CLEVELAND, Ohio – When Gov. Mike DeWine was at Mar-a-Lago with Republican governors, DeWine said he planned to name a new U.S. senator this week.

We’re talking about who may replace Vance on Today in Ohio.

Listen online here.

Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston.

You’ve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what we’re thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up here: https://joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.

You can now join the conversation. Call 833-648-6329 (833-OHTODAY) if you’d like to leave a message we can play on the podcast.

Here‘s what we’re asking about today:

With JD Vance having formally resigned as U.S. Senator to become vice president, what are we hearing from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on who will get the job?

Dr. Amy Acton’s announcement last week that she will run for governor as a Democrat made us wonder what it would take for her to win. What did reporter Jeremy Pelzer find out?

2025 is looking like it will be the year that energy takes center state in Ohio, with power capacity dwindling and the need for new generation growing. Some talk about nuclear. Some talk natural gas. Some talk about solar. Why is the Ohio Supreme Court involved in a proposal for some solar operations already in process?

Separately, another solar proposal is kaput. What is it, and what happened to that one?

Why are so many people suddenly seeking to be substitute teachers in Ohio?

A little more than a week before Joe Biden leaves office, the feds came through in a big way for Cleveland and the plans to reshape its lakefront. How big?

During the holidays, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb invoked the Modell Law in a letter to the Browns, telling them they have to offer the team for sale before moving it to Brook Park. What was the Browns’ response last week?

Chris Ronayne is only halfway through his term as Cuyahoga County executive, but he seems like he plans to stick around a while. What did he announce Friday?

How secretive was Cleveland City Council is drawing up the new ward maps that were approved last week, now that we’ve had time to talk to some experts?

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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.

Chris Quinn (00:00.73)

We’re a week away from Inauguration Day. Things are getting hot in the political front. Some of the stuff we’ll be talking about on Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Laura Johnston, Lisa Garvin and Leila Tassi. Before we start, Leila, you are out at the Metro Parks toboggan shoot on Friday evening and encountered something that sounds horrific. Of course, the Metro Parks, as they always do,

refuse to be transparent and help people understand what happens so parents don’t know if there’s a serious danger out there. What do you know that we’ll be exploring more in reporting today?

Leila (00:30.016)

to be transparent and help you understand better.

Leila (00:40.716)

Well, so what happened is as we were arriving, probably around 630 quarter to seven on Friday night, we saw that there was an ambulance that was taking somebody away and they had delayed reopening the shoots for a while. So we had some time to talk to bystanders who to explain to us that it was the first run of the night. And just as they released the toboggan down the shoot, the folks who were down at the end, the workers who were there to receive the toboggan called up

in a frantic tone to the top and said, stop, stop, stop. We don’t have the mats out yet. And these are the mats that are there to slow down the toboggan to a stop. So according to the bystanders, this toboggan sped off the end of the shoot and ejected the people on the toboggan. That’s what we were told. And that there were injuries.

So we tried to get to the bottom of this and Metro Parks wouldn’t tell us what happened.

Chris Quinn (01:42.466)

Of course not. Right. This is what they always do. They run a great system of parks. Brian Zimmerman has done all sorts of things to expand it. They’re the worst agency I’ve ever dealt with that is funded by tax dollars about transparency. Parents have a right to know if workers forgot to put those mats down because it may make you think twice about taking your kids there, especially if somebody ended up slamming into a tree or something. We’re going to get to the bottom of it. They always get forced into the sunshine.

It reminds me of last summer when all those hooligans were shooting guns at Edgewater and they refused to provide details for a couple of days. They were forced into the sunshine then. We’ll force them into sunshine today, but God, shame on these shame on Zimmerman for running an agency that tries to keep danger secret. Anyway, we’ll get to it. We’ll probably be talking about it again later. With JD Vance having formally resigned as a U.S. Senator to become

Leila (02:16.003)

Right.

Chris Quinn (02:39.78)

vice president. What are hearing Laura from Ohio Governor Mike Deline on when he will announce who gets the job?

Laura (02:47.388)

We don’t know yet when or who, but he’ll probably announce the appointee to the Senate seat sometime this week. So he spoke to reporters on Thursday night. He was alongside a bunch of other Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago down in Florida, President-elect Donald Trump’s estate. This is at least the second time he’s traveled there in the December, January period. He says he wants to name someone who will be a quote, worker in the Senate who understands the state and

Presumably the government will be a strong advocate willing and able to successfully run in 2026, which will be the special election and then a full six year term in 2028. Because obviously everyone’s very concerned about the makeup of the Senate and he doesn’t want to lose it to a Democrat.

