League of Women Voters forum spotlights Westshore Council of Governments
Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough, Lakewood Mayor Mike Summers and Westshore Council of Governments fiscal officer Steve Presley at Dwyer Center April 16.
On April 16, the League of Women Voters-Cuyahoga Area hosted a lively discussion on regionalization among Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough, Lakewood Mayor Mike Summers, Westshore Council of Governments fiscal officer Steve Presley, and 65 citizens, local officials and safety forces members. This was the second of three LWV voter education forums on regionalization. While the first event explored collaboration with the county, this forum took a close look at collaboration among cities, specifically members of the Westshore Council of Governments (WCOG).
WCOG was formed in 1971 by six communities – Bay Village, Fairview Park, Lakewood, North Olmsted, Rocky River and Westlake – "to foster cooperation between municipalities in all areas of municipal service." Funding for 2013 is $330,000, with 10 percent shared equally and 90 percent based on population and valuation.
The original WCOG agreement established the Westshore Enforcement Bureau (WEB), which offers police chiefs a framework in which to collaborate on vice and narcotics investigations, as well as to field special teams including SWAT, bomb squad, hazmat, special rescue teams, and FEMA's Westshore Regional Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). This January, Ohio State Auditor Dave Yost awarded WCOG his Taxpayer Hero Award to recognize their 41-year history of cooperation.
Some projects involve subsets of communities. Since 2006, Westshore Central Dispatch has been offering fire and EMS dispatch services for the WCOG cities, minus Lakewood but plus North Ridgeville. The Rocky River Waste Water Treatment Facility is a venture of four WCOG cities (Rocky River, Bay Village, Westlake and Fairview Park). Bay Village and Westlake co-operate a compost facility. Then again, all six cities own and share a tree stump grinder, as well as other equipment too expensive and rarely used for each city to own.
Some interests do not overlap, as shown by the spirited exchange between Mayors Clough and Summers on the impact of a long pattern of migration outward from Cleveland into the suburbs and now the surrounding counties. Lakewood, with aging infrastructure and housing, faces different problems from Westlake, which has thriving commerce that is feeling the pull of the cheaper land made available via the new Lear-Nagel interchange. The problems of crime and poverty in Cleveland can seem remote, but Mayor Summers argued that without a regional view, a falling tide could beach all boats. Both mayors agreed that the State of Ohio is pushing for regional collaboration and structuring funding to meet that goal.
The next big regionalization project is the proposed fire district merger for four WCOG cities – Bay Village, Fairview Park, Rocky River and Westlake. They have applied for a $100,000 grant to plan the merger; the outcome will be known later this month. When asked about Plan B, Mayor Clough stated that each city could ante up a share of the necessary funds. He also noted that the four cities could proceed without amending their charters by going through a trial period before formalizing a merger. Bay Village voters rejected charter amendments last November that would have paved the way for a regional fire district.
The WCOG meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. in the Lakewood Women's Pavilion. Meetings are open to the public. And mark your calendars for the LWV-CA's third forum Wednesday, June 19, 7 p.m., at Fairview Park Library, when the focus will be on fire district mergers.