Northeast Ohio: Regionalism News & Discussion

[Oldmanladyluck]

New series aims to stir interest in tackling area's parochialism
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Doug Clifton
Plain Dealer Columnist

Three years ago, The Plain Dealer launched a series of stories we called "A Region Divided." As the name implies, the series documented the fragmentary system of government that defines Northeast Ohio.

While the series drew no conclusions, it did ask questions, big ones and small.

For example, do neighboring villages each need a $600,000 ladder truck?

More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

[Oldmanladyluck]

Charts and graphs...

http://www.cleveland.com/region/images/economicimpact.jpg

http://www.cleveland.com/region/images/mighthavebeen.jpg

http://www.cleveland.com/region/images/ripening.jpg

http://www.cleveland.com/region/images/regiondivided.jpg

Interactive maps...
http://www.cleveland.com/pdgraphics/interactive/ohiomigration/map/m10000.html

http://www.cleveland.com/pdgraphics/interactive/neoohiomigration/map/m10000.html

[buckeye1]

The regionalization of Ohio school districts has many potential benefits - the population of Northeast Ohio is not growing, but gradually shifting outward to the suburbs - so as Parma, Brooklyn, Maple Hts, etc lose students, other districts in Lorain and Medina counties are struggling to build schools fast enough to meet the demand.   Small school districts cannot utilize their buildings to the fullest extent, with changes in enrollment from year to year.  There is tremendous duplication of efforts among smaller districts to come up with individual education plans for everything from gifted students to severely behaviorally challenged ones.  It would seem that smaller districts especially would benefit from consolidating special ed services, etc. as a first step.

Ohio as a whole has too many districts, leading to too many superintendents and administrators, etc.  Lorain County alone has 14 school districts, plus parts of Vermilion, Olmsted Falls, Strongsville, Black River, Mapleton, and New London districts within its borders.  The whole state of Nevada has 17, with one district covering the Las Vegas/Clark County area.

[audidave]

Excellent article from the PD.  I for one especially love the idea of Cuy. cty changing their government to an executive-style like Summit cty.  That would bring more oversight and likely more efficient and smooth governance with a County Council overseeing and approving legislation.

[KJP]

Here's my contribution to Sun's special section on regionalism. We had some photos and graphics to go with this, too. Sometimes the subjects for articles are interesting to research. This was one of them.
_______________

http://www.cleveland.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-0/1178210659247860.xml&coll=3

City forging partnerships
Cleveland works with inner-ring suburbs
Thursday, May 03, 2007
By Ken Prendergast

Cleveland safety officials already are lighting a fire under the idea of regionalism.

Agreements are being sought to share fire services, manpower and equipment with its neighboring suburbs, while also trying to consolidate what they consider to be duplicate, disconnected safety services within Cleveland.

Both are intended to save money, increase coordination, make more first responders available and improve response times.

Cleveland Safety Director Martin Flask said the city's fire division is seeking agreements with fire departments in eight inner-ring suburbs for mutual response protocols a more involved version of mutual aid. With mutual aid, safety forces from two or more cities typically are present at an emergency.

Mutual response addresses communications, tactics, supervision and equipment so one city can respond to an emergency when firefighters or paramedics in another city cannot. Cleveland also provides more specialized equipment and trained personnel in dealing with hazardous materials, high-angle rescues as well as deep-trench rescues.

"If they need our support, we would provide it and the support also goes the other way," Flask said. "I would fully expect to have all the agreements in place by the end of the year. It's our goal to have formalized agreements with all the inner-ring suburbs."

Cleveland's first mutual response agreement was reached with Brooklyn; its text was used as a model for discussions with other suburbs. Most recently, agreements were approved by city councils in East Cleveland, Parma and Brook Park. Discussions are continuing with Brooklyn Heights, Euclid, Warrensville Heights and Walton Hills. The latter doesn't have its own fire service.

Brooklyn is seeking its own mutual response agreements with other suburbs. Brooklyn Fire Chief Paul Duchoslav said he supports the idea of regionalization.

"I think its a great idea," he said. "I think it would be a giant step in the right direction. It makes for much more efficient service."

Baldwin-Wallace College is doing a study on regionalizing fire services among seven communities, including Brooklyn, Parma and Parma Heights. Duchoslav said it would be easier and quicker if the departments were regionalized because they would all have the same equipment and protocols.

Problems from it, he said, would be dealing with each local of the International Association of Fire Fighters and to stem a desire to cut manpower just because the departments are regionalized. Duchoslav said that could compromise safety and service.

