Before we inact the myth of the lemmings ("lemming suicide is a frequently-used metaphor in reference to people who go along unquestioningly with popular opinion, with potentially dangerous or fatal consequences."), how might we protest?

Remember turn on, tune in, drop out? What sort of protest might we inact to let our elected officals know that we are mad as hell, and we won't take it anymore? Stay home, unplug, don't smoke or drink?

This news today Gene Tracy retires from Cleveland Schools and plans to "take off the gloves". As he spoke at a public meeting pre 2004 school levy, reports of his two minutes at the microphone sound familiar.

"Citizen activist Gene Tracy called on the Board of Education to make Cleveland ’s corporate citizens and wealthier citizens pay their fair share before going to the taxpayers of the poorest city in the nation for funds. He noted that the owners of the Cleveland Browns are receiving a tax abatement for the stadium. He said the district should ask MBNA to pay $2 million a year for its advertisement on the stadium in exchange for the tax abatement. He said if Browns’ owners were able to give a $16.5 million signing bonus to Kelvin Winslow, they should be able to come up with $2 million a year for the schools.

Tracy urged the board to support Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis’ effort to get the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals to voluntarily pay property tax (they currently claim an exemption for providing indigent care as non-profit hospitals). Tracy also noted a recent Plain Dealer article that points out the $17 million a year of the school district’s money that the city of Cleveland has given away in business and residential tax abatements.

Tracy said that passage of the levy means that senior citizens may have to go without food or prescription drugs to pay their taxes. “Before I would go to them, I would make sure our corporations pay their fair share,” said Tracy."

from Proposed levy expenditures outlined at Cleveland Board of Education meeting
by Chuck Hoven the Plain Press (November 2004)

I find this tidbit disturbing (from the PD account)

"Tracy is a throwback to the anti-establishment 1960s, says Lincoln-West Principal Edward Muffett. But while the teacher's protests have won concessions, Muffett believes Tracy is not as effective as he could be.

"His style gets in the way of what he's pushing," Muffett said."

Haven't we learned yet - don't judge a book by its cover? Are we still stuck in "don't listen to what that guy is saying - he looks culturally aberrant?

Union organizer and membership chairman of the Ohio Citizen's for the Arts for decades - Ben Shouse (RIP) looked like an unlikely candidate when I first was introduced to him in the early 80s, too. By then he was elderly, but he had had his days of being a rough rider - organizing union matters (upholsterer's union). When we met, he was sweating along with the rest of us at a Sam Shepard play in a sweltering Cleveland Public Theatre. I soon learned that although Ben looked unlikely (sort of like an overweight throwback to Guy Noir sporting a shiny suit), he was the guy who drove the effort to fund the lobbyists who extract arts and culture funding from the state. We paid our dues to the OCA. If you didn't you could be sure Ben knew - and he knew who had paid and who hadn't right up to the day he died. He was a tireless advocate for the power of the arts to revitalize, bridge and bond communities. Ben may have been a bit disheveled and his suits were shiny (especially where the OCA membership cards had impressed themselves through the breast pocket of them), but he was right. He's still right.

I liked Tracy's response to concerns expressed that he might have lost his job for speaking out. He said, "I always speak the truth," he said. "That's what protects me."

Let's move beyond looks and get to the grit.

Hey, let's check the fence!  The joke never gets old...does it!

I always "check the fence" when you post this, Laura just to see if any of the content has changed since I last "checked the fence". Sigh... the comments are still blank and the front page is still giving the history of the department of workforce development. Are we still stuck in OCT07? Uh... is this supposed to be where the three guys in the upper righthand corner of the page blog or something? They seem to be talkking about construction barriers and getting the message out, but no signs were on "the fence" when I drove by today. Plus (Cleveland +?) someone should tell those guys that web content needs to be kept live if they expect to drive traffic. It'll be really funny when the Euclid Corridor is done and this is still up there. The county needs to "check the fence".