There are a great many problems within the County that I could chose from, but I tried to narrow it down to the bottom 10. There was the issue of the Juvenile Detention Center construction and on-going issues with treatment of young people who break the law within the facility. The racial disparity that still exists in the county and the disproportionate impact of poverty on African Americans. The inability to pass legislation that would cross municipal jurisdictions to improve the lives of all County residents. The expanding power of quasi-government agencies without elected oversight such as the RTA, CMHA, Land Bank, and the MetroParks. The bogus use of tax dollars to renovate playgrounds for the rich and the crazy deal made with Greater Cleveland Congregations to withdraw the petition drive over funding for the Q Glass Menagerie project. The huge outlays of money to upgrade County computers, data, and communication systems that seem to be stuck on endless repeat. The cozy relationship with Hyland software by County staff. There is the on-going question over why did the County Executive intervene to get a MetroHealth employee fired from the jail? Anyway, there are plenty of scandals to probe. It is too bad there are not more journalists in this community to investigate all these issues.
I narrowed it down to the issues that impact the largest number of people in 2018 or had the most serious consequences. Here are my bottom list.
10. Contracting process. Many of the scandals involve improper awarding of contacts. For all that they did to protect tax payer dollars in the reform, there are still major issues. Even with County Council oversight things are messed up. I have seen really disorganized and near bankrupt groups being awarded contracts out of convenience or a lack of competition. I have seen County employees steer contracts to groups that they favor or because staff were unfairly influenced by powerful people in the community. I don't know how to protect taxpayers, but the current system gives too much power to the bureaucrats. There is favoritism in awarding contracts that is ripe for abuse and does not serve the best interest of tax payers.
9. Chief of Staff issues. Have we resolved the fact that we were paying the County Executive's Chief of Staff to go to school or to not be in Cuyahoga County doing work on our behalf? Are we sure that this cannot happen again with the new Chief of Staff? It brings up the competency of the County Executive who allowed this situation to exist, and the judgement of the people he has hired who thought that splitting time in Columbus could benefit Cuyahoga County taxpayers.
8. No Competition in the Election. This may not be a scandal, but it is troubling. There was no real candidate to challenge the County Executive or in the County Council during the general election. Are the elected jobs so useless that it is not worth competing or have the parties taken control of the process so that they award the jobs to those who have earned it? Are we electing the best and the brightest to solve problems or are we electing the people who we are told to by the party? What incentive do they have to serve the constituents if they have a guaranteed job?
7. Hiring Practices and Overtime. The hiring procedures are not a unique issue with the County since most government agencies provide jobs to friends and donors. My experience is that the County hiring process is unfair and full of patronage, nepotism and based on who you know. This would be fine for the mom and pop shoe store, but these are tax payer dollars. We need people who want to serve and want to solve problems in these jobs. We want someone who cares giving out food stamps and not someone who would sell those stamps for 50% of face value. We want people who care about the elderly in those jobs not someone who would say, "I am sorry, but since the senior does not have a fixed address, we cannot prove she is a resident of the County so I can't help her." I do not see how merit is involved in the hiring process. Then there was the matter of paying salaried staff for overtime which the County Executive had authorized as a part of this scandal. Then the Executive just re-wrote the new personnel rules himself. Strange?
6. Homeless Families. I have not kept on this issue since 2017, but things were bad at that time. The City Mission twitter feed still says they are turning away families everyday. I am sure that if things had improved, government would have championed it on the front page of the Plain Dealer. It seems that this is a scandal that no one is covering in this city. Children have no place to go. There are no services for pregnant women. Families are regularly walking the streets during the afternoon and weekend without a place to be inside. School is suffering and children do not have a safe place to rest their head or assurance they will have a place tomorrow. That shit can really mess with your head--even an eight year old's mind.
5. Children and Family Services. A number of children have died after the County opened up a file on their caretakers. They are overwhelmed because of the opioid crisis, but they have either not asked for enough personnel or they are poorly managed or both. This should be a topic of discussion every week at the Council. Again, we need more journalists to find out what is wrong with this agency.
4. Education Disparity and Brain Drain. We have 20 school districts and now a bunch of charter schools with every level of quality within the County. If a child is born on the east side of Cleveland, they will most likely get a poor education while those in Beachwood get a top notch education. We are destroying the future by not preparing these kids for the future. We are selfishly maintaining geographic segregation with our tax dollars to assure that our own kids are taken care of while others use 30 year old textbooks. We have full time nurses and computer classes and guidance counselors at one school while in other schools those are luxuries. This cannot be solved school district to school district and the State has washed their hands of this situation. It is up to the County to bring answers. The results of not doing this is a workforce ill-prepared to work and those who are lucky enough to win the education lottery move out of the state. Who wants to stay in a state that is poorly governed with high taxes paying for assistance to those who can only find low paying jobs?
3. Housing Instability in the County. There are many issues within the County housing stock from the sharp rise in property values to the large number of exceptions made. Some journalist needs to examine this issue to see if there was impropriety. Is there a lead issue in the suburbs like in Cleveland? The loss of the Cleveland Tenants Organization to protect the rights of people has to have an impact on the rental market. The vacant and abandoned property along with the empty land that pock mark our suburban landscape are all issues that need further investigation. This is another under reported story that we never got our head back above water after the crisis.
2. East Cleveland. It is still in free-fall and there is no hope in sight. They still have only 30% of the population paying any taxes with needs for about 300% of the population to pay for the needs. The population is shrinking in East Cleveland, but so is the viability of the city. The streets are bad, there are few municipal services and public safety spending is low. A mostly African American population is suffering and no one in the County is doing anything.
1. The Jail. This is by far the worst scandal facing the county. The conditions are deplorable and guards do not seem to have much supervision. The bail system has not been fixed, and people are dying in jail. We have not fixed the need for mental health issues at the jail, and the health care system is broken. Overall, the jail is a scandal of epic proportions, and one that our new shiny government has ignored or covered up or both. They have meetings to discuss the issue, but no one is taking responsibility for the scandal and proposing immediate or long term fixes. It is all talk, talk, talk.
by Brian Davis
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