10-3-17 meeting

South Euclid Democratic Club

October 3, 2017

Welcome

Pledge of Allegiance

Introduction of members/guests

• Browns superbowl predictions: Ranged from Hell freezes over to this year to 2022.5

Indroduction of Elected Officials:

• Jason Russel
• Marty Gelfand
• Gayle Williams-Byers
• Dennis Fiorelli

Candidates for Judge of South Euclid

Marty Gelfand (Candidate): 

• 6years in Navy
• City Councilman at large, 2012
• 2014 Charter review commission
• 2006 Democratic executive committee 
• 2008 precinct committee
• Democratic City Leader
• 20 years as an attorney
• Most of the time as Congressman Dennis Kucinich senior in house counsel
• Helped negotiate a change in train plan 
• Saved blast furnace at LTB steel, blocking bankruptcy 
• Saved Richmond Hts hospital in state and federal court
• Kept St Michaels hospital open an extra 3 years
• In 2012 started own law practice
• Criminal and civil protection orders, Custody cases, and juvenile courts
• Does not practice in South Euclid because he serves on City Council (conflict of interest)
• What he wants to bring to the South Euclid court:
• Defendants informed in decisions of their constitutional rights and what pleas would mean for their future
• Will take in to consideration the community when sentencing 
• Would like to start a veterans docket
• Work with organizations for job and re-entry from jail/prison.
• Domestic violence docket, local department of peace
• Would like to keep the court on time and ask lawyers and clients to be time.
• Think regionally: State has reduced the money to local municipals, he has been on city council and understands the budget constraints. Would explore the possibility of merging SE court with a neighboring court, such as Euclid or Cleveland Heights.
• Would engage in a community dialogue about regional court system

Judge Gail Williams-Byers (Incumbent)

• 15yrs South Euclid resident, native of east Cleveland
• Lifelong Democrat
• Undergrad, Law school and grad school at Case Western
• Masters from Weatherhead School of Business in non-profits
• Cuyahoga county prosecutors office
• Family and child services
• Juvenile court
• General Felony
• Prosecutor supervisor: oversaw the Anthony Sowell case
• 2012 elected South Euclid Judge in 2012
• in 2012 had a 5 point plan for the court:
• Update techonolgy
• court employees had no email: now they do
• Court had no way to pay fines online: now we do
• Wrote grants for $100,000 to expand tech and bandwidth 
• Responsible to Community
• Defendants should do community service in SE if crime is in SE (helped in the library move)
• Night court: for people with inflexible jobs 4th Thursday of the month court stays open late at no extra cost to the city as it is closed the following Friday.
• Mental Health and Addiction docket: Only municipal court to have this special docket. 
• court received grant dollars to open 
• pilot program for suburban court program, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
• $975,000 originally and has been re-upped to 3mil
• Helps addicts in court to gain access to treatment
• All of Cuyahoga now able to refer to Suburban Drug Court
• East CLE able to refer defendants to SE mental health court
• Received grant that funded 80% for cameras for Muni building and parking.
• Looking to start a rapid response team: EMT, social workers, medics, service providers sent with police to calls that involve drug use or people in episodic states to assist in de-escalation.
• Vets currently have a special court liaison that is a vet themselves.
• Access to neighboring special court dockets
• Human trafficing docket, domestic violence docket, Veterans docket, drug court.
• 2014 attended Las Vegas conference, visited a self help center that provides access to attorneys, paralegals, and guidance for self representing defendants. Has written a grant to start but has yet to receive funding. 
• court should be there to serve the community in fair justice not as an ATM to pad budgets of the city

GERRYMANDERING

• Sue Dean: League of Women Voters
• Non-partisan and trying to recruit east side volunteers for gerrymandering petitions 
• Districts are drawn to favor 1 party over the other. 
• Ohio is one of the 7 worst states in nation
• New ballot proposal creates bipartisan committee to redraw lines in 2020.
• 7 person commission 
• party make up is based on last percentages during an election.
• for instance if 70% of voters voted Republican, 70% of the commission would be from the republican party.
• contains provisions to limit the number of times communities, cities, and counties can be split.
• Gerrymandering effects roads, schools and funding.
• Ohio needs 305,000 verified signatures
• Cuyahoga county needs 17,000 more signatures 
• Goal is to have proposal on the 2018 ballot
• Proposal resembles gerrymandering initiative that passed for state legislature in 2012(?)
• This is for Federal legislature

Candidates

• Andy Santoli, major trial unit for prosecutors office, running for common pleas court 2018
• Jennifer O’Malley, Assistant Cuyahoga county prosecutor, running for juvenile court 2018

Upcoming:

• Vice Presidency vacancy
• Building S.E.D.C base, precinct people to get list of Dem voters for Club to knock doors to bring in members
• Fundraiser to help send members to Columbus or DC to voice community concerns
• Someone voiced the opinion that meetings should be during the day to allow seniors to attend.