I went to a meeting on “affordable housing” last night on Cleveland’s near Westside. Attended by some 60 people, the meeting was sponsored by Neighborhood Voices, a dynamic group that has been proactively advocating for affodable housing in this area since 2003. The issue, in a nutshell, is this: The near Westside of Cleveland (like the near West and Eastsides of so many metropolitan areas these days) is caught in the juggernaut of ‘upscaling.’ That is, with gas prices continually rising, young urban professionals — and others from the suburbs — have been moving into the near Westside and rennovating on a grand scale. It is becoming wholesale “gentrification,” which in turn displaces the poor who have been in these neighborhoods for generations… Neighborhood Voices is shooting for a “mix” of socio-economic and racially diversified groups. “We are about inclusiveness, not exclusiveness,” said Neighborhood’s George Herbek, who facilitated the meeting. Herbek stressed the group was working for the “common good” in an area that has an ethnically rich Westside Market, vibrant churches, and all types of outreach help within walking distance… Neighborhood’s Jim Misak said the group was working with the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority in lobbying for affordable housing in a series of new “Hope 6” projects in the neighborhood. And Marge Misak, Jim’s wife, said the group had met with Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson who is now philosophically on board about, not just offering one-time affordable housing, but “permanent affordable housing.” Note: Several years ago, St. Patrick’s Church, also on Cleveland’s near Westside, spearheaded a “Project Afford Drive.” Money was raised to purchase and rennovate several homes, which were in turn offered at affordable prices to low income people.
5/31/06
Yesterday USA Today started an eye-opening series on the reality of global warming. A few weeks ago, the Cleveland Plain Dealer did an article on Case Western Reserve University professor Ted Steinberg and his new book: American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn. Some statistics in this were just as eye opening as the USA Today piece. For instance: A car would have to drive at 30 mph for 7,700 miles to create as many polluting hydrocarbon emissions as using a gas powered leaf blower for half an hour (you read that right). [Good argument for going back to rakes, huh.] Americans spend $40 billion on lawn care each year, more than the gross domestic product of Vietnam. [Are we nuts?] And this isn’t even mentioning the exorbitant amount of global warming gases being spewed by conventional (non-emission controlled) lawn mowers. [Call me “retro,” but remember those old, non-engine push mowers? I just used one to cut the grass Tuesday.] And as far as the gas powered weed wackers? Does anyone remember (dare I say) sickles?… Some “average Joe” common sense: If we don’t want global warming — then we have to stop doing stuff that causes global warming.
5/29/06
Memorial Day… We went on a family picnic in the “Metro Park” in Rocky River, Ohio, today. While eating lunch, we talked to our children about their grandfather (on my side) flying jets off aircraft carriers for the Navy. (He got his wings just a few weeks after the Korean Conflict had ended.) We also told them about their great grandfather (also on my side) who fought during the World War I, road an Army motorcylce with a side car, and the fear for him and his Army buddies at the time was, among other things, being exposed to: “mustard gas.” We then prayed. We prayed for the soldiers in Iraq — on both sides. And we prayed that not only would the Iraq War end soon, but that all war would end soon. [Our administration would propose a U.S. Dept. of Peace — see “what joe stands for” (home page) to help bring some of that about.]… There were a lot of people in the Metro Park today. And after setting up our picnic spot, I strategically drove the “average Joe” Mobile (complete with a whole lot of signage) to a high traffic area about a quarter mile away. Well, when you don’t have the millions for advertising… Anyway, while heading back, I walked by a picnic table with an extended family of about 12 from the Medina, Ohio, area who were discussing, of all things, presidential elections. And just as I got a bit closer, one of the family members said (Are you ready for this?): “You watch, the next thing they’ll come up with is a reality show where anyone can run for president.” My cue… I walked right up to the table and told them I was that anyone. They laughed, thinking I was kidding. I showed them my “average Joe Schriner for president” button. They still thought I was kidding. Then, for kicks I guess, they asked me my platform. I smiled and said: “With Social Security, for instance, we’d like to see a paradigm shift. I believe(based on an interview I did with a former teacher of economics at North Carolina State Univeristy) that the American populace should look at the Social Security Fund as merely another form of ‘insurance,’ and not an ‘automatic’ after retirment. If someone is making, say, $70,000 or more on pensions, stocks, etc., annually, they shouldn’t be in need of Social Security as well. This would not only help keep the Fund solvent in the face of the current demographic shift of baby boomers entering retirement in way more numbers than those entering the work force; but it would also free up a lot more capital for those less fortunate.” At this point, the people from Medina didn’t think I was kidding anymore. And how I knew, was the partiarch of the family (he had on a blue apron and a grill fork in his hand) said: “If you get to D.C., are you going to remember us?”
