Are you a newly elected (or re-elected) member of Cleveland City Council? Are you looking for a way to make your mark as a people's champion... stand out from the City Hall crowd... get noticed by voters in your own ward and across the city?
Baby, have I got an issue for you. Four words: Cleveland Public Power rates.
November 2004 through October 2005
CEI (First Energy) -- $85.50
CEI with Cleveland's 5% aggregation discount -- about $81
Cleveland Public Power -- $85.33
Yes, you're reading that right. For the last year Cleveland municipal electric households have been paying an average of 5% more for electric service than our neighbors who are served by CEI/First Energy -- who are, themselves, paying some of the highest private electric bills in Ohio.
For the ambitious City Council Member, this is an issue that has everything. It's about money out of tens of thousands of voters' pockets, every month. It's about broken promises (think of all those people who switched to CPP in the '90s because it was going to save them money!) It's your handle on Big Issues -- the household energy crisis, the cost of doing business in Cleveland, the plight of the poor.
Best of all, it's an issue you can actually do something about -- because CPP is a City agency, and City Council is its board of directors. That's you, my man (or woman).
This is a huge political opportunity, just sitting there waiting for someone like you. So go for it! Get yourself on Council's Public Utilities Committee. Do some homework. Make some noise. Become the voice of the angry ratepayer. Figure out a way to push those rates down.
That way, in four years, you can run as the Leader Who Lowered Our Electric Bills.
Otherwise... you can run as just another politician who failed to.
For the ambitious City Council Member, this is an issue that has everything. It's about money out of tens of thousands of voters' pockets, every month. It's about broken promises (think of all those people who switched to CPP in the '90s because it was going to save them money!) It's your handle on Big Issues -- the household energy crisis, the cost of doing business in Cleveland, the plight of the poor.
Best of all, it's an issue you can actually do something about -- because CPP is a City agency, and City Council is its board of directors. That's you, my man (or woman).
This is a huge political opportunity, just sitting there waiting for someone like you. So go for it! Get yourself on Council's Public Utilities Committee. Do some homework. Make some noise. Become the voice of the angry ratepayer. Figure out a way to push those rates down.
That way, in four years, you can run as the Leader Who Lowered Our Electric Bills.
Otherwise... you can run as just another politician who failed to.