Notes from Tonight's OBCDC Community Meeting

I brought my laptop to tonight's OBCDC community meeting and tried to make note of as many important points as possible. My apologies for not fully editting them before posting.

Greg Huth, OBCDC President: Membership decides how service area is defined. Current is Wards 15 and 16, proposed change is Brooklyn Centre and Old Brooklyn.

Ward 16 Councilman Kevin Kelley: References Old Brooklyn News article from July 2005 regarding master plan. Thought six months or so, it would be done. Is a sign of collaboration, product of hard work. One of his most significant accomplishments as a councilman. Pearl Road and other OB/BC neighborhoods were originally neglected in City of Cleveland's 2020 Plan, but this plan will address it. Major capital improvements can be incorporated into mayor's capital plan.

Ward 15 Councilman Brian Cummins: Planning leads to results. Example of Treadway Creek and the large amount of planning required, citing that resulting projects are products of plans.

Ward 13 Councilman Joe Cimperman: Has interacted with Robyn Sandys and OBCDC staff. Master plan was referenced in police community relations awards in December, demonstrates its importance to award recipients and the community. (Ward 12 Councilman Tony Brancatelli also attended, but declined to speak in length.)

Huth: Presentation of ballot: “The Corporation;s Neighborhood is defined as the area outlined in bold on the map attached hereto as Exhibit A.” OB and BC statistical planning areas, as defined by the City Planning Commission, would become new service area in the Code of Regulations under the proposal. Area would remain unchanged by political action. Very few questions and discussion about this. (Count later revealed to be 24 for, 2 opposed)

Robyn Sandys, OBCDC Executive Director: Meeting is an update about some of the projects of OBCDC from over the last few months. OBN wants to cover interesting people, businesses from the community, and wants membership to submit ideas about them. Business directory is going into 20th year. Advertising is inexpensive for both it and OBN. Housing assistance is available from OBCDC staff. Is seeking to provide more updates on website, and information is added on a weekly basis. Mentions LiveCLEVELAND! guide with many OB and BC photos and tidbits. Walk + Roll, Home & Bicycle Tour on July 18. Movie Night Under the Stars, three movies sponsored by Councilman Kelley. One in June, July, and August through different locations in the community. RiverSweep is May 9, and OB/BC stakeholders can meet at Zeleznik's Tavern. Programs include Paint Program; Weatherization; code compliance program (surveyed 611 properties last year, 232 minor problems, with several major problems. 45 commercial properties, 15 problems); commercial programs; Benjamin Franklin Community Garden; new foreclosure prevention program (OBCDC has a list of all Ward 15 and 16 property owners with subprime loans that will increase in next two years); homebuying, purchasing, rehabbing, selling program (first home being on Tampa Avenue). Powerpoint of planning to be posted on www.oldbrooklyn.com soon after meeting. Organizational strategic plan will define the CDC's role in implementation of master plan, will be presented at a community meeting in the summer.

Kris Hopkins, Cuyahoga County Planning Commission: Plan was funded by Community Development Block Grant, occurred after mergers of CDCs. As mentioned earlier, Treadway Creek in 2007 was an outcome of a plan. Concurrent initiatives include Lower Big Creek (recreation and ecological restoration); Pearl Road/West 25th Corridor; Comprehensive Market Strategy. Master plan is umbrella for all, includes list of priorities for the next ten to fifteen years. Cornerstone was community, project team and 30-member advisory committee that included residents, civic associations, businesses, institutions. Combination of neighborhood-wide and location-specific strategies and action steps. Fourteen opportunity sites, including State/Pearl Triangle, Fulton/Memphis Shopping Area, Henninger Landfill, Harvard/Jennings area. Some implementation concepts may take a long time, will require the work of not only CDC, but city council, block clubs, civic associations.

