Nearly thirty years ago, George Voinovich became the mayor of Cleveland after the city had defaulted on its loans and was $30 million in the red. Voinovich turned to 89 executives from companies across the region, asking them for help on everything from financial audits to figuring out where to put city hall's copy center. Executive-elect Ed FitzGerald is replicating that effort with a team of loaned executives he hopes will help him identify and quickly implement changes in Cuyahoga County government.
Ed FitzGerald: This is an echo, I suppose, of what happened in 1979. We are not going through a fiscal default but we did go through a default, I suppose, of leadership and ethics.
That's a reference to the corruption scandal that's netted dozens of Cuyahoga County officials and private business people, and fueled the movement for reform. Next month, Ed FitzGerald will be sworn-in as the executive of a voter-approved new form of county government. The so-called "loaned executive" group to help with FitzGerald's transition team includes representatives from some of the region's largest employers including PNC, Huntington Bank, and The Cleveland Clinic as well as The President's Council, a group representing area African American business owners. FitzGerald said the loaned executive team will help implement recommendations prepared by 13 community groups over the last year. Mhari Saito, 90.3.