JACKSON: I know that everyone in here can identify with the family and victims. That all of us in our families, all of us including me, have someone who could have been there.

Jackson said the community must stay focused, and save questions about whether the police did enough for when the investigation is over.

Police Chief Michael McGrath urged families with missing persons to come forward, especially if they fit the profile of African American women between the ages of 21 and 60. And, he said police, government, clergy, and the public need to work together to stop this kind of tragedy from happening again. 

McGRATH: Across this nation, there’s an attitude out there that we have to adjust, and the only way we’re going to do that is to do it together.

REED: Is our system so broken that the health department could go out there and smell the stench… get a local owner try to clean it up. You have a sherrif’s office who goes. You have a police department. You have people that continue to tell you about this stench. Is the system so broken that we just say, callous, it’s just a stench…

And there’s another problem with the system, says Judy Martin, founder of Survivors/Victims of Tragedy. All the different police districts are so busy, she says, they can’t always coordinate with other departments to track missing persons.

MARTIN: We need a centralized missing persons department so that there are three or four, even five, detectives dedicated to working with families of missing persons.

Many on the show raised questions about of double standards. Did police pay enough attention to this community and the issues on this street? Caller Elizabeth from Lakewood wondered if the response would be different in the suburbs.

ELIZABETH: What would happen if three women went missing from the community that I live in of Lakewood or a near suburb like Westlake or Rocky River? And, I was just astounded because this would never happen. This wouldn’t have happened this way if it was another community.

West Side resident Mike thinks it’s more about what’s expected in an area.

MIKE: People shouldn’t make such a race and class issue out of it, which I believe is a misconception. I think it’s more a high crime vs low crime areas. When they talk, if it happens in Westlake, well of course it’ll be more news in Westlake because there’s not as much crime.

TOBIN: This is not a horrible area.

That’s Plain Dealer metro editor Mike Tobin, who says there’s a misconception about the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood where Sowell lived.

TOBIN: This is not the poorest area in Cleveland. It’s working class, but it has homes, it has people, it has families. This home has been in the Sowell family for decades.

And there were businesses in the area, including the now-famous Ray’s Sausage, which many people assumed was the source of those horrible smells. Councilman Reed says after the news came out about Sowell, he went to apologize.

REED: Before I could get another word out, he knew exactly what I was apologizing for. Because he knows for two years, I’ve been on his back to clean up this stench. If you go out there now, there’s a hole in the sidewalk that’s been there for two years. And he said, councilman, I’ve spent over $10,000 on new sewers, new pipes, bleach, to get this out. And it wasn’t him.

Now, that we know the truth about what happened on Imperial Ave in Cleveland, Tobin thinks this story says a lot about our communities. 

TOBIN:  To just look at it as a police response issue narrows it far too much. This is about the breakdown of families. This is about the breakdown of services. This is about the relationship between the police and the community.

Council President Martin Sweeney told assembled Third Ward residents that they should not feel singled out that the murders happened in their area.

MARTIN SWEENEY: “This is so senseless; it is disturbing. This could have happened on any street in the City of Cleveland, and we are all standing with you as a council, as a community. And we have to talk about right now… the healing, the mourning.”

Other members spoke, but then as they tried to take questions from reporters, the group was shouted at by angry residents, who accused the city of ignoring the victims because of their backgrounds. As councilman Kenneth Johnson tried speaking, another resident began demanding to know why Mayor Frank Jackson was not at the scene.

BYSTANDER: “It’s a concern in the community, and I understand that he don’t do it, but at this time - it’s not about politics, it’s about making your presence, to let the people of this city know that you can care.”

Sweeney and Johnson answered just a few of the protests before leaving the podium - and a neighborhood that is growing increasingly angry over the deaths of 11 women.

At a press conference this morning, more than three dozen Cleveland clergy - members of the Mount pleasant Ministerial Alliance - consoled families of victims and neighborhood residents traumatized by the events of the last week. 

The group called for called for an independent investigation into procedural aspects of the case, and urged families of missing women to supply police with their DNA - for testing.

Rodney Maiden, Senior Pastor of Providence Baptist Church, said the community is determined nor to let murder and other crimes to define it. 

REVEREND RODNEY MAIDEN “And this is no time for us or you to point fingers or blame at anyone other than the one who committed this vicious act, and he needs our prayers as well. (Amens follow.....)”

Reverend Eugene Ward is the Auxiliary Bishop of the Greater Peace Church of Deliverance, praised the city and the police department, but called on congregations to stay vigilant. 