5/21/06
A couple entries back, I asked supporters (no matter where you’re at in the country) to google “Ohio newspapers” and send brief endorsement letters to the editor of some of those papers. We are now in the midst of a “Buckeye Blitz” of Ohio. The reason is simple. Ohio was the bellweather state in the nation last presidential election, and all eyes were focused on it. And it was a razor thin margin in Ohio that, ultimately, determined the election. The demographics in the nation haven’t changed much, and we believe it may well come down to Ohio this next presidential election as well… So, our strategy is to become viable in Ohio as early out as possible. (It helps that we are from Ohio as well.) And if we look viable in the key state, it will be enough to make it a national story — with some staying power. As this happens, we can then mobilize our supporters in other states to get on the ballots, do some stepped up campaigning, and so on… (Because we don’t have the big party machine and all the millions for adverstising, we had to come up with another strategy. And this is it.)… Now, we need your aid in helping raise our profile in Ohio, if you’d consider it. As mentioned above, we are asking people from all over the country to write endorsement letters to the editor of Ohio newspapers about the “Average Joe” Schriner Campaign. Some points to consider stressing in the letters would include: 1) That I am an Ohioan. 2) We consistently tell people that my wife and I are running as your “average concerned Ohio parents.” And we are concerned about such things as mounting levels of: abortion; war; violence in the streets; global warming gasses; nationaly debt; homeless and hungry — both here and in the Third World. This all is not the kind of thing we wanted to leave our children. So instead of lamenting about the state of the world, Liz and I quit our professions and set out to do something about it. 3) We’ve traveled the country the past 15 years looking for people who have come up with common sense solutions to all these problems. And we found them. 4) Our platform is based on good old fashion common sense. 5) Our goal is to help move the country in a direction where once again God is first, family and community are close, there are way less people in need, and the streets are again safe for our children. Note: Please feel free to use any of the latter in the letter, or any other reason(s) you’re supporting the campaign. And if you would, would you let others know about this strategy as well. The more letters, the better. Thanks.
5/20/06
While in Holmes County, Ohio, last week, I interviewed Jonas Miller who is quite a historian when it comes to the Amish in these parts. He, in fact, is a narrator during “Country Coach Adventure Bus Tours” through the heart of Amish country here. He explained to me, for instance, that the Amish have their own form of “health insurance.” That is, many of the Amish churches have collective insurance funds. And what’s more, they often find their hospital and doctor rates low because they believe the Bible “teaches against” suing people. He also said the Amish dress plainly and conservatively because there are premiums placed on modesty and not standing out in community. In fact, the Amish place tremendously emphasis on the importance of community. Mr. Miller explained that recently lightenning had struck an Amish barn, burning it to the ground. In the next few days, the debris had been cleared, a foundation laid and the barn was rebuilt, for free, by 1,200 Amish, from eight different states. Yet another form of “Amish insurance.” If you’re Amish, you’re apparently “…in good hands.” Note: I wrote a letter to the editor of The Daily Record in Wooster, Ohio, saying we as a society would do well to learn much more about Amish ways.
