Identifier,500006
Interviewee,William W. Taft
Date,7/11/14
Interviewer,"John Horan, II"
Abstract,"William W. Taft discusses his involvement with the creation of Cleveland State University (CSU). He was one of the Republican sponsors of the bill that established the university. Alongside prominent figures like James Nance, Taft became an original board member. He discusses his recollections of both the bill and the board, but he also mentions his political life. He brings up James Rhodes and discusses various programs and ideas that Rhodes had like CSU. Taft does not stop at describing the ideas, but he also talks about Rhodes's methods for getting business accomplished in the contentious sixties."
Tags,"Politics, state legislature, ballots, apportionment, Democrat, Republican, Carl Stokes, ""at-large ballot,"" James Rhodes, Cleveland State University (CSU), 1960s, bills, downtown, bonds, bond commission, board of trustees, Harold Enarson,""one-man, one vote,"" "
Special Notes,Sound Quality is a little fuzzy and at times the volume is low; also the phone rings at minute 17
0,"Introductions, born on September 15, 1932; a depression baby - but he was not aware of it at all"
1,"First memories go back to elementary school, the 4th grade he has clear memories of; talks about how he still remembers who he ran against for president of the fourth grade class; Went to University school then Amherst College then 2 years in the army"
2,He met his wife while he was in the army - this was in the 1950s - was stationed in Germany; heard about how the French were falling apart in Vietnam; he then came back to Cleveland in 1959
3,"He worked for a law firm downtown until he retired in 2000; calls the 1960s ""a really interesting time""talks about how each county had at least one senator - pre reapportionment"
4,"Cuyahoga county had 18 because of population, but it was still outvoted; Cuy county was always Democrat, but the Republicans decided to field several candidates and Taft was the only one to win; League of women voters called it the bedsheet ballot- 18 slots and the top 18 people got in"
5,He ran in 1960 and won - he was number 18 and number 19 was Carl Stokes; he served two terms but then went back and was a beneficiary of reapportionment
6,He states that when they districted the state he was able to go back into the senate in 1966; bookended his time at Cleveland State
7,Talks about the bedsheet ballot; Says that at one time Senators were elected by the state legislature an effort to make sure that those elected were Republican meant that each county had at least one representative
8,"The 18 representatives from Cuyahoga County would run as a group ""at large"" and people would choose the 18 names from a ballot of 36; mentions Jim Rhodes (governor) and how imaginative he was to redistrict the state"
9,The redistricting happened in 1966 and he did it before the lawsuits could get to him these changes were written into the constitiution of Ohio; talks about how it changed the political landscape; Representatives were representing the same number of people
10,"Beginnings of CSU, talks about the unrest of the 1960s and that education was on people's minds"
11,"Rhodes decided that everyone in ohio should be within 30 miles of a state university; Cleveland needed a university; a community college was put in place, but they needed a fullscale university; Rhodes just decided to create a university - no committees, no studies, just decided"
12,Fenn was a private school in Cleveland and it was being overshadowed and the government took it over; He sponsored the bill along with a few other guys and no real opposition
13,Talks about how he ran into the president of Ohio State University who thought they should have a branch of their university in Cleveland
14,"No one came out against it, but he thinks that other universities and institutions of higher learning may have had their reservations because it was another competitor; but once the bill got rolling it was smooth"
15,"Describes the bill creation process, restates that Rhodes just announced the creation of the university; "
16,"Talks more about Rhodes, calls him a colorful guy, describes what Rhodes wanted to do - constantly borrowing money to build; biggest failure was the bond commission"
17,Describes the bond commission and what it was and why people turned it down at the polls; Says that Rhodes was very aware of how important Cleveland was [phone rings]
18,Rhodes was an interesting governor to work under and Cleveland State was a beneficiary of Rhodes's enthusiasm; the business community also enthusiastic about CSU
19,A push that helped CSU was the push for community colleges; at the same time no one got up and fiercely advocated for a university in Cleveland explains why
20,Rhodes had vision for how universities would be necessary; Talks about his involvement on the bill and that he was going to be out of the legislature
21,Rhodes called him and asked him to be on the board and gave him one requirement do not let them take it out of downtown; Rhodes was worried about downtown and wanted CSU to be a staple
22,People were moving out of downtown and Rhodes wanted to stop that; Taft thinks that this decision to keep it downtown has been instramental to Cleveland's downtown
23,"The building of the university downtown was difficult, but convincing the board to keep it downtown was not difficult and once it was decided there was no argument"
24,"Talks about the bill being bipartisan and what theat meant; Republicans controlled the government and cuyahoga county was Democratic so they needed both - ""a representative group"""