REVEREND EUGENE WARD “There’s a demon in this community. And we who are in the faith-based community and those who sit in the pews must do everything that we can to fight the demons that continue to plague our community.”

The Alliance has planned a Sunday evening prayer vigil (6:00pm) - to be hosted by the Mount Olive Baptist Church.

Rick Jackson, 90.3.

ED TOMBA: In 24 years in law enforcement, we’ve never seen anything like it.

Officials have now identified one of the 11 victims --- 53-year-old Tonia Carmichael, who has been missing for about a year.  After police informed the Carmichael family, Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller provided some of the first forensic details of her murder and that of the others.

FRANK MILLER: They are all African American women. 7 died of ligature strangulation. 1 - Manual strangulation. 2- undetermined / 1- ongoing autopsy. A case of strangulation or homicidal violence.

Miller says some of these crimes may date back as far as 2005, the year when Anthony Sowell returned to his home neighborhood after serving a 15-year sentence for rape. Sowell’s neighbors stood across the street from his white duplex, watching TV crews from around the world setting up cameras and satellite dishes.  Darnissa Wiley says, until recent weeks, there was no reason to suspect what was going on in the house.

DARNISSA WILEY: He had a block party in the summertime. He barbequed for the whole neighborhood. People were going in his house, in his backyard, and no one knew that kind of behavior was going on.

Despite the fact that the a strong stench hung in the air, she never tied it to the house or suspected it was decomposing bodies. Some neighbors blamed it on a nearby sausage factory. Charles Sharp says he figured it was a dead dog that had been hit by a car.  He went downtown to City Hall to complain, but says nothing ever came from it.

CHARLES SHARP: When you smell that odor in the neighborhood and you don’t get nobody’s attention on it, what can you do?

That report to authorities is one of several that remain unexplained. Did officials investigate? When? If not, why not?  Some residents have complained that they had no idea that Sowell was a registered sexual predator and that police were slow to investigate reports of missing women in the neighborhood. That’s understandable, according to Dr. David Licate who directs the Criminal Justice Program at the University of Akron, He says the sheer number of registered predators living in the mainstream population is hard to keep tabs on.

DAVID LICATE: It takes a lot of human resources to do that. Obviously today budgets are not in the favor of law enforcement or any other business enterprise in terms of hiring.

The sheriff’s office handled Sowell’s probation check-ups but whether the Cleveland police were aware that he was a convicted sex offender or when they knew is still unclear.  Ada Averyhart, who lives a couple of blocks from the crime scene says city officials bear part of the blame for being slow to react to the recent events in her neighborhood, but she also worries about a culture of silence that pervades these streets.

ADA AVERYHART: Once upon a time this was a viable neighborhood. Everybody got along. But now, everybody’s going their own way. They just don’t talk anymore.  Whatever happens, happens.

Local councilman Zack Reed has organized a gathering of area ministers this morning at 10:00 for what’s billed as a community meeting to pray for healing and to seek justice.  Reed is also calling for public hearings to get answers to the many unanswered questions about this tragedy. 

The search continues, but Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath says he hopes there are no more victims.

McGRATH: Do I believe there’s more bodies? I don’t know at this time. What we’re going to do is search the property until we’re totally satisfied it’s totally clean.

Police have already charged Sowell with five counts of rape and aggravated murder. Sowell is a convicted rapist who served 15 years in prison for that crime. Now, many are already asking why it took police so long to find these victims. 

Some claimed the police and city housing inspectors didn’t follow-up on leads.

VOICE ONE: The inspectors need to come in and inspect every single solitary vacant house --- starting with this area, starting in this ward.  Hold them accountable. 

Others cast blame on community members who didn’t report the suspicious activities of Anthony Sowell, who is being held on suspicion that he kidnapped, raped and strangled the victims.

VOICE TWO: If we as black men was standing in the gap, like we’re supposed to be, this would have not happened.  There ain’t no where in the world that you’re going to get some vagrant…some bum…walk up and down your street and terrorize your community. 

Vigil organizer Judy Martin said there was plenty of blame to go around.

JUDY MARTIN: We need everybody’s eyes and ears.  Something like this is happening in plain sight.

After Martin lost her son to street violence 15 years ago, she started the organization Survivors/Victims of Tragedy.  She said one of the biggest frustrations for families is the difficulty of getting and giving information.  One solution, she suggested, would be to have a county-wide bureau that tracks missing people.

