This will be a year of big decisions for Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, this region and the state of Ohio:
The state will elect a governor, a United States senator, two Supreme Court justices and four other statewide officials. The Third Frontier high-tech investment program will be up for voter renewal. Cuyahoga County will choose its first chief executive and an 11-member governing council -- then ask them to assemble a new government with thousands of employees, a $1.4 billion budget and responsibility for the most fragile of our neighbors.
Cleveland faces a succession of critical decisions that will affect its physical appearance, prospects and character for a generation. Where to put the newly authorized casino? How to design the medical mart and convention center to maximize their impact? What should happen with the port -- short- and long-term -- and how will that affect other uses of the waterfronts? How to make Public Square a signature civic space? Can we finally get an Inner Belt Bridge plan that both moves traffic efficiently and pleases the eye, and then get state transportation officials moving on other projects, including the Opportunity Corridor and the West Shoreway?
Regionally, how do we position ourselves to be more competitive, not with people in the next town or the next county, but with people across the country and around the world? How do we nurture public schools -- especially in Cleveland, the region's largest source of future consumers and employees -- to help every child compete? How do we raise the region's educational level and thereby its odds of economic success? Can literally hundreds of mayors, trustees, council members and commissioners learn to think outside their political boxes to stretch limited public resources?
How do we maintain our enviable quality of life -- the parks, fresh water and cultural icons, the hospitals, universities and foundations, the immeasurable, but very real, civic spirit that puts the great in Greater Cleveland? How do we reinforce assets such as Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, the NASA Glenn Research Center and Cleveland's waterfronts that undergird economic success? How do we celebrate our diversity and make it a selling point?
No shortage of big questions, is there?
How wisely they are answered depends in no small measure on those of you reading this editorial. Citizens who are informed and engaged are essential to civic success.
Those of you in Cuyahoga County proved that last year when you voted overwhelmingly to change county government. You decided you had had enough of cronyism and inefficiency. You saw through the smokescreen of politicians out to protect their turf, and you refused to be divided along old fault lines. You said "yes" to a new beginning -- and since Election Day, more than 1,000 of you have stepped forward to help write an instruction manual for the new government.
In short, you made the difference -- and continue to do so.
We, too, hope to make a difference in 2010. An editorial page is supposed to instigate discussion, prod change and seed ideas in the community it serves. As the voice of an institution firmly rooted in Greater Cleveland and inextricably linked to its future, we have an obligation to try to make it better.
That will not always endear us to those who hold power or to all of our diverse readers, but we'd like to think that in 2009, this newspaper helped: pass Issue 6; bring more transparency to the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority and to the med mart deliberations; encourage government collaboration; and pass a film-tax credit, among other things. So we will keep trying.
A year ago in this space, we laid out three broad challenges for our region that would anchor this editorial page. They remain critical: Revitalize and rebrand Cleveland, the region's core city and face to the world. Reform local government. Rebuild human capital.
Almost everything we collectively need to do flows from those touchstones. Here are some examples of what we mean -- and of what can be done, even in small steps, this year.
1. Break down the closed doors that feed cynicism and stifle creativity by involving citizens in major civic decisions, including med mart and waterfront planning.
2. Hire professionals to run the Port of Cleveland with engaged oversight from a public board committed to sensible maritime and logistics planning, crucial public financing and realistic ways of getting people to the water -- beginning this summer. Develop a long-term plan that makes sense regionally and maximizes the value of the waterfronts.
3. Build on Mayor Frank Jackson's sustainability summit to start recasting the rust belt as the water belt.
4. Develop a plan to invest local casino revenues in catalytic civic projects.
5. Celebrate innovation and entrepreneurs. Renew the Third Frontier. Promote NASA Glenn as a hub of alternative energy development.
1. Demand open, transparent planning for county government's transition, buttressed by candidates out to do what's right, not what will help win their next race. Welcome new faces and ideas to the political arena.
2. Forget turf. Every unit of government, including school districts, should start collaborating with a neighbor, or better yet, a cluster of them. Tasks done best at scale -- think regional libraries and storm water management -- should be.
3. Get Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and his Republican challenger, John Kasich, to commit to plans to reinvigorate Ohio's urban centers, buttress economic growth and encourage regional cooperation.
4. Insist on easier public access to records on lobbying, campaign finance and corporations.
5. Start the conversation on eliminating term limits, a disaster for Ohio.
1. Insist on real boldness in CEO Eugene Sanders' plans to transform the Cleveland schools; no more window dressing. Marshal corporate, philanthropic and community support for whatever best serves children in those schools.
2. Support initiatives to help every student prepare for post-secondary education and to develop lifelong habits that promote good health.
3. Encourage immigration by opening a welcome center in Cleveland and marketing the region to immigrant investors.
4. Expand the table in every civic endeavor to include more women, minorities, newcomers and young people and create a culture of collaboration. Accelerate efforts to attract artists and other creative, risk-taking professionals.
5. Use the Imperial Avenue killings to renew community bonds and recognize that public safety is a partnership between attentive police and engaged citizens.
There are quite obviously many other issues that demand this community's and this page's attention. You have brought some of them to our attention, and we'll keep listening and responding.
Greater Cleveland has many problems, but also many assets -- most notably, talented, committed people who are dedicated to building a better future here. By working together, with open minds and mutual respect, we can get there.