The other day Phillip Morris (online PD)
was bemoaning the lack of leadership in Cleveland. I think on the same day I ran across some tidbit that intimated that Chris Ronayne might run for mayor of Cleveland next time around. I thought to myself, “Well, here we go with more of the same.”
Until Cleveland stops taking its cues (Ed Morrison might say “getting permission”) from the Greater Cleveland Partnership and the Foundations – the “leaders” who consistently put their own bottom lines ahead of Cleveland’s – we are not going to see a new day here on the shores of Lake Erie. “Hot-shot community organizers” don’t thrive in this area where the “old boys” continue to have a stranglehold on government, the purse-strings etc. If Clevelanders were shareholders of their Chamber of Commerce (the GCP), they would have demanded the ouster of Joe Roman long ago. Many Clevelanders were struggling long before we heard talk of a national recession or even global depression.
So what if there were a backer who said, bring me the candidate and detail your platform – who would your candidate be and what would you do to change business as usual in Cleveland?
I can hear Norm saying, “Just take the nearest vacant lot, plant fruit trees and vegetables and don’t even bother with the local government.” This is certainly a realistic and productive idea, but it would be a lot better for a lot more people if we could eliminate the layers of studiers and investors that don’t really want basic change. Let’s create a Realneo platform.