Dew Diligence - Episode 46 - Michael Houser

We are two weeks out from Election Day 2026. CHUH School Board President Gabe Crenshaw and VP Phil Trimble join me to discuss Issue 4, the 6.5 mill school levy. We spend the first 5 minutes of this episode talking to Levy Chair Kristi Bidinger who outlines the ask. Crenshaw and Trimble spend the balance of the episode answering questions about the current state of district finances and answering critic's concerns.

Councilman Vincent Stokes II is the newest elected city leader in University Heights. After unsuccessful Democratic primary runs for State Rep against Janine Boyd in 2020 and Juanita Brent in 2022, third time was the charm. We spend a lot of time on the state of public education and the feelings (resentment?) that many University Heights residents feel towards CHUH. We talk Juneteenth, the Heights 100 celebrations and CH/UH collaboration. And how loyal to party does a Democrat need to be today?

Even many educated voters in Cleveland Heights would have a hard time naming our rep on Cuyahoga County Council. But Councilman Michael Houser is someone you should know. He represents nearly 100,000 residents in District 10, from Cleveland Hts to East Cleveland to Collinwood to Bratenahl.

Nancy Levin has served as one of our most important civic leaders for the last eighteen years. Next week she is retiring. We look back at her (mostly positive) time as Director of the Cleveland Hts-University Hts library system and look ahead at the ongoing evolution of what a library is and what it can be.

Lenny Horowitz’s time working on behalf of Cleveland Heights includes 12 years on City Council and 28 years on the Planning Commission. Some might remember him as the owner of the iconic Lee Rd restaurant Earth By April. Lenny recently decided to step down from the Planning Commission after 50 years of public service in one capacity or another.

Michelle Jackson and Kyle Herman from Rank The Vote Ohio join me to sell us on RCV or ranked-choice voting. There are some variations, but basically RCV allows voters the option to rank candidates based in order of preference. While not widely used in Ohio, some major cities and a few states have already moved to ranked-choice voting. It is not without controversy, but Cleveland Heights and Lakewood are considering putting RCV on the November ballot.

Cedar-Lee is now officially an “arts district” and it will look a lot different a year from now. If you know any mural artists, let them know to get their applications in to Heights Arts before December 3rd. We talk to Heights Arts Executive Director Rachel Bernstein, new Cedar-Lee SID Executive Director Caroline Barni, Kyra Wells from LAND Studio and Diedre McPherson from Assembly for the Arts about this transformative project using ARPA money to fund up to six new murals throughout Cedar-Lee.

Friends I wasn't sure if I was going to do a traditional campaign video. But then last night I'm at Cle Urban Winery talking to this local political consultant who gave me the vibe he thought I had no chance. So I went home and threw together this bootleg campaign commercial.

We wrap up our series of Cleveland Heights City Council candidate interviews on the Park Synagogue campus with Councilman Craig Cobb. Interim Mayor Tony Cuda, who is the 6th council candidate, will have to wait until after Election Day sadly as he’s understandably buried with city business. Councilman Cobb and I get caught up on what’s been a busy few weeks in Cleveland Hts. Behind the scenes of the Park Synagogue development deal to the Heights High pool opening to residents to big changes in leadership at Cain Park and in the finance department to his current stance on funding immigrant legal defense with city dollars.