While I still “live” in NEO, I now largely work in Toronto, and post most of my insight from there. I believe such global insight sharing offers unique perspectives to NEO not otherwise available and encourage more cross-boundary insight trade. As someone long associated with the Northeast Ohio economy and arts, I can't help but compare what I experience in Toronto (and Canada) with my experiences in Cleveland (and the USA), and I feel lessons learned far and wide, like in Toronto, will help NEO develop a stronger new economy at home. For those far and wide, I encourage you to post your observations here!

Two weeks ago saw the second birthday of REALNEO. I started REALNEO in October, 2004, to provide “Regional Economic Action Links for North East Ohio” and implement for the region some exciting open source social networking technology. While the outcomes have not been entirely what I expected, and these years have in ways been rough, I've been thrilled to help drive and support some great developments in the community.

The Plain Dealer published early details for a wonderful vision that has been developed by the Beck Board of Directors, with the City of Lakewood and the Lakewood schools, that will offer all of NEO a wonderful arts and learning asset for the future. "The Beck Center for the Arts will stay in Lakewood and form a partnership with city schools to create an arts-education academy that would anchor a possible cultural district in Lakewood's west end." "Other potential partners could include colleges and businesses." Sounds like a great opportunity for the CIA, and perhaps Kent State, wo have a valuable presence on the West Side!

 Thanks to Ed Morrison for forwarding to me an Akron Beacon Journal article about Akron filing a lawsuit against U.S. paint makers over lead hazards in their community. I don't believe the Cleveland Plain Dealer bothered to report on this important development, and the PD certainly didn't do as good a job of reporting on related litigation in East Cleveland and Toledo, a few weeks prior. Wonder why? As defendant Sherwin Williams' spokesman Bob Wells said, "Ohio is the last place we thought cities would bite their own'', and, in the case of mainstream local media, that line of reasoning holds true... they earn money from Sherwin Williams advertising and don't cover the lead issue in Northeast Ohio, even as 1,000s of children in Cuyahoga County are lead poisoned each year and so fail in life, trapping our core population in toxic poverty. With such a realization that our economy is held hostage by large corporate interests, it is time for the community to get serious about this issue... especially as Sherwin Williams and their attorneys act to intimidate our cities and deceive the people and the courts. Read on!

There were two important shows on WVIZ/PBS public television tonight. First, locally produced Ideas featured a segment on lead poisoning. Second,  "Bill Moyers on America: Is God Green?" explored  how "Millions of evangelical Christians in America have taken on care for the environment as a moral and Biblical obligation. They believe that as Christians it is their duty to take action against global warming, the loss of species and toxic chemicals in our air, food and water." So, we saw the greatest problem in our local society today... toxic contamination of at least 20% of people's land and lives in Cleveland... followed by the solution, being the 65% of Americans who believe in Christ coming together to battle such toxins. To care about any of these matters without caring about all is to live an incomplete and evil life as, apparently taken from the scriptures,  "those who destroy the Earth shall be destroyed by God!"

Phillip Williams and I happened to be in Toronto on business during the Canadian Thanksgiving, this year, which was yesterday, October 9th. On the surface, it is much like the USA Thanksgiving holiday... lots of comfy people eat turkey and tofurky and trimmings, while TV news broadcasts happy homeless people eating something similar in soup kitchens. What made the experience interesting for us is we spent the past few days with First Nations people, who view our Thanksgiving celebration quite differently from we of European and other non-indigenous descent. "What would our people have to be thankful for about what you did to our land" is the reasonable viewpoint of our friends here, which we discussed over Vietnamese food in Chinatown, the night before, and fresh peaches and grapes from Ontario, Thanksgiving morning. That experience was to be thankful for, as North Korea makes the world wonder what else to be thankful for.

In 2020 - the year, and with such vision - what postcard do you want to send from your hometown of Cleveland... the "Cleveland of my Dreams" vision above, or the the toxic "Nightmare in Cleveland" reality planned for us by ODOT, below, which is planned to be worse than anyone ever imagined. By 2020, ODOT plans to blight the entire dream zone of the Cleveland Flats and the East and West banks of the Cuyahoga River Valley shown in these renderings, and surrounding neighborhoods, even worse than they and the port have blighted there today. By 2020, ODOT will have finished their slash of concrete and steel rendered in the nightmare reality below, destroying these opportunity zones as freeways have destroyed so much else in NEO. Read on to see how we may be able to make these mightmare visions dreamy, instead.

Northeast Ohio's Blogging community is America's most active civic journalism network. Meet The Bloggers is an exciting, cutting edge community lead by George Nemeth, Gloria & Tim Ferris, and Jason Haas, building a national reputation for supporting freedom of speech, citizen dialogue and strengthening transparent political process - keystones of Democracy. 

