Councilwoman Steps Down, Residents May Submit Letter of Interest, Qualifications

Last night, long-time City Councilwoman Paulette "Cookie" Morganstern submitted a letter of resignation.  The Chagrin Solon Sun just published the news here.

Morganstern has served on council for more than 26 years. She cited as the reason for her resignation her intention to spend more time in Arizona, where she and her husband, Stanley, own a home. Stanley Morganstern resigned from the Orange Board of Education in January, stating his Ohio-based law practice was winding down.

I value and valued Paulette as someone with immense, invaluable institutional knowledge about Pepper Pike.  Her departure will leave a vacuum of practical, direct experience from years with the city government during which no one else left on Council served (Rick Taft being the next most senior council member with about 13-14 years of experience).  I wish her the absolute best of good times ahead wherever her choices take her.

For those residents who are interested, or if you would like to please pass this information along:

Paulette Morganstern's current term expires at the end of 2013. Council is authorized by the city charter to appoint a replacement within 45 days to complete her term.

Residents who wish to be considered for the position are asked to submit a letter explaining their interest and qualifications by May 10 to Mayor Richard Bain at City Hall, 28000 Shaker Blvd., Pepper Pike, OH 44124.

Thank you again to Paulette for all these years of public service and if you have any questions, comments or concerns, as always, don't hesitate to be in touch.

MEETING CHANGE; Mayor's Letter to Residents; Appointments & Elections

Just sent out:

Good afternoon and my apologies for another email this week, but it's focused!

1. There will be NO Road & Safety/Finance Planning Meeting on the second Wednesday of this month, a meeting that was scheduled for Wednesday, February 8 at 7:30pm. 

Instead, there will be a Council Work Session on Thursday, February 9 at 7:30pm, at City Hall, open to the public.  No agenda yet that I've seen and I'm not quite sure where on the website it will go, but it should be under "Government" and then "Meetings and Minutes" once it is available and posted.  Notice is also on the City website here.

2. I've attached to this email the Mayor's first letter to residents. You can also read it here.  If you have trouble opening it, I would suggest contacting the Clerk of Council or the Mayor's office (Sheila Brett-O'Connor at 216-896-6128 or Barb Hennen at 896-6125 ).

3. At last night's Special Organizational Meeting, the following appointments or elections were made:

Law Director: Stephen Byron, Ice Miller law firm
Treasurer: Tony Gentile
Clerk of Council: Sheila Brett-O'Connor
Council Member to City Planning Commission: Rick Taft
Road & Safety Committee Chair: Scott Newell
Finance Chair: Jim LeMay
Communications Chair: Jill Miller Zimon
City Beautification Chair: Gail Mayland
Elector to City Planning Commission: Bill Melsop

Wherefore art thou, regionalism?

Just askin' - from the Sunday Plain Dealer, "Westlake's pursuit of new water source threatens stability of Cleveland utility":

One of Cleveland's biggest customers, Westlake is working on plans to set up its own water department and buy wholesale from the Avon Lake water system in neighboring Lorain County.

The Cleveland water department, already struggling with declining consumption, is moving aggressively to stop the revolt led by longtime Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough.

It would be the first defection from the regional water system since several Lake County communities left in the early 1980s, and it could have far-reaching ramifications. Some fear that if Westlake pulls out, other dissatisfied western suburbs will follow.

Read the entire piece, as it also reveals a real battle of the consultants.

What would you do if you were Westlake? Avon? Cleveland? Another suburb using Cleveland - oh wait, we are.

We're not the only ones looking to mayors

So does Arianna Huffington, of all people in, "Country in Crisis: Looking to America's Mayors to Rise to the Challenge."

Unfortunately, she's idealized the opportunities for all mayors based on examples from very large city mayors - cities with populations that rival the state of Ohio.  But here's a glimpse of her perceptions, based on those models:

That's why I believe the solutions the country is so desperately looking for are going to come at the local level -- from our mayors and engaged citizens working with their communities. It's our cities, not the nation's capital, that are the real idea factory of our country. It's the Mayor's Mansion not the White House from which bold decision-making is likely to originate. It's from any house on your street not the House of Representatives where projects that will make your community a better place to live in are more likely to surface.

