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Vote on Federation HQ set for next week
BY: MARILYN H. KARFELD Senior Staff Reporter
The Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland will vote on Sept. 11 whether to remain in its current building downtown or relocate to Beachwood.
But Federation trustees will vote on more than where to maintain the organization’s central offices, according to Ron Ratner, who chairs the building committee charged with coming up with a recommendation on the issue.
While a round of phone calls or even a meeting may be necessary to get everyone to agree on the document’s final wording, Ratner says his committee “absolutely” will address suggestions for a Federation “presence” downtown.
The building committee “will make a specific recommendation whether we should build or buy,” Ratner says, but the report may not name the exact site. The committee will not “tie up all loose ends,” have a finalized building plan, or a finalized cost, Ratner adds.
Asked about a specific office building in Beachwood’s Science Park that Federation reportedly has investigated purchasing for its headquarters, Ratner would not comment on a given “site or building that’s in negotiation ongoing between Federation and a series of outside parties. The last thing we want to do is negotiate in the press.”
The building committee has had three or four unanimous votes over the last year, Ratner acknowledges, and the “predominant sentiment was to move to the East Side.” The final report will be unanimous as well.
Anita Gray, a leader of the Committee to Keep JCF in CLE, a group of about 50 civic activists committed to keeping Federation’s offices downtown, is upset about an unscientific poll the CJN has posted on its website.
At press time Wednesday afternoon, the poll showed votes for Federation to move to an eastern suburb outnumbering votes to stay downtown by more than a 2-1/2 to 1 margin. A number of people have told CJN staffers that they have voted several times from the same computer.
The stay-downtown faction has taken its own straw poll of Federation trustees, Gray says, during calls to plead the case for Federation’s remaining in the urban core. Early this week, 36 trustees said they would vote to stay downtown; 32 said they wanted to move to an eastern suburb, Gray notes.
In its deliberations, the building committee has taken into consideration reports from the Committee to Keep JCF in CLE, recommendations from two community forums and consultant input.
“We’re not where we were a month ago or even a week ago,” Ratner insists. “This has gotten to be more complex than was originally thought. It’s certainly way more contentious.”
mkarfeld@cjn.org
Poll taken with a grain of salt
The CJN has recently received feedback from readers expressing concern about the accuracy of our online poll, regarding whether or not the Jewish Community Federation should move its headquarters from downtown Cleveland to the eastern suburbs. At press time, more than 1,600 votes were counted n more than doubling our previous record.
Online polls are a way of involving readers in issues of concern to the community; they are not meant to be scientific measures of opinion.
To maintain the integrity of polls, cookies (tracking tools used by Web servers to differentiate users and maintain data), and IP (Internet Protocol) tracking, discourage users from voting repeatedly in a short period of time, says Brian Sandrock, a project manager at TownNews.com, which manages the CJN webssite.
However, by deleting cookies and emptying caches on their computers, more savvy Web users often get around these protections and, are able to vote repeatedly for their choice.
The CJN poll is available on the home page of www.clevelandjewishnews.com.
n E.Weinstein
But Federation trustees will vote on more than where to maintain the organization’s central offices, according to Ron Ratner, who chairs the building committee charged with coming up with a recommendation on the issue.
While a round of phone calls or even a meeting may be necessary to get everyone to agree on the document’s final wording, Ratner says his committee “absolutely” will address suggestions for a Federation “presence” downtown.
The building committee “will make a specific recommendation whether we should build or buy,” Ratner says, but the report may not name the exact site. The committee will not “tie up all loose ends,” have a finalized building plan, or a finalized cost, Ratner adds.
Asked about a specific office building in Beachwood’s Science Park that Federation reportedly has investigated purchasing for its headquarters, Ratner would not comment on a given “site or building that’s in negotiation ongoing between Federation and a series of outside parties. The last thing we want to do is negotiate in the press.”
The building committee has had three or four unanimous votes over the last year, Ratner acknowledges, and the “predominant sentiment was to move to the East Side.” The final report will be unanimous as well.
Anita Gray, a leader of the Committee to Keep JCF in CLE, a group of about 50 civic activists committed to keeping Federation’s offices downtown, is upset about an unscientific poll the CJN has posted on its website.
At press time Wednesday afternoon, the poll showed votes for Federation to move to an eastern suburb outnumbering votes to stay downtown by more than a 2-1/2 to 1 margin. A number of people have told CJN staffers that they have voted several times from the same computer.
The stay-downtown faction has taken its own straw poll of Federation trustees, Gray says, during calls to plead the case for Federation’s remaining in the urban core. Early this week, 36 trustees said they would vote to stay downtown; 32 said they wanted to move to an eastern suburb, Gray notes.
In its deliberations, the building committee has taken into consideration reports from the Committee to Keep JCF in CLE, recommendations from two community forums and consultant input.
“We’re not where we were a month ago or even a week ago,” Ratner insists. “This has gotten to be more complex than was originally thought. It’s certainly way more contentious.”
mkarfeld@cjn.org
Poll taken with a grain of salt
The CJN has recently received feedback from readers expressing concern about the accuracy of our online poll, regarding whether or not the Jewish Community Federation should move its headquarters from downtown Cleveland to the eastern suburbs. At press time, more than 1,600 votes were counted n more than doubling our previous record.
Online polls are a way of involving readers in issues of concern to the community; they are not meant to be scientific measures of opinion.
To maintain the integrity of polls, cookies (tracking tools used by Web servers to differentiate users and maintain data), and IP (Internet Protocol) tracking, discourage users from voting repeatedly in a short period of time, says Brian Sandrock, a project manager at TownNews.com, which manages the CJN webssite.
However, by deleting cookies and emptying caches on their computers, more savvy Web users often get around these protections and, are able to vote repeatedly for their choice.
The CJN poll is available on the home page of www.clevelandjewishnews.com.
n E.Weinstein
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