An example of how regionalism would help was seen in a recent emergency. Brooklyn had three rescue squad calls at the same time. It had to call on Parma for the third call. Because Parma's paramedics weren't familiar with the area, a Brooklyn police officer had to guide them to the scene of the emergency, costing valuable time.

Duchoslav said regionalization would create districts were all the departments are familiar with the area and can respond to calls more quickly and efficiently.

"All of this is a big departure from just a few years ago," Flask said. "There's lots of opportunities to consolidate to become more efficient and improve our quality of service. We feel very strongly about that."

Cleveland's Ward 9 Councilman Kevin Conwell, chairman of council's Public Safety Committee, said purchasing and procurement represents 57 percent of the city's Safety Department budget. Conwell announced that he will propose creating joint inventories of supplies and equipment for safety forces in conjunction with surrounding suburbs.

"If we could work with other suburbs, we could keep our inventory down," Conwell said. "That's the good thing with regionalism economies of scale. Capital goods might be stored in Cleveland or surrounding communities."

However, he said he's not yet ready to embrace the idea of combined fire departments and fire stations.

"We have to get out of the politics," Conwell said. "People love their fire stations and the unions will have to fight for them as well. But if they realize that it's for the good of the whole, then that's a good thing."

Bob Fisher, president of Local 93 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, did not return a phone call prior to deadline for this article. However, in past interviews, he opposed any efforts by Cleveland to take firefighters away from street duties.

In fact, a proposal by Mayor Frank Jackson's administration to create a consolidated safety communications center for police, fire and Emergency Medical Service dispatchers met resistance by IAFF Local 93. Fisher said he wasn't opposed to the concept of the consolidated center. Rather, he didn't support having a mostly civilian staff take over fire dispatching duties, as was already done for police and EMS. The union wants more firefighters hired and put on the street.

Flask said the consolidated communications center would do just that. City officials said there are 31 qualified firefighters working as dispatchers who instead should be staffing fire trucks.

"We have three dispatch centers, three budgets and three command staffs," Flask said. "There are 201 employees at our existing center (at East 21st Street and Payne Avenue). There are 17 job descriptions, seven unions, differing technologies and three training curriculums to provide dispatching all at the same building. They're even on the same floor and they can see each other."

That and other consolidations are being sought this year. In the early 1990s, there were serious discussions about merging the fire division and EMS. While that isn't on the table, other cost savings are, such as merging purchasing contracts for equipment and supplies, coordinating training, as well co-locating fire and EMS vehicles in the same buildings throughout the city, Flask said.

Leana Donofrio contributed to this article.

[JDD941]

^ That article is a complete joke.....I wish some of the real truths were told, but they never are when covered by the media.  I work in the field and I SEE what goes on everytime I put the uniform on...the city wastes a TON of money but won't remedy it for pure political reasons.  What a shame.....

[MyTwoSense]

^ That article is a complete joke.....I wish some of the real truths were told, but they never are when covered by the media.  I work in the field and I SEE what goes on everytime I put the uniform on...the city wastes a TON of money but won't remedy it for pure political reasons.  What a shame.....

What going on, lets hear it old man 

[JDD941]

  Well...MTS, you whippersnapper.....here goes...

  I am only speaking on safety services, and how they are run.  I will try to be as unbiased as I can about this.  I believe the city made a big mistake by having police, fire, and EMS dispatch centers all in one building on one floor.  It may seem to make sense to the average person, but after 9/11, things changed.  National standards advise against this practice because if a terrorist action wanted to completely disrupt the whole city of Cleveland's safety services, it could be done in one shot by taking out that center.  Okay, with that said, I realize the article states that the city could save money by civilianizing the dispatch center but I think that is a mistake as well.  It would save money, but I believe that the people behind the radio (for each service) needs to have true street knowledge of what is going on at the other end.  There is a new CAD (computer aided dispatch) system in place now, but unfortunately it was outdated before it was even purchased (typical of the city to save a buck).  Many times what the computer deems the "proper" units to be dispatched to an incident (speaking from fire/EMS standpoint) are NOT the proper units.  Luckily, when some of the dispatchers that have spent time on the streets see this, they THINK to change the assignment.  Unfortunately the civilian dispatchers aren't aware of the mistakes, and follow the assignments as posted.  This can sometimes cause GREAT delays for people in need.  Example:  The head on collision by the drunk driver not too long ago on I-71.   The CAD sent station 42 from Pearl and Biddoulph...instead of the station (which the 42's passed en route) which was right at the entrance to the freeway and only 2 minutes away from the incident (station 20).  On top of that, the computer did not send a CFD heavy rescue to the scene on the initial call.  Heavy rescues carry the proper equipment for special rescues and extrication.  The man in that car was DOA, but the point is, what if he was not..what if those precious minutes would have made the difference?