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The Plain Dealer finally has their headline article in the battle to protect citizens against lead poisoning - Sherwin Williams is suing East Cleveland, Toledo and Columbus for them filing suit against Sherwin Williams over lead poisoning... this, rather than the impacts and history of lead poisoning, is what has made the headlines in the paper, featured on top of the business section (rather than the front page, where the news belongs). So, Sherwin Wlliams and their local attorneys Jones Day feel they can intimidate or perhaps bankrupt Ohio cities by attacking them over what has already been determined against Sherwin Wiliams and Jones Day in Rhode Island and is in court in 26 other states, all because  Sherwin Wiliams and Jones Day believe Ohio and our courts are so in the pockets of this rich and powerful local company and law firm they will endorse Blackmail.

Two major art exhibits opened Friday night, September 29, showcasing the importance of glocalization of NEO art at its best. Barbara Stanczak is showing a large body of recent sculptures, photo manipulations and constructions at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens Gallery, and Painter Dana Schutz and photographer Catherine Opie are exhibiting large bodies of work at Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Each artist has strong ties to NEO, yet are globally successful and influential in their own unique ways - rooting their accomplishments back to NEO is how glocalization of arts propels our economy to a higher level, as NEO leverages the  global significance of our arts industry.

If you read REALNEO, you know the huge burden of lead poisoning on our region's children and adults, the community's quality of life, and our education system and economy, and you know that, since May, East Cleveland Mayor Eric Brewer has been planning to work with Motley Rice to bring litigation over lead poisoning to Ohio courts. Today, the Plain Dealer published word the litigation is finally here, as East Cleveland is expected to file suit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court over the public nuisance lead causes in their community, as has been done in 27 other states to date. East Cleveland is the leader bringing such litigation to our state, and it appears other cities and the state of Ohio are preparing to follow suit. I take great pride that I helped advance this development, and I look forward to helping East Cleveland, NEO and all Ohioans win, as a result.

I just got the following event details from our Tech Czar Michael DeAloia about an important international conference coming to Cleveland - The International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers - with keynote by Case VP of IT Lev Gonick (congratulations, Lev). I've worked with lots of high level global IT managers and they are an excellent draw to Cleveland... they like to explore and they spend money, so this conference is a gem. And they are offering a special deal for Cleveland IT companies worth checking out. Most interesting to me and you is how they are selling Cleveland to their international membership... check out our forum on 22 reasons to attend this conference in Cleveland, Ohio, and add your ideas to share with these important guests of our community, and all others! See conference details below...

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Photo of Peter B. Lewis Building, by Frank Gehry, accented by Athena Tacha's Merging, 1986, of the Putnam Sculpture Collection. Photo by Evelyn Kiefer

Catch this award winning documentary on WVIZ about world-renowned architect Frank Gehry, dessigner of the exceptional Peter B. Lewis Building of the Weatherhead School of Business at Case University... Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 9pm. About the documentary...

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On October 20th, artists Grant Smrekar, Paul Sydorenko and Bill Rupnik will be the first to Leave ‘Em Wanting More when they initiate the final one-night only shows at the 1300 Gallery.   “We’re excited to have Grant, Paul and Bill as our first three artists for the last shows at 1300,” Martin Geramita, owner of 1300, said. “A strong opening show will be great momentum for the final series.”   With three known, Cleveland-based artists, drawing a crowd shouldn’t be an issue. Smrekar, a mixed-media artist known for his political street art, graffiti images and most recently landscape imagery and collage compositions, will join Paul Sydorenko, a multi-media artist currently showcasing work from his upcoming children’s book titled, Grounded.  Rounding out the first of the final shows at 1300 is Bill Rupnik, a self-described “visual terrorist”, whose combination of stencil art, photography and mixed media is inspired by “grime and sleaze”.

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 “If they can get you asking the wrong question, they don’t have to worry about the answers.”

Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow

There is much effort put into rationalizing our current economic conditions in NEO, but I don't see anyone in NEO analyzing our genuine progress... our GPI (see America, above... how's NEO doing?). At the core of this challenge is, what's the economy for in the first place? An article at the New Dream website asks that question, and states "It’s time to demand that champions of the status quo defend their implicit answer to that question.  Do they actually believe that the purpose of the economy is to achieve the grossest domestic product and allow the richest among us to multiply their treasures without limits?" "But what if we answer the question... The greatest good for the greatest number over the long run.” "In that light, economic success cannot be measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or stock prices alone.  It must take into account the other values that constitute the greatest good — health, happiness, knowledge, kindness — for the greatest number — equality, access to opportunity — over the long run — in a healthy democracy and sustainable environment." Based on that, are the NEO and American economies healthy? Read the rest of the article to see what you think...

While hard to compare to shootings and murder, I can't think of a worse development for NEO, local arts and culture and my neighborhood than the news I recieved just now - Gallery 1300 is closing. I don't know enough details to know if it is "our" fault - not enough money flowing from the community to the gallery and artists - or just that the smart, great people who have made 1300 a core part of the NEO scene have other opportunities to pursue, but I know we all owe it to their team to really put out for them in their closing months. More to come on this as I learn details... for now: the Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           

Title of the Exhibit: Leave ‘Em Wanting More – The last shows of 1300

Opening Reception: 

5 - October 20, 7-10 – Grant Smrekar, Paul Sydorenko, Bill Rupnik

Richard Louv, a futurist and journalist focused on family, nature and community, will be speaking about his most recent book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder at noon on Friday, September 22, 2006, at The City Club of Cleveland.

