The Ohio Citizen Action Howard M. Metzenbaum Award

The
Ohio Citizen Action
Howard M. Metzenbaum
Award
September 14, 2008
Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio Citizen Action
Ohio Citizen Action, the state’s largest
environmental organization, has practiced
door-to-door democracy across Ohio since
1975. The organization is known for its
pioneering roles in passing toxic chemical
right-to-know laws and in developing “good
neighbor campaigns,” which use the power
of community organizing to convince major
industries to prevent pollution at their
facilities. Ohio Citizen Action’s Money in
Politics project has been, since 1994, the
authoritative source for data and analysis of
the role of big money in Ohio politics. For
more information, visit www.ohiocitizen.org.
Sandy Buchanan joined the staff of Ohio
Citizen Action as a student intern in 1977.
She served as Cleveland area director and
then as director of the organization’s
environmental and legislative programs,
before becoming executive director in 1993.
She has represented the organization in
national environmental campaigns and the
news media, and serves on the board of the
Environmental Working Group. Sandy and
her husband, Bill Whitney, live in the West
Park neighborhood of Cleveland with their
two sons.
OHIO
CITIZEN
ACTION
Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque
Founded in 1882, The Cleveland Institute of
Art is an independent college of art and
design committed to leadership and vision in
all forms of visual arts education. The
Institute makes enduring contributions to
education and extends its programs to the
public through gallery exhibits, lectures, a
continuing education program and The
Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, an
art and independent film program. The
Cinematheque presents movies in the 616seat, 35mm and SR stereo-equipped Russell B.
Aitken Auditorium.
Michael Cole has served as the Senior Vice
President for Institutional Advancement at
The Cleveland Institute of Art since 2002,
overseeing the Institute’s fundraising and
alumni affairs functions. He was previously a
senior executive in the Private Client group at
National City Bank and Director of
Endowments and Foundations at the Jewish
Community Federation of Cleveland, and has
served on many community boards. Mike is
married to Bonnie Cole and has two adult
children.
History of the Ohio Citizen Action
Howard M. Metzenbaum Award
When Howard M. Metzenbaum retired from
the U.S. Senate in 1994, Ohio Citizen Action
decided to honor him by presenting an
award in his name. Throughout his years of
service in the Senate, Senator Metzenbaum’s
name was synonymous with principled
tenacity and fighting for what’s right.
Federation of America, where he continued
his unparalleled service, helping stop the
proposed takeover of Blue Cross by Columbia
HCA, protecting meat inspection standards,
and fighting for consumer protections in the
telecommunications industry.
During his eighteen years of service in the
U.S. Senate, Sen. Metzenbaum never stopped
being outraged at injustice and never
stopped fighting for the rights of working
people and consumers.
Senator Metzenbaum was a long-time
partner and ally of Ohio Citizen Action. He
participated in the founding conference of
the organization and was a champion of the
organization’s campaigns for fair utility rates,
toxic chemical right to know laws, and
advance notice of plant closings.
Senator Metzenbaum passed milestone
consumer protection laws, including plant
closing legislation, food labeling, and orphan
drug legislation, and saved taxpayers billions
of dollars. After he retired from the Senate, he
served as Chairman of the Consumer
Senator Metzenbaum died in March 2008 at
the age of 90. He is survived by his wife
Shirley, his four daughters, Barbara, Susan,
Shelley, and Amy, and their families.
Thank you for working
for peace and justice!
engaging minds,
developing hearts
St. Edward High School
St. Edward High School proudly congratulates
Phil Donahue, class of 1953, on receiving the
2008 Howard Metzenbaum Ohio Citizen Action
Award. In the Holy Cross tradition, you have
lived your life with the competence to see and
the courage to act.
From your friends at
St. Colman Parish
2027 West 65 Street
Cleveland, OH 44102
(216) 651-0550
Philip J. Donahue
St. Edward High School
Class of 1953
St. Edward High School
13500 DETROIT AVENUE :: LAKEWOOD, OHIO :: 44107 :: WWW.SEHS.NET
Scleroderma and The Scleroderma Foundation
Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease (a condition in which the
body’s immune system attacks its own tissues) which involves
the overproduction of collagen. This chronic connective tissue
disease visibly manifests itself through hardening of the skin.
However, it also attacks the internal organs, including the heart,
lungs, kidneys, and esophagus. The cause of this life threatening
disease is unknown, as is the cure.