  On to the next issue.  Recently EMS has tried to save money by changing the work shifts from 12 hour shifts to 8 hour shift, claiming that the city will save $500k by doing so.  Hearing from friends at EMS, they have told me all this has done was make morale even lower and has actually caused more OT than before.  Where is the savings?  The biggest savings the city could see would be a merger of Fire and EMS.  Many EMS workers in the past have cringed at the idea because they have been told they would lose their jobs.  This is simply NOT true.  The only jobs that would be lost would be through attrition, but in doing so, it would make the service more streamlined, efficient, and cost effective. 

  Currently CFD has roughly 905 members total from Chief on down, EMS has roughly 350.  CFD has roughly 150 paramedics, with the rest of the members being EMT basics.  EMS is composed of mostly paramedics with the rest being EMT basics.   The fire department responds to many medical calls as a "first responder" to provide basic care until an ambulance arrives.  Many times a CFD heavy rescue is sent on medical calls because they have the capability to transport and are staffed by cross trained firefighter that are paramedics as well (me being one of them).  There are many times that an EMS ambulance is sent as well as a heavy rescue.  My question is why?  This seems to be a duplication of service and a waste of money.  You are in essence sending two paramedic units to one call, when there could possibly be another emergency that could have a delayed response because two units are tied up on the same run. 
 
  Another cost saving measure that could be taken would be the vehicles that the city chooses to buy for EMS.  Currently the city uses a type-III heavy duty extended cab chassis ambulance.  This vehicle is cost ineffective, has maneuverability issues, and is overkill for a unit staffed by two people that carry only medical equipment.  There are three classes of ambulances...type-I (pickup style cab with box on the back) type-II (van style ambulance) and type-III (which can have either a van style cab, heavy duty cab, or in Cleveland's case a heavy duty extended cab with box on the back).  MANY major cities, with the same weather conditions, use either the typeI, II, or III with the van chassis.  These are anywhere to 2/3 to 1/2 the cost per vehicle, just as effective, and easier to work on.  I know this because I was in the fire service before being employed by Cleveland and have been involved with specifications of purchasing emergency vehicles.  You take the savings of one ambulance then multiply it by an entire fleet, the savings is substantial.

  Finally, the idea of a merger.  The CFD has proposed a plan to merge EMS/into the fire department, only to be shot down everytime.  The plan (in a nutshell) would call for a merger of personell AND bosses with no loss of employment, only a restructure of the service.  Job reduction would come with attrition.  Current EMS employees would remain paramedics and work 12 hour shifts.  They would also be offered to be cross trained as firefighters with preference when more firefighter hirings would be needed.  Those who do not want to be firefighters, could remain medic only status.  The firefighters who are already paramedics would also staff ambulance units for half of the 24 hour shift and staff a fire unit the other 12.  This would save on overtime and you would get double duty from a single service.  As people retire or leave the job, new hires would be required to be firefighter/paramedics.  *Currently the paramedics on CFD have voluntarily become so, not a requirement*  Through time, you would need less people to do two jobs.  Which in turn means less higher ranking officers (which make more pay).  Basically now with two services, we have too many chiefs for the Indians!! 

  The merged service seems to work well in Columbus, Cincinnati, Seattle, Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, NYC, D.C....the list goes on.  Why is it that Cleveland won't do it, even though studies have PROVEN it is cost effective and a more reliable service?   CFD has even offered to start "paramedic pumpers" ...meaning having every fire truck staffed with a paramedic so they could offer the citizens a higher level (IV's, medication, advanced airway procedures, etc) of care until an ambulance arrives for transport, but the city denied that request.  Every minute that advanced life support is delayed in an emergency can be detrimental, so why would the city not strive to make things better for a lower cost? 

  I am in NO WAY bashing EMS medics, I think there are fine medics that work there.  I AM bashing the city for not moving into the 21st century when it comes to safety, care, and cost effective services for the tax payers and residents.  I AM asking what the agenda is behind all of this.  Is it somehow our city officials seem to know more than all of the aforementioned cites?  Is it political?  Are there personal agendas?  I really don't think these reasons should be put above qualityservices for the tax payers and residents of Cleveland.  How can one expect Cleveland to regionalize when it can't even do it within it's own borders?   