Chris Quinn (03:34.05)

And we’ve been talking for a long time about who it’ll be. I’ve thought from the beginning that if John Husted, the lieutenant governor, it, it’s his. He’s been loyal to Mike DeWine and it would get him out of having to run at a brutal Republican primary for governor. now he seems like he’s the front runner, but DeWine has a history of surprisingness. We really have no idea who he’s going to name.

Laura (03:37.074)

Mm-hmm.

Laura (03:55.568)

Right. And we’ve talked about that before that you said has had this eye on the governor’s race for a very long time. He’s been expected to run in 2026. We’ve talked about Dave Yost. Now, Vivek Ramaswamy is fairly new to the Ohio political scene, never run for statewide office before, but is a darling of Trump. So that’s another name swirling out there. I think we’ve talked about Shane Timken before. So it’ll be interesting because this

appointment will have a huge effect on who Ohio’s next governor is.

Chris Quinn (04:27.696)

Okay, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. Speaking of who the next governor is, Dr. Amy Acton’s announcement last week that she will run for governor as a Democrat made us wonder what it would take for her to win. Reporter Jeremy Pelzer did a thorough look at this, got some great sourcing and laid it out. What did he find, Lisa?

Lisa (04:28.096)

you

Lisa (04:47.688)

he found optimism on one side and detraction on the other side. Not surprising, but he spoke with many supporters of Amy Acton, her detractors and political experts. And what he asked is, is her, you know, running going to help the Democratic party? Is it going to help candidates further down the ballot? So first of all, we talked about enthusiasm for Acton when she announced a whole bunch of people were excited. They know her from the pandemic. She walked us through it with, you know, calm and grace.

They say that the goodwill from her handling the pandemic endures even six years later. Former Ohio Democratic Chair David Pepper says backing, he’s backing her campaign. He says her ability to provoke or evoke responses from people is similar to that of Senator John Glenn. People come up, they feel they know her, they hug her. He says, you know, there is a core group of voters there and he thinks that this will spur some grassroots organizations to pop up across the state.

Jeremy also talked to former Ohio governor, Dick Celeste. He said that she shouldn’t run a trend traditional campaign and hire traditional consultants. She has to reestablish herself with voters post pandemic as you know, the same inspirational leader she was back then, but on the issues of today. Now, rebutting that Acton of course was a, had a target on her back from conservatives who were angry over her COVID shutdowns and other policies that still lingers.

GOP operative and attorney Scott Pullen said on X that this is going to doom her campaign. She’s going to raise tons of money and lose soundly to any Republican that runs against her. Republican consultant Ryan Stubenrauch says it’s a pipe dream to think that her time as Ohio health director will carry over to 2026. He says she’s not that exciting. He says maybe if LeBron James ran, he might get enough votes as a Democrat. Also, Pelzer asked whether, you know,

Will she succeed where other Democrats have failed? The traditional Democratic plan is to win major urban areas, a chunk of the suburbs, and limit Republican victory margins in rural areas. Pepper thinks she can do it. He pointed to the 2018 race where Richard Cordray lost to Mike DeWine by less than four percentage points. He could have won, he said, if he did well in the suburbs like Hillary Clinton did in 2016. And he thinks that’s something that Acton can build on.

Lisa (07:13.43)

Baldwin Wallace unit, ahead. No, no, be Baldwin Wallace acting president. Tom Sutton says that she really needs to reach rural Ohio. She has to get down to brass tacks. She has to go, she’s going on a listing tour. He says, you know, she needs to know what they want the government to do for them for across all constituencies.

Chris Quinn (07:13.74)

I, go ahead. No, I’m sorry. Go ahead.

Chris Quinn (07:35.434)

One of the interesting responses I thought comparing her to Celeste saying that she has to get a ground organization all through the state and get people impassioned seems like that’s the only way a Democrat can win. But it was pointed out that when Celeste did that, he’d already been running for years in different offices. So it wasn’t that he came out of nowhere, which is going to make this harder. I can say I sent out a text message to the 2700 plus people who get my morning texts about what we’re working on.

