CLEVELAND — The bid to bring a People's Budget charter amendment to the City of Cleveland was defeated during the Nov. 7 election by a narrow margin of just 1,387 votes or about 2% of the vote.
People's Budget steering committee member Nicholas Moses Ngong told News 5 his team is encouraged by the narrow loss of Issue 38 because he believes it says Northeast Ohio is ready to accept a form of government that would allow Cleveland residents to vote on how 2%, or roughly $14 million of the city general fund budget is to be used to help their neighborhoods.
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“We came just shy of 1,400 votes from winning it, that indicates that people are actually more motivated by ideas than they are by specific politicians; that’s what the people budget was all about," Ngong said. “And 32,000 people voting in favor of the People’s budget also indicates that Northeast Ohio is more than ready for a movement like this.”
Cleveland voter Luciana Salles said yes to Issue 38 and believes it's a way to get tax dollars into important neighborhood projects.
“This was the first time I saw something like this on the ballot; being a transplant from another large metropolitan city to Cleveland, I was expecting that it was already something that Cleveland had, and to find out that we didn’t it was important to me to go and vote yes to make sure that it was considered," Salles said. “For Cleveland residents, it's a vote for where this money should go; it gives them a voice at the table, the spending table."
Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin told News 5 that he was pleased Issue 38 was defeated because he and other council members were concerned moving $14 million out of the general fund could have caused cuts in crucial city services like police, fire and EMS. Griffin said he wasn't surprised key labor unions were also against the proposed charter amendment.
“The unions saw the fact that if you take $14 million out of a budget that, eventually, someone on the workforce would get cut, and the unions are already under a tremendous amount of stress, Griffin said. “I reached out to several colleges across the country; they said wherever it’s being used, it’s not been successful, and this would have created another layer of bureaucracy, another shadow government, another group of people who put out a lot of misinformation."
Ward 6 Cleveland resident Rob Render voted against issue 38, even though he signed the petition to put the charter amendment on the November ballot. Render told News 5 he couldn't vote for an initiative that permanently changed the city charter.
“I thought that if we were going to do this, it should have had an expiration date, like in four years; after four years, let’s see if we want to renew this thing," Render said. “If you want to get involved in city government, go to neighborhood meetings, or contact your council member, council people, more than any other elected official in the United States, from the President to the dog catcher, are accessible.”
News 5 will continue its commitment in following through on this important issue.