The Scleroderma Foundation is the leading non-profit
supporter of scleroderma research in the United States,
allotting more than $1 million annually to find the cause of and
cure for scleroderma. The foundation facilitates health and
professional seminars, produces and distributes literature and
conducts publicity campaigns. To help support the 300,000 people living with scleroderma, the foundation
offers peer counseling, mutual support programs, and physician referrals. http://www.scleroderma.org
Local chapters and support groups are located around the country. There are eight support groups in the
state of Ohio. You can contact the Ohio Chapter several ways: 1-866-849-9030; Scleroderma Foundation,
Ohio Chapter, PO Box 846, Hilliard, OH 43026; or check us out at http://www.scleroderma.org/chapter/ohio/.
Please join us in raising awareness and dollars for research at our next fund raiser on Saturday, November
8, 2008, at the Quality Inn in Richfield, OH. Please visit this website www.kostandarasfundraiser.info for
additional information and ticket purchase, or contact Ohio Chapter Board Member, June Kostandaras, @
440-570-8111.
Together we can find a cure.
Phil Donahue
Phil Donahue and the DONAHUE show have
been honored with twenty Daytime Emmy
Awards, including nine for Outstanding Host
and a George Foster Peabody Broadcasting
Journalism Award. Phil Donahue used the
television talk show format he pioneered in
1967 to interview world leaders, celebrities,
newsmakers and people from all walks of life.
For over 29 years, DONAHUE examined
human behavior, focused national debates on
political and social issues and has provided a
democratic forum for presidential candidates.
The format he introduced on November 6,
1967, as The Phil Donahue Show on WLWDTV in Dayton, Ohio, launched the first
audience participation television talk show
and changed the face of American daytime
television. For his outstanding contribution to television and American culture, Phil was
inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame on November 20, 1993.
As host of DONAHUE, he presided over nearly 7,000 one-hour daily shows, many on-location
broadcasts and several historic broadcasts from Russia.
Phil hosted a talk show on MSNBC in 2002. Although it was MSNBC’s highest rated show at
the time, the show was cancelled in 2003. An MSNBC study later obtained by AllYourTV.com
commented that Donahue presented a “difficult public face for NBC in a time of war......He
seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the
administration’s motives.”
After meeting wounded Iraq War veteran Tomas Young at Walter Reed Army Medical Center,
Phil teamed up with documentary film-maker Ellen Spiro to make Body of War. The film has
received many accolades, and was named Best Documentary of 2007 by the National Board of
Review.
Phil was born in St. Colman’s parish in Cleveland’s Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood, and then
moved to West Park, where he attended Our Lady of Angels Elementary School. He was a
member of the first graduating class of St. Edward High School in Lakewood in 1953, and
graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1957. He began his broadcasting career as a
production assistant at Cleveland’s NBC affiliate.
Phil Donahue and his wife, Marlo Thomas, live in Westport, Connecticut, and have five adult
children.
Mohandas Gandhi said,
“An eye for an eye will
make the whole world
blind."
Thank you Phil Donahue
for helping to open our
eyes to the reality of war.
The Nazelli Family
Chagrin Falls Ohio
Don C. Iler & Nancy C. Iler
216.696.5700
Congratulations
to Phil Donahue
on winning the
Ohio Citizen Action
Howard M. Metzenbaum Award
614 W. Superior Avenue Suite 1600 Cleveland, OH 44113
TEL: 216.696.9330 • 800.747.9330
Susan Hyatt
Susan Hyatt and her husband Joel co-founded Hyatt Legal Services in Cleveland in 1977. They
helped to revolutionize the legal services’ delivery system by making legal care affordable
and accessible to middle and lower-income families nationwide. Hyatt Legal Services has
served more people than any other law firm in the country. Previously, Susan was a special
education teacher in the Cincinnati public school system.
Susan’s civic and philanthropic activities include her membership on the boards of the Silicon
Valley Community Foundation, NARAL Pro-Choice America in Washington, D.C. and the
Children’s Health Council in Palo Alto. She is the chair of the public interest committee of the
Peninsula for Jewish Family and Children’s Services in Silicon Valley. She has also served on
the boards of the Child Welfare League of America in Washington, D.C., Womenspace, AntiDefamation League of B’nai B’rith, the Jewish Community Federation, and Center for
Prevention of Domestic Violence, and the advisory board of Case Western Reserve University
School of Law. Susan received the Deborah Award from the American Jewish Congress, and
the President’s Award from Womenspace.
