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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
WWW.CRAINSCLEVELAND.COM
AUGUST 12 - 18, 2013
PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR:
Brian D. Tucker (btucker@crain.com) ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL:
John Campanelli jcampanelli@crain.com) EDITOR:
Mark Dodosh (mdodosh@crain.com) MANAGING EDITOR:
Scott Suttell (ssuttell@crain.com)
OPINION
Changes
S
earch committees at the University of Akron and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland have critical jobs ahead of them as they seek to replace the leaders — Luis M. Proenza and Sandra Pianalto, respectively — who have been transformative figures at those institutions for more than a decade. Both Dr. Proenza, 68, and Ms. Pianalto, 59, announced they will retire next year as leaders of their institutions. Neither will be easy to replace. Dr. Proenza has led the University of Akron since 1999, and anyone who has visited the school’s downtown campus knows the transformation is simply stunning. What was once a largely nondescript commuter school has become a far livelier, larger and more energetic institution, with the growth on campus — a $640 million capital construction campaign led to 22 new buildings and 34 acres of new green space — helping fuel ancillary development in Akron. For instance, the exciting University Park district in Akron is a 50-block neighborhood in the center of education, medicine, technology and culture venues. Its emergence is inconceivable without the vitality brought by a university that has seen its enrollment grow from 18,000 to nearly 30,000 on Dr. Proenza’s watch. The university is in the midst of implementing a plan called Vision 2020 that aims to make further improvements in the university’s graduation rates, research expenditures and other key measurements. Dr. Proenza originally planned to stay on to the end of that plan, but he told Crain’s last week, “It’s time for new leadership.” We trust the university, after 15 years of Dr. Proenza’s strong leadership, knows what it takes to keep the momentum going. Ms. Pianalto, one of only two women heading a regional Fed bank (there are 12), has been been president and CEO of the Cleveland Fed since 2003. But her history with the Cleveland bank dates much further back, to 1983, when she joined the Fed as an economist in its research department. True to her roots, Ms. Pianalto has made sure the Cleveland Fed is a powerhouse research institution. The bank is an influential source of data on inflation and has developed a widely used tool to track inflation’s impact on the economy. In addition, the Cleveland Fed has produced illuminating — and highly accessible — research related to the economic collapse and the housing bust. (All the bank’s research is available at ClevelandFed.org.) Replacing Ms. Pianalto has national implications, as The Wall Street Journal noted she “has positioned herself as a centrist within the Fed system” who “often represents the emerging consensus on decisions regarding interest rates and bond purchases.” Her departure will come at a critical time for the Fed, which in 2014 is expected to begin winding down its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program. The Cleveland Fed president in 2014 holds one of four voting slots on the Federal Open Market Committee — making it all the more critical to find a thoughtful leader in the mold of Ms. Pianalto.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Medina school stories strike chord Who knows how that will end, but I hat with all the changes roilfound interesting that Tom Cahalan, an ing around last week at our interim board member now running for region’s largest daily newsa full term, has suggested that paper, it struck me the board move the starting that two stories in a couple of BRIAN time for its meetings back to the smallest were among those TUCKER 6:30 p.m. so that folks coming that captured my attention. from Cleveland can attend and On the front page one day of not miss anything. The (Medina) Gazette was a stoThe board is considering ry about some school board adding more public comment members urging that their orgaperiods in the meetings, and nization try new and better wants to videotape its working means of communicating to committees so the public has parents and taxpayers in the even more access to its decidistrict. Sound less than excitsion-making process. These are exactly ing? Perhaps, but not in context. the kind of changes this school board — You might recall that it was the Medina and so many other public bodies — schools, once seen as exemplary among should undertake if they want to overOhio’s high performers, that have suffered come the general malaise and distrust through waves of cuts in personnel and that voters have about their work. services as voters continued to reject As for the other story, that came from levies. Then, astonishingly, it got worse. the Medina Sun, and it dealt with a proThe same newspaper broke the story vision in the recently approved state that the school board (some members budget bill that deals with homehave since been replaced) had entered schooled children and their right to parinto a sweetheart deal with the previous ticipate in extra-curricular activities at superintendent, agreeing to pay all his their public school. student loans, back to his undergraduate I found the story interesting on a varidays. That superintendent has been reety of levels, not the least of which was placed by an interim boss and is suing the fact that it was included in a budget the district in federal court.
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Both of these stories I found because I was paging through the physical newspapers. Would I have found them on the web? Nope. bill. I know that after all these years as a journalist, I shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that lawmakers stick so much non-budget stuff into a big and important piece of legislation. But they do, because there’s no real price to be paid, other than the occasional squawking from folks like me. But I also find it interesting because it offers home-schooled kids that missing piece of classmate interaction so vital to our school years. Also, since they inevitably would have to pay an activity fee, it would help the schools just a little as they struggle to retain the activities that are being cut everywhere. Both of these stories I found because I was paging through the physical newspapers. Would I have found them on the web? Nope. But that’s a topic for another day, and another column. ■
LETTER
LaTourette’s criticism rings hollow
T
hanks to Brian Tucker for confirming, in his July 22 commentary “LaTourette takes a club to the club,” that former U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette is continuing his verbal assault on the conservative wing of the Republican Party. This comes after fleeing the House for what he referred to as “partisan gridlock.” As described by Mr. Tucker, this soft-spoken, but effective, moderate can finally take off the gloves and give those nasty right wingers the beatdown they deserve. After all, Mr. LaTourette was all about compromise. Just ask him … or ask Brian Tucker. While Mr. LaTourette, now head of a
WRITE TO US Send your letters to: Mark Dodosh, editor, Crain’s Cleveland Business, 700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 310, Cleveland, OH 441131230; Email: editor@crainscleveland.com
lobbying operation in Washington, and other liberal Republicans were seeking that path, across the political isle Nancy Pelosi and the left were beating their brains out. Obamacare and the federal stimulus package, two huge power grabs, were jammed down our throats on Mr. LaTourette’s watch. Where was the compromise from the left, Mr. Congressman? The Democrats are ready, willing and able to go to war with Republicans every
day of the week. As President Obama famously stated, his goal was “to fundamentally transform” the United States of America. Steve LaTourette and his moderate Republican buddies helped enable this leftist dream. When Mr. LaTourette entered Congress, our country’s debt was about $7 trillion. When he left 10 years later, it was about $17 trillion. Well done, sir! This country is in a downhill spiral that needs to be stopped. Your brand of politics is not the answer, and the party will be better off without you. It will be better off not hearing from you as well. Jeff Longo North Royalton