The City Club of Cleveland Podcast

As the legal battles over redistricting in the state drag on, Ohioans will have an opportunity to vote this November on an amendment that aims to put an end to gerrymandering. What does that mean for Ohioans? The citizen-led constitutional amendment put forth by Citizens Not Politicians seeks to replace the current Ohio Redistricting Commission with an independent body selected directly by citizens. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has voiced opposition to the amendment, but acknowledged the need for a new political mapmaking system.\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club for a Happy Dog \"Happy Hour\" as we take on redistricting. Dr. Kareem Crayton with the Brennan Center and Retired Chief Justice Maureen O\'Connor will weigh in on the current state of redistricting in the state and outline the goals of the upcoming amendment on the November ballot. Moderated by Signal Cleveland\'s Government Reporter Nick Castele.

University Circle is Cleveland's center of arts, culture, wellness, and education with a growing population and world-renowned institutions. It has the potential to help fuel Cleveland's economic future, but such questions remain as "Who has access to this district?" "How well known are we, really?" and "Is The Circle staying relevant in a changing world?"\r\n\r\nIn 2023, Kate Borders was named President of University Circle Inc. She is a nationally recognized leader in urban development and place management who brings more than 20 years of experience to the University Circle neighborhood. She began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as the Executive Director of East Town Association, then assumed the role as the first CEO of the newly formed Downtown Fresno Partnership. Prior to joining UCI, she was the President & CEO of the Downtown Tempe Authority in Tempe, Arizona.\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club for an open, honest discussion with University Circle President Kate Borders about the hard work and community effort needed to shape the success of The Circle, and Cleveland.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) vigilantly enforces federal civil rights laws in schools and other recipients of Department of Education federal funding throughout the nation-resolving case investigations, publishing policy resources, and providing school and community technical assistance. In a recent report, OCR reported the highest volume of civil rights complaints in its history, receiving 19,201 complaints in 2023. And it shows no signs of slowing. Already in 2024, OCR has seen a 26% increase in complaints compared to this time last year. Rising partisan tensions, the Israel-Hamas war, and attacks on LGBTQ+ rights are some of the issues rising to the forefront--particularly in colleges and universities. Along with increasing caseloads, there have been persistent calls for increased funding for OCR from more than 90 civil rights groups. What work is being done to ensure all students have equal access to education?\r\n\r\nCatherine E. Lhamon is the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. She was nominated by President Barack Obama in June 2013, and was unanimously confirmed by Senate in August 2013. Until January 2021, she chaired the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, to which President Obama appointed her in 2016, and served as Legal Affairs Secretary to California Governor Gavin Newsom.

What if all Clevelanders were guaranteed a job? And that job offered a salary suitable enough to provide for their families? As it turns out, the idea of a jobs guarantee gained momentum in the 1940s with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Second Bill of Rights. Now, the City of Cleveland will become the first city in the nation to launch a $21 million Universal Basic Employment (UBE) pilot program. Put simply, it will provide 100 participants with a job guarantee of $50,000 for three years. It plans to launch in 2026.\r\n\r\nAs the second poorest major city in America, Cleveland is looking to reduce poverty and the need for public assistance by guaranteeing a well-paid job. As opposed to the more popular \"Universal Basic Income\" - made popular by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang - UBE works directly with employers to subsidize existing, or new wages for its employees.\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club as we hear from Councilwoman Stephanie Howse-Jones, Devin H. Cotten with Universal Basic Employment & Opportunity, and Ken Surratt with the United Way of Greater Cleveland on what exactly UBE is - and is not - and what we can expect to learn from Cleveland\'s UBE pilot program.

Freshwater is one of Earth\'s most precious resources. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), our Earth\'s freshwater habitats-lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and aquifers-house an incredible proportion of the world's biodiversity. More than 10% of all known animals and about 50% of all known fish species call our freshwater habitats home. But how do our Great Lakes stack up when looking at global trends in freshwater systems?\r\n\r\nAs the world's leading conservation organization, the WWF works in nearly 100 countries to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth. This includes safeguarding the world's freshwater resources and landscapes to support biodiversity and human livelihoods.\r\n\r\nAs global lead scientist for freshwater, Jeff Opperman works across the WWF network and with external partners to direct research that can strengthen conservation strategies and integrate science into freshwater programs and projects. Opperman has written for a number of publications, including the New York Times, and is currently a regular contributor to Forbes.

