Dear Colleagues:

Economic stress, by driving down property values, has threatened one of the main sources of revenue for northeast Ohio’s local governments. Incomes are recovering only slowly from the effects of the recession. At the same time, the 2014-15 state Budget reduced state aid to more than $1 billion below the 2010-11 figure; repeal of the estate tax cut revenues by at least $300 million per year (and especially slammed Shaker Heights!); and compensation for other local taxes that the legislature eliminated over the last decade is dwindling. Meanwhile the spending caps at the federal level already ensured there would be no help from Washington DC, and the Republican triumphs in congressional and statewide elections ensure that the best local governments can hope for is that federal and state policies not get much less helpful.

How do local governments cope with the budgetary bad news, and with what consequences for the services they provide? Join us as David Miller shares his perspective as both a social policy researcher and city council president.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

David B. Miller is currently an associate professor at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Miller received his Ph.D. and Master of Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh in 1993 and his Master of Social Work from the University of South Carolina in 1986. Dr. Miller’s current research focus is on the health status of African American males. Specifically, he is currently investigating the awareness and knowledge of African American males regarding prostate cancer, and effects of chronic stress on adolescents and young adults.

Dr. Miller work includes the development and validation of the Urban Hassles Index (UHI), which measures chronic daily hassles in urban settings among adolescents and young adults. In May 2011, he was the lead co-editor of a special issue of the journal Research on Social Work Practice on the topic of social work practice and intervention with African American males. Dr. Miller has worked as a social worker in a maximum-security prison and as a coordinator of a family planning project implemented to address infant mortality, both in the state of South Carolina. He has served as program evaluator for Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiatives in Sandusky and Garfield Heights, Ohio, and for the Cuyahoga County Strong Start Program. He has also consulted with the United States Federal Probation Office and the Erie County Office of Children and Youth Services. Dr. Miller is currently serving as Councilman-at-Large and President of City Council in South Euclid, Ohio.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

November 28: Thanksgiving Break

December 5: Godless Democrats and Pious Republicans: Party Activists and the Mythical God Gulf. With Ryan Claassen, Associate Professor of Political Science, Kent State University.