And as our nation becomes more polarized at the national political level, it becomes all the more important to nurture the commonality we have at the local level, where people care about what they've always cared about: their children, their families, their schools, their communities. And it's our mayors who are best positioned to take advantage of these bonds -- especially given that many of our national leaders have given up even trying.

It's at the local level where we are still able to fulfill President Obama's exhortation last year "to sharpen our instincts for empathy" and "constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American Dream to future generations." It's increasingly clear that for that circle to be widened nationally it will have to be widened locally first.

I think it was the use of the word "mansion" that clued me in to her frame of reference, as you'll see in the full column: Newark (NJ), Portland (OR), Tampa (FL), Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago.

Scalability isn't just a glossary term on our kids' midterms this month. It's something all communities should seek to deploy in a variety of problem-solving settings.  I think I'm just having trouble seeing Arianna as the messenger.

Opening on Orange Board of Education-Applications Being Taken thru 1/25/12 at 12noon

The announcement is here on the Orange Schools' website. In pertinent part:

The Orange School City District announced today that Stanley Morganstern has resigned from the Orange Schools Board of Education effective January 16, 2012. Morganstern cited the winding down of his Ohio based law practice and plans to spend most of his time in Arizona as the reason for his resignation.

The Board of Education will begin interviewing candidates to serve out the rest of Morganstern’s second term, which is up at the end of the year 2013. By law, the open seat must be filled by the February 13, 2012 Board meeting. Applications for district residents interested in applying are available at the Board of Education office or by e-mailing Orange Schools Treasurer Greg Slemons at gslemons@orangecsd.org. The deadline for turning in completed applications is Wednesday, January 25, 2010 at 12 p.m.

Update: This article offers a bit more information for those interested.

Updatex2: And this article has a bit more.

The changing role of government supports new mayor's emphasis on IT

No surprise, that headline, coming from anyone who has known me even just since I ran for Pepper Pike City Council, but Mayor Bain, at last week's Road & Safety meeting, made it clear that he aspires to bring the City into the 21st century, if not the second decade of it as well, too.

This article, "The changing role of government," backs up this prioritization. An excerpt:

In Governing’s November 2011 edition (p 20), there was an article entitled “Full-Service Government Comes to an End,” by Paul W. Taylor. The article focused on the many requests that come through for government employees to resolve. In particular, he noted that in Longmont, CO, “an internal analysis showed that up to 38% of the police departments calls for service did not need a uniformed officer – they needed a neighbor.”

This is only one example, but it raises a large question: Should government become an “information clearinghouse,” helping citizens find and act on information, as well as be a service provider? Should local government become a significant information and services hub, linking citizens to the most appropriate community resources for their needs?

If you received a robo-call from the City informing you about this week's garbage pick-up and that the City Hall is open today, then you know that the mayor is already trying to make good on the above.

What more should be done? But also - where do you draw the line?

And we thought Pepper Pike had competition?

Fifteen (15!) residents vie for one open city council seat! And, as the Press Papers describes it, the process is looking to be very open and public:

Previous council candidate appointment interviews were conducted in executive session – closed to the public.

Council will meet with the candidates at 8 a.m. on Saturday and on Jan. 21 in 20-minute sessions in the council conference room in City Hall. The council members will rank the candidates in the first meeting, asking their top four or five to return for the second round of interviews. After finishing up the interviews, council will meet in executive session to go over each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses before choosing someone to appoint Jan. 23.

“It’s a new process,” he said. “I think, in the long run, this is the route to go with (council appointments) … In the past, most of these interviews were done in executive sessions, but these days, we feel they should be done in the open.”

Good for them, and the public.

On the City website: "Remarks of Mayor Bain Upon Being Sworn into Office, Monday, January 2, 2012"

Nice. So those who could not attend can read - here.