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Around 3:30 AM last night, I went to visit the Edgewater Deli where, a few hours earlier, Salim Alsoliman, 54, was murdered. A home-grown bouquet of flowers memorialized the site - I added some mums from my garden, to express my sadness for the loss of a neighbor and champion of the region. While I was there, some shocked friends of Salim and the other shooting victim of this senseless crime pulled up - recent immigrants to Cleveland, it seemed, as were the victims, I believe... the details are still not available.

By lucky coincidence, I was in Toronto on international Software Freedom Day and so had easy access to Ubuntu today, right when I needed it, and lots of Ubuntu and FOSS experts, and got to meet the cool people in Toronto who run the Toronto Ubuntu and Linux User Groups, and the Linux Caffe, and the awesome Center for Social Innovation... this city rocks in every way.

Susan Miller posted very exciting news about NEO today: former editor in chief of the Free Times and now columnist for the esteemed New York Times Lisa Chamberlain (props, Lisa!) published in today's New York Times a real plum of promotion for NEO, with an article titled: "Filmmakers Say Hooray for Cleveland". The subject is very smart and progressive local real estate developer David Perkowski, shown above on top of his Hyacinth lofts, which David developed to serve the unique live/work needs of local artists and film and music makers. Anyone who knows NEO knows David for transforming the historic Tower Press building from a dilapidated shell into a spectacular and bustling arts loft complex... one of the most innovative historic restorations and downtown redevelopments in Cleveland History. Well, the Hyacinth is as impressive and significant in similar and other ways.

The Plain Dealer is taking a high road right now in dealing with politicians and the local economy - the same high road of Ronn Richard and the Cleveland Foundation, and most other community leaders in town... we need good education to have an effective economy. The PD quotes Cleveland Foundation President Ronn Richard as saying, at the City Club Friday, "Any plan to reinvigorate Northeast Ohio has to include reinventing, not just improving, public education... In fact, overhauling our educational system must become a national priority". In the Sunday, 09/10/06 Plain Dealer, the PD proudly proclaims: "Newspapers aim to set the agenda for election"... "Some of Ohio's largest newspapers are banding together to urge candidates in the governor's race to focus on three critical issues: kids, college and jobs." Yet neither Ronn Richard or the PD acknowledge the silent crisis of lead poisoning (and, BTW, mercury in our lakes, rivers and Perch-fries) that guarantees each year 10,000s of children in Ohio will not be able to be educated, or become effective members of the economy or society, and will instead be lifelong burdens. As the Washingtonian acknowledges (large PDF) in their more intelligent August 2006 coverage of social issues in Washington, DC, "In DC, hundreds of children are being damaged every year—and the results will be more school dropouts and more crime." For NEO and Ohio leaders to talk about improving education without attacking the lead and toxin crisis is either ignorant of deceitful. I tend to lean toward deceitful, as in the same PD that proposes to care about education, the business section features a puff-piece on the CEO of Ohio coatings manufacturer RPM, which is in the middle of major litigation over asbestos, and the PD uses this opportunity to position that litigation as fraudulent. The interview with RPM CEO Frank Sullivan features he joking about his relations with Sherwin Williams CEO Connor, who is fighting for his life to battle litigation all over America (except in Ohio) against his company over lead poisoning millions of Americans... to these people, harming millions of people is just good business, and the PD celebrates that.

At the Meet the Bloggers benefit last week, at Tower Press, I hoped I would see NEO's top filmmaker Bobert Banks, who has his studio in the Tower Press. Robert showed up, as is his style. Not only did I learn it was his 40th birthday (happy b-day... shush) but that he was having a filmfest birthday party today, 09/10/06... not to be missed, to celebrate a great man and artist's b-day and enjoy some retro film of Robert's choice. As Robert was born in 1966, and Star Trek was apparently invented then, the evening started out with some crazy Star Trek film that I suppose was the pilot of the series, and was totally freaky... rampant green dancing aliens, booze and sex.

I've totally appreciated Convivium 33 Gallery in Josaphat Arts Hall since I first heard of its creation - one must love people who resurrect an abandoned church on West 33rd Street in the unblessed heart of Detroit Superior, and pump a ton of money into it, and make it into a major showcase for art (equal love must go out to the Saltzmans for operating a great Dave's Market a block away). While lots of economic development dreamers talk good talk about transforming midtown and developing the arts economy, here it is happening day in and out. So I was thrilled to learn an old friend Clarence Van Duzer is showing there this month

Yesterday, I got an email from Voices and Choices providing feedback from the Choicebook I completed online in July, in preparation for the community meeting they are holding next weekend. Did you complete a choicebook and get your results? Based on the data, showing at best only around 539 other people completed choicebooks, I assume you did not. That means you do not have a voice in how the establishment will steer $100s of millions in "Fund for the economic future" foundation and public money and attempt to steer our economy over the coming decade.