Lisa (07:52.49)

Mm-hmm.

Lisa (07:57.602)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (08:05.538)

mentioning Acton. And when I got back, you had the naysayers you would expect about COVID and how she did all the closings and things and they’ll never forget that. But what I also got was a whole lot of people very passionate. I love Amy Acton. I haven’t seen that kind of passion for a politician since Obama. I mean, it’s just, I love that woman. I’ll walk through fire for her. I want her to win.

Lisa (08:26.988)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (08:33.016)

And I think that’s what makes her different is everybody who remembers her comforting way during the pandemic when the anxiety was high. It’s years later and they still feel that way about her and can she activate that can she make it work. The other thing is for the people that criticize what she and the wine did that because in hindsight some of it was wrong closing schools as long as schools were closed.

some of the distancing stuff back when that was going on. Nobody knew they were doing the best they could with the limited information out there to keep everybody safe. Yeah, in hindsight, some of the stuff we did wasn’t a good idea, but in real time, nobody knew that they were trying to save lives. I just get it’s so ugly when people just damn, damn, damn everything they did when they were trying to save people and

Lisa (09:06.626)

Nope. Mm-hmm. What’s-

Lisa (09:26.561)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (09:30.794)

and ultimately a lot of what they did work.

Lisa (09:34.41)

Yeah, it’ll be interesting to see. And of course we’re a very red state and, you know, the people are saying that the traditional democratic plan won’t work. Democratic cities are losing population. They’re getting older and whiter. So she really does have to write a new playbook, I think, for this. And Ryan Stubenrock, the GOP consultant, he says, well, she was a great candidate for 2006, which is the last time we had a democratic governor. And he says that the demographics and political winds have changed in a way that’s never going.

back.

Chris Quinn (10:04.752)

It felt like they were almost trying to convince themselves that she’s not a viable candidate. I guarantee you she scares them because of that passion a large part of the population feels for her. And we talked last week, a lot of the kids that were at home watching will be a voting age when she’s running. So it’s all on her. She’s got to activate that. She’s got to renew it. But she is the different kind of candidate that could just break through.

Lisa (10:08.012)

Maybe.

Lisa (10:22.476)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (10:33.488)

Read Jeremy’s story. It’s very good stuff. Lots of good commentary in it. And you are listening to Today in Ohio. 2025 is looking like it will be the year that energy takes center stage in Ohio with power capacity dwindling and the need for new generation growing. Some talk about nuclear, some talk natural gas, some talk about solar. Laila, why is the Ohio Supreme Court involved in a proposal for some solar operations that were already in process?

Leila (11:01.486)

This kind of feels like the use of solar in Ohio is at a critical point because the Supreme Court is weighing in. They’re weighing the fate of these four major solar projects that could power hundreds of thousands of homes. So last week, the justices heard arguments on two contested permits, Harvey Solar, a 350 megawatt project in Licking County.

and South Branch Solar, a 130 megawatt project in Hancock County. Meanwhile, appeals are pending for the massive 800 megawatt Oak Run solar in Madison County and the rejection of Greene County’s 175 megawatt Kingwood solar. These cases highlight the growing tension between Ohio’s energy demands and local resistance of them. With data centers for tech giants like Google and Amazon driving up electricity usage,

Utilities warn the grid is nearing a breaking point, yet opponents of solar projects are arguing that they harm local economies. They spoil views and they pose environmental risks. Imagine that. And in one case, opponents claimed a solar farm could even disrupt local firefighting resources. The stakes here are obviously enormous. Solar developers say these projects will bring jobs, tax revenue, and much needed clean energy to Ohio.

But opposition is really strong. They’re bolstered by a 2021 state law giving local governments the power to block renewable projects while leaving oil, gas, and coal untouched. So the Supreme Court now with a 6-1 Republican majority has historically supported solar developments, but they face increasing pushback from rural communities and the leaders there.

Chris Quinn (12:47.578)

Yeah, it’s idiocracy. This is like anti-vaxxers. They’re coming out against solar, claiming all sorts of nonsense about it, the way RFK Jr. has claimed all sorts of nonsense about vaccines. These things are innocuous. They don’t really cause any harm. And it’s capturing the energy from the sun in a state that needs more energy. I can’t believe that these specious claims have risen to the level of argument before the Ohio Supreme Court.

which could kill them. And it’s just utter nonsense. Everything they’re saying about this. It’s I cannot believe the oil and gas industry is so powerful. It can spread this much misinformation, get people riled up believing it to the point where the Supreme Court is here in the case.