JUDY MARTIN: Because, as it is now, individual precincts handle missing persons cases.  If I was to get information today, who would I call?  And who will act on it?  You have to call all around to find out who has the case.  We need a centralized location.

Over the course of last night’s vigil, Shannon Mason watched as family members vented their anger over the disappearance of his mother, Michelle, from the neighborhood over a year ago.  Now, pending the coroner’s report, maybe there will be some answers.  Some closure.  He was having a hard time processing it all.

SHANNON MASON: I’m mad about it…and then, I’m deeply troubled about it.  I just want to know what happened to my mother --- that’s all I know for sure.

In our little corner of the world, John Kenley is best known for creating a legendary chain of summer theaters that brought big shows and Hollywood stars to small towns. The Kenley players ruled the midwest between 1957 and 1995, giving many a fledgling actor valuable experience from a master of the craft.

Back in February of 2007, Dee Perry caught up with the irrepressible impresario by phone from his home in Florida and he shared some of his career highlights, including a memorable stint with Al Jolson in the show Artists and Models in 1926.

FRANK JACKSON:
“It is what it is, and it’s pretty good; it’s a balanced budget. It’s no layoffs. Its no reductions in service. It is what it is, is a future for Cleveland. It is what it is - is all these things that make Cleveland great.”

Patmon, the former city councilman, shot back though - saying Cleveland has not seen the resurgence of other cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh—and he blamed poor leadership - and political gamesmanship.

BILL PATMON:
“So this is no game. It is the business of people’s lives. Yes, we are some imperfect people, working in an imperfect world, looking for perfect solutions. I believe the founders of this country did the same thing and that’s what I profess to do as a politician.”

The two candidates did agree on one ingredient necessary for Cleveland’s resurgence - establishing a “green” economy that can provide environmental and economic sustainability.

DAVE SHOUP:  They’re called replacement “gilts” --- a gilt would be a female that’s never had a litter of pigs. 

SOUND: door opens to sounds of pigs UP & UNDER

The dozens of gilts in this barn are just a portion of the 3000 pigs that make up the Shoup family swine operation that covers almost 23 hundred acres in Wayne, Ashland and Stark counties.  Most of the animals here are grouped in pens of 12 and, in a few days, Dave Shoup’s crew will walk a male pig through the barn to try to get the ladies aroused.

DAVE SHOUP: We’re going to take the boar through, and try to detect heat and see who’s receptive that day.  And the ones that we find, we’ll move down here and inseminate them.

What happens to female pigs once they are inseminated is at the core of this major battle between the farm industry and animal welfare advocates.  Most of the Shoup herd will spend their pregnancies roaming in indoor pens with other pigs, but some of them will be put into individualized stalls made from steel pipe that have just enough room for a 300 pound pig to move side to side a bit & back and forth a few feet.  The floor is slatted so that animal waste can fall through.  Dave Shoup says the enclosures protect pregnant females.  But, these so-called “gestation crates” have been condemned by the Humane Society of the United States. 

DAVE SHOUP:  HSUS would probably tell you that this animal is so tightly confined for his entire life and can’t do many things that he normally would do.  But, these animals in these stalls have fresh feed, fresh water, and their waste materials are removed through the concrete slats.  So, they have everything that they need. 

A sow at Shoup’s operation can spend as much as thirty days in the gestation crate; at many other farms though, the sows are confined for as much as three and a half months.  A major lobbying effort by the Humane Society convinced California voters, last November, to ban gestation crates and other tight livestock enclosures.  The group met with Ohio agribusiness officials this past February trying to persuade state farmers to support similar treatment measures here.  Instead, the farmers set out to head-off any Humane Society effort in Ohio.

The farmers fear that would force them to spend millions retrofitting their operations.  They got lawmakers to craft the ballot measure known as Issue 2 --- a constitutional amendment that would create an Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board.  This 13-member committee would regulate the treatment of farm animals… As we drive to another livestock barn, Dave Shoup says he’s not afraid of state scrutiny.

DAVE SHOUP: We know that we’d much rather have it in their hands than some outside organization come in here and just raise the emotions of people who really don’t know what goes on out here.

The Washington-based Humane Society argues that the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board would be stacked with members favorable to agribusiness who would prevent meaningful animal treatment reform.
The Shoup family has farmed this country for more than a century.  The operation has tripled in size over the past decade or so.  Shoup, who is also a veterinarian, suspects some people might consider him a factory farmer.

