Dennis and Ohio's 9th District

"In my time in Congress I have helped save and/or create thousands of jobs in manufacturing, health care, advanced technology, space and aeronautics. I have worked to help save Ohioan's homes, rebuild neighborhoods, to protect the quality of our air and water, and to preserve Lake Erie as a source of drinking water and recreation. If nominated and re-elected, I intend to continue these efforts and extend them to the new district which reaches out to Lorain and west to Toledo." - Dennis

Dennis is currently running to serve the people of Ohio’s 9th district, a new district that extends from Cleveland to Lorain to Toledo. For Dennis, holding elective office has always been about service to the people he represents.  Through courage, intelligence and persistence, Dennis has been able to intervene on behalf of the people regarding matters large and small.

Each year, his office receives over 10,000 requests for service on matters ranging from Social Security, Medicare, immigration, veterans, and small business in addition to helping constituents with unemployment, housing, and health care. Sometimes, that involves reaching out to an agency on behalf of an individual constituent in need of help.  Other times, it involves reaching out to an agency on behalf of an entire community.  Often, enacting change involves reaching out to the community itself. Here are some examples:

Proven Results through Dedicated Action:

Protecting Residential Communities from Increased Train Traffic

Shortly after taking office in 1997, Dennis was faced with a major railroad merger which would have tripled the number of freight trains running through some of the most densely populated communities in his district.

Bay Village, Rocky River, Lakewood, and parts of Cleveland, would have seen the number of freight trains go from 13 to 40 per day along tracks which run close up to people’s homes and cross dozens of streets without gates or lights.  Dennis quickly intervened at the federal Surface Transportation Board, which had jurisdiction over a rail merger which related directly to the increased train traffic.  He moved quickly to block the merger and gained legal standing and leverage for his constituents.  He pushed forward  at every opportunity.  He held an informational meeting with 700 neighbors coming together at Lakewood City Hall, and fought at every turn for a fair outcome.

Working with the people of the affected communities, the mayors in his district, and governmental and business leaders at the local, state and federal levels, Congressman Kucinich brokered an $87 million deal with Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads to limit the number of trains in the most densely populated areas and fund necessary safety measures (including gates and lights at every crossing) and infrastructure improvements throughout the district where trains runs. Last year's dedication of a major overpass in Berea was part of the deal which resolved rail traffic safety issues which had burdened Berea for nearly a century.

Saving a Community Hospital

In March of 2000, Dennis was alerted to a plan by the Cleveland Clinic and the bankrupt Primary Health System to close several area hospitals, including St. Michael in Slavic Village and Mt. Sinai East in Richmond Heights.

The closure would have immediately eliminated hundreds of jobs, limited health care access in the community, and contributed to a monopoly on health care in some areas.  When the doctors at St. Michael filed a complaint in state court,

Dennis filed as a Friend of the Court to argue against the closures.  He organized thousands of constituents who would have been affected by the closures to rally to save the hospitals.  The case worked its way through state and federal court and ultimately to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, where Dennis made a plea to Judge Mary Walrath for the fate of the hospitals.  The judge ordered the hospitals to be kept open until a public auction could be held to find the highest and best bid for the hospitals as going concerns rather than shuttered, empty and blighted buildings.

The hospitals were purchased by University Hospitals.  While St. Michael's was ultimately closed 3 years later, every employee found work at other area hospitals.  Mount Sinai East continues to  operate successfully as University Hospitals Richmond Heights Medical Center.

Saving a Steel Mill

In 2001, Dennis filed as a Friend of the Court in the LTV Steel bankruptcy case in Youngstown.  At stake were LTV’s blast furnace and other assets at the Cleveland works.  Kucinich rallied federal, state, county and local elected officials, union leaders, and the people to support the workers and jobs at LTV.

Gaining the trust of the steel workers, Dennis responded to a call from a railroad employee who observed that insufficient amounts of coke were being delivered to keep the blast furnace hot.  A cooling down of the blast furnace would have resulted in irreparable damage and the permanent closure of the steel works in Cleveland.

Dennis directed his attorneys to take action.  The attorneys filed a motion for an injunction forcing the company to supply sufficient fuel to keep the furnace hot until the bankruptcy judge could make a decision on the company’s assets.  The injuction was ordered after a hearing of all the parties.  When the judge heard the merits of the case, he ordered the company to preserve the assets for 60 days while a buyer was sought.