Leila (13:21.868)

Yes.

Lisa (13:35.914)

Yet people aren’t upset about us fracking for natural gas under our state resources, so go figure.

Chris Quinn (13:39.224)

Right? Right. And causing poison and earthquakes. It’s mind boggling that intelligent, thoughtful leaders in this state haven’t just said, stop, shut up. We’re not going to trade in misinformation and lunatic science. We’re going to move forward with a multifaceted energy campaign. These things might not happen because of complete and utter nonsense.

Leila (13:59.245)

Right.

Leila (14:04.566)

And it’s astonishingly short-sighted to reject solar projects while continuing to favor fossil fuels. Solar energy represents a long-term investment in cleaner air, lower emissions, and energy independence. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, they not only contribute to climate change, but they also leave us vulnerable to volatile markets and geopolitical pressures.

Lisa (14:08.065)

Hmm.

Leila (14:29.208)

So blocking solar in favor of the status quo, just ignores the fact that renewable energy is rapidly becoming the more cost effective and sustainable choice. It’s like clinging to a typewriter while the rest of the world is on laptops.

Chris Quinn (14:43.556)

I just this doesn’t negate gas though. I mean, it’s an extra thing. Let’s build solar farms. Let’s increase our capacity. But the oil and gas industry is so powerful. They bought off the state, they’ve had laws passed and I cannot believe we’re here. It was today in Ohio separately, Laura, another solar proposal is dead because of this kind of nonsense. What is it and what happened to it?

Laura (15:08.146)

Yeah, there’s just too much opposition. It’s impossible to fight everyone at the same time. This is Birch Solar, a 2300-acre, 300-megawatt project that was supposed to be in Allen and August County in Northwest Ohio. It was supposed to go before the Supreme Court, just like so many other cases, but basically just gave up. So it’s been working since 2020 here.

Lisa (15:27.67)

So yeah.

Laura (15:30.802)

It applied from the permit in the Ohio Power Siting Board in February of 2021. They had deals with landowners, each set to earn between $10,000 and $50,000, would have paid out $2.7 million annually in property taxes, and they were supposed to produce 150,000 to 300,000 homes worth of power over the course of a year. This seems like a pretty good project, but it started, obviously, from the very beginning, was under criticism.

Lisa (15:32.738)

the Ohio Power Site in February of 2021. And fields and landowners, each set to earn $10,000, $50,000, would have paid out $2.7 million annually in property taxes, and they were supposed to produce $150,000 to $300,000 homes worth of-

Lisa (15:55.714)

It started, obviously, at the very beginning, with undercriticism. And in 2020, November 21, we had to support the project 38 and post. And you know who’s one of the people who opposed this? It’s somebody else, right? But Matt Hoffman. he submitted three public comments over two years.

Laura (16:00.378)

At a 2020 public hearing in November, 21 witnesses supported the project, 38 opposed. And you know who’s one of the people who opposes this? This comes as no surprise, but Matt Huffman. And he submitted three public comments over two years criticizing the quote, out of country rent seekers behind the project. And if Matt Huffman opposes anything in Ohio, do you think it’s going to happen?

Chris Quinn (16:24.836)

Yeah, it’s just it’s another case where I just don’t get it. We need the extra energy. You got people willing to invest in it. It harms absolutely nobody, nowhere. And yet it’s it’s dying for for completely bogus reasons because the legislature is bought and paid for by the energy industry.

Laura (16:44.562)

And they must convince all of these landowners around there that this is somehow causing, like Layla said, environmental problems, right? It’s like the people who say wind turbines are environmentally, I mean, obviously you can talk about birds, but they’re saying that they’re putting chemicals in the air or something like that. It’s just absurd and it’s that projection, but people believe it. And I think they want their pristine rural,

Chris Quinn (16:53.476)

Yeah

Laura (17:13.286)

farmland they don’t want to see solar panels? mean solar panels could be so innocuous they are not even tall.

Chris Quinn (17:19.254)

Right.

Lisa (17:21.493)

And you can plant crops under some of them too. They’ve been doing that in some areas.

Laura (17:25.594)

Yeah.

