Ed FitzGerald's 5 Point Plan

As a former FBI Special Agent and Assistant County Prosecutor, Ed FitzGerald is the only candidate for County Executive who has experience in investigating and eliminating corruption. FitzGerald knows that the FBI only investigates specific criminal acts, but it will take a determined County Executive to reform an entire governmental system.

FitzGerald’s anti-corruption initiative has three parts:

First, establish an Office of Public Integrity, which will be tasked with conducting investigation of possible ethical and legal wrongdoing. This agency’s first job will be to conduct a review of all departments to eliminate the sources of corruption and recommend policy changes that will prevent future violations of the public trust.

Second, FitzGerald will institute a rigorous ethics policy, to be applied to all county employees and vendors. This is an important step in changing the culture of our new county government, and setting a high ethical standard.

Third, as County Executive, FitzGerald will ensure that the decision making process of county government is open and transparent. Only by conducting our business in the open can we restore public trust in local government. Transparency not only discourages questionable dealings, it also yields better public policy by encouraging public participation.

Mayor FitzGerald recognizes that a primary focus of our new county government is economic development. As a mayor, Ed FitzGerald has worked with businesses to fill vacant storefronts, increase our manufacturing base, and has made strategic investments to act as a catalyst for economic growth.

FitzGerald realizes that it takes a team approach to get our local economy moving again. He believes in a comprehensive approach that builds on our strengths, such as our biomedical and manufacturing sectors, while coordinating efforts with vital partners such as the Port Authority, the City of Cleveland, our arts and cultural institutions, our many suburbs, our universities, and our entrepreneurial community.

Mayor FitzGerald knows that it is not enough to focus on building things- we must also develop an economic development pipeline which begins with our education system and continues through aggressive workplace development and retraining. Although large projects, such as the Medical Mart and the casino are important, FitzGerald also believes in neighborhood-based economic development, because he realizes that most job growth comes from small businesses.

In the rush to focus county government on economic development, we must never forget that thousands of Cuyahoga County residents – particularly children- rely on county government to provide reliable, effective human services. That is why Mayor FitzGerald has strongly advocated the passage of Issue 15, the Health and Human Services levy.

Mayor FitzGerald believes that county government has a moral as well as a legal obligation to provide human services to allow residents to realize their full potential. He also recognizes that often a dollar invested in prevention or foundation efforts yields a substantial return. For example, for every dollar spent on early childhood programming, there is as much as a seven dollar return later.

Ed FitzGerald is committed to protecting the health and safety needs of all of the residents of Cuyahoga County by maintaining a health and human service system based on compassion, accountability, and effectiveness.

The future of Cuyahoga County must include every neighborhood, urban and suburban, and Ed FitzGerald believes in building a diverse partnership to ensure that happens in the 21st century.

County Government must be systematically measured and redesigned. For too long, county government has been inwardly focused, and has too often rewarded employees based on who they know, not what they know. As County Executive, Mayor FitzGerald will institute “County-Stat,” an empirical system of measuring departmental and agency performance and comparing them to nation-wide best practices. Mayor FitzGerald implemented a similar system in every department in his administration, and saved millions of dollars while increasing productivity and effectiveness.

Mayor FitzGerald will set high standards for employees, and will measure employee performance in order to reward superior performance. County government must become a place where merit is recognized and rewarded.

At the same time, county government should serve the individual municipalities of the county. By providing common services that all cities need- from information services to health insurance- a new county government can strengthen our municipalities by reducing their bottom-line expenditures.

As County Executive, FitzGerald will appoint a “regionalism czar” to coordinate the sharing of services in partnership with the many cities which comprise our county. Millions of taxpayer dollars can be saved by finding ways in which communities can logically share services, and Cuyahoga County government can serve as a catalyst for change in this area of public policy.

Ed FitzGerald believes that county government should play an expanded role in preserving and enhancing the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

For example, the county’s new land bank is just one example of an innovative program which has the potential to rescue neighborhoods from the ravages of the foreclosure crisis. As a mayor, Ed FitzGerald has shown leadership in this area by establishing a land bank, demolishing run-down buildings, and transforming troubled properties into community assets which preserve property values.

At the same time, strategic investments in our neighborhoods can prevent blight and foreclosure before it happens, and county government needs to build a strong partnership with community development corporations and neighborhood-based agencies.

Mayor FitzGerald, who serves as the Public Safety Director in his city, also intends on using his more than eight years of law enforcement experience as a Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecutor and FBI Special Agent to continue the long overdue and much-needed reform of the Sheriff’s office. The Sheriff’s office can play a larger role in ensuring the safety of our residents no matter where in the county they reside, and can build a stronger partnership with local law enforcement agencies.