Fran Mentch candidate for Cleveland Heights City Council
Biographical information
Tell us about yourself.
My husband, Mace, and I and our two girls moved to our home on Lynn Park Drive in 1989. While the girls attended public school I was active as a school volunteer, as an officer in the Noble Elementary PTA, and I was the Noble School liaison for the school levy campaign. After our older daughter graduated from Noble, we sent both girls to Laurel School; one graduated from there and the other graduated from Hawken School. Currently our younger daughter is a senior at Case and our older daughter lives in California.
I have a Masters in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh, and I am licensed as an LISW-S. My social work career includes employment in hospitals, mental health centers, nursing homes, adult protective services, and the psychiatric emergency room at St. Vincent Charity Hospital; I was a program manager for eight years for the psychiatric emergency service, the Cuyahoga County Mobile Crisis Team.
While a program manager for the Cuyahoga County Mobile Crisis Team I earned a Masters in Library and Information Science from Kent State University.
Combining the best of both worlds, I am now the Social and Behavioral Sciences Librarian at Cleveland State University. And, because I am so interested in the nature and lives of neighborhoods and cities, I have taken several classes in Cleveland State’s College of Urban Affairs and have applied to that PhD program.
I have taught courses at Tri-C, Bryant and Stratton and CSU. Currently I teach a continuing education course at Lakeland Community College and Cleveland State University called “Information Resources for Social Service Professionals”.
I am a member of SEIU District 1199.
Several years ago I led a group of my neighbors to improve the aesthetics and economic prosperity of the Warrensville-Mayfield retail district. As a result we created a non-profit called Severance Neighborhood Organization whose mission is to strengthen the greater Severance area through efforts driven by citizen-volunteers to build community, beautify, and enhance the neighborhood’s residential and commercial areas. As president I am leading our current activities to organize the merchants in the retail area, increase greenspace, improve aesthetics, and decrease crime.
My volunteer experience also includes working for Heights Families for Equality and I have served as a tester for Heights Community Congress. My husband, Mace, and I belong to Future Heights and have contributed articles to the Heights Observer; I am a regular volunteer editor and contributor for that paper.
Mace and I are lifetime members of the Friends of the CH-UH Public Library and have been Friends of Cain Park and members of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Natural History Museum, MOCA, SPACES, subscribers to the Cleveland Orchestra, etc. for as long as I can remember. Like so many other Cleveland Heights residents we enjoy and support Ensemble Theater, Dobama, and the many other theatrical organizations in our area.
If elected, how would you encourage citizens to participate in decision making?
- Return City Council Meetings to a genuine forum. All of the decisions are made before the meeting, so citizens never see any real debate, or discussion.
- Reduce legislation passed as an “emergency” to the smallest possible number. This will encourage public discussion and force better planning.
- Track and document response to citizen concerns presented at city council meetings. Currently citizens are told that they can bring up concerns at council meetings but there is “no discussion permitted”.
- Institute time-limited goal-driven citizen taskforces to address Cleveland Heights’ issues. The list of these issues has been developed many times: by the city’s Visioning Committee in 1999-2001 http://www.clevelandheights.com/pdfs/visioning_summary.pdf by the current Planning Commission, and by candidates for city council. We must act on these issues in a systematic way for a defined period of time and then disband the taskforce.
- Provide access to the video from all of the City Council meetings to all citizens. Currently only cable subscribers have timely access to this.
- The selection process for the Citizen Advisory Committee and commissions should be reviewed and updated to insure that new people are included in these groups.
We have to establish Cleveland Heights as the premier “Arts and Culture Community” in the area; this should be our brand. Go see what Gordon Square and Tremont area developments in Cleveland have done. They are going to surpass us as an arts and culture center if we are not careful.
The arts will transform Cleveland Heights. We must:
· Consider aesthetics as part of every policy, decision and expenditure.
· Implement an historic preservation code-to preserve the character and beauty of our neighborhoods.
· Establish and implement a volunteer driven citywide master plan for public art.
The master plan must include timetables and goals and tie in all parts of the city. Some visual elements should be consistent throughout all Cleveland Heights retail areas in order to unify them.
We have become fragmented and some parts of the city, including the part of Cleveland Heights that I live in, have been overlooked. The future of our city depends on the future of all the parts—they have to be tied together and public art will pull us together visually and in other ways. Of course, each area will also be encouraged to express its unique qualities.
Who are the community stakeholders in Cleveland Heights? What ideas do you have for how these stakeholders can work together toward common goals?
The stakeholders actually include places and people outside our community; University Circle and its institutions stand to gain or lose based on what we have to offer, as do South Euclid, University Heights, Shaker Heights, etc.
Because monies flow from the federal, state, county and other government entities; they are stakeholders, too.
Within our community we have a wealth of stakeholders: businesses, residential and commercial property owners, churches, residents, non-profit organizations, libraries, schools, etc.
These stakeholders will work together if projects serve their best interests and if they are rewarded for cooperation. It is very hard to get people to collaborate, but it is the only way to get things done. Successful collaboration requires strong leadership that keeps the group well informed and focused on the goals of the project. If groups feel left out they may battle for turf, power and money; it is important to have everyone to feel included.
What is your plan to develop the local economy?
Improving the Cleveland Heights economy depends entirely on keeping and attracting the best and brightest citizens. Cleveland Heights must have the reputation as the premier Arts and Culture Community, providing the best quality of life for its residents. We must improve our schools, decrease crime, implement policies that encourage entrepreneurship, support local arts, improve neighborhood and retail area aesthetics, implement an historic preservation code, reinvigorate Cain Park, improving recreation facilities, re-open the Denison and Cain Park pools. And, all of this requires new, creative leadership more interested in progress than in protecting turf or personal interests.