Meghan Chaney, Cuyahoga County Planning Commission: Eight topics in plan include Housing & Neighborhood Character; Retail Services; Community and Facilities; Community Heritage and Identity; Economic Development; Recreation; Environmental Protection and Natural Resources; Transportation Connections. Each topic has multiple goals, each goal has multiple strategies, and each strategy has multiple action steps. Then, each action step has timeframe, potential lead organization, potential partners. Plan will go to OBCDC board after this meeting, then to City Planning Commission for adoption. Will be posted to website soon after. Specific contents of the plan were not presented.

Tom Collins, OBCDC Commercial Development Manager: Full Lower Big Creek meeting is on OBCDC website, www.oldbrooklyn.com. Driving factor in the plan is the neighborhood connection to Towpath Trail, from Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Brookside Park. Plan components include: Adventure sports park on the Henninger Landfill, to include non-motorized action sports like rock climbing and BMX biking; Campground option; Ecological restoration and repurposing of storage yards and other industrial uses; Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Station at Harvard Avenue and Jennings Roads; Trail Route.

Donald Hecklemoser, OBCDC Residential Programs Manager: Pearl Road/ West 25th Street Corridor Plan covers Lorain Avenue to Brookpark Road. Many players involved. Plan has been completed and adopted by the City of Cleveland. Possibilities for Old Brooklyn portion could involve narrowing of street, designated bicycle lanes, trees, larger sidewalks, community gathering space near Wildlife Way. ODOT will be building a new bridge over I-71, construction tentatively to begin in 2013.

The Redistricting Finale

By now, everyone that reads Old Brooklyn Blogs probably already knows that Cleveland City Council decided yesterday to approve the redistricting recommendations established by Triad Research by a vote of 16-4. Unfortunately for the next four years, Old Brooklyn will be split into three political districts.

So before OB Blogs returns to its regularly scheduled programming, here are some links covering the yesterday's decision:

* Cleveland City Council released the final plan less than two hours prior to the meeting. (Communications Director Katherine Bulava said in an email that the download is much more likely to work in Internet Explorer than Mozilla Firefox.)

* WEWS News Channel 5 and 19 Action News had the best television coverage the events of the Cleveland City Council meeting on their newscasts.

* Paul Schroeder from Ohio Daily Blog captures some of the remarks delivered by Councilmen Cummins and Reed prior to the announcement that the redistricting plan was adopted earlier in the day.

* And finally, PD writer Henry Gomez summarizes the meeting and some of the events leading up to it, and shares insights into the futures of Reed and Cummins. He mentions that one small victory for Cummins and the community is that Downtown Old Brooklyn will be concentrated in one ward instead of two.

ADDENDUM 3/25/09: Cleveland City Council has posted maps of the 2010 wards, but they are very difficult to read.

Redistricting Round-up

Here's the latest on Cleveland City Council's ward redistricting.

* Last week, a map of redistricted Cleveland was released via Cleveland City Council's website. The Plain Dealer's Henry Gomez offers some observations about the newly proposed wards here and here.

* Ward 15 Councilman Brian Cummins posted alternatives that he and Executive Assistant Johanna Hamm produced with Triad on RealNEO and Brewed Fresh Daily. One alternative is more drastic, while the second is varies slightly the consultant's recommendations, but minimizes impact on Old Brooklyn. Cummins also posts what the new wards would look like as inkblots.

* Paul Schroeder from the Ohio Daily Blog reports that another emergency meeting of the South Hills Association took place Wednesday. He estimates that seventy-five people attended. Scroeder states that Ward 12 Councilman Anthony Brancatelli arrived at the meeting and abruptly left prior to it upon reading a letter critical of the plan to incorporate South Hills into an East Side ward.

* Schroeder also recaps Friday's presentation of the consultant's redrawn wards to Cleveland City Council. Only two days notice was provided to citizens to attend and offer their input. Schroeder includes remarks of Old Brooklyn and Mount Pleasant stakeholders allowed during the thirty-minute public comment portion of the meeting. Gomez offers his perspective as well in his Inside City Hall blog.

* Councilman Brian Cummins appeared on WCPN 90.3, Cleveland's NPR affiliate.

