s banks.
What a contrast! The Kinneret shares the water it receives and lives. The Dead Sea holds back its water and is desolate. So too Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, teaches that our souls are vessels of the Infinite Unending Divine Light of God. When we let that light flow through us, when we seek to share that light with others, then God’s light waters our souls with God’s Infinite Unconditional Love.
So as we gather today to celebrate thanksgiving we do not merely say Thank you to God for the Holy One’s manifold gifts. We pledge to use those gifts to help to bring about Tikkun Olam, the repair and healing of the world that moves it toward ultimate perfection by uplifting all humanity and creation. And tonight as we think about repairing our world we begin by remembering the terrible genocide happening in Darfur.
As of September 2007, approximately 400,000 Darfurians have died, 2.8 million have been displaced. More than ¼ million people have fled to camps in neighboring Chad. 90 per cent of the villages of Darfur’s targeted ethnic groups have been destroyed.
3.6 million more are in need of food medicine and assistance, of which over 1 million are beyond the reach of aid workers due to the violence.
But these are numbers. Let’s talk about people. Take a visit with me to the Al-Salaam refugee camp in Northern Darfur.
Meet Kubra, a Darfurian woman who tells this story: “The Zagawa came to our village and they beat us because we are a different tribe. Then the killing started. They killed many people. Many of my relatives died, mainly men but women and children and the old too.
Meet Zakaria Arbab, a 47-year-old father of five. His family ran for their lives 2 years ago when government helicopter gunships and troops attacked his village, Jebel Si. “We saw the helicopters bring the soldiers to our village,” he says. “They killed many people: my father, two of my aunts, my sister and all her little children. We want to go home but how can we when there is no peace?”
And then there is Jleape, a formidable tribal leader, who angrily describes the attack on Bardi (a village of 500 people) more than three years ago, carried out by the Janjaweed militia and their sponsors, the government. “First they dropped bombs from a plane then the soldiers came,” he said. “They killed 200 in a few hours, including many children. Then they raped the girls who were left. They threw some bodies on the fire, others into the well.
Travel with me to a refugee camp in East Chad and meet a 20 year old woman from the village of Dasa. She recently said: “I was taken away by my attackers. We were beaten and the Janjaweed told us: “You, the black women, we will exterminate you; you have no god.” We were taken to a place in the bush where the Janjaweed raped us several times. For three days we did not receive food and almost no water. They told us: ‘Next time we come we will exterminate you all; we will not even leave a child alive.”
These are brutal, harsh stories to be telling as we celebrate Thanksgiving. What happened to my talk about love?
I tell these stories because we cannot receive Gods blessings and love unless we work to share that blessing and love with others, As we sit at our tables Thursday night, as we express our thanks for the many blessings God has given us, for the love God has given us, I want you, in the words of the Izhbitzer Rebbe, to reach beyond yourself, to reach for something more. I want you to take the love you feel and to share it, to share your love with these people of Darfur. And how do you share your love?
Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sasov once said, “A peasant taught me what is true love of others.
The peasant was sitting in an inn drinking with a companion. Suddenly he turned to his friend and asked: `Do you love me?’
`I love you very much.’
`If you love me, tell me what gives me pain?’
`How would I know that?’
`If you don’t know what gives me pain, how can you say you love me?’”If you love someone, you feel their pain, and you do something about it. So what can we do? You can start by talking about Darfur at your Thanksgiving table. Fill out the petitions you received tonight. See the new movie Darfur Diaries. Demand that stronger peace keeping forces are put in place, with guarantees for their safety, that there be a no-fly zone to protect from aerial attacks. Educate yourself and speak out.
Elie Wiesel taught us the opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference. Indifference is closing our heart to those who are in pain. When we close our heart we become like the Dead Sea, unable ourselves to receive God’s blessings. But when our hearts are open, when we feel the pain of others, when we, in the words of the Izhbitzer, reach beyond ourselves, beyond our own comforts and blessing to help those in need, then we are the vessels through which God’s life sustaining light flows into our world. In that moment our own vessels are filled with Gods love, and that’s something for which to be thankful.
Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!