Susan is one of Howard and Shirley Metzenbaum’s four daughters, and grew up in Shaker
Heights. She and Joel now live in Atherton, California with their two sons.
sir speedy
www.pdamerica.org
www.pdaohio.org
Join the “Healthcare Not Warfare” Campaign
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military
defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
MLK, Jr.
Progressive Democrats of America – grassroots activists working in
the streets and in the halls of Congress to push the progressive voice.
Working in all Congressional Districts through PDA chapters across
the country, restoring representative government – democracy – and
our Constitution.
Join us as we work on these 5 Core Issues and others through Issue
Organizing Teams, by supporting Candidates who support these
positions, and by lobbying Congress to influence their positions.
Out of Iraq
Healthcare for All
Clean Elections
Economic Justice
Stop Global Warming
For info about how to get involved or to start a PDA Chapter,
Contact [email protected], 330-715-2066.
Past Recipients
Alonzo Spencer
Save Our County, East Liverpool
In 1995, Alonzo Spencer was the first
recipient of the Metzenbaum Award for his
tireless and selfless leadership in the fight to
protect the health and safety of all Ohioans.
For the last 30 years, Spencer has led the
battle in opposition to the WTI incinerator in
East Liverpool, Ohio. Spencer is the founder
and president of Save Our County, Inc. and a
retired steelworker. He chairs the board of
the Center for Health, Environment and
Justice.
Lisa Crawford
FRESH, Fernald
Lisa Crawford founded Fernald Residents for
Environmental Safety and Health (F.R.E.S.H.),
a non-profit organization whose grassroots
efforts resulted in the shut-down and
subsequent $4.4 billion clean-up of the
former Fernald nuclear weapons facility.
Mother, wife, and full-time volunteer
coordinator at the Pauline Warfield Lewis
Center, Lisa served as president of F.R.E.S.H.
since 1985. Lisa's dedication brought
worldwide attention to the issues and
concerns of living in the shadows of a
nuclear weapons facility.
Noreen Warnock
Allen County Citizens for the
Environment, Bluffton
Noreen Warnock received the award for her
work in dealing with the biggest polluter in
the state, BP America. In 1987, Warnock
helped organize Allen County Citizens for the
Environment. Her group prevented industry
from locating a hazardous waste incinerator
in Allen County, defeated a land-farm for
hazardous waste, organized Mother's Day
rallies to highlight environmental issues, and
forced the reduction of tens of thousands of
pounds of toxic emissions from the BP plant.
Galen ‘Butch’ Lemke
beryllium activist, Elmore
Butch Lemke worked at the Brush Wellman
beryllium facility in Elmore, Ohio for ten years
making parts for American weapons. In 1970,
he was diagnosed with chronic beryllium
disease, an incurable lung disease caused by
exposure to beryllium dust. Although
dependent on an oxygen tank for 15 years,
Butch crusaded to help other victims of the
disease and to expose conditions at the
Brush Wellman facility. He spurred a major
investigative series in the Toledo Blade, and
helped organize support networks for victims
of the disease. Brush Wellman ultimately
made major changes to their operations to
improve health and safety. Butch died in
1999, and the Metzenbaum award was
presented posthumously to his family.
Baldemar Velasquez
Farm Labor Organizing Committee,
Toledo
Baldemar Velasquez is the founder and
president of the Farm Labor Organizing
Committee (FLOC), a union of migrant farm
workers working for better quality of life.
Baldemar is an inspirational leader, minister,
and musician who has dedicated his life to
organizing. His union won unprecedented
representation agreements with the
Campbell’s Soup Company, and the Mt. Olive
Pickle Company. Headquartered in Toledo,
FLOC is a national and international leader
for workers rights and health and safety.
Dayton. She organized hundreds of
Art Minson
civil rights and union activist, Akron neighbors to protest the proposal, helped get
Art Minson was a community activist in
Akron, Ohio for more than half a century. He
received the Metzenbaum award in
recognition of his lifetime of leadership on
civil rights, with the United Rubber Workers
and the Coming Together project, as a
community activist with East Akron
Community House and National People's
Action, as a leader of the Millenium Fund for
Children, and as a leader of Ohio Citizen
Action's local and statewide toxic chemical
right-to-know campaigns. Art died in 2005 at
the age of 91.