Taking your first bite of Chef Jeremy Umansky\'s fried chicken or pastrami sandwich is one of those blissful food moments that is guaranteed to live in your head rent-free. His secret ingredients? Koji-culturing, foraged edibles, and sustainable food sourcing that earned him four James Beard Award nominations, including Best New Restaurant, Best Chef, and for his recent book Koji Alchemy. Jeremy and his wife Allie La Valle-Umansky opened Larder Delicatessen & Bakery in 2018 in Ohio City\'s Hingetown district. Larder\'s menus are constantly evolving and Umansky\'s innovative techniques remind us of what is possible right in our own backyards.\r\n\r\nTraditional knowledge of fermenting and foraging is a cornerstone for many cultures including Indigenous and African American communities. But centuries of colonization and modern urban sprawl decimated natural ecosystems. And the industrialization of our food supply forever shifted America\'s relationship with the food we eat. Across the country, efforts are underway to improve food sovereignty and reclaim traditional practices.\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club as Ideastream\'s Amy Eddings chats with Chef Jeremy Umansky, on the benefits of foraging, sustainable food sourcing, and the art of fermenting in his book Koji Alchemy.

President Biden\'s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential contest has fundamentally changed the race. It\'s not just that there\'s no historical precedent for an incumbent choosing not to run at such a late date, but Kamala Harris\' swift ascendancy as the presumptive Democratic nominee brings its own historical firsts and a tectonic shift to the race for the White House.\r\n\r\nOn the right, a Republican campaign geared toward unseating Biden will be retooled to focus on Harris, a significantly younger candidate with a very different political resume. On the left, the financial and electoral support that had moved to the sidelines is quite suddenly back in, providing momentum that had flagged after the first debate.\r\n\r\nAs the nation prepares for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month, we\'ll hear from a panel of political insiders about the newly remade landscape of presidential politics.

Who Owns America ? (WHOA) is an ambitious effort by the Center for Geospatial Solutions (CGS) at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to uncover land ownership patterns with unprecedented accuracy, ease, and nuance. By equipping municipalities, states, and nonprofits with comprehensive, tailored analyses of ownership, WHOA helps purpose-driven organizations understand and respond to their challenges, including unprecedented investment by institutional investors in moderate income housing across America.\r\n\r\nFounded to help people and the planet keep up with the pace of change, the Lincoln Institute's CGS specializes in improving how data is accessed and applied across boundaries - within an organization, between partners, and across sectors or jurisdictions. Its WHOA analysis uniquely fuses parcel data with environmental and social information to unlock a holistic understanding of our systemic challenges. To date, the organization has helped reveal property ownership patterns in dozens of cities and states, including Cincinnati, helping local leaders to take action to drive more equitable outcomes.

As more of our daily lives move to the digital realm, protecting our sensitive information from unauthorized access, theft, and hacking has never been more important. Still, every month, major corporations, school districts, health systems, and even municipalities and public utilities have become targets of these increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. This puts not only our personal information at risk, but also raises questions about national security. What trends are experts seeing in cybercrime? And what are the actionable insights and tips to safeguard our digital realm?\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club as we explore the current cyber threat landscape and learn about the threat actor's tactics, techniques, and procedures with leading experts in the industry.

BorderLight is an annual theatre festival showcasing innovative theatre that inspires, builds cross-cultural understanding, and celebrates the diversity of the human experience. A nonprofit organization founded in 2015 by Dale Heinen and Jeffrey Pence, the festival will once again open on July 24th and run through July 27th. And this year, they have really outdone themselves! Part of the lineup includes 4 International Shows, 43 Fringe Shows, and 8 Workshops across 20 stages in and around the Playhouse Square District.\r\n\r\nAt the heart of the festival are the artists. The Festival strives to give exposure to up-and-coming and BIPOC artists to share their stories and creativity on their own terms. Join the City Club, in partnership with BorderLight, as we hear from featured artists from the 2024 Borderlight Theatre Festival about the importance of representation and diverse creativity in the arts and culture industry.