Ohio and the Stimulus

A newly released study by Good Jobs First, a Washington D.C. based research group, ranked Ohio’s website that tracks stimulus spending among the nation’s top ten. The purpose of the study is to monitor how well the stimulus package is working and also to determine if states are providing the transparency and accountability that President Obama promised. To achieve this, the study concentrated on the detail, depth and amount of information contained within each state’s stimulus spending website.

It is promising to see that Ohio is doing an above average job in providing information about its use of the stimulus funds. However, the study also reveals that Ohio is lacking transparency in some of the most important measurements of success. Ohio’s website does not provide information detailing the number of jobs created by stimulus funds and also fails to compare where money is going against economic need. Since the stimulus package was designed to quickly create jobs and simultaneously transform our nation’s infrastructure, it is disappointing that we do not have the necessary information to measure Ohio’s performance in these objectives.

Please share your take on Ohio and its allocation of stimulus funds. Do you think the state is providing adequate transparency in the process? Is Ohio making the most of this one-time money? How could Ohio better leverage its funds to create a more prosperous future?

Local Government Reform Commission Hearing on Friday

The Ohio Commission on Local Government Reform and Collaboration will hold a public hearing on Friday, July 31, 2009 at 10:30 am at the Worthington Board of Education Building located at 200 E. Wilson Bridge Road in Worthington, Ohio, 43085. This is the first of five hearings that will be held throughout Ohio seeking public input.

Testimony and input is being requested in three main areas:

1.) Recommendations that will encourage and incentivize local governments to collaborate;

2.) Identification of local and state tax structure changes which would encourage collaboration or improve service effectiveness; and

3.) Identification current/alternative service delivery models.

If you are in the Central Ohio region and are concerned with the issue of local government efficiency we strongly encourage you to make the short drive to ensure that your voice is heard. If you cannot attend this meeting you might also consider preparing written testimony.

Greater Ohio, and its partner the Brooking Institution, have identified governance reform as an important issue to be considered as we work to restore prosperity back to Ohio. Governance reform falls within our larger agenda that is charged with increasing Ohio’s economic competitiveness and quality of life by focusing on the four drivers of prosperity in the 21st century economy: innovation; human capital; infrastructure; and quality of place. Again, we ask you to voice your opinion if you feel, as we at Greater Ohio do, that regional collaboration and efficient governance are critical to building a more competitive and prosperous Ohio.

The Local Government Reform Commission is legislatively created and consists of 15 members ranging from local officials to business people. It is charged with researching and writing a report that recommends reform and collaboration measures in order to improve local government operations and service delivery to create cost savings for taxpayers

For more information about the Commission visit its website at www.ohioreformandcollaboration.org.

Call to Action

In House Bill 2, the Ohio Department of Transportation Budget Bill that was passed earlier this year, Greater Ohio worked with legislative leaders, specifically Rep. Peter Ujvagi (Toledo), to insert language requiring ODOT to complete a study looking at the cost to maintain state routes within city limits.  We recognize that these costs are a heavy burden on our cities and are hopeful that ODOT will take a serious look at taking back the maintenance of state routes.

The Ohio Department of Transportation Central Office is working with its District Offices to compile the report, and we strongly urge you to meet with your local ODOT Deputy District Director to share your budget costs in this area and provide input on the study.  You may wish to include your mayor, city councilperson, state senator and state representative, and your economic development official as part of this meeting.  We think it is also important to share your funding priorities, assuming this money is freed up at the local level, which may include funding of city police and matches for multi-transit projects.   ODOT is required to complete the report by December 15, 2009, so timing is critical

If you need further information to make your visit more productive please let us know.  Also, after you have met with your District Offices we would like to hear your feedback and encourage you to contact us.

Actual language requiring the report from House Bill 2:

SECTION 755.50. The Department of Transportation shall compile and produce a report on the financial and policy implications of the Department assuming primary responsibility for all state routes throughout Ohio regardless of local government jurisdiction. The report shall review the range of possible participation in the paving and maintenance of these routes by the Department. The Department shall submit the report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Governor not later than December 15, 2009.

Ohio’s Place in the Alternative Energy Sector

Two weeks ago we posted a blog entry that touched upon the potential role of alternative energy as a primary driver of economic development in Ohio. To this end, it thought that the alternative energy industry would create new jobs in Ohio’s manufacturing sector and also, improve our economic competitiveness in the globally competitive economy of the 21^st century. Since this is an emerging industry, Ohio has the opportunity to become a leader in the research, production and exportation of alternative energy products and knowledge.

A recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows the impact of the clean energy industry on job growth in a state by state manner. According to the study, Ohio has a strong presence in the alternative energy sector. In fact, Ohio ranked in the top ten for number of jobs, number of businesses and number of patents in the clean energy sector. Additionally, the Great Lakes Wind Network has an interactive map of the United States detailing the location of businesses involved in wind energy production. This map offers an interesting visual tool that shows which states, and regions, are leaders in the wind energy industry.

Reports and information, such as these, are encouraging signs for Ohio’s economic future and also provide validation that the alternative energy industry can be a source of job growth in Ohio.

Bringing Greater Ohio's Mission Close to Home

Forty years ago, on July 21, 1969, as reported in The Columbus Dispatch yesterday, a white dry cleaner shot and killed a black father on the Near East Side of Columbus, sparking several days of riots in the area of East Main Street and South 18^th Street – the corner at which Greater Ohio’s offices exist today in Columbus.  In fact, the scene of the crime was a dry-cleaning store at 832 E. Main Street, which today is a vacant, grassy lot directly adjacent to our office building.  This area has never fully recovered from these riots,  and the surrounding neighborhood continues to be burdened with vacant lots and abandoned properties to this day.