The housing sector seems to be improving, but our retail areas have too many empty storefronts, marginal businesses and a poor appearance. The retail sector needs a great deal of attention and will require cooperative planning with other communities. On a positive note, the Planning Commission is currently engaging in a strategic planning process. However this is the first time they have done so in sixteen years.
This lack of planning is reason alone to vote out the incumbents.
What are the best qualities of Cleveland Heights and what would you do to sustain them?
The varied talents and backgrounds of the people who live here create an urban feel and a creative culture that we describe in terms of “diversity”.
We also have some vibrant retail areas that give people wonderful choices of restaurants and entertainment.
We have a large number of churches with strong congregations, a varied non-profit sector.
Our location is one of our greatest strengths; we benefit from being close to University Circle and all its institutions
Our housing code has sustained
How do you view recent residential and commercial developments in terms of overall planning, architecture, functionality and sense of place? What types of new development do you think are appropriate and realistic for Cleveland Heights?
The residential developments started recently—such as the Bluestone Condominiums and Courtyards at Severance are giving people housing choices and this is positive—we have to offer different kinds of housing for people with different needs. However, we can always do more to create small economies around residential developments. Everyone still wonders why one of the few places to eat in the Severance area, Bakers Square, left the area.
Their architecture cannot be dictated by the city but landscape design and other aesthetics should be strongly considered, too, to establish sense of place. And, I leave it to you to decide if they were worth the 10 year- 100% tax abatement they received.
Our greatest challenge at this point is that we have too much retail space, much of it in poor condition. The job of city government is to maintain standards, but also get out of the way of innovation. Changing some of our codes, as other cities have, permitting mixed use of buildings may help revitalize some areas—so that artists and entrepreneurs can live and work and sell their products in the same place.
Describe one way that you think the city could realistically work cooperatively with other local governments to reduce costs and/or improve services.
Some city services lend themselves to collaboration more than others. Garbage collection, fire departments and recreation departments can more easily be combined with those of other cities.
Combining police departments is difficult and may not be a good idea. Cleveland Heights and our neighbors are too small to be able to finance some large, expensive and very desirable projects such as an indoor swimming facility, or a power plant that generates power by burning garbage.
A lot of people want an indoor swimming facility, me included, but final selection for a joint project will probably be made based on whether or not there is a way to pay for it.
What would you tell a current resident of the City of Cleveland Heights who was thinking of leaving town?
I would ask them if they really want to leave, or if they want things to be different here.
If they want things to be different here, I would strongly encourage them to become involved to change things and try to help them in any way possible. Since Cleveland Heights is in transition now because of the subprime mortgage crisis, I would also encourage them to hang on because things are changing now and the city may become a place they want to live in again.
If they actually decide to leave I would make a note of their reasons, try to learn from them, say goodbye, and hope some day they will come back. And, if I like them I will be sure to mark on my calendar to invite them to an activity at Cain Park next summer!
How would you market the City of Cleveland Heights to a prospective resident?
· Our best marketers are our residents; marketing our city should become everyone’s part-time job. If you work in a large organization, you can help the city access this pool of potential residents. Recruiting someone to move to our city is doing them a favor and is the best way to ease your own tax burden.
· We need a registry of volunteers who are willing to be matched with potential residents and take them out for a meal, coffee or a beer to talk about Cleveland Heights and answer their questions.
· If they are concerned about the public schools I would connect them with Lita Gonzales’s PATH Program so they can meet the principal of the school, parents etc.
· If Cain Park is open while these prospective residents are looking around, we should use free tickets to take them to an event. Even if they don’t move here, they will have been introduced to one of the best venues in the area.
Please give one concrete example of how you propose to address one of the following real or perceived quality of life issues: crime, litter, vacant storefronts, disengaged youth, foreclosures/vacant houses, population decline, public school performance, high taxes.
Crime is a big quality of life issue in my section of the city, but if it is not addressed effectively, it will become the primary issue in the entire city. Everyone says this the same way “we don’t want to become East Cleveland”.
Our police officers are wonderful and they and their families deserve our support and thanks.
However, like it or not, they also need our help. It is not fair or smart to push them out in front of us and tell them it is their job to protect us. It is also our job to protect us…and them…through improved communication with each other. We must never have another officer killed in our city.
I will make improving the accessibility of the police and increasing community interaction with the police a top priority. Other cities have email and phone numbers where citizens can submit concerns anonymously, talk with officers, report false house alarms, track crime, etc. This is an example of a police website from a city with 55,000 people that we can model ourselves after.
How would you work together with the CH-UH City School District to address the issue you identified above? Please restate the issue you are addressing.
Crime. The US Department of Justice has a program called G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education And Training). Their website describes it as: “a school-based, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curriculum. The program's primary objective is prevention and is intended as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership.”
The Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Police can train our Cleveland Heights police officers in this program; the only cost would be “release time” for the training. I presented to council about this program and the city manager and almost all council members denied that there was a need for this type of prevention program. There was no follow-up. Have you read the paper lately? Sadly, I turned out to be correct…there is a need for this kind of program.
There are many programs we could use as a model for the Cleveland Heights police and the CH-UH school security officers partnering to prevent delinquency.
Currently there are no programs in the CH-UH schools that involve the Cleveland Heights police and school security. But there could be. If I am elected there will be.
We need to prevent children from becoming delinquent. Delinquency only leads to misery for them, their families and our community.
To learn more about this candidate visit http://franmentch.com/.
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