DAVE SHOUP:  People use “factory farm” as a negative connotation to disrespect our industry, because they want the general public to think that, all you care about is making money.  You don’t care about the animals, you don’t care about the environment, your goal is to put pigs through what ever is needed, in order to kick out more pigs on the other side.  Well, farms don’t survive doing that. If you’re mean to them, if you’re crowding them, then they don’t eat, they don’t come in heat, they don’t breed, they don’t have good litters. 

SOUND: Soft squeal of piglets and the snorts of their mothers

As we step into a birthing barn, it’s apparent that the Shoups have animal husbandry down to a science.  There are rows of what’s known as “farrowing stalls”, where mothers lie on their sides, as suckling newborns get their nutrition under the warmth of a heat lamp.

DAVE SHOUP: Each sow gives birth to anywhere from 11-13 pigs.  We actually induce these sows to farrow at a certain time --- just like you can induce a woman to have a child the next day, we can induce these one afternoon to farrow the next afternoon. 

SOUND: truck door slams…engine starts…

DCB: Most every yard along these rural roads has a “Vote for Issue 2” sign on it. Shoup says that farmers, by their very nature, are independents who don’t like being told what to do.

DAVE SHOUP:  Years ago, the family farm was just kind of left alone; there weren’t many regulations for it.  As long as the product you produced was wholesome, nobody seemed to care.  Now, we’ve got people looking over our shoulders all the time. 

Still, Dave Shoup figures that an Ohio-based animal care standards board would weed out a few bad apples in the state and keep everybody honest.  But, what isn’t clear is: if you build it into the constitution, will there be enough legislative oversight to keep the Standards Board honest? 

Klegg: I mean we did physical work so we’re trying to find something that’s easier on our bodies. We’re getting older now, we’ve worked most…well I’ve worked most of my life in the factory and I’m real excited about getting out of the factory and doing something different.

…which is why they spent much of yesterday at an education and community expo in Twinsburg. The pair was laid off from General Electric’s Ravenna plant in May, and both are considering going back to school in a health-care related field, especially since the government will foot the bill with federal stimulus funds.

Wally Hoffer and Frank Tinus are handing out information on Stark State College. They’re regulars at these events.

Hoffer: Certainly individuals are out there understanding that education is a way to more opportunity and maybe a better lifestyle in the future.

And George Bentfeld, District Coordinator for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services - which sponsored the event - says now is the time to gear up for a new career.

Bentfeld: We want to make sure they have all the training education opportunities they can before we turn the corner on this slight down turn and full production starts up because once production starts up it’s kind of too late you wanna get in there and you wanna work.

Healthcare was one of four industries heavily emphasized at the resource expo, alongside information technology, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing jobs, all areas where local jobs are expected to grow in the next few years.

GARY THOMPSON: We ask where they live.  And when they give their address, it turns out they’re in the Township.  So, we say, “We’d love to help you, but you’re not in our jurisdiction.”

For the better part of two centuries, Olmsted Falls and Olmsted Township have been separate communities --- on paper.  But, they have more in common than just their names.  They already share the same school system, the same churches, the same zip code.  And in about three weeks, area residents will vote on the idea of taking that one step further --- the creation of a commission to study the idea of merging. For Township native Jeanine Kress, there are all sorts of reasons to merge.

JEANINE KRESS: Economies of scale would be one.  But, there are other issues, including clout in Washington and Columbus.  Being a bigger city, that could be a relevant issue. 

As it is, Olmsted Township residents have watched neighboring cities nibble away at them for years.  For instance, Berea was able to annex land along a major industrial corridor because the city offered landowners improved services and waterlines that the Township wasn’t able to provide.  Local historian Bruce Banks says that when they lost that land, they also lost revenue.

BRUCE BANKS: The tax base keeps shrinking, because you have less real estate tax, so it gets more and more challenging, the smaller you get. 

But, Banks says not everyone in Olmsted Township …population 10,500… is so sure that banding together with the Falls…population 8,000… will be to their benefit. 

BRUCE BANKS: Some of the people in the Township feel that their control of their destiny will be diluted if we become part of something bigger.

This isn’t the first time a merger between the Township and Olmsted Falls has been proposed.  Several previous attempts have failed to win over the public but more may be willing to at least consider the idea this time.  Longtime Township trustee Karen Straka has opposed past merger efforts, but says she won’t stand in the way of residents who would like to see the issue studied.

KAREN STRAKA: I support the people’s right to vote on the issue, and I’ll help them in anyway I can, but I don’t feel there’s an overall financial benefit for a merger to take place.