This was a poignant piece of history that drives home the significance of Greater Ohio’s mission.  Greater Ohio is pursuing policies to better manage the problem of vacant and abandoned properties across the state and in our local communities, such as this East Side Columbus neighborhood.  Currently, we are working to advance Ohio’s land bank legislation to allow counties, cities, and neighborhoods an additional resource to help minimize the negative effects that vacancies cause as well as pursuing foreclosure prevention and vacant property redevelopment actions.  These types of proactive policies are crucial, because it is clear that reactive policies often result in a situation where past burdens continue to linger into the future. We are curious about the histories of similar neighborhoods in our urban areas around the state.

To read more about the riots, see yesterday’s article in the Columbus Dispatch

Urban Gardening

As I read the Re-imagining a More Sustainable Cleveland, a report that includes strategies for the reuse of vacant land in Cleveland, I was struck by one recommendation in particular: turning vacant and abandoned lots into urban food gardens.  Urban gardening has numerous benefits including increasing residents’ access to fresh produce, providing exercise opportunities while promoting social interaction, and teaching life skills for residents to become more self sufficient.  Lastly and perhaps most importantly, urban gardens can instill a sense of pride in a community by providing residents an opportunity to work towards a common goal that will be beneficial for all.  For more information on starting an urban gardening project in your community, please check out The Ohio State University Extension program website in Cuyahoga County. 

As I continued to research this idea, I have been impressed by the number of Ohio communities that have started their own projects.  Below is information on several community urban gardens in Ohio, and we encourage you to add others.  If you have any suggestions on how we at Greater Ohio can promote more of this type of activity at the state level please share that too.

Akron: http://www.akron.com/pages.asp?aID=5168

Columbus: http://www.fpconservatory.org/growing2green.htm

Toledo:  http://www.toledogarden.org/content/toledogrows/default.aspx

Youngstown: www.growyoungstown.org

Vibrant Neighborhoods and Districts

Ever since Richard Florida popularized the theory that attracting the, so called, “creative class” can act as a means of economic development, there has been much interests in hip and up-and-coming neighborhoods and districts. The basic premise behind this idea is that cool districts and neighborhoods attract young, creative, educated and highly mobile individuals and that these individuals are a primary source of innovative efforts that lead to economic development. As this idea spread, cities across the county, both large and small, created local initiatives aimed at attracting the creative class through the development of unique and funky urban areas that catered to their tastes.

Ohio is no exception. Columbus commonly touts its alternative arts scene and the vibrancy of the Short North arts district; Cleveland has taken steps to create corridors of technology and innovation that center around world renowned institutions, such as the Cleveland Clinic. However, while we often hear about examples of hip and cool areas and events in Ohio’s larger cities, there is less publicity of the efforts of smaller cities. In light of this, we would like to hear more about various efforts across the state that are aimed at creating districts and neighborhoods of choice. Please share your exciting programs and initiatives with us and the rest of our network.

Energizing Clinton County

Energize Clinton County (ECC) is a grassroots movement and a community center for sustainable economic development founded by Mark Rembert and Taylor Stuckert based in Wilmington, Ohio. They are 2003 alumni of Wilmington High School who both chose to defer plans for the Peace Corps in order to change the fate of Clinton County, especially in light of DHL’s departure and the loss of 8,000 jobs in the area.

ECC has recently had a huge success with their Green Enterprise Zone ordinance. ECC has been working with the city of Wilmington to adopt policies that will help to facilitate green economic development. The Wilmington City Council will be conducting the final reading of the Wilmington Green Enterprise Zone ordinance on Thursday, July 16th.  If adopted, it would mark a monumental step in Wilmington's response to the economic crisis because it will provide an innovative framework that can serve as model for other communities that are seeking an approach to building local capacity to facilitate green development and investment.

ECC hopes that the adoption of the Green Enterprise Zone (GEZ) will provide a unique opportunity to promote the positive steps being taken by Wilmington in response to the DHL crisis. Hopefully this model could be useful to other communities across Ohio as well.

If you know of any other examples of this type of local innovations, please feel free to share with us and others by commenting on our blog.

For more information on ECC and their GEZ, you can visit their website: http://energizecc.com/

Land Banks

Greater Ohio is interested in promoting land banks as a way to address vacant and abandoned properties and revitalize communities. While we were pleased with the passage of House Bill 353 in the 127^th General Assembly that allows Cuyahoga County to form a county land bank with new powers, we recognize that changes are needed to the existing statute to ensure that counties of all sizes can use land banks to their fullest potential.

Over the past year, we have met with numerous stakeholders throughout the state to get a better understanding of those possible changes.  Some of the ideas we have heard include allowing multi-county participation, ensuring that there is sufficient authority for our rural counties to participate and adding provisions to address a situation in which the county treasurer is not interested in pursuing a land bank.

If you have other suggestions for us to consider or would like to share your success with your existing local land bank we would welcome your input.

Alternative Energy still the alternative

Alternative energy seems to be a topic that is especially shaped by fluctuations in oil prices and by the ebb and flow of the mainstream media’s coverage. While many have claimed that alternative energy will be the innovation that sets the course for our future, it remains a subject that is urgent only when our wallets or pocketbooks are disproportionately thinned by energy costs. Indeed, alternative energy is, as its name implies, still but an alternative to fossil fuels.

However, since fossil fuels are a finite resource and a major source of pollution many argue that the privileged position of oil as the world’s source of energy will inevitably come to an end. Given this line of reasoning, alternative energy may represent an emerging market ripe for investment. In the context of Ohio, this last point brings up an important question: does alternative energy constitute an industrial sector that has the potential to transform Ohio’s economic woes? If so, to what extent should the state encourage and incentivize the development of an alternative energy sector? What are your thoughts on alternative energy as a long-term sustainable investment for the State of Ohio?