Rabbi Steve and Naomi Weiss
By Jill Miller Zimon at 9:23 pm November 21st, 2007 in Cleveland+, Culture, Foreign Affairs, Ohio, Religion, Social Issues | 1 Comment
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Nov
21
IRS reminder to charities, churches of political activity ban
Filed Under Government, Religion, Social Issues | Comments Off
The prohibition against political campaign activity has been in effect for more than half a century and bars certain tax-exempt organizations from engaging on behalf of or in opposition to political candidates. However, these organizations can engage in advocating for or against issues and, to a limited extent, ballot initiatives or other legislative activities.
“The political contests, especially for president, are starting earlier than usual. The IRS, as it has in the past, wants to remind charities and churches of the ban on political campaign activity. We also want to urge nonprofit and religious organizations to review the guidance we have issued to help them avoid any problems,” said Steven T. Miller, Commissioner of IRS’ Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division.
The IRS’ goal is to educate the leadership of these organizations to help them stay within the legal boundaries. In this regard, IRS Revenue Ruling 2007-41 outlines a number of scenarios to help charities and churches understand the ban on political campaign activity and actions that may arise.
More information for the organizations is here and there are related recommendations and guidelines at the bottom of this page, including PACI reports.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 7:36 pm November 21st, 2007 in Government, Religion, Social Issues | Comments Off
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Nov
21
WSJ spends $500K to keep editorial board independent, critics say it’s a joke
Filed Under Business, Media | 4 Comments
Back in August, Dow Jones and News Corp announced the names of five elderly appointees to the board that will oversee the editorial independence of The Wall Street Journal—a body established in response to Rupert Murdoch’s takeover.
[snip]
At the time Dow Jones accepted News Corp.’s buyout bid, guidelines for the board were filed with the S.E.C., but they were decidedly vague. For instance, the special committee will have “approval rights” over the appointment of the managing editor and editorial page editor. But in practice, will it really have the authority to thwart News Corp.’s choice? The board will have “final say” over disputes, but how will those disputes be identified? And will the board’s votes have to be unanimous?
“We’ll discuss those things when we get together,” said Mr. Boccardi.
The group is required to meet four times a year, with each member given a yearly salary of $100,000, according to S.E.C. filings. When disputes arise that touch on the paper’s editorial independence, the board will be able to have their say in the op-ed section of The Journal, or, failing approval by the editorial page editor, in a “prominent location” in the paper.
Since the Bancrofts accepted Mr. Murdoch’s bid, the Journal newsroom has been dubious about the level of influence the board will exert.
“People think it’s a joke,” said one reporter. “The only people who don’t think it’s a joke are the people who invented it.”
How common are such boards? How effective? And how average is that salary?
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:15 pm November 21st, 2007 in Business, Media | 4 Comments
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Nov
21
Men’s Health and Zach Reed
Filed Under Ohio, Politics, Social Issues | 2 Comments
Juxtapose Cleveland being the 13th most sober city with the trouble Zach Reed is in now.
The PD’s piece about the most sober ranking ends with this (it was written yesterday):
It’s unclear whether editors of Men’s Health actually spent any time at a Browns game, in the Warehouse District or in any of the city’s 1,001 shot-and-beer joints before publishing their findings.
If it were written today, you might feel compelled to add, “or a night out with Zach Reed.”
Sigh.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:20 am November 21st, 2007 in Ohio, Politics, Social Issues | 2 Comments
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Nov
21
Carnival of Ohio Politics #92 posted
Filed Under Announcements, Blogging, Carnivals, Ohio, Politics | Comments Off
What a festive Carnival Scott’s cooked up for the holiday week.
Feast and rest, everyone, on the Carnival of Ohio Politics #92, posted here.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 11:01 am November 21st, 2007 in Announcements, Blogging, Carnivals, Ohio, Politics | Comments Off
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Nov
21
Updated: Zach Reed cries out again, how’s Judge Joan Synenberg feel?
Filed Under Cleveland+, Courts, Culture, Mental health, Ohio, Politics, Social Issues | 13 Comments
I ask again, Does no one love Zach Reed? Take a look again at the comments there, from May 2006. More on the Judge’s sentence and release of Reed from probation in 9/06 in a minute.