* Ken Prendergast, formerly of the Sun Newspapers, offers another summary of last week's protest and city council meeting in most recent edition of the Brooklyn Sun News, sharing some of the comments made by participating residents.

* Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation Board President Greg Huth wrote a letter to Council President Martin Sweeney that states, "Under the Redistricting Plan, if approved, OBCDC will be forced to cobble together a budget from four different ward councilmen, each representing a different constituency and with a different strategy for his ward." Huth continues to mention that any project of scale would be difficult to accomplish and that the unity that has been established in the Brooklyn Centre and Old Brooklyn neighborhoods would be drastically affected. The board of the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition, an umbrella organization for Cleveland community development corporations, passed a resolution in support of OBCDC's stance on the redistricting plan.

* There are no protests scheduled this week, but Old Brooklyn and Brooklyn Centre residents who feel the redistricting process has been done improperly are encouraged to attend Monday night's Cleveland City Council meeting. A vote on the new ward recommendations is anticipated to occur.

For more information about the events that have transpired to date, please check out the tag "redistricting" on Old Brooklyn Blogs.

City Council Posts Final Proposed Ward Map

This afternoon, Cleveland City Council posted a map of the proposed wards going into 2010. What's bad for Old Brooklyn and Brooklyn Centre is that they're still divided amongst three and two wards, respectively. South Hills would be clumped into a district with Slavic Village. And OBCDC's service area would still be dissected into four political districts, which could potentially spell serious trouble for the agency.

Here's a related article from the Plain Dealer, and here's the press release from Cleveland City Council.

Ward Redistricting Presentation to Council Friday Morning

OB Blogs received this email from Ward Reshuffle, a group that is advocating for a transparent redistricting process that is considerate of citizen input.

-- PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE --

• When: 9:30 am Friday, March 20^th
• Where: City Council Committee Room 217, 601 Lakeside Avenue N.E.
• What: Council’s consultants on the redistricting of Cleveland’s wards will be presenting their final recommendations to Council. All Councilmembers should attend this important session

From: Allan Dreyer
Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 4:28 PM
To: All Council Members; All Staff
Subject: Important Public Meeting regarding new city wards

There will be a public meeting on Friday, March 20^th, in City Council Committee Room 217, at 9:30 a.m. Council’s consultants on the redistricting of Cleveland’s wards will be presenting their final recommendations to Council. All Councilmembers should attend this important session

---Allan Dreyer, Deputy Clerk
Cleveland City Council
(216) 664-4198

Tonight's Ward 15 Redistricting Protest & Council Meeting

When it came time for Ward 15 Councilman Brian Cummins to introduce his constituents at tonight's Cleveland City Council meeting, around two hundred residents of Old Brooklyn and Brooklyn Centre enthusiastically rose to their feet to convey their power in numbers and communicate that they will not accept the current redistricting plan for their neighborhoods.

More than fifty residents from each community braved a chilly lakefront breeze to participate in a pre-meeting protest at the steps of Cleveland City Hall, bearing signs saying "We are neighbors, not numbers," "Don't Sweeneymander Our Wards," and "Don't Cut Up Our Neighborhoods." After about forty-five minutes of shouting various slogans, Cummins arrived outside to address the loyal group. His message was that, as someone who has served the residents of Ward 15 as the executive director of Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation and council representative, the deep personal relationships he has established over the last decade have propelled him to fight in the best interest of the neighborhoods.

During the council meeting, Cummins expressed to leadership his dissatisfaction in how the redistricting process has been performed with highly political motives and without citizen input.

But probably the most exciting news of the evening for Old Brooklyn residents was that Councilman Cummins spent around three hours with consultants this afternoon crafting an alternative redistricting plan that would divide their neighborhood into only two or three wards.

Click here to watch WEWS Channel 5's video and here to read Henry Gomez's article in his Inside City Hall blog on cleveland.com.

UPDATE: Here's another piece from Henry Gomez.

An Update on Ward 15 Redistricting

Old Brooklyn Blogs last left readers with a summary of the events that transpired up until last Saturday afternoon. Here are the most pertinent items from the last six or seven days.

