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Civic Leaders Help New Cuyahoga Executive Set Agenda

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish
Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish

The Transition Policy Working Groups sketched out a big-picture view of the county’s strengths and challenges.

Their new report lauds a still-fragile economic and cultural comeback, while pointing out that many worrying trends continue: old housing stock and high home foreclosure rates, a declining and aging population, persistent poverty in Cleveland, a workforce poorly matched to businesses’ needs.

The report suggests the right approach can flip some of those weaknesses to strengths. New retirees can be tapped as civic leaders. If it’s maintained, affordable, older housing in urban neighborhoods may attract tax-paying millennials.

But some problems are just problems. The report calls infant mortality and opiate addiction rates “unacceptable.” Without a concerted effort, it warns, the economic revitalization that’s underway is unlikely to lift all boats.

The report urges Budish to help spread opportunity – from the Republican National Convention, for example – and to take collaborative, integrated approaches to problems.