Chris Quinn (17:26.158)

Well, like Lisa said, a state that is fracking left and right. There is no comparison between the two for damage to what’s going on. And these same people are the ones that they support fracking, but they fight solar panels. Makes no sense. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Why are so many people suddenly seeking to be substitute teachers in Ohio, Lisa?

Lisa (17:48.546)

Well, it’s been made easier to become a substitute teacher in Ohio. There have been four bills passed since 2020 that have loosened the requirements for substitute teachers, including that they don’t need a bachelor’s degree to be a substitute. Now, some people think that this might be part of the problem in a steady increase of background checks of substitute teachers by the Ohio Board of Education. In the 2020-2021 school year, there were 3,300 background check requests.

In the 22, 23 school year, it went up to 5,200. That’s a 40 % increase. The Super Republic instruction, Paul Kraft says, you know, the requirements include that new subs and licensed subs who may have had run ins with law enforcement. So not just new ones coming in, but actually existing teachers. He says they…

can’t be sure that removing the bachelor’s requirement led to this increase by itself, but it’s probably a factor. And the problem is, is that they’re doing much more background checks with fewer staff. They’re down staff from they were a year ago, and it’s a lot of work to do these background checks now.

Chris Quinn (18:58.574)

I know there have been troubles in some school districts finding enough substitutes, which is a problem for a school district, especially if a school gets hit with illness. So expanding the pool of people that can come in and do a halfway competent job to carry through in the break makes a lot of sense. And you do need the background checks because you don’t want predators in the classroom. So it’s an interesting problem. Just fascinating how many people are…

Lisa (19:20.641)

Hmm

Chris Quinn (19:25.242)

raising their hand trying to do it because for a while there no one wanted to be a teacher.

Lisa (19:29.246)

no one wanted to do it. And we’d have maybe about 33 to 34,000 subs in Ohio, and that number has more or less stayed consistent. But an interesting little note, you know, the National Center for Education Statistics says that one in 20, only 5.1 % of Ohio teachers were improperly certified for their grade level or subject area, and we’re one of 13 states that are well below the national average.

Chris Quinn (19:56.334)

Good, good to hear you listening to Today in Ohio. A little more than a week before Joe Biden leaves office, the feds came through in a big, big way for Cleveland and the plans to reshape the lakefront. How big, Leila?

Leila (20:08.834)

Very big. The city just landed nearly 70 million dollars in federal funding to help kickstart the ambitious North Coast Connector Project. Mayor Justin Bibb and Congresswoman Chantel Brown announced the grant on Friday and they called it a transformative investment for reimagining downtown’s connection to the waterfront. So here’s what the project involves. It’ll demolish the main Avenue bridge and turn the shoreway into a pedestrian friendly boulevard.

stretching the East 18th Street. There’s also a plan to build a land bridge over the railroad tracks, improve the West 3rd Street Bridge, and create new spaces for walking, biking, and transit access. The goal here is to connect Clevelanders to the lakefront in a way that’s safer and more vibrant and more accessible. This latest grant is part of a federal program to reconnect communities divided by old infrastructure.

And it adds to the $60 million that Cleveland secured last fall and $20 million from the state. The total project cost is pretty hefty $447 million with the first phase expected to break ground in 2027. Bibb says this project will move forward regardless of the Brown Stadium lease. Applause. Cue the applause. He said it’s a vital.

step in transforming outdated infrastructure and boosting economic growth. And other local leaders are just as pumped about it. City Council President Blaine Griffin and County Executive Chris Ronane are celebrating this investment as a game changer for the city’s future.

Chris Quinn (21:37.2)

We’ve had a couple of different iterations of this plan and I guess it slipped by me that the destruction, the demolition of the Main Avenue bridge was so firmly established because that’ll affect the commute in a big way. That’s a major artery from the east to the west side. And I guess we’re just not hearing people fight that the way they fought Jane Campbell’s slowing down of that road 20 years ago.

Leila (22:03.148)

Yeah, I guess not. Sometimes what you get in return is worth a little bit of congestion, if that’s the case. Also, you know, maybe we’re still not seeing as many people coming in from the suburbs to work. So maybe the congestion is not as bad as it once would have been.

Chris Quinn (22:22.126)

Well, let’s face it, that bridge is old design where there’s no redundant safety. It’s the kind that fell into the water in Minnesota. And so we’ve always been afraid of what might happen if that bridge failed. There’ve been scary stories over the years about rust. actually tearing down that bridge now probably avoids catastrophe later.

