• If elected mayor, State Senator Sandra Williams promises to rebuild Cleveland

    If elected mayor, State Senator Sandra Williams promises to rebuild Cleveland  by Bruce Checefsky    State Senator Sandra Williams was greeted by supporters as she entered the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections on June 8 where she filed petitions to run for Mayor of Cleveland. She pledged a campaign focused on a new, better Cleveland. Williams, who has held positions in…


  • Election information for voters residing in the 11th Congressional District

    Election information for voters residing in the 11th Congressional District (Plain Press, July 2021)       A special Congressional Primary Election will be held on August 3, 2021 in the 11th Congressional District for the seat that opened up due to the appointment of former Congressional Representative Marcia Fudge to be the United States Secretary of the Department of Housing…


  • Ohio’s 11th Congressional District Primary Election date set for August 3rd

    Ohio’s 11th Congressional District Primary Election date set for August 3rd by Bruce Checefsky Plain Press, June 2021     Ohio’s 11th Congressional District is heavily gerrymandered to favor Democrats. The district is shaped by irregular lines as it snakes south from city of Cleveland and its prosperous eastern suburbs through Summit County and parts Akron and represents more than 700,000…


  • Former Cleveland City Councilman Zack Reed will run for mayor

    Former Cleveland City Councilman Zack Reed will run for mayor by Bruce Checefsky  Plain Press, June 2021     Zack Reed, former Councilman, Ward 2, City of Cleveland, announced his mayoral campaign last month. Reed was appointed to the council in 2000 and served until 2017. He ran as a nonpartisan candidate for mayor of Cleveland and lost the…


  • Councilwoman Jasmin Santana to serve as Cleveland City Council’s new Majority Whip

    Councilwoman Jasmin Santana to serve as Cleveland City Council’s new Majority Whip Plain Press, June 2021     Ward 14 City Council Representative Jasmin Santana has accepted an offer to become City Council’s Majority Whip and part of City Council’s leadership team.    Elected in 2017, Santana is the first Latina council member in the city’s history. Councilwoman Santana…


  • City Club hosts Clevelanders for Public Comment in a forum and a mock public comments session

    City Club hosts Clevelanders for Public Comment in a forum and a mock public comments session by Chuck Hoven (Plain Press, May 2021)      The resident led movement, Clevelanders for Public Comment, now has a majority of Cleveland City Council — nine members — committed to passing legislation written by Near West Side activist Jessica Trivisonno that…


  • Call to action: Cleveland needs to address lack of low-income housing options

    Call to action: Cleveland needs to address lack of low-income housing options To the Editor: (Plain Press, May 2021)      My name is Paul Sherlock and last Friday (April 9th) my friend Jim Schlecht and I staged a protest of four apartment development sites currently underway on the Near West Side of Cleveland. We were protesting the lack…


  • Cleveland Mayoral candidates crowd the field

    Cleveland Mayoral candidates crowd the field by Bruce Checefsky (Plain Press, May 2021)      More than a dozen candidates have registered with Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to raise money towards the Cleveland mayoral election scheduled to take place on November 2, 2021, with others expected to announce their candidacy in the coming weeks.      Blaine Griffin announced…


  • Basheer Jones eyeing up mayor’s race

    Basheer Jones eyeing up mayor’s race by Bruce Checefsky (Plain Press, May 2021)    Ward 7 Councilman Basheer Jones was elected in November 2017, representing an area which includes the historic Hough district, as well as the St. Clair-Superior, Midtown and Asia Town neighborhoods. His first order of business once in office was to open a food distribution…


  • Cleveland Documenters examine opportunities for members of the public to speak at Cleveland City Council meetings

    Cleveland Documenters examine opportunities for members of the public to speak at Cleveland City Council meetings by Doug Breehl-Pitorak (Plain Press, April 2021)         The lack of a public comment period – a space for residents to speak – at Cleveland City Council meetings is once again on the civic radar. A group called Clevelanders for City…