It’s time. Let’s go.

Over the next 11 days, you’ll be seeing a bunch of posts by me here, as well as GeorgeNemeth.com, About.com and various social media on probably my favorite Cleveland experience — The Cleveland International Film Fest.

This year is a dream come true for me. Not only do I have the free time to go and see as many films as I like, CIFF invited me to attend as their guest. Not only do I have a couple of media passes, but they also provided me with vouchers to give away (so far only one person has taken me up on those. hint hint. ask me.) but also a discount code if you’re buying tix.
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Here’s a good presentation by Eric Schmidt of Google. He presented in Pittsburgh before the G-20 Summit held last September. It takes some time, but it is well worth it. Schmidt’s talk is about 30 minutes, followed by a period of questions.

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Christian Science Monitor boils it down.

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Do yourself a favor and watch this video in full screen…Punch the button on the lower right corner, just to the left of “vimeo”.

The White Mountain (extended) from charles on Vimeo.

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Benefits of Health Care Reform in OH-11

Our friend, preservationist and former neighbor Steve McQuillin, forsakes print for digital. This should expand his sphere of influence even further, and we welcome the change.

Our New On-Line Newsletter:

Over 20 years ago, in the fall of 1989, this newsletter for Steven McQuillin & Associates, was first launched.  That first issue, highlighting a preservation plan at Nela Park, the re-opening of the Forest City Bank Building, the Broadway Building, and a district in Gates Mills, also featured the firm's then-new offices at 3515 Archwood Ave.  Appearing twice each year thereafter, this printed version is a compendium of preservation projects in Northeast Ohio.  It is hoped this new on-line version can appear more often and feature more articles as well as reach a wider audience.� Comments and feedback are welcome.� Please feel free to suggest new email addresses for this on-line publication.

Below are links to the twelve articles in the Winter 2010 issue.

Newsletter

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It was an honor to write about Cleveland’s growing land-based, self-help economy in “Cleveland’s Comeback: ReImagining the city from the ground up,” a feature in the spring issue of Next American City, a national magazine. The experience confirmed for me that Cleveland is truly on the vanguard, at least in the Rust Belt, for tweaking the old model that says bricks-and-mortar development is always preferred, no matter if the demographic trends point to the city shrinking for some time to come. Where some cities in the Midwest are still struggling to admit that they are shrinking, and that vacant land is an asset to be used to help its current citizens access healthy food and perhaps improve their economic situation, Cleveland—where adapting to a post-industrial economy led to decades of painful disinvestment—is learning to “ReImagine” a more sustainable use for land and natural resources, and bring the city in balance with nature.

Online, Next American City published three excellent companion pieces to the Cleveland article. In “Land Bank Legislation Poised for Passage in Ohio”, Mara D'Angelo explains how a push by Cleveland leaders to form the state’s first countywide land bank (in Cuyahoga County) has spurred legislation that would bring land banks (and, perhaps with it, some regional land-use planning) to 41 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

read more

It was an honor to write about Cleveland’s growing land-based, self-help economy in “Cleveland’s Comeback: ReImagining the city from the ground up,” a feature in the spring issue of Next American City, a national magazine. The experience confirmed for me that Cleveland is truly on the vanguard, at least in the Rust Belt, for tweaking the old model that says bricks-and-mortar development is always preferred, no matter if the demographic trends point to the city shrinking for some time to come. Where some cities in the Midwest are still struggling to admit that they are shrinking, and that vacant land is an asset to be used to help its current citizens access healthy food and perhaps improve their economic situation, Cleveland—where adapting to a post-industrial economy led to decades of painful disinvestment—is learning to “ReImagine” a more sustainable use for land and natural resources, and bring the city in balance with nature.

Online, Next American City published three excellent companion pieces to the Cleveland article. In “Land Bank Legislation Poised for Passage in Ohio”, Mara D'Angelo explains how a push by Cleveland leaders to form the state’s first countywide land bank (in Cuyahoga County) has spurred legislation that would bring land banks (and, perhaps with it, some regional land-use planning) to 41 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

read more

Midwest auto communities face a serious time lag. They must build the foundations of a 21st century economy with policy tools developed for a 20th century economy. Pouring the existing array of federal programs out on the table is a bit like asking an auto mechanic to repair an electronic ignition system with a pair of rusty pliers.

