While in Cleveland, Prez campaigns invited to learn about foreclosures from actual experts
The morning after next week’s Democratic Presidential debate at CSU, Cleveland City Council is asking the Presidential candidates to send senior policy staffers to City Hall for a “Fighting Foreclosure and Abandonment Forum”.
The event, set for 10 am to 1 am next Wednesday in City Council Chambers, offers the candidates’ program-writers (and media in town for the debate) an unprecedented first-hand picture of the Foreclosure Crisis in Cuyahoga County, the many ways in which the local community is fighting back, and a comprehensive set of proposals for Federal action to make that fight easier.
Major invited speakers include Mayor Jackson, County Treasurer Jim Rokakis, Housing Court Judge Ray Pianka, and City Councilman Tony Brancatelli, among others. In addition, dozens of community organizations and agencies have been invited to describe their work — efforts to reduce predatory lending and fraud, help homeowners in trouble avoid foreclosure, hold foreclosing lenders accountable for the properties they take over, preserve and rebuild foreclosure-wracked neighborhoods — and tell the candidates’ staffs what a new President could do to help.
Among the event’s sponsors, already set to provide testimony, are the County Foreclosure Prevention Program, Neighborhood Housing Services, ESOP, ACORN, the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition, the Cleveland Tenants Organization, the Spanish-American Committee, the Commission on Catholic Community Action, Heights Community Congress, and the Housing Research and Advocacy Center. Many more are expected.
City Council has asked the Clinton, Obama and McCain campaigns to send their top national issues staffers who are responsible for the candidates’ policies on subprime lending and foreclosures. Who will they send? Stay tuned!
The Forum is being pitched to national as well as local media, and a live end-to-end webcast is planned. Of course bloggers are very welcome. Wifi access is available in the Council Chambers.
I’m working with Council and the Foreclosure Strategy Group to help organize community testimony and promote Web coverage. Feel free to contact me with any ideas or questions.
February 20th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
[...] I absolutely mean that. Because if you want to see where the rubber meets the road, in a city that’s labeled and lambasted as being so wretched by so many different measures (none which I really like or believe in anyway), and if you want to win the support and votes and hopes of these people we call Ohioans, you get yourself here: The morning after next week’s Democratic Presidential debate at CSU, Cleveland City Council is asking the Presidential candidates to send senior policy staffers to City Hall for a “Fighting Foreclosure and Abandonment Forumâ€. [...]