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Sam Miller said something last week and it has given me hope (albeit a glimmer, but hope nonetheless).

As some of you may know, I’ve spent a great deal of time - beginning with my campaign for county commissioner and continuing to present day - working on a proposal for county government reform. It was the central focus of my commissioner campaign and during the election cycle it was a topic that my opponent County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and I frequently discussed.

At the time I was under the impression that Jimmy was just paying lip service to the concept, but after the campaign was over, his ally in all things Democratic, Frank Russo, called me and asked if I was serious about reforming our county’s method of governance.  He told me that Jimmy was interested in looking at a way to move our non-chartered system into a structure that was better-designed for today and capable of addressing the future. I told him I was interested and he asked that I put a proposal together.

Since that time I developed a draft for circulation that I’ve passed to as many interested parties as I can find. I’ve talked with the foundations, with county officials and even members of the local MSM - all of whom have responded favorably. Their answer is universal:

This county needs a charter, but how do you expect to actually get the voters to support one? There have been numerous, well-intentioned, fully-financed previous attempts all of which have failed either on the election day or prior to reaching the ballot.

The answer in my mind has more to do with informing the electorate than it does with the actual charter itself. I’ve excerpted the proposal’s summary (the complete draft is available here) which focuses not on a charter, but the process I think makes sense to accomplish the objective:

Cuyahoga County has operated under a system of government designed by the state legislature over 150 years ago. While our county and the issues facing us have evolved, our method of governance has not. It is with this premise in mind that we should consider the review, discussion about and improvement of the way Cuyahoga County will be governed today and into the future.

Reasons for suggesting a county charter range from the improved delivery of county services to the necessity of limited government growth. Some believe that county offices should be consolidated, while others think that the county should take the lead in providing services currently available and duplicated at the municipal level. Some suggest that a method of zero-based budgeting should be undertaken to legitimate the cost of government services. Another group recently attempted development of a charter that called for regional representation and an elected county executive. These are just a few among the many ideas that have been talked about by community leaders and citizens in recent years.

While many of the ideas discussed have merit, none have come to fruition. It is likely that their failure is tied to the partisan nature of the groups proposing the changes. If good government is the goal of a charter review and development program, then it is necessary that it be implemented by an organization that embraces governance without consideration of party and operates in a completely transparent manner. This proposal suggests just such a program.

Although the perceived end goal of this program is the adoption of a new county charter, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that following review and community discussion a recommendation will be made to continue operating under the existing system. Though such a possibility is unlikely, it is believed that this program will provide the forum through which a completely unbiased recommendation can be made.

In any case, over the last few weeks my efforts have stalled. Fewer phone calls are being returned and the window of opportunity is rapidly drawing to a close. Frankly, I have one meeting scheduled for next week and it was likely to be the last one I would take on this issue, but then Sam Miller said something.

So, I’m forwarding Sam a copy of this proposal to see if he’ll help me move the process forward. Here’s hoping that he will.