Two pieces of recent news coming (or not coming) from the Cleveland mayor’s office demonstrate why the city is mired in lethargy and inaction, conditions that feed into its sorry status as the U.S.’s poorest city.
Last week, as some suburban cities were already announcing the resumption of some events such as summer concert series, the city of Cleveland was leaving event organizers in the dark as to when (if ever) their applications for permits would be processed. While Susie Frazier’s Maker Town Markets are scheduled for private property, Shannon Okey, who runs Cleveland’s longest-running maker market, the Cleveland Bazaar, was left hanging as to whether to start planning and booking vendors for the markets she holds at Market Square Park across from the West Side Market.
In late April she started a change.org petition, garnering almost a thousand signatures. Just days later, on April 30, City Hall announced it would start processing the permits it already had (including Okey’s), and in mid-May — too late for most events to start planning — would begin accepting new applications. Without information about whether, where and when they can hold events, planners can’t approve applications from vendors, and vendors can’t plan their seasons — for instance, knowing how much to invest in their inventory.
As Okey put it in the petition, “Without appropriate lead time for promotion and all the other work that goes into a successful event, the small businesses that take part in shows inside the city limits on public property such as Cleveland Bazaar, Night Market Cleveland and others in the city will be further harmed.”
Meanwhile, just as Okey was bringing attention to the roadblock local events planners were facing due to his office’s inaction, Mayor Frank Jackson awoke on April 26 long enough to announce a proposal for a new Office of Special Events, Filming and Tourism in the mayor’s office.
Such an office would appear to supersede or potentially conflict with those of the more than two-decade-old Greater Cleveland Film Commission and the equally established tourism bureau, Destination Cleveland (on whose board Jackson aide Valarie McCall serves). It’s unclear how or even whether this office would coordinate with the existing organizations.
According to WKYC TV, “The division also will promote and facilitate filming activities in the City and administer all special event concession agreements and film permits.”
That sounds — unpromising.
Anyone who’s dealt with the mayor’s office knows that it’s a thicket of dodges, obfuscation and roadblocks. For a journalist, getting a simple piece of information can be a nightmare, often requiring a Freedom of Information request. One reporter called a city hall department asking for the wording of a paragraph of an ordinance and was told they had to call the mayor’s communication office (led by McCall) to make a request. For the mayor’s office to take over the functions of two organizations that are established, in operation and get back to you if you call them sounds like a nightmare. Its foot-dragging on event permits for this summer shines a glaring light on why.
This mayor is disengaged to the point where he won’t even confirm whether or not he’ll be running again, with the primary scheduled for September, just over four months away. If he is, his failure to announce and make a strong case by this date demonstrates why he shouldn’t. If he isn’t, it’s an odd time to announce a sweeping change in how events, film and tourism are handled in a way that gives the mayor’s office more power. With a new mayor, hopefully Cleveland could hit reset on relationships and interactions with the community to restore the broken lines of communication.
[Written by Anastasia Pantsios]