* As noted, an illustration of how Old Brooklyn and Brooklyn Centre have been proposed to be gerrymandered was posted by Ward 15 Councilman Brian Cummins. In it, Ward 15 is spliced into four pieces, which are incorporated into Wards 12 (Slavic Village), 13 (Downtown, Tremont, Ohio City, St. Clair Superior), 14 (Ohio City, Tremont, Clark-Fulton), and 16 (Old Brooklyn, Stockyards). The entire plan still has not been made available for public review and comment.

* A group of Old Brooklyn and Brooklyn Centre residents is organizing a mass protest on the steps of Cleveland City Hall on Monday, March 16 at 6pm. Protesters will then move to city council chambers to have a presence and demonstrate that they will not accept the destruction of the fabric of their neighborhoods nor the process by which redistricting has been performed without citizen input and in a politically-motivated fashion. Transportation via bus will be available beginning at 5pm from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo east parking lot. Attendees are strongly encouraged to come with their neighbors, family, and friends and to bring signs.

* South Hills Association members held an emergency meeting on Wednesday evening to discuss the proposal for their neighborhood to be incorporated into Ward 12, which is currently comprised of Slavic Village (North and South Broadway SPAs) across the Cuyahoga River and suburbs of Newburgh Heights and Cuyahoga Heights. According to the Ohio Daily Blog, about 100 residents attended on just a few days notice, and are furious and prepared to fight. South Hills residents have a four-part plan that focuses on contacting city council members en masse to convey their displeasure, organize as many residents as possible for the Monday protest, invite Ward 12 Councilman Tony Brancatelli and Ward 13 Councilman Joe Cimperman to hear their complaints firsthand, and possibly pursue legal action.

* There's been conversation about when city council will vote to approve the recommendations of Triad Consulting, the contractor hired by leadership to calculate population estimates by tract and draw new ward boundaries. Council must adopt new political districts to take effect in 2010 by April 1, or Mayor Frank Jackson will assume that decision-making authority. To date, a depiction of the new wards has not been released. News reports indicate that, in addition to Ward 15, Councilman Zack Reed's Ward 3 is slated to be eliminated under Triad's current plan. Both Councilman Reed and Ward 15 Councilman Brian Cummins have both been considered two of Council President Martin Sweeney's most outspoken critics.

* Bette Meyer, who served as facilitator of the forum to garner public input about Cleveland's political redistricting, sent an email to participants and how the process is very contradictory to the five major consensus principles that were identified by more than 200 citizens. In her message, she implores Clevelanders to contact the Clerk of Council and media to express that they want to see the proposed changes make available to members of the public for their consideration and input. A similar meeting for the East Side of Cleveland has been scheduled by community leaders on Tuesday, March 17.

* This week, WKYC Channel 3 broadcast two pieces about Ward 15 redistricting. A full interview of Councilman Cummins from Thursday is available here, and a story about how South Hills residents feel about their neighborhood becoming part of Ward 12 is here.

* Finally, fellow Old Brooklyn blogger Will at Skorasaurus has a full timeline of the redistricting process.

New information will be posted as it is received, so please bookmark Old Brooklyn Blogs for further details about redistricting as well as much more from Cleveland's Old Brooklyn neighborhood. Have additional info, a link to share, or remarks? Please post in the comments below.

More Info on Redistricting Protest

Here's more information from Brooklyn Centre's Darren Hamm about the protest to be held Monday, March 16 at 6pm on the steps of Cleveland City Hall. To download the flyer, please click here.

Like last week, Old Brooklyn Blogs will soon amalgamate the series of events and discussions across the Web.
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Do you know what is happening to your neighborhood this week? If Cleveland City Council has its’ say...we are all in for a big change. If you care about the future of your neighborhood you will join with us on Monday, March 16 on the steps of City Hall at 6:00pm.

