| Vol. 1, Issue 4 | 
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| Bruce blog Welcome to the Bruce blog—a weekly update on news, events and issues affecting life in Cleveland. Reporting as it happens on transit, development, planning, environment and arts & culture. Basically, we write about creative ideas forming, talk to the people who have an inside track on the issues, and sometimes offer a commentary of our own. (For disclosure purposes, Bruce blog is a local, independent writer who also works part-time with nonprofit organization EcoCity Cleveland. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of EcoCity or any other organization).
Sept. 22-Oct. 6, 2005 Mayoral race—where's the beef? Roldo decries the PD’s lack of hard-hitting editorials on the Cleveland mayoral race in his column this week. It’s hard to argue. We know so little about the candidates, not to mention their positions on the important issues facing the ‘former' poorest city in the nation. Last Sunday, the PD ran a feature with the candidates responding to mostly trivial matters, including the ‘red light’ cameras and closing Burke Lakefront Airport. The point is moot on the cameras, responded candidate and council president Frank Jackson, and the FAA will render pointless a discussion on Burke, added Mayor Campbell. They’re both right, but so far off track from where the city needs them to be in the debate on its future. And this, Bruce blog agrees, is where the PD fails the city. The PD editorial staff is not probing the candidates on their plans for economic expansion. Or what they offer to bring to the city’s neighborhoods besides big box retailers. Campbell has the greatest opportunity to outline a plan, but—like the shadowy school levy campaign last August—she looms large and says little. This may prove to be a winning strategy if her contenders keep treating their campaigns as resume fillers. As Wendy’s used to say, where’s the beef? The debate is polite to the point of non-existent. Time for the PD to start showing its knowledge of the issues and asking tougher questions. Otherwise, we’ll only continue to get stuck at red lights.
Leave it to the indie media Efforts to shed some light on Cleveland’s mayoral candidates continue apace, including the local bloggers’ roundtable discussion posted on Brewed Fresh Daily, and the current issue of Catalyst-Cleveland, a non-profit journal covering the Cleveland schools. Five of the candidates share with Catalyst insights on how they would tackle the school crisis. Here’s a summary…
Some of these ideas have real merit—particularly putting an end to corporate welfare—and should receive serious consideration regardless who wins. Log on to read the entire article. Hopefully, the mayoral “malaise” will get treated at the currently running public forums. The candidates will be at Applewood Centers, 3518 W. 25th St. on Thursday, 9/22 (Tonight) from 7:30- 9 p.m. sharing their views on a variety of neighborhood issues. The audience will have an opportunity to submit written questions. Free and open to the public. The next forum is October 25, 6:30-8 pm, at the Downtown Public Library.
Show New Orleans some respect Sierra Club’s national director, Carl Pope, wrote an excellent column this week that outlines his views on how to equitably handle the devastation in New Orleans. Pope argues that we need to place the interests of those who suffered first. His ideas include guarantees that local workers and businesses are partners in the rebuilding; scientists not politicians make decisions on the safety of the city; and lessons translate into a better planned city. “Adequate transit must be provided; homes, buildings, and sewage systems designed to withstand future storms; and the latest building and energy conservation technologies adopted," Pope writes. "There's also a need to disarm time bombs that were not triggered by Katrina but still pose a threat in the future, including inadequate levees, substandard buildings, and uncleaned toxic waste dumps.” Read the article here.
Working stiffed Reason #401 to press the snooze bar—work is demanding more and giving back less these days. Oh, you already knew that, but non-partisan economic think tank Policy Matters has the data to prove it. The typical Ohio wage has been sinking since 2000, according to their recently released study. Inflation-adjusted wages fell in each of the last four years. Our 2004 median hourly wage was $13.37, lower than at any point since 1998 and lower than in 1979, but higher than in the 1980s and early 1990s. Meanwhile, our productivity rose as measured by percentage of Gross Domestic Product. “This pattern of slow-growing wages nationally and falling wages in Ohio during a period of relatively strong growth bodes poorly for future improvements in living standards,” the report concludes.