Olmsted Falls mayor Bob Blomquist is more upbeat about the prospects.  By conducting a merger study, he thinks that these two small communities could be trail blazers that others would emulate.

ROBERT BLOMQUIST: It would be the perfect case study.  As the region looks to consolidation, as it looks to combinations of different ways to deliver government services, we could answer a lot of broader questions, and perhaps demonstrate a little leadership to the rest of the county and to the region.

Voters from the Falls and the Township will decide November 3rd whether or not they want to be part of such a case study. 

Then, last week and without warning, the company abruptly shut down.

ROTHACKER: I knew things were tough for the company. I didn’t know they were that tough.

Greg Rothacker was an InkStop store manager for nearly two years. He got a call late last Thursday that he wouldn’t be going to work the next day. And…he wouldn’t be getting the more than $2000 in back pay he earned the past few weeks.

Now, he and fellow-manager Brian Wolf stand outside Rothacker’s former store in Strongsville.

There’s no note to customers on the door telling them of the closure: only a few stickers from UPS drivers who were, understandably, unable to deliver shipments. For Rothacker, it’s kind of gallows humor.

ROTHACKER: As you can see, over on the door, our InkStop brand ink is 75% off. Don’t know how you’re going to take advantage of that deal, but good luck to you if you can.

Rothacker says the first warning sign that things weren’t totally rosy at InkStop was a dwindling supply of ink. There hadn’t been a shipment since June.

ROTHACKER: Or as Brian put it, “Ink Stopped.”

Still, he believed the company’s assurances that everything was OK.

Now, locked out and laid off, Rothacker and Wolf spend their days applying for jobs online.

For Wolf, even the 40 mile trek to see his mother gives him pause. 

WOLF: I’m forty years old. The last thing I want to do is ask my mom for gas money. (let bite breathe for a second)

Rothacker was about to become a homeowner.

ROTHACKER: The doors closed at InkStop on Friday, Saturday we got a call from a realtor saying the bank finally approved our offer, and it was such a heartbreaker for my wife and I.

He has five days to find a job or the deal is off.

That’s why these two Ohioans don’t want to hear that the recession is finished.

WOLF: They say the recession’s ending, the recession’s over, we’re out of the woods, we’re out of the dark, you can hear the munchkins singing now, and the answer is wrong! If you look around, you see a lot more of this happening. 

Indeed. So far this year, there’ve been 170 mass layoffs in Ohio. 

Matthew: Right when you come home, can we practice football in our yard? 

They talk about their homework.

David: Well, I did do 20 minutes of reading, and I didn’t have any math.

And they say a prayer together.

Caitlin: Amen. Good night dad, I love you.

The only thing that makes tuck-in at the Gentry household different is that Christopher Gentry is talking to his kids through the phone. He commutes long distance, 350 miles one-way, for a job in the capitol. 

Chris: My job in D.C. has kept us living here, it’s supported her business. So it’s something I’m very blessed and thankful for, the downside is that it’s in Washington D.C.

Gentry took an I.T. job at the Veteran’s Benefits Administration in February, two weeks after he was laid off from the Cleveland Clinic. He spends the week in D.C., and flies home for the weekend.

I caught up with Chris Gentry’s when he was home in Sagamore Hills for the weekend. A plastic bag on the kitchen counter holds all the papers and quizzes the kids want their dad to see. During the week they keep in touch through text messages, e-mails, and digital photos. Tammy Gentry says that although the past few months have been pretty tough, overall they feel lucky. 

Tammy: I’m so thankful that he has the job he does and that he’s employed and that we have the means to do things, our lifestyle has not changed, so to speak. It’s become challenging to keep the family together like we want it to be. You have to set your expectations to reality.

And the Gentry’s aren’t the only ones. Chris’ roommate in D.C. also commutes from Hudson, Ohio. Another acquaintance, Russell Montgomery, commutes to Chicago every week. He stuck with the same company, but gets paid more at his Chicago job. He says it’s worth getting up at 4 a.m. every Monday for the long commute, and he doesn’t mind putting in extra hours at work so he can spend his weekends with his family in Sagamore Hills.

Russ: It’s usually pretty long days during the week because I don’t have anything else to do while I’m here other than go back to the hotel.

Alan Pisarski is a transportation consultant and the author of a series of books called “Commuting in America.” He says that while such extreme commutes are still the exception, it is becoming more common. And the recession is certainly, at least in part, to blame.

