Dew Diligence - Episode 42 - Former Cain Park GM Ian Hinz

Two months ago, just before election day, Cain Park General Manager Ian Hinz found out he was fired.

While reasonable people may agree or disagree over whether or not Ian should have been fired, no one can deny that Ian's two summers at the helm saw Cain Park come alive. We got a glimpse of what is possible.

He gave his heart and soul to his dream job, steering the ship during tumultuous times at city hall. Unlike many city employees, he's also a Cleveland Heights homeowner with a financial and emotional investment in Cain Park's success. His backyard backs up to the park. Not doing an exit interview with Ian would be a colossal waste of valuable insight. He was surprisingly magnanimous. Anyone who cares about the future of Cain Park, and about managing the messy intersection of arts funding and municipal government, should give it a listen.

Dew Diligence - Episode 41 - Lee Road Murals and Heights Arts

Cedar-Lee is now officially an “arts district” and it will look a lot different a year from now. If you know any mural artists, let them know to get their applications in to Heights Arts before December 3rd. We talk to Heights Arts Executive Director Rachel Bernstein, new Cedar-Lee SID Executive Director Caroline Barni, Kyra Wells from LAND Studio and Diedre McPherson from Assembly for the Arts about this transformative project using ARPA money to fund up to six new murals throughout Cedar-Lee.

Dew Diligence - Vote Dew November 4th

Friends I wasn't sure if I was going to do a traditional campaign video. But then last night I'm at Cle Urban Winery talking to this local political consultant who gave me the vibe he thought I had no chance. So I went home and threw together this bootleg campaign video. The Citizens United Supreme Court ruling is rotting this country from the inside. I’m running a $0 campaign because we should expect better than politics-as-usual in Cleveland Heights. Vote Dew November 4th.

Dew Diligence - Episode 40 - Councilman Craig Cobb

We wrap up our series of Cleveland Heights City Council candidate interviews on the Park Synagogue campus with Councilman Craig Cobb. Interim Mayor Tony Cuda, who is the sixth council candidate, will have to wait until after Election Day sadly as he’s understandably buried with city business. Councilman Cobb and I get caught up on what’s been a busy few weeks in Cleveland Heights. Behind the scenes of the Park Synagogue development deal to the Heights High pool opening to residents to big changes in leadership at Cain Park and in the finance department to his current stance on funding immigrant legal defense with city dollars.

Dew Diligence - Episode 38 - Anthony Mattox

I admit I was a little nervous about how this one would go. But then Councilman Anthony Mattox started off this episode of Dew Diligence with nothing but kind words for interim Mayor Tony Cuda, I picked my jaw off the ground and we rolled on from there. Councilman Anthony Mattox and I are the only two city council candidates running solo campaigns. Will one or both of us break the slate? We will find out November 4th.

Dew Diligence - Episode 37 - Joe Dewitt-Foy

This week on Dew Diligence, get to know City Council Candidate Joe DeWitt-Foy. I have serious concerns that a stint on Cleveland Hts City Council might ruin Joe's relentless positive vibes, but he says he's ready. We dig into why he's running as well as recapping what was a big week in Cleveland Hts politics- Kahlil Seren is no longer mayor, Tony Cuda is our interim mayor and Law Director Bill Hanna was fired and re-hired in the span of 24hrs. Its been wild. And we are just a month away from election day.

Dew Dilgence - Episode 36 - Jessica Cohen

The "inevitable" Jessica Cohen for Cleveland Heights City Council sits down with the evitable me for one of my favorite conversations I've had on Dew Diligence. I think if Jessica lived in Minnesota or Illinois or some New England state, you'd be looking at someone just getting started, on her way to being elected state-wide. For now, she's stuck with us.

After 12 years of service on various Cleveland Heights boards and commissions, her path to a seat on city council looks pretty clear. From the "Livable Neighborhoods" initiative, to vouchers, to her experience being dragged into the public spotlight through a pending lawsuit against the city, we cover a lot of ground.

Dew Diligence/Cohen Confidential - Episode 35 - Adam Dew (hosted by Jessica Cohen)

Guest host and fellow Cleveland Heights City Council Candidate Jessica Cohen interviews me, her competition, Council Candidate Adam Dew, on the first-ever episode of Cohen Confidential. This is the first episode following the recall of Mayor Kahlil Seren. We dig into my background and why I’m running. But we also get caught up on the transition, and the current state of the race for both mayor and council in Cleveland Heights.

Dew Diligence - Episode 30 - Deanna Bremer Fisher

2025 Cleveland Heights Mayoral Candidate Interview #1: Deanna Bremer Fisher

Deanna Bremer Fisher is currently Chief of Staff for University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan. She is a 30-year resident of Cleveland Heights and the former Executive Director of Future Heights. This the first of five candidate interviews leading up to the September 9 primary.

Dew Diligence - Episode 26 - Councilman Craig Cobb "The Budget"

Councilman Craig Cobb is not happy. He and five other members of Cleveland Heights City Council voted to approve a temporary 3-month budget, rejecting Mayor Seren's full-year 2025 budget. Mayor Seren says this is petty politics and has made his feelings known over city social media channels. Council says chaos in the city finance department, delays in getting hands on budget materials and holes in the budget as presented made passing the Mayor's 12-month budget as impossible.

Dew Diligence - Episode 25 - Jaime "Jaques François" Hosticka

The growing pains continue for our still new-ish form of government. Our outgoing Cleveland Heights Rec Director lights City Hall a love letter on the way out the door which set off a chain of events ending with Mayor Seren announcing he is investigating members of City Council for meeting in secret (violating Sunshine Laws). The collaboration everyone says they desire might tough moving forward given the events, and heated rhetoric, of the last week. Jaime Hosticka, who goes by Jaques François online, is a clinical psychotherapist and a former moderator of the Cleveland Heights Neighborhood Chatter Facebook Group. He gives us his impressions on the state of discourse at City Hall.

Dew Diligence - Episode 24 - The Rooster DJ Byrnes

Citizen journalist DJ Byrnes is doing his best to make life miserable for the GOP supermajority (and some Democrats) at the Statehouse in Columbus. I sat down with him at Franklin Park, not far the Statehouse, just an hour after Joe Biden announced he was dropping out. We talk about the effect his withdrawal could have on Sherrod Brown and the rest of the ballot, the school voucher lawsuit, the ongoing HB6 investigation, his recent surprise appearance on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and much more. Subscribe to the Rooster newsletter at www.rooster.info