Luke_S

Really, at this point we understand your argument. And I will say, to some extent, I agree. Bibb is a bit vague when it comes to exactly how he plans to execute his plans. But here's where your arguments start to breakdown. (1) Bibb wasn't the only other new candidate running, there were 5 other candidates offering alternatives to the status quo for people to latch onto. They gravitated to Bibb for a reason. And not just the ones your posit. (2) The concerns over vague policy proposals and plans is a criticism of politicians in general, not specifically or only Bibb. And (3), where you really lose me, you aren't really engaging with any arguments. When someone suggests something potentially negative about Kelly your response is to say why Bibb is worse, not why the thing about Kelly is wrong or not in fact as bad as it seems. And you aren't really providing solid justifications for why Bibb is bad. Really more of a feeling or intuition...

Why is Ohio not apart of this?! 5 Midwestern governors agree to create a network to charge electric vehicles https://www.npr.org/2021/10/01/1041987104/midwest-electric-vehicles-charging-evs-cars?sc=18&f=1001

ideastream: Prominent Cleveland Pastors Endorse Justin Bibb For Mayor. https://www.ideastream.org/news/prominent-cleveland-pastors-endorse-justin-bibb-for-mayor Dozens of well-known Black pastors endorsed Justin Bibb’s candidacy for Cleveland mayor on Thursday. The group included Revs. Otis Moss Jr. and E. T. Caviness, two prominent religious leaders in the city whose support is often sought out by political candidates. In a brief speech full of historical and Biblical allusions, Moss – who is 86 – waved away criticisms of the 34-year-old mayoral candidate’s age. “If anybody should meet you today or tomorrow or any time and want to have a discussion about age, sit down with them in love and history, present and future,” Moss said. “Tell them that Joan of Arc at 19 changed the history of Europe. Caleb at 85 said, ‘Give me this mountain.’ Tell them that Martin Luther King Jr. at 26 became the moral conscience of our nation.”

ideastream: Ohio Legislature Misses Deadline For New Congressional Map. https://www.ideastream.org/news/ohio-legislature-misses-deadline-for-new-congressional-map The Ohio Redistricting Commission is going back to work, this time drawing a new Congressional district map after state lawmakers failed to agree on one before the constitutional deadline. The state legislature was required to create a new Congressional district map by the end of September. Now that they've missed the deadline, it's the Ohio Redistricting Commission's turn to draw the lines.

The reporting from both Cleveland.com here and The Land here on how Kelly operates as council president is concerning. Not only is he in lockstep with the Jackson administration but "business as usual" seems to be his MO. What's more concerning, he doesn't seem at all interested in involving any outside parties in the governing process.

Right, it actually somewhat aligns to the party split of Ohio.

538 has updated with the State Senate Democratic Caucus plan, which almost certainly won't be accepted, but still interesting to look at. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-2022-maps/ohio/senate_democratic_caucus/

The Land has published a nice series on public comment and engagement in local governance. A few thoughts: From Cleveland residents want more information - and sooner - about local government meetings "One thing most residents agreed on is that more effort is needed to let residents know when meetings are happening and, for City Council, what legislation council members or other local government officials will be considering. Currently, the meeting dates and times are listed on the City Council website. Finding meeting agendas takes a little more effort. ...Maria Estrella-Stallworth, a 41-year-old resident of St. Clair-Superior, told Documenter Kathryn Johnson that she’d like to see flyers distributed at corner stores, churches, barber shops, and salons — especially for residents who don’t have access to the internet." Wouldn't it be nice if Cleveland still had a daily newspaper where something like this could be published and available to the public on a regular basis? And if that same newspaper had the staffing to effective cover the local government. (What has happened to the Plain Dealer still gets me upset and something should be done about Advance Publications and companies like them sucking newspapers dry) From the article @NorthShore647posted above, Kelly sounds a bit elitist and like he may have a bit of an antidemocratic streak in him, which is not something I would want from my mayoral candidate. Lastly, I think this is a step in the right direction to improve public engagement in the local government. However, if voter turnout was low in the presidential election and turnout was low for the mayoral primaries, why are we holding mayoral and city council elections on a non-national election cycle? Seems it would make it easier for everyone to vote. Here are the links to the other articles: We asked residents for ideas to improve local meeting engagement - Here's what they told us The pace of passage: How quickly city council makes laws and what that means for Clevelanders

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Struggles With The Effects Of Climate Change https://www.ideastream.org/news/cuyahoga-valley-national-park-struggles-with-the-effects-of-climate-change Troubling news, but will be interesting to keep an eye on how things change in the park. Won't mind if they make my kayak trips a little longer. I know it's not part of the national park, but has anyone heard any update on the Gorge Dam removal project?

Basketball courts, baseball diamond, other east side park improvements to follow sewage tunnel projects Although east siders will soon see trucks and fences at a few of their parks, they’ll see new basketball courts, a baseball diamond and expanded greenspace as well within the next few years. Cleveland city council’s Municipal Services and Properties Committee approved easements on Monday for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District to install surface-level entry points for its underground overflow storage tunneling projects at Gordon Park in St. Clair-Superior and Forest Hills Park on the border of Forest Hills and Glenville. Both parks reside just off the lakeshore along I-90. The storage tunnels, part of NEORSD’s Project Clean Lake, will capture billions of gallons of sewage overflow that would otherwise end up in Lake Erie and other nearby waterways once they’re completed. The easements for the construction on these new tunnels are worth about $547,000, said Cleveland’s real estate commissioner James DeRosa during the committee meeting. DeRosa said the sewer district will allocate $400,000 of that cost, along with an additional $100,000 grant, for park maintenance and improvements at Forest Hills park. The remaining $147,000 and change will be allocated for improvements at Gordon Park. https://www.thelandcle.org/stories/basketball-courts-baseball-diamond-other-east-side-park-improvements-to-follow-sewage-tunnel-projects

ACLU taking the state house and Senate maps to court. https://www.cleveland.com/open/2021/09/aclu-of-ohio-voter-rights-groups-sue-ohio-over-new-state-legislative-maps.html

Noticed the same thing. I assume @KJPhas his sources in Akron which is why he didn't ask after that (also not sure the city is really in the position to take advantage), but what about Toledo? is it time for a TMUD thread?