Pisarski: Because the times are tough and you’ve maybe had to wait 6 or 10 weeks to find a job you may just be willing to take that job that’s that long commute away.

According to the Census Bureau, more than 3 million Americans commute over 50 miles for their jobs. For Chris Gentry, his long distance commute will probably continue at least until next February, when his contract expires. His wife, Tammy says it’s the little things that make her miss her husband the most. Like getting into a little fender bender, or that time she found a hairy intruder in her garage.

Tammy: I come downstairs and I open the garage door and there’s a big raccoon in our garbage can and I’m like where’s my husband when I need him? Because, it’s just one of those, you know, husband moments. 

Tammy says she keeps her garage door shut now, at least until the weekend when her husband comes home.

Business is booming at the Gypsy Beans coffee shop at 65th and Detroit, on Cleveland’s west side.  Through the window you can see workers planting trees, installing benches and laying colorful paver stones. The city has sunk three and a half million dollars into this spruce-up job, which has been timed to coincide with the re-opening of the historic Capitol movie theater, across the street.

NIKI GILOTTA:  I think the Capitol being here is huge.  I know it’s going to be huge for my business. 

Niki Gilotta opened Gypsy Beans four years ago when she learned of plans to redevelop this old working-class neighborhood into what’s been christened the Gordon Square Arts District.  The new movie house is the latest piece to the ever-expanding district, which includes the several stages that are part of Cleveland Public Theater and the Near West Community Theater.  The area also includes a number of art galleries, shops and restaurants. Niki Gilotta says her coffee shop has been reaping the benefits.

NIKI GILOTTA:  I think it’s this buzz of the Capitol getting opened, CPT, Near West --- everything’s coming here, so people want to be here.  It’s just been difficult to get here because of the construction (laughs).

John Gest clutches a cup of coffee as he eyes the workers reshaping his neighborhood.  An Admissions officer across town at Case Western Reserve University, Gest moved here last year.

JOHN GEST: I was looking to move into more of an urban environment.  A place where you could walk to shops, walk to cafes.  It could be a place where, on the weekend, I could drop my car off and not have to get in it again until Monday.

He’s also looking forward to being able to walk to his new neighborhood movie theater.  So, is Linda Eisenstein.

LINDA EISENSTEIN: I can’t wait.

She and her husband Bob Schnellbacher have found a two-seat table in the crowded café where they recall the far different neighborhood they moved to twenty years ago.

BOB SCHNELLBACHER:  It had reached its nadir, I think.

Linda nods.

LINDA EISENSTEIN:  We had to shoo away the prostitutes from the cars nearby.  And, for awhile, it was just very dark.

She credits the local community development group for the transformation. 

LINDA EISENSTEIN:  You cannot underestimate how powerful the Detroit-Shoreway Community Organization has been.  Buying up properties.  We had dodgy apartment buildings that they eventually took over, cleaned up.  Now, there’s a lot of new blood with the townhouses and condos.

But, it isn’t all gentrification.  There’s a mix of the new and the old, with upscale lofts being added to a stock of affordable, older homes.  A sly smile slips across Bob Schnellbacher’s face as he considers the long path his neighborhood has taken over the past couple of decades.

BOB SCHNELLBACHER:  Now, we have a problem.  We have to keep the yuppies out.

VALERIE McCALL:  We had the weight of everybody --- the governor was involved, every council member, the General Assembly, our senators, our congress people, and pretty much said, “nothing beats a failure like a try.  And if we don’t try, we’ll never know.”

One of the judges was Darl Schaaff, who headed the site selection committee that visited the three finalist cities, this summer. 

DARL SCHAAFF: I came there without any pre-conceived notion, and I said, “You know, Boston’s a bidder and Washington’s a bidder, and those are big cities that I’ve been to, and Cleveland’s going to really have to live up to some big shoes.” And, I was blown away.  I thought it was the most amazing place.  I loved it.

Dan Williams of Positively Cleveland --- the local convention and visitor’s bureau --- says the Gay Games dwarfs any other sporting event the city has hosted.  Williams estimates attendance will be in excess of 100,000 people. 

DAN WILLIAMS: You know, you’re going to have people here, they’re going to be in our hotels, our restaurants, and this is going to extend down to Akron, go out to all the suburbs.  The people are going to be in our museums --- they’re going to be everywhere

The Cleveland Synergy Foundation, which organized the city’s bid, will now focus on ironing out the dozens of details involved in coordinating sporting venues from Cleveland to Akron for 34 events that will take place over a two week period in the summer of 2014.