Upcoming Pepper Pike City Council meetings & news items

Mailed out tonight:

Greetings.

A quick rundown:

1. This week's Road & Safety/Finance & Planning meeting is scheduled for its usual day (1/11/12, second Wednesday of every month) but will be starting at 8pm.  You can see the agenda here or via the attached document (a pdf).

Please note: For those who may be interested in this topic, the agenda lists "Sterling Lakes/Brainard Traffic Issue" as an item under the heading, "Discussion."

2. There is a regular City Council meeting next week on 1/18/12. No agenda yet.

3. The podcast of five new mayors on the WCPN Sound of Ideas show, including Mayor Bain, can be heard here.

4. The Chagrin Solon Sun's article on Mayor Bain can be read here.

5. Detailed property tax information for Pepper Pike property owners can be found here.

6. Vote-by-mail applications (vote by mail voting begins January 31 - hard to believe!) can be found here.

Vote-by-mail for 3/6/12 primary opens JANUARY 31

And remember, please: you will NOT be receiving, in the mail, an application to vote-by-mail for the March primary. You have to get the application yourself - either by picking it up (some senior centers have them, libraries and other public places, or you can get it at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections - I will also check to see if we are allowed to have them at City Hall) or going online, printing it out and sending it to our County's BOE.

Again, the "opening" date for voting by mail for the March 6 elections is January 31.

If you are not registered to vote or need to modify your registration in any other way prior to voting in March, the last day upon which you can do that is February 6.

Here's the Cuyahoga County Board of Election site for vote by mail info.

New NE Ohio mayors - including ours! - on Sound of Ideas tomorrow morning

From the WCPN website:

Long hours, squeezed budgets and thousands of demanding bosses: Being mayor of any town isn't easy. Join us as we talk with new mayors from Northeast Ohio communities. What motivated them to run and, now that they're in office, how will they keep residents happy? We'll ask about their plan for filling potholes and filling the city's coffers. Local mayors, Thursday morning at 9:00 on The Sound of Ideas. 


Holly Brinda, Elyria
Brad Sellers, Warrensville Heights
Richard Bain, Pepper Pike
Tim DeGeeter, Parma
Chase Ritenauer, Lorain

Call or write in with kudos, comments or questions. 

Inuaguration Day and the start of 2012 in Pepper Pike

No matter the weather yesterday, a lovely crowd of residents attended the swearing-in of Mayor Richard Bain, two new Councilmen - Tony Gentile, Jim LeMay and the incumbent, Gail Mayland.  Here's what it looked like outside:

 And here's Mayor Bain giving brief comments afterwards:

One note about this coming year that I've yet to see mentioned in the media: the merger study timeline has been extended by one year.  According to at least two people who were present at the meeting where this decision was made, the quantity of information demanded by the study and the possibility that the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission will apply for Local Government Innovation Fund money to help pay for the study factored into the decision.

What this means practically for residents of the four communities (Moreland Hills, Orange Village, Pepper Pike and Woodmere), is that there will be no vote in relation to the merger concept in November 2012.

Quick Reminder: Swearing-in 1/2, Special Council Session 1/3

Happy (almost) New Year!  Two quick reminders:

1. On Monday, January 2, 2012, Mayor-elect Ricard Bain, Council Member Gail Mayland and Councilmen-elect Jim Lemay and Tony Gentile will take oaths of office at 11:00 a.m. in City Council Chambers. All are welcome to attend.

2. On Tuesday, January 3, 2012, there will be a Special Council Meeting at 7:30 PM in the Pepper Pike City Hall Chambers. This meeting is open to the public. The agenda as it currently stands and is posted on the City website is here, HOWEVER, I understand that it will be updated to reflect a shorter list of legislative items due to additional review of the agenda by the incoming mayor.  That revised agenda will no doubt be posted at its earliest convenience.

22 year old becomes Mayor of Holyoke, MA ($120 million budget)

I love these stories.  From CBS:



And here in Pepper Pike, we just brought down the average of our electeds from about 69 in the year I ran, to about 66 after Scott Newell and I came onto Council and next year, around 59.  Ten year drop in two 2-year election cycles.