Leila (22:28.753)

yeah.

Leila (22:42.254)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (22:43.792)

You’re listening to Today in Ohio speaking of the Brown Stadium during the holidays Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb invoke the Modell law in a letter to the Browns telling them that they must offer the team for sale before they move it to Burke Park. Laura, what was the Browns response last week?

Laura (23:00.85)

see you in court. So Anthony White, who heads the law firm that’s representing the Browns, wrote a letter Thursday to the city of Cleveland’s lawyer, said that teams looking to expeditiously resolve this dispute over the Browns’ intention to leave Cleveland through this lawsuit that the team filed in October in federal court that challenged the Modell law as unconstitutional. You remember Art Modell’s, the guy who moved the Browns out of Cleveland and this Modell law was created.

to keep that from ever happening again. And the only time it’s really been used in Ohio was the Haslams were the savior of it, basically kept the crew in Ohio. So now Cleveland wants to use it again. They asked, you know, they challenged this and the city saying, we’re, we’re going to see you in court here. The city has no choice, but to read the Brown’s letter as a direct refusal to comply with their lease and Ohio laws requirement to provide the city and local individuals with an opportunity to purchase the team. Cause that’s the thing, if you’re going to move it out, you have to let a local buy it first.

And from Cleveland to Brook Park is moving it out of Cleveland.

Chris Quinn (24:01.84)

It’s amazing to me how the Haslums, the owners of the Browns, are on the wrong side of every single issue that comes up. From their management of the team, I mean, they’ve just bollocks that up in the worst way possible. Other teams that were worse than them at one point, you know, were Super Bowl bound probably now. This team always stinks because they don’t know what they’re doing as owners. And this whole

Laura (24:18.258)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (24:27.33)

stadium thing. I mean, they got that whole lakefront plan started that we just talked about. They were the ones that stepped forward said, we think we should have a spectacular lakefront. We want to be part of it. And then once the ball was rolling, they said, you know, we want to go to a wasteland in Brook Park. And we keep talking about this like it’s legitimate when there is no money for it. I mean, that’s the hilarious thing. We keep discussing it. They don’t have the money. There is no public money and never in Ohio history.

Laura (24:48.006)

Right?

Chris Quinn (24:56.654)

has the public put up $1.2 billion so billionaires have a playground and it just doesn’t happen. And yet we keep talking about it.

Laura (25:05.168)

Well, when we keep talking about it, we keep pointing this out, right? I think there are other people that talk about it. Like, like a rendering is a guarantee that this is going to happen. It’s not. And I got to tell you, the crew tickets go on sale today for that April 19th, Miami, Cleveland, or sorry, Miami Columbus game soccer game at Brown Stadium. And I was having conversation like with my kids, like, do is this something we want to try to go see? And you know, messy could play. That’s a big deal.

Chris Quinn (25:13.171)

Yeah, I know.

Laura (25:34.724)

And my husband was like, I just don’t want to give the Haslums the money. I was like, I feel exactly the same way. And I wonder how many other people in Cleveland feel like.

Chris Quinn (25:39.674)

All right.

Chris Quinn (25:43.366)

people despise them. I get so many notes from people that really, really hate them. Now they’ve become in so many ways more despised than Modell, because they’re always on the wrong side. It’s just, they have an amazing inability to grasp public sentiment and keep clumsily marshaling forward with dopey ideas.

You know, remember, they got comfortable with Deshaun Watson. We got comfortable with, I mean, it’s just amazing how many times that you just sit back and think, just do the opposite of whatever your instinct is. You’ll end up being ahead of the game. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Chris Hurnane is only halfway through his term as Cuyahoga County executive, but he seems like he plans to stick around for a while if the voters are having it. What did he announce Friday, Lisa?

Laura (26:12.88)

Heheheheh… Ugh.

Lisa (26:37.196)

Yeah. And a formal announcement Friday via email, Chris Ronane says he’s running to be the County executive for another stint. He says, I’m in our works not done. He says, this is Cuyahoga County’s moment and he’s more determined than ever to finish what he started, including health initiatives, homelessness, child welfare, and spurring population growth by welcoming immigrants and leveraging our freshwater resources like Lake Erie and all the rivers.

