Laura's Top Five Priorities
Restore Competence and Common Sense to City Government
If we want to live in this City and take advantage of all the great things it has to offer, we as taxpayers have no choice but to entrust the City government with our tax dollars. The City government, in turn, is obligated to provide the basic services that we require and deserve. As residents, though, we should demand more. Our City has been embarrassed by the chaos prevailing at City Hall. It will take a while to recover from the damage this City’s reputation has sustained over the recent past. But we will recover. My immediate goal will be a modest one – to restore our City government to a point where the residents don’t have to hear about chaos on a daily basis (and certainly not on the local evening news). We’re going to immediately restore competence, common sense and strong leadership to the governance of our City. This will include, first and foremost, fixing the broken budget process. But it’s going to permeate everything we do. You’ll know we’re here for you when you need us, but you won’t be forced to worry every day about what new problems are being created at City Hall.
Development the Right Way
I support new development. But we have to stop getting it wrong, which means we need to put in place the correct processes for getting it right. First, there must be meaningful opportunities for input from the neighbors who will be directly impacted by proposed projects. That can’t happen if they are not brought into the loop earlier – and certainly before proposed plans are 95% of the way to the finish line. Next, if there is a City property that is being developed, there has to be an open bidding process where anyone with ideas and an interest can have a fair opportunity to submit their plans. Finally, we need to hold developers’ feet to the fire. Take the Ascent project as an example. We were promised a transformative street level as part of this “mixed use” development. What was delivered is a group of vacant storefronts (alleviated somewhat by the welcome addition of the UH Clinic). The occasional vacant store front should be – at most – an occasional bug of City-supported development. In Cleveland Heights, vacant storefronts appear to be a feature. This is a failure of City leadership, and it will change.
Strategically Enforce the Code and Address Vacant Homes
There are hundreds of vacant homes in Cleveland Heights. From day one, we will strategically enforce the code, execute a plan to quickly determine whether a home should be razed to make way for new construction or renovated to be sold. And then we will act quickly as a City government to facilitate turning these properties back into tax-generating properties that are homes to residents contributing to the betterment of our community. I recognize that there can be plenty of red tape to work through for the City to get these properties back into the inventory of tax-paying housing stock. But the City should never be the source of that red tape.
Services and Safety
There are basic expectations of city governance that are not being consistently met by our current city government. These include well-maintained streets not riddled with potholes (a danger to wheel rims, but potentially deadly to our cyclists), timely and reliable garbage and leaf pickup, timely plowing of streets in an equitable manner (no neighborhoods prioritized over others), enforced speed limits and, where appropriate, speed bumps to ensure the residential character of our neighborhoods is respected and our children are protected, streets that are not overrun by roaming bands of deer, and parks that are clean, well-maintained and safe. I’ve interacted with many front-line city employees over the years, and have been consistently impressed with their dedication to their jobs. The problem lies with how city services are administered at City Hall. As mayor, I will make sure that our employees are empowered to deliver city services at the highest level.
Address Coventry, Noble and Severance
When I talk to residents about their concerns, the Coventry, Noble and Severance areas come up again and again. The problems are long-standing and complicated. We can do better, and must do better, for these critical commercial and cultural centers of our City. Severance is potentially one of the greatest assets of our community, but is terribly underutilized. The latest re-do of Severance has been in the discussion phase for years, and there are some solid ideas being considered. But the history of Severance re-dos has been a history of failure. As a City, we need to have an understanding of why this has been the case, and ensure that it doesn’t happen again. I will do a deep dive into each of these areas and make sure that, not only are they no longer a problem for the City, but that they actually become areas that will add to the City’s tax base and contribute to the betterment of the community.
Services and Safety
There are basic expectations of city governance that are not being consistently met by our current city government. These include well-maintained streets not riddled with potholes (a danger to wheel rims, but potentially deadly to our cyclists), timely and reliable garbage and leaf pickup, timely plowing of streets in an equitable manner (no neighborhoods prioritized over others), enforced speed limits and, where appropriate, speed bumps to ensure the residential character of our neighborhoods is respected and our children are protected, streets that are not overrun by roaming bands of deer, and parks that are clean, well-maintained and safe. I’ve interacted with many front-line city employees over the years, and have been consistently impressed with their dedication to their jobs. The problem lies with how city services are administered at City Hall. As mayor, I will make sure that our employees are empowered to deliver city services at the highest level.
Address Coventry, Noble and Severance
When I talk to residents about their concerns, the Coventry, Noble and Severance areas come up again and again. The problems are long-standing and complicated. We can do better, and must do better, for these critical commercial and cultural centers of our City. Severance is potentially one of the greatest assets of our community, but is terribly underutilized. The latest re-do of Severance has been in the discussion phase for years, and there are some solid ideas being considered. But the history of Severance re-dos has been a history of failure. As a City, we need to have an understanding of why this has been the case, and ensure that it doesn’t happen again. I will do a deep dive into each of these areas and make sure that, not only are they no longer a problem for the City, but that they actually become areas that will add to the City’s tax base and contribute to the betterment of the community.