Jill Miller Zimon is determined:

We’re the voters, we’re the public, we’re the taxpayers.

We don’t like something that they’re going to do without our up or down vote? Then we need to find a way to stop the process so that our opinion not only is heard but governs. The commissioners are not our helicopter parents looking out for us. That’s not how it works in a democracy. We will suffer the consequences if our choice - to not build a new convention center - destroys our lives, now and in the future.

But that’s our choice to make. Just like it was your choice to vote for whichever county commissioners you wanted. (I know I did not vote for Jimmy Dimora and I’m pretty sure I didn’t vote for Tim Hagan. I may have voted for Peter Lawson Jones but I don’t remember.)

So - how does one research how to stop the commissioners…?

What follows is a very detailed post on trying to find the levers the public can use to stop the cram down from happening. I’d highly recommend any resident of Cuyahoga County to read both the post and the comments.

I’d also recommending signing this petition that was sent to me by a BFD reader to send a message to the boys downtown that while the talk the regionalism tallk, they’re not walking the regionalism walk:

Without asking voter approval, the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners appears poised to approve a 0.25% increase to the existing 7.5% sales tax in Cuyahoga County, whose citizens already endure the highest sales taxes in Ohio, while at the same time, has some of the poorest and over-burdened residents in the nation. In the proposal, the purpose of this increase is to build a new Convention Center and to attract Medical Mart to the community in an unproven effort to generate revenue for Cuyahoga County. The Convention Center and its funding have been controversial from the beginning with the public, and this is just a way for the Commissioners to circumvent voter approval. Additionally, other communities around the country, including nearby communities in Ohio (Columbus, Cincinnati) and in Pittsburgh, have required private contributions from companies who stand to benefit from publicly funded construction (examples: sports stadiums and Pittsburgh’s arena/casino plan). Those who will benefit most are not the citizens funding the construction through the tax. As usual, it will be a small number of corporations who benefit. Instead of exacting the entire burden of the project on the public with an increase in the sales tax, we are asking the Commissioners to look at other possibilities for Convention Center funding, including asking those who will profit most from the Convention Center (Forest City, Medical Mart) to contribute private money OR put the sales tax proposal to a public vote.

Writes Like She Talks: How to stop the Cuyahoga County Commissioners