WENDELL ROBINSON . COM

I got a couple of emails that arrived in the hopper last night inquiring as to my whereabouts yesterday for the Cool Cleveland dialogue session at the Cleveland Public Library regarding the potential county sales tax increase to fund a new convention center (among other things if Jimmy Dimora gets his way).

Photo courtesy of Brewed Fresh Daily

I truly wanted to attend the event (even had it listed as “important” on my Outlook calendar) - mostly because so many of the folks that I’ve come to call friends through the blogosphere were involved with the event’s coordination - but because of a work schedule that bottle-necked yesterday, I couldn’t get downtown.  I’ve read some of my colleagues’ reviews and found what I thought would be the result -

people have questions, and people are pissed.  Unfortunately our hired help (2/3 of the commissioners) don’t seem to be interested in resolving this problem.  And while a “petition drive is underway” to force the increase to be placed on the November ballot - good luck with that by the way, I’m concerned that no one seems to have addressed the real opporunity here (and for my friends who attended yesterday, please correct me if I’m wrong) - which I would have broached if I had the opportunity to be there.

The opportunity here is not this issue (a tax increase) - it’s what this issue represents (perhaps a poor choice of words…) - it represents that the people of this county are not being represented by those we’ve elected to do our bidding.  Rather than waste our efforts on a petition drive that most certainly will fail (not because it is not worthy of being put to a vote of the people, but because not nearly enough time is available to collect the necessary signatures), we should instead be focusing on finding and drafting the best possible candidates to challenge both Commissioners Jones and Hagan next year.  I’m likely to support Jones regardless (though I do believe that his contrarian stance on this issue is more tied to elective politics than it is to his true feelings), but Hagan is a different story. 

Questions whether Hagan intends to seek another term are circulating throughout the county, and one of the names most often mentioned as a potential heir is that of Cleveland City Councilman Joe Cimperman.  Cimperman whose downtown district would most benefit from a new center is likely to quietly support the project, but don’t look for him to be out front - he’s thinking about next year.  I’m not sold on whether Joe is the best choice for commissioner, but I can tell you that his support from local developers means that he will back this tax increase - so if the people of this county want better representation, they should start looking elsewhere.

Frankly I don’t care if the best candidate for the job is a Republican (in fact, what may make the most sense is an independent candidate that can stay clear of all of the party BS - and to get an independent on the ballot will require some heavy-lifting in terms of securing petition signatures).  A successful candidate cannot be a party hack (I’ll accept that moniker), but someone well-known and financially capable of attracting strong support.  I would gladly help the right individual and I think most of the folks that are so pissed about this tax increase would do the same.

So why not do what is most effective in motivating politicians, threaten their jobs.  Rather than mount a DOA petition drive, why not mount one that will put the best possible challenger on the ballot to take away the commissioners’ jobs?