Not once did he mention regionalism, which I think was very disappointing, which is why I voted against him the first time. He wants to strike a balance between the must do’s and the like to do’s, because he’s got a lot of things on his plate. We still, you know, are dealing with the jail. We’re talking about a new justice center. We’re talking about, you know, trying to keep the Browns downtown and what that looks like for the county. So, yeah, it’ll be interesting.

Chris Quinn (27:28.312)

I thought it was a little presumptuous because he really hasn’t delivered on anything yet. Nothing. We still don’t have the final plan for a jail that’s reasonably cost. And we keep hearing numbers that are staggering. There is no justice center plan that we’ve seen. It’s like, if you’re going to run, what are you going to run on? What have you actually accomplished? Because we haven’t seen it yet. Maybe he’s counting on the next year or two to deliver.

I just thought it was odd. The weirdest thing is he keeps calling it team Ronane. Who’s the team?

Lisa (28:00.99)

and he’s, you know, he’s staring down a $25 million budget hole. We still have persistent poverty throughout the county. So yeah, it’ll be very interesting, but honestly, we should really press him on regionalism. He kind of panned it, you know, when he was running the first time. I think we need to press him on that and our, you know, our, thought experiment about, you know, a regional tax.

Chris Quinn (28:23.97)

If he led that, people would love him. I mean, I’ve heard from so many people that want him to be the guy that does that because it would change the way we think of this area, but he just hasn’t stood up and done anything that bold. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. All right, Leila, how secretive was Cleveland City Council on drawing up the new ward maps that were approved last week now that we’ve had time to talk to some experts?

Leila (28:50.094)

This map making process was so controversial because of course council passed the maps in one session without holding a public hearing or debate. They held a couple public comment sessions before the maps were finalized, but no hearing at all once the maps were released. So critics like government watchdogs from Common Cause Ohio and the League of Women Voters say that too much of the redistricting process happened behind closed doors. They argue that important discussions like

why certain neighborhoods were split. Those should have been done in public. And a public hearing on the final map would have let residents at least ask questions and get clarity. Council President Blaine Griffin, who led this whole process, pushed back against that. He said his approach was more transparent than in past years. The public had a month to review the maps and feedback came in online and by phone. And he argues that holding a public hearing

wouldn’t have changed the outcome and might have just repeated criticism that he’s already heard. The boundaries had to be redrawn because Cleveland’s population has been shrinking and that triggers a charter rule that ties council size to population. And council faced a tight timeline with the board of elections needing the maps for the May election. In the end, the vote was 14 to two, but tensions ran really high throughout this process. Some council members criticized how their words were carved up and some opponents like councilwoman Rebecca Moore, she called out,

the lack of transparency in the public input. Griffin said his role is like being an umpire. He tries to balance the competing priorities and call the shots correctly. He admits it was a messy process, but he says he did his best to avoid public spats among council members. And I guess one way he avoided that was by also avoiding hearing from the public face to face about it.

Chris Quinn (30:38.478)

Yeah, I mean, I would say he’s more of a sheep herder and his council are a bunch of sheep. They should have stood up to him and said, hey, have a hearing or we’re not going to vote for this. They could have forced it, but they all went along. And really what it shows to me is that Griffin is completely out of touch with his constituents now to not have the hearing, just show and to defend it like it’s something that’s OK shows that he’s no longer really in touch with the people he’s.

supposed to represent. None of them are. The fact that they all went along with that shows they don’t really care about the…

Leila (31:12.27)

Yeah. It’s worth noting that even Marty Sweeney, the former council president, you know, he was often criticized for secrecy during the 2013 redistricting process, but he held a public hearing before council voted on it. Sure, he only gave the public a single day to review the maps, but that hearing did lead to significant changes like addressing concerns about diluting the Hispanic vote. Also, the map-making consultant, Bob Dykes, he was at the table.

during that hearing to answer questions, which is so helpful. If people can hear directly from the consultant why certain ward lines had to be the way they were to balance the population, that helps people accept the outcome.

Chris Quinn (31:42.831)

Right.

Chris Quinn (31:51.874)

If he does eventually run for mayor, this will be part of the campaign against him that he is not responsible or transparent. It’s not the first time he’s had this attitude with the public. Very disappointing that what this council has become. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. That’s it for the Monday episode. Thanks, Laura. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Lisa. Thank you for listening. We’ll return Tuesday with another discussion of the news.