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Last night I had the opportunity to participate in a Meet the Bloggers session at Gypsy Beans & Baking Company (no site yet so here’s a review from Blogging Ohio) with Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis.  I really enjoyed this first experience on the other side of the table with MTB - especially because Jim is one of my favorite people in public office.

Instead of spending his time discussing his accomplishments like:

> Reviving the county’s treasury from the Frank Gaul SAFE crisis of the mid-1990’s

> Implementing systems and processes that have revolutionized the Treasurer’s office

> Hiring the right people (instead of the typical patronage pay-offs) to work in the office

> Overseeing a county investment portfolio that out performs most public AND PRIVATE holdings

He chose to talk about all of the new things he’s working on like:

> Solving the foreclosure crisis in Cuyahoga County

> Payments in lieu of taxes for non-profits

> Developing an alternative to payday loans for low income individuals

> Creating a scholarship program for local students to attend local colleges and trade schools

I’m sure that George Nemeth from Brewed Fresh Daily will have the podcast up soon on the MTB site.  I recommend that you listen, it will restore your faith in government - at least as far as the Cuyahoga County Treasurer’s office is concerned.