  Ok, enough of my boring rant!!  lol  I know I don't contribute much to this board, but this is one topic I am more than happy to chime in on because I know about it first hand.  If there are any question..please feel free to ask.   
 

[FrqntFlyr]

^Interesting stuff JDD941.  I know next to nothing about safety services, so that was very informative. And it seems you have some good ideas.

[MyTwoSense]

^Interesting stuff JDD941.  I know next to nothing about safety services, so that was very informative. And it seems you have some good ideas.

Ditto.  Thats is why its good to have JDD here.  My ex is on the CPD and would complain about certain things, like JDD and would often say its the union grand standing causing the city council to balk therefore only hurting the citizens of Cleveland.

[KJP]

Interesting stuff and good ideas, JDD. But bad diplomacy. I think the joke with my article is that your union leaders didn't return my calls to get their take on the city's proposals. They usually do return calls, and are often helpful. But by their silence they let the city officials do the talking for them. Sad for them. And if they're as effective in the PR battles as they are negotiations, sad for you.

[JDD941]

  Not to jump to the immediate defense, but the issue of merging fire and EMS is an issue that has been around for some time.  This issue has been like trying to open a brick wall with your head, it just isn't working.  I think our union leadership does a great job for us at the CFD.  There are ALWAYS issues that have to be dealt with, and not all resolutions please the membership as a whole, but the usual outcome is for the betterment of the department.  These past few months have been a little hectic for our leadership due to the fact our president (Boob Fisher) stepped down and a new president had to be elected.  This caused a chain reaction because current officials ran for a higher office to replace one another.  When all the dust settles, I am sure your requests will be honered.  Believe me, they have been very busy dealing with other issues at the time that CAN be remedied.  I suggest you ask for the Secretary (I could give you his name and number via personal email as long as you keep your source out of it!!!!)

  One of the biggest reasons that the union does NOT make this a priority is because we have been told since Jane's admin and during Jackson's admin that this merge will NEVER happen.  Then unspoken reason that this will never happen is because of the diversity that EMS represents as apposed to Police and Fire.  Fire is approx 23-26% black and has very few women.  I am not sure about the numbers on Police.  EMS however, has numbers that are closer to the makeup of the city population, therefore the city doesn't want that to go away.  The reason that EMS can produce these numbers is because their employees are appointed, while Police and Fire have to take a written entrance exam, then if passed, the candidates have to take a job related physical exam...upon completion, you are ranked on an eligibility list based on your combined scores.  I am against diversity in the ranks, as long as you can earn your score through hard work and determination.  The physical aspect of the job doesn't discriminate when you are chasing a bad guy, or fighting a fire, so I believe that there should be no "allowances" due to sex.  As long as you earn your spot on the list fair and square, I could give two sh!ts less what's between your legs and what color you are.  If my ass gets in the jackpot, I want WHOEVER there that can get me out of trouble when things turn to sh!t in a fire...plain and simple! 
 
  The whole "lawsuit" issue can get very heated, opinionated, and messy...so I think thats why sometimes people just don't talk about it.  If you are part of the lawsuit, you "want something for nothing", if you are against it you are automatically deemed "racist" or "sexist".   Maybe this is one reason that the union avoids this issue...not sure? 

  All I do know is, the city is willing to cut its nose off to spite its face to stop this from happening(merger).  Is it because of the race issue?  Is it because there are ex EMS officials that now hold higher ranking offices in city hall?  Is it city hall "pride" that such a money saving idea could only be thought up by the city so no way could the IAFF come up with this plan?

  I would love to put you in contact with the right people KJP.  This is an issue that has been skirted by the TV media and our wonderful PD.  Yes, the PD has touched on it, but never has shown any hard facts or figures as to the extent of the money savings as well has the ability to do two jobs more efficiently with less people.

[noozer]

Reacting with lip service -- and lead feet
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Thomas Ott and Tom Breckenridge
Plain Dealer Reporters

Northeast Ohio is warming to regionalism.

But if your furnace took this long to heat up, you would call a repairman.

Three years ago, The Plain Dealer began publishing "A Region Divided," a series exploring how Cuyahoga County and its 59 communities might benefit by eliminating duplicated services, sharing taxes across political boundaries and planning with a regional view.


More at
http://www.cleveland.com/region/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isreg/1177847827255890.xml&coll=2

[clvlndr]

I'm not sold on regionalism

"Reflections"

By MARY JANE SKALA

GO TO 'World War III flickers' column

May 31, 2007

Cleveland is dying. Downtown is comatose, businesses are fleeing and people are fleeing Cuyahoga County. Leaders are wringing their hands, wondering what to do.

