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Pete Bigelow · Midwest Memo: Four Ohio towns may merge; Michigan’s emergency manager law challenged
June 22nd, 2011
Three stories making news across the Midwest today:
1. Suburban Cleveland communities study consolidation. Four communities in suburban Cleveland announced today they will begin the process of studying a merger. The mayors of Pepper Pike, Orange Village, Moreland Hills and Woodmere have agreed to be part of a pilot program. No timetable was given for reaching a decision.
The announcement comes on the heels of last week’s announcement from Ohio Governor John Kasich, who wants a committee to explore consolidation among the state’s 3,800 government entities. In a written statement issued Wednesday, Cuyahoga County executive Ed FitzGerald called the merger of the four towns a “logical outcome,” because they already share a school district, recreation program and library.
2. Emergency managers challenged in Michigan. A lawsuit was filed today in Ingham County Circuit Court, challenging a new Michigan law that gives expanded powers to emergency managers of cities and school districts in crisis. “This law violates one of the basic principles of democracy, where people get to vote and no one can impose a dictator on them,” said Bill Goodman, an attorney for the Sugar Law Center of Detroit, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of 28 plaintiffs, according to the Detroit Free Press.
3. Merit-pay-for-teachers plan gains surprising supporter. Count Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson among the unlikely supporters of a merit-pay plan for teachers similar to the some provisions proposed by Republicans in Ohio’s controversial Senate Bill 5. Jackson has previously categorized the overall bill as an attack on the rights of public workers. In a phone interview with The Plain Dealer, Jackson said the merit pay proposals give Cleveland the “greatest opportunity to educate children in the shortest period of time.”
