Plain Press

  • Local and state politicians show more empathy to developers than to Cleveland’s children

    Local and state politicians show more empathy to developers than to Cleveland’s children by Chuck Hoven Plain Press, July 20220                             Cleveland’s new tax abatement policy set to start on January 1, 2024, while better than the current policy, does little to address the glaring need to substantially increase the flow of property taxes to the Cleveland…

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  • PB CLE stages community event at ThirdSpace Action Lab

    PHOTO BY BRUCE CHECEFSKY Sunday, May 15, 2022; Participatory Budgeting in Action event, ThirdSpace Action Lab, 1464 E. 105th Street: Laylah Allen, Chief Executive Officer of The Missing Link, COPE Inc., and David Van Horn, a community artist and organizer for Art Block, participate in this effort to have citizens help determine how a portion of…

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  • Ohio Fair Lending Coalition and City Council hold Public Forum to address fair lending issues

    by Bruce Checefsky (Plain Press, June 2022)                            The Ohio Fair Lending Coalition, a collaboration of organizations across the state of Ohio banding together to address fair lending and banking issues, sponsored a forum featuring the newly elected Cleveland City Council members Deborah Gray, Ward 4; Richard Starr, Ward 5; Stephanie Howse, Ward 7; and Kris Harsh, Ward…

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  • Participatory Budgeting Cleveland presents its 2022 Action Plan

    Participatory Budgeting Cleveland presents its 2022 Action Plan by Bruce Checefsky Plain Press, May 2022             Molly Martin took the microphone to address Cleveland City Council on the need for Participatory Budgeting using The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding. In her three-minute talk, Martin, a member of the PB CLE (Participatory Budgeting Cleveland), a coalition of individuals…

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  • Participatory Budgeting Cleveland wants public involved in decisions about spending of American Rescue Act funds

    PHOTO BY TAURUS KINGS PHOTOGRAPHY Members of the Participatory Budgeting Cleveland Team:  Gwen Garth, Trevor Pollack, Laylah Allen, Molly Martin, Austin Davis, Robin Brown, Loh, Daniel Ortiz, Angelique Salizan, Kayla Knight, Chrissy Stonebraker-Martinez, and Jonathan Welle. Participatory Budgeting Cleveland wants public involved in decisions about spending of American Rescue Act funds by Bruce Checefsky (Plain Press,…

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  • File your taxes now to claim your child and earned income tax credits

    (Plain Press, March 2022)    The IRS is now accepting 2021 tax returns! Sign up for the Expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).    There is roughly $193 billion waiting for families with children — all they need to do is file their taxes to claim it.    The American Rescue Plan made significant changes…

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  • American Rescue Plan Act survey responses provide window into what Cleveland needs now

    American Rescue Plan Act survey responses provide window into what Cleveland needs now by Zachary & Lee Chilcote (Plain Press, December 2021)                 This past summer, the city of Cleveland mailed surveys to more than 120,000 homes and businesses asking residents, “How would you spend $511 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to make Cleveland healthier and…

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  • Ten Clevelanders address City Council Meeting during its first Public Comments period in over 100 years 

    (Plain Press, November 2021)   Ten Cleveland citizens took part in a historic event, the first Public Comments period at a Cleveland City Council meeting in over 100 years. The occasion was the Monday October 4, 2021 meeting of Cleveland City Council. The ten citizens taking advantage of this public forum to speak to their fellow citizens…

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  • Council members balk at $20M ‘blank check’ for citywide broadband pilot

    Council members balk at $20M ‘blank check’ for citywide broadband pilot by Lee Chilcote (Plain Press, October 2021)   A proposal to allocate $20 million to help bridge the digital divide in Cleveland by creating citywide broadband met with some opposition at Monday’s city council meeting, with some members asking why there wasn’t more community involvement or a concrete plan…

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