Gloria Ferris

Before writing this post, I googled “define Public Hearing.”  The definitions were varied, and some were specific to situations.  This one probably fits my definition of what I thought a public hearing was better than the others, but parts of all of them would make a whole–”a formal meeting held pursuant to public notice by the governing body or planning agency, intended to inform and obtain public comment, prior to taking action in accordance with this act”.  Let it suffice to say that I think the County’s public hearings often fall very short of transparent and effective government, but that is a post for another day.  The purpose of this post is to show why, after the “public hearing,” I was more determined than ever that the “people’s right to vote” was essential to the public process.  

The public hearing consisted of three parts: Christopher Kennedy’s 45-minute presentation on the Medical Mart although it appeared rather thin concerning specifics, but  gave beautiful shots of the other Vornado Realty holdings that MMPI manages as well as some that they do not.  There was a passing reference to education and jobs in relation to Medical Mart coming to Cleveland but not much substance.  The investment of $2 million for architechural and site studies was stated, plus another $3 million investment as well.  It was rather vague on which private entity would be providing the private investment for the project, but basically it worked out to $5 million.

Then Commissioner Hagan laid down the rules for the public portion of the hearing.  No questions or comments were to be made concerning the Medical Mart presentation or directed to Mr. Kennedy–rather, all comments and questions needed to be addressed to the commissioners themselves.  It would have been extremely difficult to ask a question of Mr. Kennedy since he left by a side door immediately following his presentation.  I did not see him return.  I found it quite odd that 45 minutes of everyone’s time was taken up with a presentation that we could not then address or question.  My questions would have been these: On the issue of education, how would the Medical Mart collaborate with existing colleges and universities and medical institutions to strengthen our image as a health care industry leader–essentially making Cleveland the destination for students interested in the health care industry; the second part of that question would have been how far would the Medical Mart people reach into the schools here in Cuyahoga County–what would the opportunities be for high school students, and how would early childhood health education become a part of the collaboration.  Dreaming, aren’t I?  This is simply a private corporation whose only commitment will be to shareholders and not to strengthening our community.  Given the investment that our county was being asked to commit to the project, I felt that we should have  a return on investment and I believe that benefits in capital add more value.

Mr. Hagan also asked that county employees should shift their seating so that the public would have easy access to the microphones.  It was interesting to note the number of people who shifted to make room for private citizens. Public comments and questions were limited to two minutes.  The Put It On The Ballot people had decided earlier to limit our remarks to the “right to vote on tax issues” and we pretty much stayed on task, much to our credit since there were so  many unanswered questions about the project, but since we weren’t allowed to question the presentation, our task was made easier.  There were many speakers but I am going to limit myself to four. The first will be Mayor Georgine Welo who essentially said that she wanted to give the county commissioners their first 25 cents towards this wonderful project.  I feel for the people of South Euclid when their mayor doesn’t realize that the actual tariff is $7.75 not the 25 cents that she stated in her “oh so cute” two minutes. Be glad she doesn’t handle the books. The second will be George Forbes who spoke as head of the NAACP. Although we had been told by Mr. Hagan to limit our comments to the matter at hand. Mr Forbes was allowed to address the fact that Christopher Kennedy’s “team” showed  a “bunch of white people” and that Mr. Forbes was here to say that black people needed jobs and he was putting everyone on notice.  I found it interesting that Mr. Forbes did not address the regressive nature of a sales tax as did his counterpart in Hamilton County.

Then a lady rose to speak who had taken her lunch hour to come to this hearing, used her weekly budget for lunch to pay for parking in the belief that she would find answers to her questions.  She was disappointed that she was leaving without answers and that all she could do was still hope that the Medical Mart would do what was promised.  The last speaker, was a gentleman that agreed that we needed jobs but that we needed skilled jobs and not transitional entry level jobs.  He implored the County Commissioners to make sure that that was the type of jobs we would be getting.  

During this proceeding, I felt extremely uncomfortable.  There appeared to be a very antagonistic tension in the air between county employees, union workers, and private citizens who came looking for answers to some very pertinent issues.  The tension was palpable, and it was oh so apparent from the body language and the looks on the commissioners’ faces that we were all there because they HAD to have a public hearing.  It certainly was not because they were considering anything that anyone had to say-postively or in opposition to the project. Anyone can disagree with me, but when the public hearing closed, all three commissioners spoke and the vote was immediately taken.  Consideration, deliberation, done long before any public hearing was held.  I had the distinct impression if they could have had no public hearing that would have been the course of action.

Me, on the other hand, I am going to deliberate and consider my next post concerning the speeches, demeanor, and the arrogance of the county commissioners before writing the next installment.