According to a recent Plain Dealer article, Moreland Hills, Orange, Pepper Pike and Woodmere are considering merging in the most significant step toward regionalism Cuyahoga County has ever seen.
If successful, the merger would serve as a model for other communities in Cuyahoga County. Even if unsuccessful, the project will be a source of learning for other communities. What can and should Bratenahl learn from this situation? Some ideas are explored in this regard in this article.
Planners and other good-government advocates have long viewed Cuyahoga County, with its 59 communities, as ripe for mergers, collaborations or tax-sharing agreements. Yet the local political and minority leaders for many years largely viewed calls for regionalism with skepticism. That appears to be changing some. According to the Plain Dealer, suburban mayors and councils wanted to protect their jobs and power bases. The Plain Dealer goes on to say that black officials and residents feared that Cleveland’s needs would be overshadowed by a suburban agenda hostile to the city, and they also feared a regional system would dilute black political power. To be sure, these are tough issues to deal with, yet they must be dealt with.
The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission will help the four eastern suburban communities, leading discussions and analyzing data to determine what savings are possible. Next year, the county may offer incentives for merging, County Executive Ed FitzGerald said. I would offer a related question: Will those communities resisting collaboration in any form be penalized by County Government and the State of Ohio in the future? At times, “carrots” must be accompanied by “sticks” to get difficult jobs done.
What are the collaboration and merger options for Bratenahl should it decide to move in this direction? Service sharing and contracting are the most likely starting points. Currently, Bratenahl contracts with the City of Cleveland for fire protection and emergency medical services. Municipal waste collection is handled under contract. Income tax collection, water, sewer, and electric and gas services are all provided by external service providers. These earlier actions form a positive basis for looking at possible new service sharing and contracting options.
What other possible opportunities should be looked at?
Joint purchasing by regional communities of equipment, materials, and supplies used by local government is an option to consider. Could joint purchases of police and municipal service vehicles and equipment create a cost savings for Bratenahl? Could the joint purchasing of information technology services, including website hosting, produce a cost savings in the future?
Are the Village’s Service Department services candidates for service-sharing or contracting? The department keeps the community attractive and in good working order. Bratenahl residents care a great deal about these services and value their benefits. In my view, this proposal would likely meet with resistance from Village residents.
Is police services a possible future service sharing candidate for Bratenahl? This is a major cost item in Village Government’s budget, but clearly Bratenahl residents greatly value their safety. I suspect this idea would meet with considerable opposition, especially if the cost-savings are only marginal.
What are Bratenahl’s options if it considered a merger? The most obvious one is a merger with the City of Cleveland, which I believe would be resisted in a significant way by Village residents. Merger choices are much easier for the four eastern suburbs mentioned above.
There are other ways outside the government service arena in which Bratenahl can collaborate with other communities, neighborhoods, and institutions (such as Glenville, Collinwood, University Circle, Downtown Cleveland, Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University, Oberlin College, and the Cleveland Institute of Art). It can do so in the areas of arts and culture, economic development (especially in linking local housing and regional jobs), community and regional marketing (another element of economic development), healthcare and wellness, senior care services, recreation, and environmental protection. To learn more about these possible opportunities, please plan to attend the Bratenahl Place Arts, Education and Entertainment Forum’s July 14th session, and hear author and journalist Charles Michener’s ideas on this issue. Click here to learn more about this important session.
As a final area for discussion, let’s talk about educational services. Bratenahl does not have its own school system. Its school tax dollars currently go to the Cleveland School District. What if Bratenahl decided to aggressively work on attracting young professionals and families to the community? To compete for these residents, it needs a high quality school system. Could some type of innovative “school solution” with either a high quality suburban school district or a private school be developed? Would the Cleveland Schools be willing to create a “Bratenahl School” using the tax dollars paid into its system every year by Bratenahl residents? The saying goes that “necessity is the mother of invention.” These are times of great need that require highly innovative solutions. Perhaps we should be thinking in this direction, especially looking at the fiscal pressures on local school districts.
As we think about this issue, let’s keep Joe Frolik’s election year advice in mind. Read our earlier article on this subject.
What are your ideas on this important issue? We would enjoy hearing them.
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In my opinion, the best option would be for Bratenahl to merge with the city of Cleveland. Absent that, however, I think working with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to create a “Bratenahl school” would be a fantastic idea. I think it should be offered to all Cleveland residents though, but students outside of Bratenahl must pass an entrance exam in order to get into the school, in order to ensure that the quality of the school is top notch.
There’s also some things that could be done such as a redevelopment of the former army quarters that straddle the border of Cleveland and Bratenahl. Upscale retail to serve the residents of Bratenahl, University Circle residents and visitors and tourists to Dike 14 when it is opened, makes a lot of sense.
But I still believe that it would be better for Bratenahl to merge with the city of Cleveland. Bratenahl is too small to remain a municipality and, if they merge, they should be brought into North Collinwood, Michael Polensek’s ward. That makes much more sense for this area as opposed to merging with, say, Glenville.
Hi JR,
Thank you for sharing your ideas.
A merger with Cleveland would like to be fought very hard by Bratenahl residents for a variety of reasons. Growing together through partnerships with Cleveland neighborhoods and institutions (like those in University Circle and Downtown) would be more feasible in my assessment of community attitudes and preferences.
The school idea is worth exploration. I have a similar idea. And the shopping idea done right, could be interesting. The Defense property to the west is in use. I don’t think any land is available. This idea has been discussed widely in Bratenahl and there is an interest in it, if it could be made possible.
All communities must look at alternatives because of the new economy we have. Bratenahl will need to explore options in the next 3-5 years that it may never had thought about before the 2007 economic crisis. Thanks again. ~Don