FWIW (aka "for what it's worth"): The 2010 Census says that Pepper Pike's median age (the middle value, not the average) is 49.2 (which happens to be almost exactly how old I am).

Unofficial 2011 Election Results for Pepper Pike Races

You can find anything you want to here. The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections slices & dices the numbers in multiple ways. I'm just including a couple of items. Hover over and then click on the first and second set of numbers to see a larger image, or you can visit the BOE website.

Mayor by category (leaving off the "0" totals for three categories which won't be final until November 29 - provisional, post-election & post-absentee):


                                                           Total/ %  /Election Day/Absentee

Council by category (ditto the "0" totals)

Voter turnout was outstanding for a municipal year, during which even people who eventually run for local office often have never even voted in.  From the BOE:

                                  Total Reg. Voters/Ballots Cast for Pg. 1, 2, 3/Turnout

0890 PEPPER PIKE -00-A                953 . 529 . 529 . 528 . . . 55.51
0891 PEPPER PIKE -00-B                888 . 534 . 534 . 534 . . . 60.14
0892 PEPPER PIKE -00-C                873 . 480 . 480 . 480 . . . 54.98
0893 PEPPER PIKE -00-D               1032 . 642 . 642 . 642 . . . 62.21
0894 PEPPER PIKE -00-E                925 . 548 . 548 . 548 . . . 59.24 

That's an average of about 58% (it was about 54% in 2009)!! Major kudos to the voters and of course the candidates.  Even with three statewide ballot items to vote on including SB5/Issue 2, this is an impressive off-year level of participation. 

FYI: Pepper Pike has about 2092 folks who pull Democratic ballots, 948 who pull Republican and then 1323 who don't vote in primaries and therefore are designated as "nonpartisan", and about 297 who are "no party"- those are folks who've registered to vote but have never voted in anything yet for a total number of voters of 4671 according to the BOE (there are a handful of minor party folks too).

For those who like to compare election results

Final, official results of the last municipal election in Pepper Pike:

From the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections:

Pepper Pike Council CITY OF PEPPER PIKE
Vote For Not More Than 4
(WITH 5 OF 5 PRECINCTS COUNTED)

JORDAN LEVENTHAL . . . . . . . .              637     8.61
PAULETTE MORGANSTERN. . . . . . .       1,463     19.77
SCOTT NEWELL . . . . . . . . .                 1,506    20.35
DAVID J. PORTMANN. . . . . . . .            1,043     14.09
FREDERICK I. TAFT. . . . . . . .                1,373     18.55
JILL MILLER ZIMON. . . . . . . .            1,379      18.63
Over Votes . . . . . . . . . 4
Under Votes . . . . . . . . . 3,123

IT'S 5:37PM ON TUESDAY: HAVE YOU VOTED YET!?! (And info on several City meetings)

Good afternoon on this gorgeous election day! (I love love love election day - always have - remember the machines with the big black and red levers that had to be pulled!?)

Very quick hits:

1. THANK YOU for voting if you've already done so, and if you haven't yet, you can STILL VOTE until 7:30pm (hint hint hint).  It's not just local candidates on the ballot but statewide issues and the Orange schools levy.  You can find your polling location here and then head on over to either Garfield Church or Church of the Western Reserve (where I poll sat for 2.5 hours first thing this morning for the school levy!)

2. TOMORROW NIGHT: Road & Safety/Finance & Planning meeting at 7:30pm in the Council chambers, open to the public as always. You can read the agenda here or see the attached document.  One highlight is sure to be the department heads making budget presentations in preparation for the 2012 budget and the five-year forecast.

3. ALSO TOMORROW NIGHT: After the regular meeting, there is a Special Session of Council being held to discuss a specific proposed appropriation.  It is described in the agenda for those who are interested.

