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For more information contact:
Cleveland City Council
Katherine Samsa, Communications Director
(216) 857-7362 |
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Obama and Clinton Advisors listen to Cleveland concerns at
Council’s Fighting Foreclosure and Abandonment Forum |
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The Fighting Foreclosure and Abandonment Forum: A part of the Breaking the Cycle of Abandonment Initiative, hosted by Cleveland City Council today, comprehensively addressed the need for Federal action to deal with the foreclosure epidemic, something that the Presidential Debate held in Cleveland the night before failed to do. Key advisors from the Obama and Clinton campaigns heard and responded to concerns of a large group of Clevelanders working on the foreclosure and abandonment issue. The McCain campaign failed to send a representative.
“Cleveland City Council felt the location of the Democratic Presidential Debate in Cleveland was the perfect opportunity to make sure that candidates are aware of our key issues,” said Council President Martin J. Sweeney. “Lack of mention of the foreclosure epidemic during the debate further underlines how necessary this Forum is to the future of Cleveland.”
Both Campaign representatives understood the magnitude of the crisis by the close of the forum. Former Bill Clinton Administration Cabinet Member Fred Hochberg, representing the Clinton Campaign, referred to the foreclosure issue as a “human crisis of epic proportion.” Obama Campaign National Policy Advisor Mark Alexander stated the “magnitude of crisis will require a plan to rebuild block by block.”
The Forum, held in Cleveland City Council Chambers, served as a platform for local activists from within government as well as the public and private sector to present testimony to the top presidential campaigns that highlights their efforts and specifies what action is needed from Washington to effectively fight foreclosure and abandonment. More than 20 experts and activists testified and more than 30 organizations attended the Forum. Participants called for Federal assistance in three major areas: (1) disaster relief; (2) regulation; and (3) keeping people in homes and the American dream alive.
Alexander and Hochberg left the Forum with a policy book containing the testimony and recommendations of Cleveland activists and policy makers. The book will be available at www.clevelandcitycouncil.org on Friday, February 29, 2008. A webcast of the Forum is available here. |
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Cleveland City Council
601 Lakeside Avenue
Room 220
Cleveland, OH 44114
(216) 664-2840
(216) 664-3837 fax
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