In November 2008, we saw the passage of a ballot initiative that provides Cleveland City Council the ability to redraw our ward boundaries. It was stated publicly that Council’s process and goals for redistricting would seek to protect the integrity, as well as historic and natural boundaries of Cleveland’s neighborhoods. In reality, the effort is revealing itself as another great exercise in the time-honored tradition of gerrymandering.

What’s most disheartening about this process is not merely “politicians being politicians” by securing their power structures and eliminating their adversaries. Moreover it is the fact that we the residents and voters have no input about our own communities. That’s why we need to stand now against this action and demand that our voices be heard and our interests be considered.

The leadership of Cleveland City Council is planning to rush an approval of a map drawn up in the back rooms of City Hall without any of our input. If your fate is like that of Ward 15, you too may see your community cut into four pieces with it’s livelihood in the hands of rival political personalities. What will this mean for the valuable community services? What will this mean for the already disenfranchised and less fortunate?

Won’t you stand with us and ask, “what is happening to our neighborhoods”? We all work too hard to watch our hope and progress washed away by this political gesture. If we’ve learned anything in the past year, it’s that now more than ever we need thoughtful, innovative leadership. We’ve also learned that when we get together, united, our hopes can truly make change happen.

Please join us Monday, March 16th at 6:00pm on the steps of Cleveland City Hall at 601 Lakeside Avenue. We’ll proceed into the Monday evening Council hearing at 7:00pm. Attached is a flyer to be passed along to all. Bring friends, bring signs, and bring hope.

Together our voices will be heard. Together we can change the direction of our wonderful City.

Darren T. Hamm


For more information, see the following links:
http://realneo.us/content/cleveland-lose-strong-political-voice
http://realneo.us/content/brooklyn-centre-old-brooklyn-targeted-slice-and-dice-council-leadership
http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2009/03/many_questions_few_answers_for.html
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/cleveland_councilman_brian_cum.html
http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2009/03/old_brooklyn_citizens_schedule.html
http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1236673945178760.xml&coll=2
http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1236673917178760.xml&coll=2
http://blog.Cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/old_brooklyn_citizens_schedule.html

Follow-up from Last Week's Redistricting Forum

This email originates from Bette Meyer, who facilitated last week's forum on Cleveland City Council's political redistricting. Please note that the forum is now being shown on cable channel 20 at 11am-12:30pm and 8:30-10pm every day this week.
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To residents of Cleveland interested in Council re-districting:

Below is the compilation of the discussion group report-outs from the Community Meeting held March 4, at Applewood Center. Among the 200 persons present, there was strong consensus on the five major themes:

* EACH NEIGHBORHOOD AND/or CDC MUST BE WHOLLY WITHIN ONE WARD:
* RESIDENTS WANT OPEN COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPARENCY ON THIS ISSUE:
* KEEP RE-DISTRICTING APOLITICAL and LEARN FROM PAST MISTAKES
* BASE NUMBER & LOCATION OF WARDS ON ACCURATE POPULATION NUMBERS
* ASSURE COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL VOTING RIGHTS ACT

Since that meeting, some Councilpersons have been shown tentative maps of their proposed new ward. Councilman Cummins was not shown a map, but given a verbal description of the lines which are being proposed, dividing the current Ward 15 into sections to be given to four different Wards.

Based on the sketchy pieces that are being parceled out, it appears that the new ward boundaries may violate all of the principles listed above. Several neighborhoods are divided; there is still no public communication of the proposal nor opportunity for input; and the proposal appears to protect certain Councilpersons rather than attending to the concerns of the neighborhoods. In addition, although there has been no public release of the numbers on which the plan is based – there is at least a question as to whether the Federal “one person; one vote” provision will be met, in that the areas of the City which experienced significant population loss are not the same ones which are being divided or combined with other wards.

We have met with the Plain Dealer, and expect that they will put more of this on the public record. Councilman Cummins has made a “public records request” to secure the population data on which the proposal is based. It is not yet known when Council will receive the full proposal – but perhaps later this week. Council vote on this could be anytime between now and April 1. Councilman Kelley told the March 4 meeting that there would be a Council Committee scheduled to review the plan; but that date has not been set. We will notify you when we know anything further.