On a related note: Crittenden Court apartments sold for $19.75 million Snavely Group, the Chagrin Falls-based real estate developer with a big portfolio of projects throughout the region, has taken a big step into the downtown Cleveland apartment market by buying, through an affiliate, Crittenden Court, the 17-story apartment building at 955 W. St. Clair Ave. Most recently, Snavely has been known as the developer of The Quarter, the apartment, retail and office project at West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue in Ohio City. The project transformed the intersection on the west end of the Detroit-Superior Bridge, which connects downtown and the near West Side. The $19.75 million purchase of Crittenden through 955 St. Clair LLC not only gives the developer control of the 208-suite building, but positions it for a potential future development nearby, atop the multilevel parking garage that serves the apartment building. https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/crittenden-court-apartments-sold-1975-million

*in Cleveland. There are other projects across the state.

Not strictly redistricting or specifically Ohio, but some interesting analysis over House and Senate retirements (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-all-those-house-retirements-mean-for-democrats-so-far/) and what the shifts in population could mean for redistricting (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/where-america-lost-and-gained-population-could-throw-democrats-a-redistricting-lifeline/). I'm also keeping an eye here (https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/redistricting-2022-maps/) for when FiveThirtyEight updates Ohio's map, though I'm not expecting many surprises.

Not sure if there are legal grounds to sue based on certain violations of the referendum--i.e. failing to keep municipalities within a single district. The referendum was an improvement in the process in theory but the 4 year map is a huge loophole that allows the party in power to retain their power almost indefinitely. Given that the benefits of redistricting tend to fade over time, having to redraw the map every 4 years may even benefit Republicans more as they show no willingness abandon their anti-majoritarian tendencies. An easy way around all of this would be to get rid of all districts and have a proportional system. This wouldn't necessarily favor one party over another, though it would give that appearance in Ohio where republicans have stacked the deck in their favor at all levels and so would likely start losing elections. Ultimately, this comes down to a weakness of their policies and they recognize it. http://avganalyst.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-proportional-response-creating.html

Maybe I misunderstood, but with the discussion of Brightline's development around stations to capture value, is that to suggest that they might be a partner with bedrock in some of this to help cover some operating costs in Cleveland?

Any mention of the inclusion of an Amtrak station? Would it still be possible with the proposal?

Fingers crossed! But if the real poverty number declines I would think a main driver would be COVID stimulus/relief payments. So may need to hold off on any celebrations to see if that number stays low for 2 or 3 years.

Agree, this is really just designating a route, not really built infrastructure...

Merriman Valley meetings put Akron abatements in the crosshairs https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/merriman-valley-meetings-put-akron-abatements-crosshairs

Ohio now has the most U.S. Bicycle Route miles in America (maps) https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2021/08/ohio-now-has-the-most-us-bicycle-route-mileage-in-america-maps.html This is pretty cool, but I'm more interested in how Ohio is doing with local, commuter bicycle trail/lane miles.

Not to retread what has already been said here on this, but its interesting that at the same time local officials are touting the redevelopment of downtown Akron (Crain's article) there is also a strong push for this new development in Merriman Valley. Adding to sprawl; over extending infrastructure resources; adding more impermeable surfaces with salt, gas, and oil and fertilizer from laws running off into the river degrading its quality; and building on a flood plain--not to mention the potential for erosion so the probable mitigation efforts and the effects of that. I'm really struggling to see the benefits here.

https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/downtown-akrons-residential-development-just-getting-started Downtown Akron's residential development is just getting started "Downtown Akron has been on a residential tear over the last couple of years, with several big projects unveiling hundreds of new apartments, and more seeming constantly to enter the pipeline. But if you think the city’s center has all the housing and residents it can support, downtown backers, economic development experts and those building some of the current projects have news for you: Downtown is only just beginning to meet its housing needs. It can support hundreds or even a thousand more apartments, planners say. Developers of current projects say they’ve been encouraged enough by their initial experience to want to do more."

https://www.crainscleveland.com/real-estate/repair-relief-advocates-see-rare-chance-heal-aging-homes-neighborhoods Repair relief? Advocates see rare chance to heal aging homes, neighborhoods "Unaddressed home repairs are a nearly billion-dollar problem in the Cleveland area. With a one-time flood of federal pandemic relief funds flowing to the region, housing advocates are asking whether there is an opportunity to tackle that deferred maintenance — and to craft a sustainable framework to improve aging residential real estate. Researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia estimate that it would cost $781 million to resolve the repair needs of owner- and renter-occupied homes in the Cleveland metropolitan area. That’s a conservative figure, based on 2019 data. And that number does not include the costs of repairing vacant properties, some in decent shape, others decrepit. Deteriorating homes have ripple effects. They depress property values and make streets feel less desirable — and sometimes less safe. Over time, they can become costly challenges for taxpayers, as local governments shoulder the burdens of code enforcement, displaced families and demolition."