CH's Issue 32 is a waste of time

To the Editor:

Since Cleveland Heights voters passed the Issue 32 ballot referendum [in 2013], every year the Cleveland Heights City Council must set aside [time] to consider citizens' views on a federal constitutional issue far outside the interests or purview of our local government. 

Various pro-government and anti-business radicals harangue our part-time, busy council with irrelevant complaints. Then, council is required to submit an Issue 32 report on the meeting to our elected representatives. At best, this is a waste of time, but it also sends a radical anti-business message to prospective commercial employers and taxpayers. We, the people, should repeal it. Council already provides opportunity at public meetings for citizens to air their views on local matters.

The Move to Amend group is the force behind Issue 32. This group wants to eliminate the constitutional rights of corporations. The source of their outrage is the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision and 125 years of precedents. Astute readers of the Heights Observer will note that Cleveland Heights City Council does not have a vote on the Supreme Court.

The American Civil Liberties Union opposes the Move to Amend as an assault on free speech. It is also an assault on every investor and 401(k) participant who owns stock. Who would invest in a corporation that cannot protect its business from a bureaucrat's decree or government takeover? For that matter, what corporate relocation manager would consider Cleveland Heights, with this hostility to business?