A Study of the Reform Efforts in Summit, Allegheny and Cuyahoga Counties
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Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU ETD Archive 2014 Reform Where Is Thy Victory? :A Study of the Reform Efforts in Summit, Allegheny and Cuyahoga Counties Vincent D. Holland Cleveland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etdarchive Part of the Urban Studies and Planning Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Recommended Citation Holland, Vincent D., "Reform Where Is Thy Victory? :A Study of the Reform Efforts in Summit, Allegheny and Cuyahoga Counties" (2014). ETD Archive. 135. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etdarchive/135 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in ETD Archive by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REFORM WHERE IS THY VICTORY?: A STUDY OF THE REFORM EFFORTS IN SUMMIT, ALLEGHENY AND CUYAHOGA COUNTIES VINCENT D. HOLLAND BACHELOR OF ARTS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY JUNE, 1975 MASTER OF SOCIOLOGY CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY JANUARY 1979 MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY MARCH 1991 Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirement for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN URBAN STUDIES AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION At the CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY APRIL 2014 We hereby approve this dissertation for Vincent D. Holland Candidate for the Ph. D. in Urban Studies & Public Affairs degree And CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY’S College of Graduate Studies by ___________________________________________________ Lawrence F. Keller, Dissertation Committee Chairperson Urban Studies April 25, 2014 ___________________________________________________ Michael W. Spicer, Dissertation Committee Member Urban Studies April 25, 2014 ___________________________________________________ Robert B. Jaquay, Dissertation Committee Member George Gund Foundation April 25, 2014 ___________________________________________________ Vera Vogelsang-Coombs, Dissertation Committee Member Urban Studies April 25, 2014 ___________________________________________________ Fred Bolotin, Dissertation Committee Member Graduate Faculty April 25, 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is an extremely humbling experience to reflect back on all of the people who helped me along this path. There were kind words of support, suggestions on how best to approach this academic journey and guidance, guidance and guidance from many persons. I am sure that I might forget to thank someone, or ones, but please know that I am thankful to all who helped me during this process. I must thank Dr. Larry Keller for his many hours he spent with me as I traveled along this academic road. He was willing to take his valuable time, and share with me much about the history of public administration’s growth and development. He was a friend, scholar, mentor and a champion for public administration done right. I could not have had a better Chair for my dissertation. I want to also thank the other members of my wonderful committee. Dr. Michael Spicer and Dr. Vera Vogelsang-Coombs each gave me a number of helpful comments and insights. Dr. Fred Bolotin and Attorney Robert Jaquay were helpful in providing insight and support while I underwent this process. Dr. Stivers, you are a great teacher who helped to open new doors in our thinking about the direction of public administration. I appreciate our conversations, and the many insights you shared with me as a teacher, advisor, friend and scholar. I also wish to thank my brothers Keith Holland and Paul Davis for their fantastic support. I, especially, wish to thank my brother Claude Holland and sister-in-law Tensie Holland for their phenomenal support, great meals and for always being there for me. I also wish to thank my parents, Mr. Vincent Holland and Ms. Bernice Holland, for always having time to talk to us, share their love of books, supporting all of our events and teaching me what was important in life. I would also like to give thanks for the great friendship and support of Mr. Jimmy Tyree and Mr. John James. We have known each other since we were young teenagers, and each of us has graduated from the Levin College. I also wish to thank my best friend, and main support system, my wife. Ruby, you have helped me in every way possible, and you read this dissertation probably as many times as I did. Thank you for everything you do for me. I thank God each day for you. Copyright by Vincent D. Holland All rights reserved 2014 ABSTRACT Reform is a concept that public administration has struggled to define since its inception. The corruption crisis in Cuyahoga County led the region to vote to implement a home-rule government, and