Teresa Mills, Buckeye
Environmental Network, Columbus
Teresa Mills is one of the most important
environmental activists and relentless
fighters for environmental justice in Ohio. In
1994, Teresa turned from a housewife to an
activist as she led her neighborhood to
victory over the Columbus trash-burning
power plant. Since this victory, she has gone
on to become nationally-recognized as one of
the best and most reliable resources on toxic
pollution issues and organizing to win
against corporate polluters. Teresa is now the
director of the Buckeye Environmental
Network, which she and others formed to
offer guidance and technical assistance to
citizen groups facing toxic hazards.
Laura Rench, Citizens for the
Responsible Destruction of Chemical
Weapons, Dayton
As an organizer with The Citizens for the
Responsible Destruction of Chemical
Weapons, Laura Rench led a campaign which
prevented the US Army from shipping VX
hydrosylate, a byproduct of VX nerve gas, into
the Jefferson Township community of
35 government entities and community
groups to pass resolutions against the
proposal, and pressured the county to
withdraw a sewage treatment permit for
PermaFix. In October 2003, the Army
withdrew its proposal to ship the nerve gas
to Dayton.
Stuart Greenberg, Environmental
Health Watch, Cleveland
Stu has dedicated his life's work to making
his community and, by extension, the world a
better place. Over the last 21 years, he made
Environmental Health Watch a key
environmental advocate both locally and
nationally. Through his leadership,
Environmental Health Watch brought
millions of federal dollars to Cleveland to
begin the clean-up of the city's huge
environmental lead problem. Environmental
Health Watch is nationally known and
respected for its expertise on healthy homes
and childhood environmental health issues.
Debra Cochran
community activist, Pageville
When Debra Cochran, a resident of Pageville
in Meigs County, began hearing news reports
about DuPont's contamination of drinking
water with the Teflon chemical C8 in 2002,
she wondered whether her children's health
could be harmed by the chemical. Debra
used her experience as an educator to
research and prepare informational materials
about the dangers of C8, and began
attending and speaking at any public
meeting where the issue could be brought
up. She used a variety of tactics to bring the
issue into the open, including proposing a
petition to have DuPont removed from the
American Chemistry Council's "Responsible
Care" program.
Ohio Citizen Action
Board of Directors
Ellis Jacobs – President
Michael Jones – Vice President
Caroline Beidler – Secretary/Treasurer
Jennifer Cooper
Mary Johnson
Marie Kocoshis
Joe Korff
Laurie Perin
Laura Rench
Tom Trimble
Barbara Wood
Ohio Citizen Action
Education Fund
Board of Directors
Bruce French – President
Harold Madorsky – Secretary/Treasurer
Florence Beidler
Willa Bronston
David Raack
Thanks
to our generous supporters
Patron
Nurenberg, Paris, Heller &
McCarthy Co., LPA
Leader
Scleroderma Foundation
Garson & Associates
Advocate
Iler & Iler Co., L.P.A.
The Nazelli Family
Charlene Phelps - The College
Club of Cleveland
House of Cues
Progressive Democrats of
America – Ohio
Rockefeller Building Associates
Sir Speedy
St. Colman Church
St. Edward High School
Friend
David R. Ashenhurst & Jennifer L. Rinehart
The Bancroft Gallery
Rob Certner & Debby Rapoport
Communication Solutions
Constantino’s Market
Ted Esborn & Maureen Brett
Kathleen Fagan
Dawn Hanson and Olli Patrikainen
Ellis Jacobs
Mike Jones and Tressia Priestly-Jones
Sue Ellen Korach
Marcia W. Levine
Lucky’s Cafe
Morgan Linen Service, Inc.
Irina Popescu / NBS Toshiba
David and Laura Rench
State Representative Michael Skindell
Dan Reiber & Gaye Laurell
Daniel Skoch
Mickey Stern
William and Sharon Wiesler
Special thanks to Tom Stevick, who created the work of art which is being presented to Phil
Donahue this evening, and to Angela Oster and Jane Sandlin for their work on the printed
materials for this event.
We are grateful to John Ewing, Tim Harry, Amy Bartter, Maria Ecks, Tori Woods, and Debra Lee
Meese of the Cleveland Institute of Art for their partnership in organizing this event.
Event Committee
Becca Riker, Linda Park, Charlene Phelps, Kim Foreman, Liz Ilg, Stephen Gabor, Lynn
Scheerhorn, Shelley Gross, Christa Ebert, Anna Ilg.
We invite you to join us for a reception in the lobby after the program, and to visit the
Cleveland Institute of Art 2008 Faculty Exhibition in the adjacent Reinberger Galleries.