going tactical

Here's an email I am in the process of sending out today to get people downtown tomorrow. This is the start of something bigger than just us, bigger than Cleveland, bigger than Ohio, and it bodes well for all of us. Let's make it happen:

Dear Tim--

We're going tactical on the issue of the sales tax. On July 12th at noon downtown in the Cleveland Public Library auditorium, Cool Cleveland and MeetTheBloggers are conducting a genuine public forum, where everybody gets a chance. Here's Thomas Mulready's commentary from the CoolCleveland newsletter just out this morning:

Commune. Communicate. Community. These are Cleveland's buzz words this week. With the critical issue of a convention center and medical mart in play because of a proposed county tax increase, we felt that the legal minimum two public sessions didn't give the community enough of an opportunity to discuss, raise questions and pose issues. So we're hosting our own Forum this Thu 7/12, increasing public debate by 50%, and you're invited to join us . . . keep the flow of communication open. By the way, the antonym of "communicate" is "hush up," "keep secret," or "suppress." We don't think that's very Cleveland-like, do you? --Thomas Mulready

Here are more details of the event and the instructions for registering (even though it's free, only a few hundred of you can fit)--

Cuyahoga County sales tax for convention center & medical mart-- Join your Cool Cleveland colleagues at this free and open Community Forum on July 12, 2007 from noon to 1:30PM at the Cleveland Public Library, 325 Superior Avenue N.E. in Downtown Cleveland, in the Louis Stokes Wing Auditorium.
While a number of subject matter experts will be invited to invited to be in the audience as resources in the fields of government, economic development and convention centers, this Community Forum is designed to allow the public to ask questions and raise issues about the 1/4% sales tax recently proposed by the Cuyahoga County Commissioners to raise money for a yet-to-be-determined convention center and attached medical mart. There will be no panels, no presentations and no speakers. After a brief outline of the issue, the public will be invited to step up to the microphones and raise questions and issues, which will be transcribed and then posted to http://www.CoolCleveland.com, http://www.BrewedFreshDaily.com and the http://www.MeetTheBloggers.net network of top regional blog sites.

To attend, please register by clicking here: http://www.coolcleveland.com/forums/071407/index.php

To post your comment or question in advance, or if you are unable to attend, please click here: http://www.brewedfreshdaily.com/2007/07/03/coolclevelandcombfdmtbyoucool-community-forums/

A copy of the press release is available for download as a PDF here: http://www.coolcleveland.com/doc/SalesTaxForumAnnouncement.pdf


The event appears on Upcoming.org here: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/215136/

Gloria gives background and perspective to the event in two blog posts:

http://www.gloriaferris.net/2007/07/just-in-time-for-thursday/

http://www.gloriaferris.net/2007/07/and-here-is-what-i-want-to-know/

There's a lot going on. This is becoming huge. It's no longer just about Cleveland; the whole county and the region are about to take the shot, unless we take our government and our money back.

We hope to see you there at noon tomorrow. Feel free to share this email, tactically.

Tim Ferris