BLACKHEART Cleveland

The economic development thrust of the Issue 6 charter caught my attention as soon as I heard the folks at the Levin College Forum bring it up. I’m pretty sure this is what made Issue 5’s Harriet Applegate refer to Issue 6 as the “big-business Republican plan.” Economic development is also the first reason listed in the preamble as a purpose for reforming County government. The reason this caught my attention is because it seems like a very targeted and specific goal for a charter to take. For me, the purpose of government is not to ensure economic development, but to provide services that citizens need but that wouldn’t be provided by private business or industry. Stuff like child support enforcement, maintenance of infrastructure, workforce training, health care for children, etc.

The emphasis on economic development (certainly something we need more of) carries over from the preamble into the charter itself. 731 words are devoted to economic development, while only 216 are devoted to HHS issues (all of which is boilerplate, and nearly half of it is devoted to the manner in which the HHS director will be chosen).

So it looks like all the meat is in the economic development section.

§7.01 County Economic Development

The County shall have as a primary responsibility the promotion and enhancement of the economic well-being and prosperity of the County and all of its residents.

Well, that’s pretty unequivocal. Economic development takes precedence over everything else. HHS is secondary.

In furtherance of this purpose, the County shall appropriate money and enter into agreements and otherwise cooperate with officers, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States of America, the State of Ohio, with other political subdivisions, and with public and private persons, firms and corporations, foundations, and individuals and institutions, and may accept and make gifts, grants, and loans and other economic incentives.

If you’re of the persuasion, like Roldo Bartimole, that the County has been appropriating money and entering into agreements with private persons, firms and corporations for the past forever (Gateway, MedMart, whatever), then this seems to be more of the same, except now it is explicitly sanctioned.

Then the charter outlines that there shall be a Department of Development (there already is), and a director of said department (there already is). Essentially those two sections are the same as the entirety of the Health & Human Services section.

§7.04 (page 17) creates an Economic Development Commission of appointed private individuals whose goal appears to be the production of yearly 5-year plans for the economic development of the County. Ostensibly, the Executive and the Council also have input, but since the Council is part-time and the Executive has to administer everything else, I bet that the Commission has a pretty free reign. This means that there will be a 9 member council comprised of the following:

• One member shall be selected by the County Executive;
• the Council;
• the mayor of the city of Cleveland;
• the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Port Authority;
• the Cuyahoga County Mayors and Managers Association,
• the Greater Cleveland Partnership, or their respective successors;
• the Executive Secretary of the North Shore Federation of Labor, or similar officer of a successor organization.
• One member shall be selected collectively by the nonprofit and educational organizations that are engaged in the promotion of economic development of the County, as shall be designated by the Council.
• Those members shall select one additional member.

So, nine politically connected private individuals, who serve a term that is not outlined by the charter, whose sole responsibility is to determine how the primary goal of the charter will be enacted (and spent). It sounds like there’s a lot of unelected power in this Commission.

I don’t like the sound of it.