Citizen Engagement
Citizens are hungry to be included in government and the development of public policy in ways that engage their values and expertise respectfully. Involvement of citizens and stakeholders in any decision-making process also necessitates transparency...
Public Schools
There are more than 600 school districts in the state of Ohio, some 200 of them in Northeast Ohio, spending roughly $6 billion in public money every year. In recent years, a handful of issues have become the focus of most conversations about public ...
Talent Attraction and Retention
Our ability to attract and retain talent plays a crucial role in the success and prosperity of our region. Without the ability to attract new talent, our region loses out on the fresh ideas, unique perspective and innovation this group offers. While...
More about the Civic Commons
A commons is a public space that is shared for the public good. The Civic Commons will be that, as well--a shared space for the public conversation about the issues we all care about. This page can be a place to collect best practices in productive ...
Collaborative Planning
Creating a sustainable future for Northeast Ohio may require collaborative planning to find solutions for the issues and challenges facing all of our communities. There is growing interest in developing practices of collaboration that strengthen the...
Vacant Property
The urban core of the region has experienced population loss over the last several decades. Along with population loss, population centers have shifted from the urban core to suburban communities, increasing the number of homes in a region with stag...
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship—the word stimulates discussion across post-recession America in local coffee shops, elementary school classrooms, and the office water cooler of your favorite charity, which is to say, it refers to a multitude of activities. E...
Transparency
Transparency in government is not a new issue. Our second president of the United States, John Adams, wrote, "Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right and a desire to know." In other words, a thrivin...
Bicycle Safety
There's often a disconnect between cyclists and motorists when it comes to acceptable and proper road usage that would allow everyone to get to where they're going safely. I hope these issue & conversation pages will help northeast OH cyclists, ...
School Funding
Since 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court has found the state’s system for funding public schools unconstitutional. Most of the problem stems from the reliance on property tax revenues, which will often reinforce social inequities. In 2010, Governor ...
Connecting to Young Professionals
Why do young people choose to live and work in particular communities? How do you nurture and attract talent to help grow healthy economies and neighborhoods? What do those entering the workforce and launching their careers need to succeed?
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Elections
Election processes are managed at the county level, by Boards of Elections. Four members serve on the Board of Elections and are appointed to a four-year term by the Secretary of State. A sense of neutrality or balance is reached by the appointment ...
Local Food Systems: 25% Shift
Everybody eats, and collectively, Northeast Ohioans spend about $15 billion annually on food: approximately $7.2 billion spent by households, $6.4 billion spent eating out, and about $1.4 billion spent through institutions that serv...
Arts Education
Arts education in schools has been proven to be a fundamental part of a child's growth and development. The arts nurture imagination and creativity which often impacts that ways in which a person learns throughout their life. There is also evidence ...
Obesity
It's not hard to tell that obesity is a growing problem in the United States with the highest rates in poor and urban areas. According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index in the third quarter ...
Teacher Accountability and Compensation
The essential questions are these: How and by whom should teacher performance be measured? And should that measurement be a factor in a teacher’s compensation or retention? According to the letter of the law, performance can always be a factor...
Other Conversations that Matter
As you know, at the Civic Commons we strive to encourage diverse perspectives because we believe that diversity contributes to better conversations. So, with that in mind, we are guessing the issue pages we created so far may not cover all the topic...
Arts Funding
Arts funding or patronage is necessary for the financial support and sustainability for the arts. Patrons of the arts have existed since the beginning of recorded human history. Northeast Ohio is rich with cultural institutions in music (Cleveland O...
Higher Education
Higher education or post-secondary education specifically refers to education that occurs after high school at universities, colleges, academies, seminaries, and institutes of technology. Ohio’s public university system is one of the largest c...
Energy
Any region's ability to manage and expand its economy is contingent on its ability to effectively manage growing energy demands. Historically, this has been accomplished by increasing supplies of energy produced from fossil fuels. Increasingly, cons...
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