CLEVELAND LEAD ADVOCATES FOR SAFE HOUSING (CLASH) TAKES FIRST STEP TO FILING WRIT OF MANDAMUS. SENDS LETTER SEEKING ACTION BY THE CLEVELAND LAW DIRECTOR TO COMPEL CITY COUNCIL CLERK TO SUBMIT PROPOSED “LEAD SAFE” ORDINANCE TO CITY COUNCIL FOR REVIEW AND VOTE OR WILL GO TO COURT TO COMPEL IT

Cleveland, OH – Attorneys for Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH) sent the attached letter to Cleveland Law Director, Barbara Langhenry, today seeking her action as required by state and local laws to compel City Council Clerk Patricia Britt to accept and submit its proposed “Lead Safe” ordinance to City Council for review and vote as required by the city charter. If Director Langhenry refuses to compel Clerk Britt and refuses to file a Mandamus action in court, then CLASH will seek the Writ of Mandamus itself as allowed under state and local laws.

As the letter explains, CLASH believes the city charter required Clerk Britt on April 15 to submit its proposed ordinance to City Council after the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections officially certified 6,530 signatures -more than the required 5,000 signatures – of registered city voters on April 9th. It also believes the potential denial by the BOE for the proposal to go to the November ballot does not prevent Clerk Britt from fulfilling her responsibility to provide the proposal to City Council for up to 90 days of review and a vote.

“Our hope is that the Council Clerk and Law Director do the right thing so that we can avoid the time and expense of seeking a Writ of Mandamus” said Marc Dann a lawyer who signed the letter on behalf of CLASH. Attorneys Marc E. Dann and Donna Taylor-Kolis from the DannLaw Firm are CLASH legal counsel.

ABOUT CLEVELAND LEAD ADVOCATES FOR SAFE HOUSING Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH) is dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable citizens in the City of Cleveland. Member organizations include the Cleveland Lead Safe Network, Single Payer Access Network, Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus, Black Lives Matter of Cuyahoga County, Cleveland End Poverty Now Coalition, Organize!Ohio, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and the Cleveland Democratic Socialists of America.

The post CLASH NEWS appeared first on Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus.

In a letter filed yesterday, Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH) demanded that Cleveland Law Director Barbara Langhenry compel city council clerk Patricia Britt to accept the 6,350 signatures that CLASH submitted last month with the hopes of putting a lead-safe ordinance on the November ballot. 

Those signatures were rejected by council because the petitions failed to include an all-caps disclaimer about election falsification required by the Ohio Revised Code. 

CLASH has maintained, and reiterated in its letter to Langhenry, (attached below), that the City Charter, not the Ohio Revised Code, dictates the local government response. It has cited numerous legal precedents, including the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in the Q Deal referendum dispute, to argue that Britt must accept the petitions, regardless of their form or substance.   More…

The post CLASH Lawyers Up, Demands that City Accept Lead Safe Petitions appeared first on Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus.

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Saturday, March 30 from 10 am to 2 pm   

Saturday, March 30 from 2 pm to 6 pm   

Sunday, March 31 from noon to 4 pm

Signature Validation Volunteers Needed April 1, 2 and 3: Right before our April 4 goal of submitting the Lead Safe Initiative petitions we’re going to need some help to make sure we submit 5000 valid signatures.This is easy but tedious work checking each signature in each petition and seeing if it match’s up with a registered voter in the City of Cleveland. If you can help out on April 1, 2 or 3 any time between 9 am to 8 pm please bring your lap top to NEOCH, 3631 Perkins Ave. #3 Cleveland 44114. Please let us know you are coming at clevelandclash@gmail.com

Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH) is entering our final week of gathering petition signatures to get a Lead Safe Initiative on the ballot in the City of Cleveland this November. If you are a registered voter in the City of Cleveland and have not yet signed the petition please find a location below and get there ASAP! If you signed out a petition and have gathered some signatures please get it back to us ASAP. Our goal is to turn the petitions in on April 4 and we have many that have been signed out but not yet returned. Until they are returned and the signatures in them are counted we have no way of knowing how close we are to the needed 5000 valid signatures If you are a registered voter in the State of Ohio please take some time to help us gather signatures by either picking up a petition at the locations below or sign up to do some CLASH SIGNATURE GATHERING at events around the city.

To canvass all you’ll need is a signature book. You can pick up or drop off books and sign the petition at the following locations:

East Side:

1) NEOCH (Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless) Office, 3631 Perkins Ave. #3, Cleveland 44114 / Hours: Monday thru Friday from 9 am to 8 pm, Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm

2) Shaker Square: Text 216 789 9232 to arrange pick up or drop off time and location.3) 18115 Harvard Ave. (park at Whitney Young School across the street) /Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 am to 2 pm

West Side:

1) CCPC Office, 11910 Detroit Ave. Lakewood 44107 / Hours: Monday thru Thursday from 4 pm to 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 pm

2) 3413 W. 63rd St. Cleveland 44102 / Hours: Wednesday from 4 to 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 pm

DONATE TO CLASHThis Initiative campaign is going to be very expensive. We have an immediate goal of $10,000 that needs to be raised.

Visit theCLASH WEBSITEand please like and share the CLASH FACE BOOK PAGE

The post CLASH Campaign Crunch Canvassing Blitz appeared first on Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus.

To sign the petition you must be a registered voter in the City of Cleveland.

To circulate a petition to help us get signatures you only need to be a registered voter in the state of Ohio.

