• American Institute of Architects Cleveland hosts 2022 Sandfest at Edgewater Beach – raises funds for scholarships

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Saturday, August 6, 2022, American Institute of Architects (AIA) Cleveland Sandfest, Edgewater Beach: Ten teams competed in a sandcastle and sand sculpture contest. This Route 66 sign was a part of Vocon’s entry in the contest titled “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” which won the prize for Best Sculpture. The…


  • Cleveland City Council passes new tax abatement legislation

    Cleveland City Council passes new tax abatement legislation Plain Press, July 20220                             At a special meeting held on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, Cleveland City Council passed legislation that will restructure the City of Cleveland’s tax abatement policy.       A press release immediately following the meeting from Cleveland City Council Chief of Communications Joan Mazzolini explains the new…


  • 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…


  • Cleveland City Council weighs proposals to change Cleveland’s tax abatement policy

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Monday, May 16, 2022; Cleveland City Council Meeting, Cleveland City Hall, 601 Lakeside Avenue: During the Public Comment period at the Cleveland City Council Meeting, Ward 4 resident David Beach addresses Cleveland City Council on the issue of the reauthorization of the City’s residential tax abatement program.  Speaking of the Justin Bibb…


  • 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…


  • 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…


  • Advocates calling for City of Cleveland to take measures to slow traffic, cite traffic fatality on W. 50th Street

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Monday, May 16, 2022; Cleveland City Council Meeting, Cleveland City Hall, 601 Lakeside Avenue: During the Public Comment period, Ward 15 resident Nora Rodriguez testified about a traffic problem on W. 81st Street just north of Madison. Rodriguez said cars don’t stop at the stop sign at W. 81st and Lawn Avenue. She…


  • City of Cleveland seeks National Park Service grant to develop park near the Clark Recreation Center

    (Plain Press, June 2022)                      City Council members Jenny Spencer, Kevin Bishop, Anthony Hairston and Blaine Griffin plan to introduce an emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Public Works to apply for and acthcept a grant from the National Park Service for the purpose of developing a new city park to be located near the Clark Recreation Center.…


  • MetroHealth Park plans reviewed at community meetings

    MetroHealth Park plans reviewed at community meetings by Chuck Hoven Plain Press, May 2022        The temporary 3-acre park proposed by MetroHealth Medical Center for an area just across Scranton Road from its new Glick Center was the subject of a community meeting held at the Family Ministry Center on Fulton Road on April 6th. The meeting…


  • Cleveland’s approach to community development should put people before developers’ profits

    Cleveland’s approach to community development should put people before developers’ profits by Chuck Hoven Plain Press, May 2022             The City of Cleveland’s tax abatement program is coming up for renewal at the end of May. For many years, the City has used tax abatement as a means of attracting new residents and improving its housing stock…