Long before Tuesday's election, hundreds of volunteers from the community began crafting the foundations of the new government structure, led by a transition team appointed by the current board of county commissioners.
From the start it was understood that their work would culminate in a series of recommendations, any one - or all -- of which could be rejected by the newly-elected county executive.
But Ed Fitzgerald promises that won't be the case; as HIS transition team takes the reins.
ED FITZGERALD:
"It'd be disrespectful to their work if I disregarded it. The people that are elected have to make the decisions, but the people that are elected should listen, and I intend to very strongly consider their suggestion, and some of them I will accept, I'm sure some of them I won't, but I'm going to take all of them very very seriously."
Led by Martin Zanotti and County Administrator James McCafferty, many of the pre-election workgroup volunteers were community leaders, some from the business community, others from private agencies and non-profit organizations.
Some of their ideas for reorganizing a sometimes fragmented community were introduced to Fitzgerald in a meeting of transition teams, the day after the election... Fitzgerald says he and his staff will be ready to roll out the best of all the plans by his January First inauguration, just 57 days away. Until then he says, the work itself, is his joy.
ED FITZGERALD:
"It's the biggest challenge of my life, it's one of the biggest challenges this county has ever faced and I couldn't be happier about getting to work."
Fitzgerald's transition team includes David Abbott, executive director of the Gund Foundation, and Attorney Fred Nance, who brokered the deal to build a new convention center and medical mart in downtown Cleveland.
Matt Carroll -- Director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health - is Staff Director for the transition.
A new website will soon be up and running that will provide updates on how the transition is progressing.
