A group of five University Heights citizens filed notice with the city that they have begun a recall effort against Mayor Brennan. Moving University Heights Forward is a PAC formed by citizens Daniel Cohen, Scott Soeder, Bonnye Klein, Paul Lindner and Kelly Sheehy to lead the effort. Mayor Brennan pulls no punches as he assesses who he thinks is behind the effort to have him recalled.
Dew Diligence - Episode 21 - Mayor Kahlil Seren
Dew Diligence - Episode 20 - Janine Boyd
Dew Diligence - Episode 19 - Melody Joy Hart
Dew Diligence - Episode 18 - Jim Petras
Dew Diligence - Episode 17 - Jon Benedict
Dew Diligence - Episode 16 - Gail Larson
Dew Diligence - Episode 15 - Jeanne Gordon
Dew Diligence - Episode 14 - Josie Moore
Dew Diligence returns with former Cleveland Heights City Councilperson Josie Moore. We are less than a month from an important election in Ohio (abortion rights and legal weed are on the ballot). And right here in Cleveland Heights we have six candidates running for three seats on city council. Incumbents Melody Joy Hart, Janine Boyd and Gail Larson are joined on the ballot by Jim Petras, Jon Benedict and Jeanne Gordon.
I chose Josie Moore to kick things off because no one in our city is better equipped to assess the current state of city council. After winning election in 2021, she resigned after a little more than a year as she saw her mental health and family relationships suffering. She talks about the issues she had in adjusting to life on council, what drove her to resign and who she is backing in 2023.
Dew Diligence Episode 13 - Cheryl Stephens
Cheryl Stephens is the President and CEO of East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation. She is also our representative on County Council (District 10). She served as the appointed mayor of Cleveland Heights during her many years on Cleveland Heights City Council. She offers her perspective on this momentous week in Cleveland Heights and on the part she played in getting us here. She also walks us through some of the many developing projects on tap in the area.
Dew Diligence Episode 12 - Dustin Russell
Dustin Russell is a rare thing in Cleveland Heights. He's a republican. He is on the GOP central committee and ran against Rep Janine Boyd in 2020. We talk about the crazy state of politics in Cleveland Heights and the strange bedfellows that have emerged around our monumental local races that will be decided in three short weeks.
Episode 11 - Candidate Kahlil Seren
Episode 10 - Candidate Barbara Danforth
Episode 9 - Candidate Melody Joy Hart
Episode 8 - Nina Turner
Nina Turner joins us we head towards the August 3 Democratic primary that will likely decide the District 11 race. Topics- negative campaigning, dark money in politics, our EPA consent decree issues and how our new mayor will be able to connect with her if she wins.
Interviews with our four mayoral candidates will start to roll out next week.
Episode 7 - Will Knight
You may have seen more and more yard signs supporting Will Knight starting to pop up in the Heights. Will Knight is one of the candidates in the crowded District 11 field vying to replace Marcia Fudge. The former Ohio State walk-on wrestler relishes the underdog role. He’s fighting to take a seat alongside his old wrestling coach Jim Jordan. The same Jim Jordan who abandoned Will and his Ohio State teammates as they fight to expose a decades-long sex abuse scandal.
Episode 6 - Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell
Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell continues to break new ground in Maple Heights. She talks about the partnership that led to leasing Dunham Park to Metroparks and their potentially groundbreaking lawsuit against Hulu and Netflix. She thinks we should be looking for someone with a CEO mentality as we elect our first mayor. We also talk about her additional duties as safety director and the challenge of guiding Maple Heights out of fiscal emergency.
Episode 5 - Cedar-Lee Theatre Owner Jon Forman
The Cedar-Lee Theatre has drawn thousands of people each month to the heart of Cleveland Heights for nearly 100 years . Jonathan Forman bought the Cedar-Lee nearly forty years ago when he was in his mid-20s. He founded the Cleveland International Film Festival there around the same time. The theater’s future and survival are critical as the city looks to add massive development at Cedar/Lee. Eric Silverman also joins us to talk about the on again/off again decades-long development history of the Lee/Meadowbrook site and outlines the current proposals.
Episode 4 - Craig Cobb
Craig Cobb was recently appointed to city council for a second time. The seat sat empty for a year and appeared it would not be filled before November. In a move that surprised everyone Davida Russell, who had defeated Cobb head to head, made a motion to push Cobb across the finish line to be seated for a second time.
Episode 3 - Michael Dylan Brennan
We spoke with University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan at Walter Stinson Park. Topics included his impression of the field of mayoral candidates in Cleveland Heights, his experience level (or lack thereof) when he was elected three years ago, the future of the Wiley campus, the possibility of joint CH-UH pool passes and much more.