Federal investments are and will continue to be important to financing the transformation of the Midwest’s auto communities. But money alone is not enough. These communities need innovation – new collaborations and networks that can deliver solutions to their strategic challenges. These solutions, to be transformative, must be replicable, scalable and sustainable.

On March 12, 2010, the Brookings Institution convened four Midwest regions that have been hit hard by downsizing in the domestic auto industry. This session, the “Auto Communities Roundtable”, reviewed different strategies at work in Mid-Michigan, Southeast Michigan, Central Indiana and Northeast Ohio.

The Roundtable participants explored new partnership opportunities among their region, the federal government and national foundations. You can explore the materials prepared for the Roundtable on this page: http://drop.io/autocommunities

Based on my reading of the presentations in this session, Midwest auto communities need innovative investments in five areas of strategic focus:

1. Brainpower and Talent: Transforming antiquated education and workforce development systems to be more innovative, flexible and productive.—

Our current systems produce low rates of literacy, high rates of drop-outs, and weak post-secondary technical skills. We need to develop systems that are more focused on 21st century skills, experiential learning, career pathways, and post-secondary certificates and degrees.

2. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Building responsive supports for innovative companies and entrepreneurs to develop new products and markets. –

Auto communities need a new generation of economic development supports for existing companies and entrepreneurs. By concentrating on new products and new markets, these firms can reliably grow an economy from the inside out.

3. Quality, Connected Places: Creating quality, connected hubs of mixed-use investment, while managing the shrinkage of their city. –

The physical development of auto communities focuses on stimulating economic growth through regeneration and reuse. This challenge involves balancing abandonment and shrinkage with developing connected concentrations of mixed-use investment.

4. New Narratives and Networks: Promoting new narratives and clusters of innovation anchored by colleges and universities.—

The next economy for auto communities will link and leverage the technologies, production capabilities and assets that emerged from building automobiles and parts. These strengths will be combined in open networks of innovation that support the development of high growth firms.

5. Leadership and Collaboration: Strengthening civic habits of collaboration and new forms of regional governance.—

Midwest auto communities face gaping budget deficits as the cost of public services has outrun the ability of local governments to generate revenue. Innovation in providing government services, not simply cost cutting, points the way ahead.

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HUD officials were in town last week explaining how Greater Cleveland could tap into a $150 million Sustainable Communities Initiative for walkable, affordable, green and transit-accessible development at a regional scale. But does the program’s requirement that metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) receive the funds put Northeast Ohio behind the proverbial 8-ball?

Unless the feds decide to change the rules, the only shot we would have is NOACA, the region’s transportation MPO. That didn’t sit well with city of Cleveland officials, who note that the region and NOACA in particular have a dismal track record coordinating regional land-use and transportation planning.

“Sustainability in regional plans tend to get watered down,” remarked Cleveland Planning Director Bob Brown. “NOACA’s policies are so broad, they can justify most projects, even those that induce sprawl. I think a plan that strengthens the urban core and doesn’t have to please so many constituents would work better.”

Applicants would have to explain why regional partners are not involved, said Dwayne Marsh, HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities. Otherwise, Cleveland would have to wait and see if it can apply to HUD’s Catalytic Grant program – a proposed portion of the Senate $4 billion Livable Communities Act -- geared to strengthening the urban core.

“For (the federal government) to be in a dialogue about enhancing economic competitiveness through environmental and housing concerns is a break through,” Marsh said. “The vision is for opportunity-rich neighborhoods, free from discrimination. As (HUD) Secretary Donovan says, ‘sustainability without equity is not sustainable.’”

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HUD officials were in town last week explaining how Greater Cleveland could tap into a $150 million Sustainable Communities Initiative for walkable, affordable, green and transit-accessible development at a regional scale. But does the program’s requirement that metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) receive the funds put Northeast Ohio behind the proverbial 8-ball?

Unless the feds decide to change the rules, the only shot we would have is NOACA, the region’s transportation MPO. That didn’t sit well with city of Cleveland officials, who note that the region and NOACA in particular have a dismal track record coordinating regional land-use and transportation planning.

“Sustainability in regional plans tend to get watered down,” remarked Cleveland Planning Director Bob Brown. “NOACA’s policies are so broad, they can justify most projects, even those that induce sprawl. I think a plan that strengthens the urban core and doesn’t have to please so many constituents would work better.”

Applicants would have to explain why regional partners are not involved, said Dwayne Marsh, HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities. Otherwise, Cleveland would have to wait and see if it can apply to HUD’s Catalytic Grant program – a proposed portion of the Senate $4 billion Livable Communities Act -- geared to strengthening the urban core.