Make no small plans, Jane Timing is everything in urban planning. When the going gets tough, planners offer bold plans to pull us out of our tailspin. Hello Cleveland. During the past four years (at least), city planners laid the groundwork for a more inviting city. They were asked to think about how to reconnect people living in the neighborhoods with the natural environment right at their doorstep. We'll see the fruits of their labor when the latest recession—if not economic at least cultural—comes to an end for Cleveland. People who grew up in the area and left discouraged are starting to return (granted still in small numbers). We have heard from dozens of returnees (and ex-pats) expressing a desire to return to Cleveland, to connect with civic issues and urban revitalization. It's work that their parents so callously rejected that excites them most. They're making Cleveland their home and their laboratory. It’s time to move forward and address the bold plans, led by the extension of the Towpath Trail to the Flats; softening the heavy concrete barricade to lakefront; and re-sowing the urban fabric in Midtown with the Euclid Corridor project. Plain Dealer Urban Planning columnist Steven Litt is on the money calling for Mayor Campbell to see the extension of the Towpath as her legacy to build. But, you cannot have your pie and eat it too, mayor, seeking to slice and dice the portion of the tax money from Steelyard Commons and build the remaining six miles of the towpath to the Flats (or to the lake at Whiskey Island). You want to be the champion of quality of life projects, here’s your chance to prove it once and for all.
Hotel Bruce recognized Hotel Bruce was selected as a finalist in Northern Ohio Live's annual Awards of Achievement. We were honored to be in the esteemed company of fellow nominees in the media category, Catalyst-Cleveland and Plain Dealer columnist (and Pulitzer Prize winner) Connie Schultz, who deservedly took top honors. Congrats to all the winners and thanks to NOL for recognizing a new voice. Calendar Live/work artist galleries The Hodge School on Cleveland's east side is hosting Beautiful East, a fashion event to benefit AIDS charities in Cleveland such as AIDS Taskforce from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, September 10. The lawn event features an auction of fine art & furniture, food and beverages, DJs and a fashion show. Email for more info. Heaven is a Place Where Nothing Ever Happens: An exhibit featuring Julie Langsam & Charlotte Becket curated by William Busta at HeightsArts Gallery ( 2173 Lee Rd, Cleveland Hts). Opening reception Saturday, September 10, 6-9 pm Together, their works explode conventional interpretations of landscape and the machine age. Langsam moved to Cleveland from NYC in 1996 to teach full-time at the Cleveland Institute of Art; Becket is a 2002 CIA graduate living and working in NYC. CitiRama 2005 – Experience the revitalization of one of Cleveland's most storied neighborhoods - this year's Citirama is focused in Glenville. Tour 11 show homes just built between E.100th & E. 101 and Superior featuring the latest in urban design. September 10 from 10 a.m.– 6 p.m. For more information. Jazz at Rockefeller Greenhouse – Happening at the same time and minute north of the CitiRama 2005 is the 3rd annual JAZZ at the Rockefeller Greenhouse. The free concert on 9/10 from 1-3:30 pm, features the Bobby Selvaggio Quartet. Tour this stunning 100-year old greenhouse and its gardens and dig the sounds at an outdoor concert by a local jazz great. Lolly The Trolley tours of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens also available. All free and open to the public. Global Change and Human Stewardship of Planet Earth: Dr. William Schlesinger, biogeochemist on Friday, September 16, 7:30 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Schlesinger, who is James B. Duke Professor, Biogeochemistry and Dean of The Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University, explores the history of human relations to the environment, the causes and consequences of ongoing global climate change, and the ethics of human stewardship of our planet. He draws on examples from his early environmental education at the Museum and his 30 years in environmental chemistry, as well as the latest findings from his current experiment, which involves exposing an entire forest tocarbon dioxide levels expected in the year 2050.
Reader Letters ClevelandBikes, a two-year-old nonprofit working to advance cycling interests, safety and education, hosted Bike to Work days on the final Friday of the month all summer (the last is one is coming up at the end of September). About 30 to 40 riders gathered downtown on the mall for a pre-work breakfast. ClevelandBikes was joined by several staff members from Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell's administration, including the Health Director Matt Carroll, Planning Department staff Marty Cader, Sustainability Manager Andrew Watterson and others. The day also included a raffle for a Breezer, one of the most exciting new commuter bikes on the market. Marty Cader, a cyclist with the Cleveland Planning Department was the lucky winner of the random drawing. Marty rode in from the westside, joining riders who commuted along routes from all points of the city, with rides led by ClevelandBikes volunteers. For more information about ClevelandBikes and cycling in Cleveland. –Kevin Cronin
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