When money “equals” speech --
and corporations have constitutional “rights,”
what happens to democracy?

Cleveland Heights City Council will hold its
10th Annual “Democracy Day” Public Hearing

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
Council Chambers, Cleveland Heights City Hall
40 Severance Circle, Cleveland Heights 44118

In 2013, Cleveland Heights voters passed, with a 77% “yes” vote, Issue 32 in support of a 28^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution clearly stating that:

• Only human beings, not corporate entities, have Constitutional rights
• Money is not speech, so money spent on elections can be regulated

The passage of Issue 32 also established, by ordinance, annual public hearings “to examine the impact on our City, our state and our nation of political influence by corporate entities and big money” in elections. “Members of the general public will be given the opportunity to speak on these matters for up to five minutes per person.” City Council will send letters to our U.S. congressperson and senators summarizing the hearing and calling for their support for the 28^th amendment. Eleven other Ohio cities have passed similar ordinances and hold regular public hearings as well.

Join us to speak or just to listen.

It’s your democracy

More info: movetoamend.org/oh

Move to Amend, a national non-partisan, non-profit organization, has state & local affiliates

Volume 14, Issue 1, Posted 10:47 AM, 01.01.2021

http://www.heightsobserver.org/read/2021/01/01/speak-up-for-democracy

by Deborah Van Kleef and Carla Rautenberg

We imagine everyone will be glad to put 2020 in the rearview mirror. The ugliness of presidential politics, police brutality, and the COVID-19 pandemic have touched us locally and roiled the nation. As we write, not only is President Trump still disputing the election, it appears that Ohio electric ratepayers will be charged an extra $7 per month for the foreseeable future, thanks to our General Assembly’s failure to repeal their utterly corrupt creation, House Bill 6. These are failures, not of democracy, but of governments that serve the power of money, rather than the public interest. 

There will be plenty for citizens to address at Cleveland Heights’ eighth annual Democracy Day on Thursday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. For the first time, the public hearing will be virtual, livestreamed on YouTube. Whether as an audience member or a participant, please plan to attend. Do you have something to say about the corrosive effect of corporate power and big money on our democracy? You can speak for up to five minutes (about 500 words). Send your full name, e-mail address, and topic to Carla at [email protected] by Tuesday, Jan. 26, to receive a participants’ link. The link will also be posted on the city calendar.