Please, NOW – send your questions/concerns to both the Clerk of Council and to the media, asking them to make the plan public and allow opportunity for public comment and input. Let Council know we are watching.

Thanks for all your efforts on behalf of our community,

Bette S. Meyer


FINDINGS:

Near West Side City Council Wards Community Meeting: Redistricting 3.04.09

Public Input and Overall Findings

(200+ attendees; 8 break-out groups yielded these consensus issues)

* EACH NEIGHBORHOOD AND/or CDC MUST BE WHOLLY WITHIN ONE WARD:
o Don’t divide the neighborhoods but use history and topography as guides for redrawing the wards
o Preserve the neighborhoods; keep the neighborhoods intact;
o The vibrancy of neighborhoods must be reflected in the new plan
o Keep CDC service areas within one ward (can’t be effective if broken up)
o Ensure there isn’t a disruption of support for neighborhood organizations
o One SPA=One Ward (use neighborhoods as criteria for ward boundaries)
o Use natural boundaries to determine the wards
o When two or more neighborhoods are contained within one Ward, strategically combine neighborhoods with similar needs and characteristics
o Ensure a realistic redrawing of wards by using identifying features that define sections of the city, and by evenly distributed population counts
o Use natural features and infrastructure as boundaries while avoiding obvious political gerrymandering (curly-cue tails)

* RESIDENTS WANT OPEN COMMUNICATION AND TRANSPARENCY ON THIS ISSUE:
o Transparency is needed throughout this process
o There needs to be a public opportunity to review the plan before it is enacted
o Keep public informed of the process and make as ‘open’ as possible
o Residents are concerned Council won’t have input from the public and CDCs
o Residents are concerned they are not getting all of the information they need
o Residents want the media to jump in, ask hard questions and focus attention on this issue
o Produce communication pieces in foreign languages
o Residents want a public disclosure of population numbers, plan, and community wishes
o Improve communication about this process to the public through the media and other technology
o Why aren’t other parts of the city having an opportunity to speak as this group did?

* KEEP RE-DISTRICTING APOLITICAL and LEARN FROM PAST MISTAKES:
o Put community interests over political interests
o Don’t use ward boundaries to settle political scores (reward or punish)
o Emphasize practicality over politics- what works for citizens, rather than what works for politicians
o Repeating dysfunctional political traditions impairs and demeans the process
o Residents are concerned that those who made mistakes in the past are still in power and will continue to make mistakes now and in the future
o This is an opportunity to correct mistakes from the past

* BASE NUMBER & LOCATION OF WARDS ON ACCURATE POPULATION NUMBERS:
o Ensure the plan accurately reflects population losses and where they occurred
o Make sure decisions (# of Wards) are not based on “east and west” thinking
o Use real population figures, not estimates
o Seek to put the entire process on hold until the census is complete
o Feel the timeframe is too short, especially when this process will be redone in a few years

* ASSURE COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL VOTING RIGHTS ACT:
o Relative to provision for minority group representation (e.g. Hispanic, Asian)
o Relative to equality in ward population numbers

RELATED ISSUES:

* Resident’s are worried their voices will be diluted with fewer Wards
* Ward representatives must act as champions and advocates for their ward
* History and historic preservation must remain, even if councilperson changes
* Improve the quality of the members of the council
* Will the allocation formula for CDBG funding change?
* How will this affect voting precincts?

Meeting Wednesday to Discuss Ward 15 Redistricting

This is from Henry Gomez's Cleveland City Hall Blog on Cleveland.com. If you're a Ward 15 resident concerned about the politically-motivated gerrymandering of Old Brooklyn and Brooklyn Centre, please consider attending this meeting and the protest at next week's council meeting.
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Old Brooklyn citizens schedule Wednesday forum to discuss City Council ward worries
by Henry J. Gomez/Plain Dealer Reporter
Tuesday March 10, 2009, 10:02 AM

The South Hills Neighborhood Association, which serves part of the Old Brooklyn area, will hold an emergency meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday to talk about City Council redistricting.