Regionalism, someone says.

Ears perk up. Regionalism?

Regionalism. You know, where we take an eraser to suburban boundaries and run this area like one big happy family.

More at www.sunnews.com

[zaceman]

downtown is comatose??  actually last i heard the city is on fire and the zombies are eating pedestrians left and right... which is of course further adding to the loss of population

[clvlndr]

^Mary Jane Skala is a Cleveland hater; and a lousy journalist to boot.  A few years ago, she trashed Shaker Square and a lot of Sun Press readers reacted, to which she retreated to some bogus 'objective journalism' standard.  I'm not saying she should be a sunshine blower, but she's way negative toward anything urban.  She sounds like a typical Republican, live in the lilly-white, homogeneous burbs type.  It's a blot on the Sun Newspapers that this woman would be the major editorial columnist.  She's awful.  I'm not saying regionalism is the be all, end all, but her arguments against it are so full of holes...

[FrqntFlyr]

"Regionalism. You know, where we take an eraser to suburban boundaries and run this area like one big happy family."

How is she boiling down regionalism and all of the efforts that could possibly be made under the guise of regionalism into this one generalized statement? and then basing her entire argument and article on it?

[X]

To protect her entrenched interest in fragmented urban governance.  She's safe on her little suburban lifeboat.  How can it possibly sink when the ship goes down?

[novusordo0205]

Somehow, people wonder why young people aren't attracted to this region.  Show them this article as case-in-point.  Thank God for people that read this board and attempt to ameliorate the problem, rather than putting their heads into the sand.  Or, in her case, writing poorly conceived articles. 

She needs to examine how Louisville, Indianapolis, and, to a lesser extent, Columburb (annexation rather than regionalism, per se), have been affected by the benefits of a united front.  After all, a county divided against itself cannot stand.

[Florida Guy]

Hold on. Many of us in the suburbs aren't buying it yet.

I stopped reading right here. Any credibility went right out the window.

[KJP]

Especially since it was Pepper Pike Mayor Bruce Akers who took the lead on the regionalism front. Working together is just good business, and no one (especially employers) likes to be in a house where its family members fight and steal from each other. There are three options I can think of to squelch the lack of cooperation -- move to another house, stay but add on to the house so we don't have to encounter each other as often, or sit down together in an intervention to work out our problems (like sharing the car, the bathroom, the kitchen etc. rather than building duplicate ones). We've tried the first two approaches and we've seen they don't work at all. So when we make baby steps toward the third, someone who is uncapable of understanding what's at stake dumps on it. Great thinking, MJ.

I have had to withhold my tongue here a bit on Skala's past columns. But not anymore.

I encourage all of you to write letters to the editor of Sun to express your own opinions on regionalism....

Mary Jane Skala, senior editor East
3355 Richmond Rd., Suite 171
Beachwood OH 44122-4171
(216) 986-5890
Fax (216) 464-8816
or (216) 986-5891
editormj@yahoo.com
and/or sun@sunnews.com

Be sure to include a daytime phone number with your letter so your identity can be verified.

[E Rocc]

Criticize Mary Jane all you want.   But she's more right than wrong, and close to 100% reflective of the views of typical suburbanites.   Suburbanites make up about 2/3 of the population of Cuyahoga County.

Even in the so-called "inner ring" suburbs, there would be very strong resistance to a merger with Cleveland.  Ask people in Maple Heights, Euclid, or Lakewood what they think of the idea.  Expect to hear some unbroadcastable language. 

Indeed, a referendum in Collinwood would probably favor splitting off from Cleveland, for exactly the reasons specified.  Even though they'd probably still be stuck in Cleveland schools (ask Walton Hills about that issue.)  Of course, the schools would be another reason why suburbs from East Cleveland to Strongsville would object to a merger.

People don't trust "big government".  When they have the option, they prefer to deal with smaller, more accesible governments.  People in the suburbs also see the caliber of elected "leaders" the city selects, and how they run their campaigns.  They want no part of it.

Some aspects of regionalism make sense, but taking it to its extreme (merger) is unfeasible.

[jamiec]

^ No doubt you're right about suburban fear, but regionalism around here isn't about merging the cities. We're talking about SERVICES. In 2020, will we have really lost so much if a Lakewood cop's cruiser says "Cuyahoga County Police?" This place can be so parochial, it's obnoxious.

