AROUND TOWN TODAY | Quick Takes on the Civic Scene

Black Philanthropy Summit • Black Citizenship in Action • Cleveland Rising! • Cuyahoga GOP

 By R. T. Andrews

The sixth biannual African American Philanthropy Summit takes place today from 1-3PM via Zoom. Registration is now closed but we will have a report for you.

If you are moved by what’s happening around the country and are wondering how you might get involved, here are two suggestions:

Read this compelling op-ed by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor for a keen perspective on how to understand what's happening in our country today in the wake of George Floyd's murder at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Consider attending "Black Citizenship in Action Online" [BCA] today at noon. Discussion will center on how black people in this country gained citizenship rights and how that power can be used to create lasting community change. 

Jessica Byrd online during
Black Citizenship in Action

BCA includes local community outreach and mobilization opportunities and civic and voter engagement that help deepen black people's shared understanding of our rights as citizens and helps build the power needed to create a future that works for us.

Cleveland Rising!, the curious collective effort of certain Clevelanders concerned about our city's cratered condition, convenes this afternoon from 1-2:30PM via Zoom. Working groups formed at the CLE Rising Summit will share progress toward aspirational goals identified last fall. Virtual attendees, after watching the working group presentations, will have an opportunity to provide feedback.

 Register here.

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The Cuyahoga County Republican Party holds organizational meetings today  for its central and executive committees amidst unusual circumstances. State law requires political parties to meet within 15 days of the certification of the election of their precinct committee people, which occurred earlier this month following the close of primary voting on April 28.

Today’s meeting will be held at the Cuyahoga Heights City Hall but, given the restrictions on public gatherings imposed by the state in the midst of the pandemic, most of those attending will do so via Zoom. How this will affect voting is still unclear, a matter of both logistics and intra-party intrigue, according to party insiders with whom we have spoken.

Until last fall, Rob Frost chaired both the central and the executive committees. Sources told us there has been mounting dissatisfaction over the party’s operations and its ballot box performance in recent years. Frost yielded the chair of the executive committee at that time but retained control of the more powerful central committee.

Today’s vote will test how much power Frost retains. He is being challenged by Lisa Stickan, a city councilwoman from Highland Heights. Stickan is the daughter of Lucy Stickan, a long-time party activist in the county GOP and a high-ranking party official.

Frost still controls a lot of the party’s levers, so the outcome may turn on voting logistics and whether the vote will extend past today.

Peter Corrigan, who was named interim chair of the executive committee in December after Frost stepped down, is unlikely to be opposed and is expected to shed the interim tag and be installed as chair after the vote.

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