In response to Peggy Spaeth's opinion on Issue 26

To the Editor:

Peggy Spaeth is an engaged resident who has done much to enliven Cleveland Heights. Unfortunately, she does not understand Issue 26, and [in her recent opinion] incorrectly equates it with a loss of professional oversight of the city’s operations.

Importantly, in addition to an elected mayor, Issue 26’s proposed charter change includes a professionally trained city administrator to manage the city’s daily operations.

More distressing is Spaeth’s dismay “that this issue is on the ballot at all” and her question about what message it sends about Cleveland Heights. From my perspective, it sends exactly the right message for the community in which I have chosen to live for the last 40 years—a community where if residents want a change in our government, they work to put it on the ballot for Cleveland Heights voters to decide.

Spaeth lauds Cleveland Heights citizens “as an iconoclastic group of individuals who activate the city from the ground up.” Indeed, that is the story of the grassroots group that worked to put Issue 26 on the November ballot.

Cristine Rom

Cristine Rom
Cleveland Heights

Read More on Letters To The Editor
Volume 12, Issue 11, Posted 6:30 PM, 10.30.2019