“For (the federal government) to be in a dialogue about enhancing economic competitiveness through environmental and housing concerns is a break through,” Marsh said. “The vision is for opportunity-rich neighborhoods, free from discrimination. As (HUD) Secretary Donovan says, ‘sustainability without equity is not sustainable.’”

read more

You can read the Plain Dealer story here and from Channel 19 (with a photo) here (he was 30, a police officer, with a young child and fiancé.  Coming on the heels of the death of the son of the Mayor of Walton Hills, I am speechless.  May he be of blessed memory. 3/15/10: More from [...]

Here’s a good commentary from last week on how Youngstown State University is building an anchor for STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) in the Valley.

We are working with the city of Warren, NorTech (a Cleveland area economic development group), and the Youngstown Business Incubator to design and initiate an alternative energy incubator in Warren. And we’re engaged with the city of Youngstown, the Regional Chamber, the local business community, and, again, with YBI to develop a proposal to the Ohio Department of Development that would designate our community as a Hub for Innovation and Opportunity in Advanced Materials.

YSU’s future is in its STEM

San Diego is looking to expand STEM to include art education: converting STEM to STEAM.

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There’s one simple step Cleveland’s civic leadership could take to improve its performance: Adopt the annual practice of taking large delegations of Cleveland’s leadership to other cities for 2-3 day workshops.

Here’s an example from Baton Rouge.

East Baton Rouge Parish (EBR) Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) announced today that Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been selected as the destination for the Baton Rouge Area Canvas Workshop 2010.

A delegation of business and community leaders will spend three days and two nights in the Pittsburgh area learning from a community that has had recent success in such areas as public education school reform, technical education, charter school development, private-sector/university collaborative innovation, entrepreneur development, and sustainability. This year’s trip will be held on September 19-21, 2010.

EBR City-Parish and BRAC Select Pittsburgh for 2010 Canvas Workshop

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber, headed by a former McKinsey consultant, is on the move. It’s a good chamber to watch closely.

These visits are a common practice across the country. Delegations range in size from about 30 to over 150.

If Cleveland’s civic leadership made the effort to learn from other regions they just might see how silly the conflict between the Cleveland Foundation and the Fund for Our Economic Future really looks from the outside.

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Thomas Furan writes a very enjoyable article in the PD…

Railroads pushed the uniformity in time across the United States in the late 1880s

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A broad and diverse cross-section of Detroit’s education, government, civic and community, parent, and philanthropic leaders today released a citywide education plan that calls for sweeping changes to improve the city’s schools.

Its goals: By 2020 Detroit will be the first major U.S. city where 90% of students graduate from high school, 90% enroll in college or a quality postsecondary training program, and 90% of enrollees are prepared to succeed without needing remediation.

Broad-Based Coalition Pledges Multiple Actions to Prepare All Detroit Students for College and Careers (download)

See also:

Leaders welcome plan to transform Detroit public schools

Coalition lays out plan for Detroit students: 90 percent post-secondary enrollment by 2020

Detroit schools plan: Total transformation

Detroit Report: Excellent Schools Detroit

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I have always respected Crain's Cleveland Business, the weekly business publication for NorthEast Ohio, so much in fact, I even have a subscription to their daily email newsletter. However, today I read a post on Crain's blog by editor Brian Tucker that really got me riled. At first I growled, then I reread it and cursed. After reading it yet again, I needed to respond, so I started writing... and writing... and writing.When I finished writing I was still so annoyed that I published my comment before adding my signature. My efforts are published on their site anonymously, but I do not want to hide behind my computer screen, so I will repost the offending editorial and my response here:
Now that's the ticket"Its good that the Cleveland school board didn't buy into a counterproposal by some teachers from the underperforming East High School that Superintendent Gene Sanders wants to close.

While it might be intriguing to have half the building be a charter school and the other a community center, that concept would never work with a unionized teaching staff.

There are plenty of examples of bad charter schools, and our community and state should close them as fast as possible. But the good ones, such as Cleveland's E-Prep, succeed in large part because the teachers aren't unionized.

The teachers are there because they're driven to succeed as educators. They don't balk at the longer school days and years. And if they don't do a good job, they are replaced — quickly — by empowered administrators.

Plenty has been written about how it is next to impossible to remove a teacher in a unionized setting. That's good for the union and especially good for the mediocre-to-average teachers; but it's horrible for students, parents and our community as a whole."