First, the new news, so so damn sad:
Cleveland City Councilman Zach Reed was arrested early this morning on a DUI charge after police found him semiconscious in his car, Cleveland police said.
Officers said they found his BMW on Kinsman Ave. near East 139th St. shortly after 3 a.m. after a passer-by told them about a man evidently passed out in the driver’s seat of a car. They said Reed refused breath and sobriety tests at the Brahtenal police headquarters and had his license suspended on the spot; he was taken to City Jail to await formal charges this morning.
No doubt there will be more written about this – here’s a link to the Google search.
Channel 19 has the police statement:
On Wednesday, November 21, 2007, Cleveland City Councilman Zachary Reed, 45, was arrested for Operating a Vehicle Intoxicated after he was found semi-conscious in his vehicle, a 2002 BMW 525i on Kinsman Ave. near E. 139 St.
Cleveland Police were flagged down by a citizen at 3:09 a.m. Wednesday morning directing them to the area of E. 139 St. and Kinsman Ave. where it was reported that there was a male “passed out in the drivers seat of a car.”
The officers approached the vehicle unaware of the owner or occupant of the vehicle. They made contact with the driver and identified him as City Councilman Zach Reed after he produced a driver’s license. Mr. Reed exhibited numerous signs of intoxication and was asked to submit to a field sobriety test. Mr. Reed refused and was placed under arrest. He was taken to the Bratenahl Police Department where he was asked to submit to a breath analysis to determine his blood alcohol content. Mr. Reed refused this test as well.
Mr. Reed was issued an Administration Lisence Suspension in accordance with the provisions of the Ohio Revised Code. He is being held in the Cleveland City Jail pending the filing of formal charges.
As for his original sentencing in May 2006, here’s what the Plain Dealer wrote when Judge Joan Synenberg handed it down:
A judge sentenced Cleveland Councilman Zack Reed to 10 days in jail Tuesday for violating the terms of his probation by drinking alcohol.
Cleveland police pulled over the councilman in April 2005 and Reed flunked two sobriety tests, including failing to recite the alphabet. In June, Municipal Judge Joan Synenberg sentenced Reed to 180 days in jail — suspending 176 — and fined him $1,150 for drunken driving. She also put him on probation.
Reed recently violated the terms of the probation, which was due to expire this month. Synenberg extended his probation for 90 days and sentenced him to 10 days in jail.
Upon his release, Reed will have to wear a device that detects alcohol consumption and have his car outfitted with a machine that will prevent him from driving it if alcohol is detected on his breath.
Then, in September 2006, Reed was on the verge of being told he’d violated probation a second time, but Judge Synenberg said no, he hadn’t violated it (from my post because PD article is no longer available):
Today, Synenberg decided that although Cleveland City Councilman Zach Reed, “is guilty of ‘terrible, unforgivable judgment,’…[he is] not guilty of a second probation violation…there was insufficient evidence that Reed drank alcohol in the last few months,” according to a Plain Dealer article. Synenberg then “released him from probation after giving him a tongue-lashing for continuing to frequent bars while prohibited from drinking alcohol during his probation for a drunken-driving conviction.”
Hmm, when’s the last time a tongue-lashing of an adult who has already broken the law related to drunk driving and violated probation kept that adult on the straight and narrow for the rest of his life?
I’d urge you to read the rest of the post, which details just how crazy that decision by Synenberg seemed to me.
Not to mention that Synenberg was less than two months away from an election that involved her coming late into the race against Christine Russo, whom the PD tongue-lashed regularly (which was fine with me but I also felt/feel that the PD was way too enamored with Synenberg).
Anyway – the whole thing makes my heart sink. It was absolutely positively foreseeable, if not preventable. Many, many, many people had the place to know and say something. Yes, Reed had to want to do it – no one can change him but himself.
But look at all the places along the way where the system didn’t do what it could have. If other choices had been made, would they have made the difference? We’ll never know.
Now what will and should happen to Reed?
Update: This Fox post includes video of the arrest made by someone with a cellphone. How do you feel about it being available this way? About someone taking the video in the first place? Fox has a number of other interactive features asking readers their opinion on the situation.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:52 am November 21st, 2007 in Cleveland+, Courts, Culture, Mental health, Ohio, Politics, Social Issues | 13 Comments
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