replace the three commissioner system with a single county executive and an eleven-member county council under the guise of reform. In addition, Allegheny and Summit Counties each previously implemented similar executive-council elected reform governments for reasons akin to Cuyahoga. Reform efforts are often the product of crises in the government process, and open doors for researching the process of how power works, is implemented, co- opted and consolidated. These events afforded researchers opportunities for studying if merely structural reform took place or if a deeper reform occurred, and what were the elements that determined if structural or a deeper reform occurred. This Dissertation used Clarence Stone’s Urban Regime Theory and Jon Pierre’s Urban Governance Theory as frameworks in order to study how some elite actors viewed their reform efforts. The questions explored were the following: Was their region’s reform was a change in structure only, as there were more unelected row positions and new positions but the operations, governance and leadership operated as in the past? Was their regions reform effort a deeper government reform, where there was more accountability, transparency, efficiency, sustainability, inclusion, checks-and balances and ethical behavior? Public Administration still struggles with defining reform, and this qualitative study looks at the perceptions held by those elite actors as to their views pertaining to what transpired in their region. The study looked at the perceptions of reform held by those who were interviewed through an interpretative lens. As this was an interpretive study, research questions were vi generated and analyzed with the understanding that there are limitations on drawing inference from the collected data. However, one can ascertain that there are factors that impact on reform. One can also assert that Urban Regime Theory gives researchers a process for studying if structural or a deeper reform occurred. Interviews conducted with those elite person who were directly involved, or knowledgably about their reform efforts indicated that maintaining, consolidating or co-opting power were of significant importance. However, the information collected must be understood within the context of the limitations of an interpretive perspective vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………….. 1 1-A Statement of the Problem……………………………………………………….. 1 1-B The Crisis in County Government……………………………………………….11 1-C The Living Experiment: County Charter Reform………………………………. 12 1-D Home Rule Charter……………………………………………………………....20 1-E Home Rule Charters: Summit, Allegheny and Cuyahoga Counties……………..22 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2-A Literature Review……………………………………………………………….. 27 2-B Early Research on County Government………………………………………… 29 2-C Definition of Reform and Change………………………………………………. 33 2-D Definition of Power……………………………………………………………... 39 2-E Regime Theory………………………………………………………………….. 47 2-F Civic Capacity & Governance……………………………………………………58 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 3-A Regime Theory: An Analysis of Power as Interpreted through Reform Change In Allegheny, Summit and Cuyahoga Counties…………………………………….. 73 3-B Interpretive Analytical Perspective…………………………………………….. 80 3-C Research Limitations………………………..………………..………………….84 CHAPTER FOUR SUMMIT COUNTY 4-A Summit County Reform Efforts….....……………………………………..……87 4-B Summit County Home Rule Charter & Organizational Chart…..………….......90 4-C Conclusions………………………………………………………………….....102 CHAPTER FIVE 5-A Allegheny County Reform Efforts………………………………………..…..103 viii 5-B Allegheny County Interviews………………………………...……….…...110 5-C Conclusion…………………………………………………………………121 CHAPTER SIX 6-A Cuyahoga County Reform Efforts……………………………………..….125 6-B Cuyahoga Charter Governance……………………………………….…...138 6-C Conclusion …………………………………………………………….…..161 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………….…..164 TABLES: Table One……Urban Regime Theory “Power Over, Power To”……………....64-65 Table Two…..Urban Regime Theory & Urban Governance Theory………………70 Table Three…Summit County Interview Table ………………………………..94-95 Table Four….Allegheny County Interview Table……………………………113-114 Table Five….Cuyahoga County Interview Table………………………….…142-143 Table Six….Reform versus Change Quadrant………………………………….…170 ORGANIZATIONAL CHART: Summit………………………………………………93 Cuyahoga…………………………………………..140 APPENDIX A. Appendix One: Urban Theories & Regime Theory (Power)………………….188 B. Appendix Two: Clarence Stone’s Regime Types………………………….….190 C. Appendix Three: Questions……………………………………………………191 D. Appendix Four: Interviews…..………………………………………………...193 E. Appendix Five: Reform Slogans………………………………………………194 F. Endnotes……………………………………………………………..………...195 G. Bibliography…………………………………………………………………...199 ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION