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Nov
10
Okay – so – I know I have decent brains, but I absolutely positively don’t think I’m that much smarter than a whole bunch of other people around here, or anywhere for that matter.
But does anyone, ANYONE think that the county government structure described in Issue 6 is going to necessarily do any better, at all? It’s all the same PEOPLE, people.
Ugh. Read these and weep, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.
From 8/21/07: City-County Port Authority funding: Now you see it, now you don’t
From 8/31/07: In Case You Didn’t Know
We have got to do better and start listening to those thinkers like Bill Callahan and Ed Morrison or else we are just pathetic.
My contribution? I’ve suggested that a public advisory board or commission be formed to be the watchdog of Issue 6′s implementation – with or without sanctioning by the Issue 6 architects (though if they want real credibility, I’d urge them to form this board and do so asap).
[For those curious about the inside baseball of this, Adam Wasserman quit/resigned/was fired - we have no idea - as head of the Port Authority after less than three years. He made $280K a year and got a huge payout for leaving. What he accomplished between now and when he started has yet to be itemized, at least that I've seen.]
By Jill Miller Zimon at 3:26 pm November 10th, 2009 in Cleveland+, Government, Ohio, Politics
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“It’s all the same people…”
Exactly. It’s not the system itself that’s necessarily the problem, it’s the people running it.
Hello Jill,
Congrats on earning a well deserved city council seat.
I don’t have a long history here in the Cleveland area(2-years), but have been a politically active and engaged citizen long enough to recognize disfunction, cronyism and corruption.
Personally, in regard to the Port Authority’s chronic ineptitude, its decades long and opportunity squandering plan for relocation as well as its short-term operational judgments and projections – I ask respectfully of you this question. It seems so glaringly obvious to me.
What about Burke Front Airport? What I mean is – leave the port where it is, develop the 700 Acres of some of the most prime and underutilized real estate in the United States that would be waterfront galore, the envy of all Great Lakes cities, and merge Burke Front operations in an expansion of the Cuyahoga County Airport.
Imminent Domain projects such as these have been done elsewhere, the path is well worn and the blueprints begging to be utilized again. This effort would be the catalyst for a Cleveland renewal like no other, and it could all happen while most of us are still alive vs. the ports ludicrous 2035 plan.
Hi Chris – thanks for reading and commenting. I will add your blog to the blogroll.
I wish I could answer your question about Burke Lakefront but I have to admit: this is not a topic I know all that much about. I’ve often heard about the auto museum moving to the area, and an aquarium being built. And I followed Wasserman because I just thought the salary was outrageous and his plans and action steps too nebulous for the average citizen to see much going on. But beyond that, this is an area about which I need an education, big time.
So I guess I’m all ears and open-minded. I would say the number one thing I know about our lakefront is that it is a huge asset that isn’t being utilized nearly to its potential. Beyond that re: how to do better, I really need more of a knowledge base (and am looking forward to getting it).
You seem to know a lot about it – how did you bone up on it?
Thanks Jill,
I have been a land-use policy wonk/junky for many years as well as a pain in the neck activist advocating for public open space/public commons areas. I’ve been a part of a couple successful land use decision appeals – unfortunately Ohio’s land use appeals process is much more difficult to navigate than most states in that it nearly excludes citizen involvement and empowerment.
I did my own historical anaylsis of the Burke Front Airport potential for more superior uses that would benefit the city and the public at large. Many cities, both large and small have used Imminent Domain for public parks/open space/multi-use development that have proved to be very successful and enduring.
Chicago, Milwaukie, Portland OR, Seattle, Fort Collins CO, Reno NV are just a few cities that come to mind that have terrific water/river front public spaces as a result of bold, brave and immaginative use of the power of Imminent Domain.
I do realize that for a variety of reasons that Imminent Domain today has some very negative connotations. Most of them are mis-guided fueled by an uprising of anti-goverment rhetoric. I know that the proposed Imminent Domain proposal along the western edge of Lakewood (where I live) was shot down by the voters a couple of years ago. In the long run, it would have been a boon to the city in quility of life multi-use development.
From what I have gathered through various elected offical public comments over the years, it seems that the current make-up of the powers that be feel that Burke Front Airport is off limits to any other public-benefit use potential, largly ignorant of the cost savings in comparison to other proposals and past colossal failures.
We need a regional re-birth of outside-the- box political thinking and the candidates and fortitude that go with that.
I’m going to continue to stick my nose in the Port’s business and in Cleveland/Cuyahoga County business to advocate for more practical and rational land use decisions to bring about a more rapid urban and regional renewal that come with more accessable and attractive public spaces.
Shalom Jill,
And I thought you didn’t think that money and power were the only reasons people run for non-hyperlocal political office.
B’shalom,
Jeff
Hi Jeff. Weeell-Wasserman was appointed, not elected.
But if I’ve ever left anyone w/the impression that I think everyone who runs for office does so for at least one reason beyond power and money, I apologize. Yes-some people run for office for power and money alone. I just think that if you want only one or both of those things, seeking political office is an incredibly inefficient way to pursue either one, IMO.
Shalom Jill,
For the competent person, career politics is a horrible way to gain power and wealth. We should never, however, assume that people pursuing a career in politics is either.
For the average waste of human genome, career politics is an excellent way to gain more power or wealth than they could ever deserve.
Of course there are exceptions. There are people who genuinely want to do good. They’re just few and far between and typically become disgusted by those mentioned above.
B’shalom,
Jeff
Some thoughts on the above comments:
My (very limited) understanding is that Burke is off limits because it is under the control of the FAA, and they’re generally against closing any airport. Burke handles a lot of the small-plane and special flight traffic that would bog down operations at CLE.
Moving Burke’s operations out to the county airport seems like a good idea, except to all the people who live around that airport. Remember their objections to lengthening a runway? Imagine how they would feel about a large expansion of the airport’s operations. I suspect this is part of the reason why the FAA never wants to close an airport.
Eminent domain is a long, complicated, and expensive process that isn’t available in all situations. I’m not an expert, but I seem to recall that the Ohio legislature recently changed the rules to make it more difficult to take property from private owners. So not only would it be difficult to remove Burke, it would be equally difficult to expand the county airport.
If we were able to expand the county airport, I would expect any arguments in favor of closing Burke would be better received.
I also have heard, however, that Burke is built on a pre-EPA landfill and could be a major hazardous waste site, making it difficult if not impossible (prohibitively expensive) to convert to other uses (homes, offices, playgrounds). In conclusion, we’re probably stuck with it as an airport for a while. We might as well think of it as an asset, like Chicago’s Midway Airport, rather than a blight on our waterfront.
At least it doesn’t block the view of the lake.