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Ohio
''Greater Ohio'' to Make Suburban Sprawl a Key Issue in 2006 Gubernatorial Race
Formed in January 2004 after two years of preparation, to rally the public and lobby lawmakers for ''intelligent land use'' and smart growth, the Greater Ohio advocacy group will make suburban sprawl a key issue in the 2006 gubernatorial race, stressing the need for city revitalization, a ''fix-it-first'' road and bridge policy in the context of other transportation options, and less dependence on property taxes for school funding.
Having secured almost $500,000 from the Cleveland-based Gund Foundation and other donors, reports Akron Beacon Journal writer Bob Downing, Greater Ohio steering committee chairman and EcoCity Cleveland founder David Beach says the next governor must take a firm anti-sprawl stand and lead as former or present governors in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania have done.
His diverse 26-member steering committee represents a whole spectrum of interests. It includes Ohio Environmental Council leader Vicki Deisner, Scenic Ohio head Christine Freitag, AFL-CIO Cleveland Federation of Labor representative John Ryan, Catholic Diocese Commission on Catholic Community Action representative Len Calabrese, Greater Cleveland Growth Association member David Goss, Home Builders Association of Dayton and Miami Valley official David Bohardt, and retired Akron public relations expert David Meeker.
But, the writer notes, the committee is more than the sum of its parts. Nevertheless, Columbus-based Ohio Home Builders Association executive vice president Vincent J. Squillace calls Greater Ohio little more than EcoCity Cleveland's lobbying arm, noting that only 14 percent of Ohio land is developed and denying sprawl economic and land-use impact. He agrees that the state needs better planning and urban revitalization, but he also argues for more growth, and cautions against burdensome restrictions on development.
Gund Foundation staffer and national Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities board chairman Jon M. Jensen points out that Greater Ohio has done ''a very thorough job of scoping out the political climate in Ohio ... and planning what to do,'' and the group's Cleveland office head Pat Carey adds, ''Some say that Ohio has taken a thousand bad positions. Now we're trying to reverse that -- one decision at a time.'' -- Akron Beacon Journal
4/23/2005
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