Where and when you can sign the petition and/or pick up petitions to circulate

East Side:1) NEOCH (Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless) Office, 3631 Perkins Ave. #3, Cleveland 44114Hours: Monday thru Friday from 9 am to 7 pm, Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm2) Dewey’s Coffee House, 13201 Shaker Square, Cleveland 44120Hours: Monday from 11 am to noon and Saturday 2 to 3 pm3) 18115 Harvard Ave. (park at Whitney Young School across the street)Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 am to 2 pm

West Side:1) CCPC Office, 11910 Detroit Ave. Lakewood 44107Hours: Monday thru Thursday from 4 pm to 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 pm     2) 3413 W. 63rd St. Cleveland 44102Hours: Wednesday from 4 to 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 pm
Other Volunteer Opportunities

1) Phone banking: This would be to CCPC members who live in Cleveland asking them first if they would be willing to sign the petition and second if they would be willing to gather signatures from family and friends. This can be done from home. If you’re willing to make calls please click here and we’ll contacting you soon.

2) Host another petition pick up and drop off location in Cleveland. This could be at your house or a nearby coffee shop, library or friendly business. The ask here is that you be available at that location a couple of days a week or more. If this is something you might be able to do please call Steve Holecko at 440 220 1874 for more information.

3) Canvass at hot spot or high traffic area location. Meeting place for canvassing is at NEOCH (Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, 3631 Perkins Ave.#3 Cleveland 44114. Shifts run daily morning through evening. To sign up for a shift next week please go to CLASH Lead Safe Ballot Initiative Canvassingand if possible attend a training meeting this Saturday at 10 am at NEOCH.

4) DONATE TO CLASH ThisInitiative campaign is going to be very expensive. We have an immediate goal of $10,000 that needs to be raised.

The post CLASH Volunteer Opportunities This Week! appeared first on Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus.

You can read the print media’s coverage of the event here and hereand see a video of the event here. You can see Channel 19 News coverage of our first signature gathering event Saturday morning at the West Side Market here.

The bottom line is we are gathering signatures now and we need 5000 valid signatures ASAP! Next Monday, February 25 we’ll be opening petition pick up and drop off locations and canvassing launch points around the city. Although you need to be a registered voter in the City of Cleveland to sign the petition you only need to be a registered voter in the State of Ohio to circulate petitions. CLASH volunteer opportunities include:

1) Phone banking: This would be to CCPC members who live in Cleveland asking them first if they would be willing to sign the petition and second if they would be willing to gather signatures from family and friends. This can be done from home. If you’re willing to make calls please click here (put the link you created) and we’ll contacting you soon.

2) Host a petition pick up and drop off location in Cleveland. This could be at your house or a nearby coffee shop, library or friendly business. The ask here is that you be available at that location a couple of days a week or more. If this is something you might be able to do please call Steve Holecko at 440 220 1874 for more information.

3) Canvass at hot spot or high traffic area location. Meeting place for canvassing is at NEOCH (Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, 3631 Perkins Ave.#3  Cleveland 44114. Shifts run daily morning through evening. To sign up for a shift next week please go to CLASH Lead Safe Ballot Initiative Canvassing and if possible attend a training meeting this Saturday at 10 am at NEOCH.

Sign Up Now!

The post CLASH Volunteers Needed Now! appeared first on Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus.

We are a coalition seeking to to address the issue of lead in our homes here in Cleveland. Join us as we fight for the health and well being of our children and families.

Today, while we wait for elected officials to take action at least 4 children could be poisoned by lead.  That is 4 too many children!  

How many children have to be poisoned before they take action? Sign the petition to let Cleveland City Council know, if you don’t take action, we will! We are the mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, sisters and brothers of these children and we demand action now!

Actions that we can take now.

Petitions for circulation to get the Lead Initiative on the ballot are being printed and we will be taking to every street in Cleveland, we will knock on doors, we will begin gathering signatures where people gather and we will work to protect the health and well being of our children.

In the meantime….

Sign the online petition.

Call and write an email/letter to members of Cleveland City Council to act now.

Get ready to get the initiative on the ballot.

If you would like to volunteer to gather signatures, please fill out this form.

The post CLASH Additional Actions We Can Take. appeared first on Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus.

Today, while we wait for elected officials to take action at least 4 children could be poisoned by lead.  That is 4 too many children!  

How many children have to be poisoned before they take action? Sign the petition to let Cleveland City Council know, if you don’t take action, we will! We are the mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, sisters and brothers of these children and we demand action now!

Sign the online petition.

Petitions for circulation to get the Lead Initiative on the ballot are being printed and we will be taking to every street in Cleveland, we will knock on doors, we will begin gathering signatures where people gather and we will work to protect the health and well being of our children.

If you would like to volunteer to gather signatures, please fill out this form.

The post Demand Cleveland City Council Take Action – Pass the Lead Ordinance! appeared first on Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus.

The post CLASH appeared first on Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus.

“Embrace the movement that supports a ballot issue to toughen Cleveland’s lead paint laws.

The baby steps announced by the city will be heralded as a step in the right direction. But a recent study found that more than one in four of those entering kindergarten in Cleveland public schools who were screened had a history of exposure to potentially brain-damaging amounts of lead. That demands this issue be treated like a citywide emergency.”

The post It’s been 116 years since Cleveland had a transformational plan for the future. It needs one now: Brent Larkin appeared first on Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus.