We needed a new direction. In the election of May 1965, Cleveland’s voters rejected an income tax increase and, by extension, rebuked the government of Mayor Ralph Locher. In response Locher appointed the Cleveland Little Hoover Commission, composed of 24 business and community leaders, to look into how the city could run more efficiently. They released a report that recommended a top-to-bottom overhaul in 1967. Fifty years later, now that Cleveland’s got civic momentum, we reached out to community leaders — our own Little Hoover Commission — for an agenda to push the region forward.
Grow Our Population
Cleveland is built for 1 million people, but is sitting at less than 400,000. Aside from the hit to the economy, it’s also a civic black eye. “Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland all have this civic image problem,” says Dennis Keating, emeritus professor of urban studies and law at Cleveland State University. While Columbus grew by annexing nearby cities, Keating doesn’t think that can work here. Welcoming immigrants and refugees is the next best thing. “We have all this vacant land that can be filled in with housing,” he says. But that requires people wanting to live there and developers willing to build.
Make the lakefront into a Neighborhood
There’s a glimmer on the water. This summer, Cleveland Metroparks tacked a new jewel onto its Emerald Necklace with the Edgewater Beach House, while developer Dick Pace expects to break ground on a 16-unit apartment building next door to popular Nuevo Modern Mexican & Tequila Bar on North Coast Harbor. But Pace says it’s time to start thinking about the lakefront as a neighborhood, not just another project. “When you look at it that way, then all the other factors — education, access, economic development — those are all integral parts,” says Pace.
Keep Our New Economy Workforce
We get it: Science, technology, engineering and mathematics is the future. The next step should be showing kids how cool it can be to work in information technology, health care IT and advanced manufacturing. Internships and apprenticeships that match students with local companies large and small can provide practical experience and retain valuable local talent. “The more the business community is engaged in the education process, which involves practical exposure, that’s a valuable experience,” says Shilpa Kedar, program director for economic development at the Cleveland Foundation.
Start or Attract a Private Venture Capital Fund
Venture development firm JumpStart knows entrepreneurship. In just the last seven years, its nearly 100 portfolio companies combined with other companies it’s worked with have generated more than $4.5 billion in economic impact. But CEO Ray Leach says that ecosystem is ready to grow up. With research institutions such as Case Western Reserve University, NASA Glenn Research Center and Cleveland Clinic generating new technology, the city should be home to large for-profit investment capital firms. “That is a critical opportunity,” Leach says. “Cleveland should have at least a couple funds greater than $50 million, if not greater than $100 million.”
Rethink Policing as Customer Service
From community relations to drug dogs and more consistent, better training in areas such as de-escalation, Cleveland needs to foster a new policing culture and bureaucracy with one thing at the center — us, the customer. Shaker Heights High School director of choirs and Cleveland Community Police Commission co-chair Mario Clopton-Zymler always considers how his students might think, feel or act upon learning anything from him.
“If I don’t have my kids in mind, then I’m missing the whole point,” says Clopton-Zymler. “Same thing with policing.”