25,"Tries to remember the other people who co-sponsored the bill; Says that it ""sounds like a big deal to have your name on the billÉbut it isn't"""
26,Biggest responsibility was to be an advocate for the bill; describes the benefit of having some people on a bill versus others
27,"Another responsibility was to answer questions in front of committee hearings if they called it up, but on the CSU bill the governor's office was heavily involved and provided help at committees"
28,"But he reassures that there wasn't really much trouble with this bill because people wanted the university; but he does reiterate that there may have been people in other universities that opposed it behind the scenes; The money was the issue, but he wasn't around for that fight that occurred later on"
29,"Says that there were committee hearings, but he doesn't have any recollection of those; begins to talk about his involvement on the board"
30,Says there were a lot of nuts and bolts that they had to put together; First president of CSU was Harold Enarson and he was a shot in the arm
31,Harold Enarson was a good start for the university; talks about other members of the board and lists them based off of a picture he had
32,Continues to list the original board of CSU and gives a few of their accolades - good representation of the business community
33,Enarson was credible from the point of view of an educator; Jim Nance was the president of the board and gives his background with a little more detail than the others
34,"Describes how the men were chosen - Rhodes called them and put them on the board, but before he started he had to have a large discussion with people in Cleveland"
35,Talks about Fenn college and how their mission was infused in the DNA of CSU at the very beginning as was the support from the business community; The Fenn Tower carried over and they needed to know what to do with it
36,"Thinks it was hard for some people at Fenn to give up some control, but through his involvment he did not notice any of that controversy other than the off-comment that it was a state take-over of a private institiution; Says that the whole idea was a major challenge"
37,He continues discussion some of the challenges of the university like creating the staff that was necessary to run the university; He was only involved in the board for a short while because he was reelected into the state legislature; the biggest challenge was how to create a university
38,Talks about the biggest successes that they have had; the university has grown tremendously and that is a big success - gives the credit to the vision of Jim Rhodes
39,"Downtown has changed and a part of that is CSU; says that back when he was younger people wouldnŐt think of living downtown, but people are lining up now- not all downt to CSU but it has played a role"
40,Says that there was a series of bond issues that Rhodes came up with to fund things around the state; talks about how bond issues require the admendment of the constitution
41,Continues to talk about the bond issues and what is required to issue a bond; Rhodes liked issuing bonds and all of his bond issues have gotten paid off - dispite critics at the time
42,Says that bond issues need a fixed amount and a source - can't sell them without an income; Bond issues are sometimes paid from parking fees but always from an allocated resource
43,"Bonds are beautiful because they have a set number, they have been paid for, and the people have voted - no need to make promises without paying for it; Rhodes like putting bond issues together "
44,"Talks about the bond commssion which would have given over expansive powers, but it was voted down; Doesn't remember the 100year club, but he did give an address there"
45,
46,"Due to reapportionment, he was able to get elected to a newly-created district and was elected and was reelected once and he enjoyed it"
47,"He had to leave the board because he was elected to the senate, and explains why he could not be on both the board and in the legislature; begins to talk about the lawsuits that were going against states because of apportionment"
48,"Continues to talk about the lawsuits and brings up gerrymandering; this was known as one-man, one-vote"
49,"Brings up counterpoints that people had against the supreme court, but they ultimately lost; wanted to make districts equal in size, which has created some funny looking districts"
50,"The courts did not care about county or city lines, it was all about population - invitiation to create funny looking districts; gerrymandering ended up being worse than it was before"
51,"He mentions that he represented 75,000-100,000 people and he had the same vote as someone who represented 10,000 people and that wasn't fair; Talks about how he was named man of the year in 1967 by Jaycee"
52,"Says that he was not the only person to be named, and says it was a nice thing; Talks about why he thinks he won; Remembers that he had to be in Columbus for a vote during the ceremony"
53,Continues to talk about how he missed the ceremony for a vote in Columbus - made his speech on the phone
54,"Getting appointed to the board was the most, lasting memory of CSU; "
55,"He thinks that CSU has lived up to what people were dreaming about it at the time it was created - grown substantially, full range educational institution, and it has been an anchor for downtown"
56,"The drive from downtown to the East side in the 60s was a desert and playhouse square, CSU, and the Clinic have made the drive enjoyable"
57,Thanks and END OF INTERVIEW
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