A group of investors purchased the assets and renamed the plant “International Steel Group” and resumed the production of steel.  Today, the Cleveland Works is operating successfully as ArcellorMittal, and is said to be the largest integrated steelworks in the world saving jobs for thousands.

Saving a Social Security Administration Office

In 2005, the Social Security Administration announced that it intended to leave Lakewood, an inner-ring suburb of Cleveland with large populations of seniors, minorities, persons with disabilities, and the poor.  The agency sought space in more upscale “edge” communities on the far west end of the Cuyahoga County.

Dennis invoked Executive Order 12072 to protest such a move.  Executive Order 12072, which was issued by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, and which has the force of law as if enacted by Congress, was intended to preserve core urban areas from the devastating effects of out-migration.

The intension of the order was to keep the federal government from leading the way in the abandonment of U.S. cities.  Dennis kept pressure on both Social Security and the federal General Services Administration, which administers federal real estate, to adhere to the spirit of the executive order and keep Social Security in Lakewood.  His efforts resulted in the siting, construction, and 2010 opening, of a brand new Social Security office in Lakewood.

Transportation Improvements that Made a Difference

In 2008 at the request of the mayor of Garfield Heights, Dennis secured an appropriation from Congress for nearly a million dollars to connect Transportation Boulevard with Rockside Road, helping to connect residents of Cleveland’s southeastern suburbs with shopping in Garfield Heights.  However, the earmark came with strings attached:  it had to be used in support of our nation’s national parks.

Because Rockside Road is near the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Dennis' staff worked with the mayor to rewrite the appropriation to better explain how travelers along Interstate 480 in Garfield Heights would have better access to the Park and how biking and hiking trails would better enable the people of Garfield Heights to use alternatives to cars to get to the Park.  Because the route from Garfield Heights to Rockside Road goes through a landfill, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency required permits to ensure public and worker safety on the proposed new road.  T

he permitting process takes time and when then Garfield Heights had apparently not made enough progress to satisfy the Federal Highway Administration and the Ohio Department of Transportation by 2011, Dennis contacted  both agencies to argue that safety comes first and Garfield Heights should not be punished for ensuring that the new road would be safe.  The grant was restored and Garfield Heights continues its work on the Transportation Boulevard-Rockside Road connection.

Saving a Community Library

In 2010, the mayor of Parma Heights contacted Dennis to help reverse a pending decision by the Cuyahoga County Public Library, which sought to abandon its site at the Parma Heights municipal center opting to go to a storefront at a shopping mall.

City leaders and the people of Parma Heights feared the loss of this important anchor in the heart of its business district would lead to blight and a lower quality of life for the people.  Dennis met with the library board while his staff continued discussions with the board, its president, and the library’s executive director.  The library was trying to cut capital costs in maintaining the library at the older building.

Dennis directed his staff to work with the board and staff at the Library to find federal or state grant money to help maintain libraries and older urban buildings.  Because of the greater funding opportunities unveiled through Dennis' office, the Library was able to work more closely with Parma Heights to keep its branch in place and better serve the needs of the people of Parma Heights.

Works-in-Progress

Working to Solve Long-time Flooding Problems

Faced with homes and businesses being flooded out as catastrophic rain hit Ohio and Cuyahoga County in 2006, the people from the City of Independence and the Village of Valley View along the Cuyahoga River called out for help.

Dennis met with the mayors, business-owners, and residents of these communities in July 2006 to offer the immediate help of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration.  But realizing that there are long-term problems as well, Dennis requested that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers attend the meeting to hear from the people and evaluate whether other help might be available.

The Corps of Engineers suggested that the two municipalities might benefit from Section 205 of the National Flood Control Act of 1948.  With the participation of Dennis, Cuyahoga County, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, and others, the Army Corps Planning Branch is leading the Section 205 study to find resolution to the local flooding problem.

However, in August 2011, the Army Corps Regulatory Branch published a public notice to announce a permit request for the construction of homes on a wetland and along a stream just up the hill from the flood zone.  Dennis has written in opposition of the proposed construction and has been critical of a permitting process which is weighted toward development over wetland protection and flood control in identified flood-plagued areas.  Dennis is seeking greater protections for the people of Independence and Valley View and continues to demand a public hearing as the Army Corps proceeds through its permitting process which would affect the wetlands and tributaries to the Cuyahoga River flood area.