4. NEXT TUESDAY EVENING: Finance Oversight Subcommittee meeting: 7pm in the Council chambers. Open to the public. The agenda is here.  There has been some debate as to what the scope of this committee should be so if you are interested in that, I would strongly recommend attending. Last year, the committee stuck to reviewing month to month and year over year revenues and expenditures with discussion of red flags and other items. This year, this is discussion about the committee more broadly discussing cost-cutting and revenue raising needs as well as possibly being or converting to an audit committee.

5. NEXT WEDNESDAY EVENING: City Council Meeting, 8pm. Public, open, no agenda yet.  Council chambers.

Thank you as always for letting me serve the City and have a great week.

Thoughts on 9/29/11 CVT Article, "Council balked at putting road levy on ballot"

I emailed the following to CVT editor David Lange and to our intrepid Pepper Pike reporter, Sali McSherry. I'm appreciative of their coverage of the City and its concerns and I wanted to send them my thoughts rather than just have them on this blog.

For those of you who have not read the article, you can read it here:

Chagrin Valley Times, "Council balked at putting road levy on ballot"

Dear Mr. Lange and Sali,

I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to share a few comments with you about the 9/29/11 article about the recommendations in the Pepper Pike Finance Review Committee (“FRC”) report. I provide these comments with all due respect and consider this communication to be public, should you have any interest in publishing it in some way (as an LTE perhaps). I am not suggesting that you do that, it's entirely up to you of course. I will, however, be sharing these thoughts on my city council blog.  I am fully aware of the frustration many residents have expressed with the state of the City and Council's role in that - I often share or even initiate that frustration.  So I wanted to highlight a few other pieces of contextual information that I believe further explain how situations have unfolded.

My thoughts:

Released Today: National League of Cities City Fiscal Conditions Report

You can read the report here.  You can read many reports about the report just by searching on "National League of Cities survey." I'll spare you all the links I could give you.  From the NLC (but read the whole thing):

The report reveals that general city revenues are continuing to fall, with a projected -2.3% decrease by the end of 2011. This is the fifth straight year of declines in revenue with probable further declines in 2012.

The revenue decline is mainly due to the suppressed property market that is negatively impacting property tax revenue. Property tax collections are expected to decline by -3.7% with further declines likely in 2012 and 2013.

Income tax receipts are also experiencing a decrease of -1.6%. Sales tax receipts remained largely flat, but this is at last year's level which saw the worst decrease in sales tax revenue in 15 years.

Cities are responding by cutting personnel (72%), delaying infrastructure projects (60%) and increasing service fees (41%). One in three (36%) cities report modifications to employee health care benefits.

There is a wealth of information on this page, also from the NLC, especially if you want to get the sense of just how not alone we are, no matter who is mayor. 

What choices do you want your elected officials to make? Which ones don't you want your elected officials to make? Don't be shy.

Mark Your Calendars: Candidates + Issues Night, September 15th

The Pepper Pike Civic League's candidates and issues events are THE best way for you to see the people who are running to take care of our City and, more important, ask them any question you like, and consider their responses and reactions as you consider how to vote. With an open mayor's seat and three Council seats up this year, this is one event you will not want to miss (and will want to be sure your neighbors know about).

From the Pepper Pike Civic League:

CANDIDATES & ISSUES FORUM

Thursday, September 15

7:00 to 9:30 p.m. ‒ Brady Middle School

(Located on Gail Allison Drive off Chagrin Boulevard at the rear of the Orange School Campus)

Sponsored by the Pepper Pike Civic League • Open to all residents

“Promoting Good Citizenship Since 1957”

The Forum is an excellent opportunity for voters to meet, hear, and question candidates for elected office.  Encourage your family and friends to attend!!!

AGENDA

1.    Pepper Pike Civic League ‒ Brief business meeting for the presentation of new Trustees; presentation of Officers; and an update on the League’s finances and activities.

2.    Candidates ‒ Candidates for the following elected offices have been invited to make brief presentations concerning their candidacy:

1. Pepper Pike City Mayor
2. City Council
3. Orange School Board

VOTE

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Check the website at www.boe.cuyahogacounty.us or call 216-443-3100.