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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free ... it expects what never was and never will be." -- Thomas Jefferson
"The pump don't work, 'cause the vandals stole the handle." -- Bob Dylan
"The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase." -- Yogi Berra
Map the Mess is a "watering hole" for citizens interested improving Cuyahoga County.
A small group of citizen journalists is forming to map the political and business connections in Cuyahoga County. You can help by adding your voice. We welcome your participation.
Our purpose: To shed more light on the workings of business and government in the County.
Our outcome: To develop more complete, understandable maps of how local government and business is actually done in the County.
We are promoting basic democratic principles of openness and transparency. Our first step is to use social network analysis to map the connections in local government that have already been revealed by solid reporting in the press.We will be developing a variety of maps. Here's an example.
Beyond that, we are committed to shining more light on the relationships of local government to business in order to alter the pattern of patronage and privilege that frustrates reform and productivity.
A privileged few are happy with current patterns, but most of us are getting far less government than we pay for.
The future of Cuyahoga County depends on transparency, civility and innovation (in both government an business). Mapping the Mess is a first step to creating a new future for Cuyahoga County.
You can help by adding your voice. Start by contributing your thoughts for our team of citizen journalists to follow. Here is how we are handling information submitted to the site. Learn more.
Note: if you choose to submit information to Map the Mess confidentially, simply click "Nope, not right now".
Important: In submitting information to the site, please be mindful that we are trying to understand the covert connections that may be guiding public policies in Cuyahoga County. This exercise is inherently speculative. We are not interested in ad hominum attacks. We will edit comments submitted to exclude these attacks, so please do not include them.
Gloria Ferris said
Ed:
Do you think that this article about Carbone and Bankruptcy should be added to the map the mess archive
http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/business-7/1220603616159570.xml&coll=2
Also what about this article:
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1220603666159570.xml&coll=2
I hear from a good source that the last time the County gave a buy-out although told to stick to the figures and not rehire, only two departments did that the Treasurer's office and the Engineer's office.
Hard to stay within a budget when the parameters put in place are ignored.