Mr. Tucker, I take issue with your pronouncement that unions are a primary impediment to a school’s success, as well as the implication that the elimination of the teacher’s union would improve education in the city of Cleveland.

When I was a student, I was taught two very important lessons. The first by my science teacher, Sr. Immaculata, ”Do your research”. The next from my geometry teacher, Sister Clarissa, “You need to apply logic if you want to find the best answer”.

I would like to start with a bit of logic.

If the presence of a teacher’s union in a school will inhibit a school’s success, than it would follow that most unionized schools would be failing schools. Yet, right here in Cuyahoga County we have some of the top ranked schools in the United States, staffed by union teachers, ie. Chagrin Falls, Solon, Bay Village, Cuyahoga Falls, and even the Cleveland School of the Arts (surprisingly, staffed by members of the CTU). Therefore, one can infer that teacher's unions don’t create failure.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the actual differences between successful schools and failing schools.

All but one of the schools mentioned above are suburban schools where a majority of students come from families with above average incomes. Studies have shown that a greater percentage of children who come from a higher socioeconomic background will achieve academic success at significantly higher levels than children living in poverty, which explains why Chagrin Falls, Solon, etc., have a much better success rate than CMSD’s East or South High Schools. Yet, The Cleveland School of the Arts, John Hay High School, and E-Prep have student bodies whose families represent the opposite end of the economic demographic. Having eliminated unions and family finance as the cause of school failure, what other differences are there?

This is where we have to do some research.

How are students admitted?
At E-prep, students AND parents must attend a mandatory open house, parent orientation, and student orientation. At CSA, students must participate in a 2-3 hour audition with a parent, and submit a letter of recommendation from a teacher in their selected discipline. At John Hay, students must have a 3.0 GPA to apply, and submit 4 evaluation forms from current teachers. At East High and South High students register by showing up, walking up to the counter at the main office with an adult, and filling out as much of the paper work as they can.

E-prep maintains a zero-tolerance policy regarding their student code of conduct. The consequence for non-compliance is dismissal. Students who cannot maintain good grades or have problems with behavior at CSA and John Hay will be transferred back to the student’s home school, which might be East or even South High School. What happens to students who misbehave at East, South, Lincoln West, or any other CMSD neighborhood school? Consequences range from detentions to 1-10 day suspensions for most conduct issues. Really serious incidents (meaning behavior that would be classified as criminal in the adult realm) are referred to a disciplinary board for an expulsion hearing. Expulsions are typically more than 10 days, not to exceed 80 days. Only a very few offenses are eligible for permanent expulsion: murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking, and rape.

Given these facts, one could reasonably conclude that the key to effective schools in low income neighborhoods would be mandated parental involvement, careful screening of prospective students, and strictly enforced codes of conduct, including low to zero tolerance for infractions.

Doomed to failure are the schools which, by law, must educate all children, including the sociopaths, addicts, gangbangers, those suffering from serious (and not so serious) mental illnesses, as well as the kids who have been raised by television, or whose parents are completely uncaring, absent, or mentally incompetent. These are the kids who can’t get into the specialized magnet schools or the outstanding charter schools. There is no ROI for the taxpayers to give kids like these the extra help they need. These are the children who, despite the federal mandate, have been left behind. For many of them, what lies ahead is a future in the justice system. While we close down schools, this country continues to build prisons, and those are funded without voting on a levy.

It is much more convenient (and politically advantageous) to point the finger of blame at inner-city teacher's unions than to create the kind of specialized schools that will meet the needs of the growing numbers of damaged children that come from our poorest neighborhoods.


I started this blog back in 2004 in response to those people who were quick to criticize Cleveland teachers. As the economy declined, those numbers have grown. Every article I read about the schools on Cleveland.com lately is followed by hateful commentary blaming the teachers for all the problems of the district, and often blaming unions in general for the entire economic crisis.
"Get rid of the unions!""Fire the teachers!""Scrap the schools!""Bulldoze the neighborhoods!"
When did so many Clevelanders become so calloused, so bitter, so angry? What is happening to my city?

This post is written by Josh Sherman & originally appears here: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=311619014819&id=1085145651&ref=mf I really appreciate the cultural ambassadors who help give us access behind the scenes into so many wonderful traditional artforms. For people interested in expanding their musical horizons, the following are some avenues that are definitely worthy of exploration! This thread was [...]