[KJP]

E Rocc, that type of hyberbole fear of things that aren't even on the table is the kind of action that stifles innovation and productive change. MJ was irresponsible for even suggesting that such a merger was a topic of discussion among government leaders. She owes her readers an apology, and you should know better for buying into it.

For a more rational discussion of regionalized public services, please see Parma Heights Mayor Martin Zanotti's letter to the editor which appeared in some of today's Sun papers (the Brooklyn Sun Journal was one of them).

This reminds me of Stephen Douglas' response to Abe Lincoln's "House Divided" speech, in which Douglas fomented fear that abolitionists wanted white people to "sleep" with black people. Lincoln, in his common-folk style, replied "Just because I don't want a negro for a slave doesn't mean I want one for a wife."

Remember that a mind is like a parachute, it only functions when open.

[E Rocc]

E Rocc, that type of hyberbole fear of things that aren't even on the table is the kind of action that stifles innovation and productive change. MJ was irresponsible for even suggesting that such a merger was a topic of discussion among government leaders. She owes her readers an apology, and you should know better for buying into it.

The thing is, everyone jumped on her comments, but no one criticized her for taking "regionalism" to its obvious conclusion until I defended her.  The first three pages of this thread made it clear that many see the current explorations of regionalism as "baby steps".  Baby steps towards what, if not mergers? 

The suburbs and even Cleveland aren't the self contained bureaucratic islands some claim.  Examples of regionalism abound:  RITA, Southeast Area Law Enforcement, the Cleveland Division of Air Pollution Control, and even RTA come to mind.  Though the last two show some of regionalisms drawbacks:  CDAPC's generally believed to be giving applicants in Cleveland proper priority these days, and RTA does not serve places like Maple Heights as well as the old MHTS did.  Another good example would be trash pickup, though it's been "regionalized" largely through privatization.

Ironically, the examples most often given are police and fire services.  Those are already quite regionalized through mutual support agreements.  Indeed, some towns don't even have their own stations or departments.  For example, Walton Hills is covered by Maple Heights and Oakwood's departments. 

Regionalism is already happening, though it usually doesn't cover the entire region.  But when people talk about "baby steps", or use Indy, Louisville, and Columbus as examples, suburbanites are going to get suspicious.

[Evergrey]

Structural consolidation is probably unlikely... what Greater Cleveland should investigate is something like the tax base sharing program implemented in Minnesota's Twin Cities region. 

[KJP]

If mergers happen, it doubt it will be in my lifetime. Baby steps can mean a whole range of changes. Remember, we're dealing with elected officials here, who consider mutual response agreements (a step up from mutual aid) among fire departments as a dramatic step. A more dramatic change might be a regional economic development fund that's in the offing. And tax-base sharing may be considered as downright radical. Mergers are so far in the unobservable distance for elected officials that no one I've interviewed is even willing to give it much more than a nervous chuckle.

Problem is, MJ doesn't interview the people who are involved in these discussions. I do. Yet she saw fit to comment on something of which she has little knowledge, and used innuendo to fill in her many voids of information. How do I know this about her? I don't think it's a secret here that we work for the same company.

[Mov2Ohio]

Neighbor cities see benefits to uniting

Sunday, June 17, 2007
Thomas OttPlain Dealer Reporter
Talk of regionalism in Northeast Ohio typically begins with an ambitious look at countywide governance and ends with most of us too timid to take the leap.

But what if we began with baby steps?

What would you say about merging some of our suburbs? Are our municipal identities worth millions of dollars in duplicated services? Does a region of our size need hundreds of city council members, scores of fire chiefs and dozens of libraries?


More at http://www.cleveland.com/region/
__________________________________________________________________________________________________


Also visit this link about a Cleveland Heights and University Heights merger.

http://www.cleveland.com/region/wide/index.ssf?/region/wide/region1_0617.html


And this one about comparing the merged cities w/cities of similar size.

http://www.cleveland.com/region/wide/index.ssf?/region/wide/region2_0617.html


And this interactive map we've seen before about the top spots for folks out of NEO.

http://www.cleveland.com/pdgraphics/interactive/neoohiomigration/map/m10000.html

[JeffreyT]

For once, I like what the PD wrote

[the pope]

__________________________________________________________________________________________________


Also visit this link about a Cleveland Heights and University Heights merger.

http://www.cleveland.com/region/wide/index.ssf?/region/wide/region1_0617.html

as a tax paying CH resident, I would have absolutely no objection to any type of merger with UH.....