5/19/06
Our campaign manager in Georgia, Thomas Farmer, just sent me an insightful essay he wrote about unequal distribution of wealth worldwide. It follows… “Photojournalist Peter Menzel has published something of a sequel to his 1995 acclaimed work Material World, which studies families from 30 countries around the world and photographs them with all of their possessions. His new work, Hungry Planet (http://www.menzelphoto.com/hungryplanet/) is done in collaboration with Faith D’Alusio and focuses on what families aournd the world eat. Similar in style to Material World, Menzel photographs families with the food that they typically consume in a week. The photography is stunning and, as you might imagine, the contrasts are stark. A German family of four is shown in front of a lavish spread of food including juice, beer, pizza, fresh meat, and produce with a food expenditure for the week of $500 USD. A Darfur family of six is photographed in a refugee camp with a bottle of water and some sacks of grain. Their expenditure for the week is just over $1 USD. Much like Material World, the work is moving in its simplicity. We are given human faces for our largess and the world’s inequities; these images should be fresh in our minds as we consider issues beyond our borders and decide where to expend our resources… We focus on our foreign policy on oil, maintianing our way of life, and preventing another terrorist attack, when several 9/11’s happen in the Third World every d ay due to starvation. Shouldn’t our political debates be addressing these issues? Shouldn’t our tremendous resources as a nation be focused on this battle?… Our policies and actions should uphold the dignity of life, not blindly preserve our way of life in the name of material progress. While we seek to maximize profits and “progress” in our captitalist society, we are seemingly unsure of the goal of our progressions and what to do with our largess… These works offer us a clear vision of the world and our place in it. Such visions should guide us as we head to the voting booth…” Note: “Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to fit the vision, instead we are always changing the vision.” –GK Chesterton: Orthodoxy, 1908
5/18/06
A Mansfield News Journal article today noted that I thought I could be a factor in the next presidential election — if I look like I’m going to have a showing in Ohio. I will explain more about this strategy in a later entry, but for now: we are asking supporters (both in Ohio and outside) to write endorsement letters to the editor about our campaign to Ohio newspapers across the state. Just google “Ohio newspapers” and a list of those on-line (and off line) will come up. Your help with this would be greatly appreciated.
5/17/06
I interviewed Paul Yoder in Apple Creek, Ohio. His farm sells “100% grassfed beef and lamb, pastured chicken, turkey, pork, eggs…” Mr. Yoder uses no artificial chemicals on his fields or artificial hormones with his livestock. He does everything naturally, or better put “…the way God intended it,” Mr. Yoder says. He also sells shares in his cows, and people in turn get raw milk as well. Milk, Mr. Yoder asserts, that is much healthier than the pasturized and homgenized milk sold in stores. (Pasturization, for instance, kills the good bacteria and enzymes needed to break down the fats and protein, he said.) Mr. Yoder has a circle of health conscious customers from a fairly large radius, as far north as the Cleveland area. He said over the years a trusting relationship has developed between he and his customers, like it was in the old days when local farmers used to grow for local town people. This relationship, he continues, is just as important (if not more) than the actual transactions. It is about building community, as again, there was a lot more of in the old days. Note: Mr. Yoder told me he decided not to use artificial farm chemicals because of the possible detriment to consumer health. Although it was risky financially to begin farming that way, he said doing what was right was more important. I found that extremely refreshing.
5/16/06 (cont.)
We have just posted a tremendously updated position on “Hispanic Immigration” based on some six years of pretty extensive cross-country research. It is a position that looks through the lens, not of “American protectionism,” but rather of social justice. To view the position, go to “what joe stands for” on our home page.
5/16/06
Liz and I gave a talk to an assembly of students at St. Mary’s School in Mansfield, Ohio yesterday. I said a strong platform point of ours was helping the marginilized in society. And several years ago we had moved into the inner city of Cleveland to live side-by-side with some of these marginalized people, one of whom is Richard. Liz explained to the students that we had met Richard at an outreach center to the poor that we volunteer at. Richard is 50, single, a Vietnam veteran — and lives in a tent below a birdge in Cleveland, year round. Richard has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from his time in Vietnam. A car backfiring will send Richard spinning back to being shot at in the jungles of Vietnam, paralyzing him for hours. He also continually moves from high anxiety to deep depression, keeping him from holding a steady job. Liz said to the students that what Richard had asked for for Christmas the year before was a small Coleman Stove to stay warm with in the tent… I told the students that Richard needed more than the Coleman Stove. He needs quality, long-term mental health counseling to considerably diminish the PTSD symptomology. He needs job training and/or more education. And Richard needs a home. I then asked to see a show of hands of how many students had garages at home. Every hand went up. I then said we in America shelter cars while people like Richard in Cleveland and little children in Chicago, L.A., Phoenix… sleep on inner city streets. I ended by asking if they thought it would be a good idea for their parents to convert their garages into a living space for some of these marginilized people? Most indicated yes. “Then, if you would, would you go back home and tell your parents about this idea,” I said. They promised they would. (I figured it would be better coming from them, than from me.) Note: Just in case of some of the students forget to tell their parents, I also mentioned the idea to a reporter from the Mansfield News Journal during an interview later in the day… Liz said at the start of her talk that she’d been reading the book The Irresistable Revolution. At one point, the author said that he’d read a poll that said some 80% of Christians questioned believed Jesus spent significant time with the poor. But out of the same group, only 2% said they spend any significant time with the poor. [I couldn’t help but think: Wouldn’t a garage apartment be a good way to start.?]