Councilman Tony Brancatelli, whose Ward 12 could be stretched west across Newburgh Heights and into the South Hills neighborhood, has been invited.

The meeting will be at the Brooklyn Heights Church of Christ, 2005 Schaaf Road.

Ward 15 and Political Redistricting

Over the course of the last couple of days, news has surfaced about how the Ward 15 portion of Old Brooklyn and the entire Brooklyn Centre neighborhood may potentially be impacted by the political redistricting to take effect in 2010. The plan for new ward boundaries is to be completed and adopted by Cleveland City Council by April 1.

Here's somewhat of a timeline of recent events and developments relating to Ward 15:

* On Wednesday evening, Councilmen Brian Cummins, Matt Zone, and Joe Santiago held a public meeting at Applewood Center to educate community members about the redistricting process and garner input about what should be considered in the redrawing of wards. No new information about what is being proposed was presented, despite the fact that draft ward boundaries had likely been prepared prior to the community meeting. However, Councilman Santiago eluded that his ward will gain 2,200 residents. Attendees commonly remarked that the process should be transparent and inclusive, and that neighborhoods should not be divided politically. Anthony Fossaceca at Ohio Daily Blog has a full recap of the meeting, as well as videos here.

* Thursday afternoon, Cummins met with consultants to discover that they favor a plan to splice Ward 15 into three parts that would be incorporated into Tony Brancatelli's Ward 12, Joe Cimperman's Ward 13, Santiago's Ward 14, and Kevin Kelley's Ward 16. He posted on RealNEO.us that, under the plan conveyed to him, the area bounded by Valley Road to the east, Pearl Road to the west and Broadview Road to the south would be incorporated into Ward 13 (which includes parts of Downtown, Tremont, Ohio City, and St. Clair-Superior); Ward 12 (Slavic Village on the city's Near East Side) would encompass the South Hills neighborhood; and, the south and northwest portions of Old Brooklyn would become Ward 16. Additionally, the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood would be divided along Pearl Road, with the western portion going to a new Majority-Minority Hispanic Ward 14 and the eastern part apportioned to Ward 13.

* Henry Gomez of the Plain Dealer states, "One of the consultants, Bob Dykes, said that the plan should not be seen as a slight to Cummins, a constant thorn in Council President Martin J. Sweeney's side." Cummins has been an outspoken critic of Sweeney, adding speculation that this is a retaliatory and retributive act to rid the council president and Ward 20 representative of his rival.

* Cummins writes in his post, "After a long and spirited discussion (after I explained what is proposed and after the official civic association meeting - a 501c3), there was, and now continues to be actions in organizing protests at City Hall this coming Monday and every Monday thereafter until these extreme measures to break-up these neighborhoods are reversed or at a minimum tempered so as not to damage both of them so brutally." Tim Ferris from Brooklyn Centre has posted on the Save Our Land Blog that Ward 15 community leaders are organizing concerned residents on Monday, March 16 at 6pm at Gino's on Denison Avenue at I-176. They will be going be loading onto busses to fight the proposed redistricting plan before Cleveland City Council. Further details will be posted on OB Blogs as they become available.

UPDATE 3/8/09: Councilman Cummins has posted a map of what Ward 15 may look like if the current proposal is implemented.

How Will Ward Redistricting Affect Old Brooklyn?

Join the Cleveland City Council members from the Near West Side neighborhoods and community partners to learn about the process of redrawing the city's wards.

In November 2008, Cleveland voters approved the redistricting of political boundaries so that one ward-based council member would represent every 25,000 residents. The passage of the ballot measure likely spells a reduction in the number of councilpersons, which will take effect following the elections to be held this November. Consultants are currently in the process of estimating the city's population and defining corresponding ward lines.

The meeting will take place on Wednesday, March 4 at 7pm at the Applewood Center, 3518 West 25th Street.

For more information, please visit the Cleveland City Council "Rightsizing" page on RealNEO.