Laura Hong

Infrastructure / Transportation Finally, we need to hold developers’ feet to the fire. Take the Ascent project as an example. We were promised a transformative street level as part of this “mixed use” development. What was delivered is a group of vacant storefronts (alleviated somewhat by the welcome addition of the UH Clinic). The occasional vacant store front should be – at most – an occasional bug of City-supported development. Taxes / Budget We’re going to immediately restore competence, common sense and strong leadership to the governance of our City. This will include, first and foremost, fixing the broken budget process. Infrastructure / Transportation Next, if there is a City property that is being developed, there has to be an open bidding process where anyone with ideas and an interest can have a fair opportunity to submit their plans. Housing There are hundreds of vacant homes in Cleveland Heights. From day one, we will strategically enforce the code, execute a plan to quickly determine whether a home should be razed to make way for new construction or renovated to be sold. And then we will act quickly as a City government to facilitate turning these properties back into tax-generating properties that are homes to residents contributing to the betterment of our community. Infrastructure / Transportation I support new development. But we have to stop getting it wrong, which means we need to put in place the correct processes for getting it right. First, there must be meaningful opportunities for input from the neighbors who will be directly impacted by proposed projects. That can’t happen if they are not brought into the loop earlier – and certainly before proposed plans are 95% of the way to the finish line.