Iraqi officials discuss government with Bay counterparts
By Jeff Gallatin
Bay Village
Published June 7, 2006

Building any large project takes time and good information to build a quality product so a group of Iraqi government officials recently utilized an area expert to help build a strong foundation for their work.

Bay Village officials hosted a group of different Iraqi government leaders May 31 after the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program selected the Cuyahoga County city as one community Iraqi officials could learn something about government from. The group went to different areas around the United States to learn about how to build a democratic government in their nation.

“We were honored to be able to host the Iraqi officials and discuss different aspects of government with them,” said Mayor Debbie Sutherland. “It was one of the best days of my life in government.”

Iraqi government officials who recently visited Bay Village presented Sutherland with this gift of a small folding screen with intricate symbolic illustrations. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

In addition to three interpreters from the State Department, the Iraqi contingent was made up of two members of the Iraqi National Security Council, a Provincial Council member, a representative of the Iraq Civil Affairs Office, a mayor and and an Iraqi City District Council member. Members of the party asked not to be identified specifically by name or have their pictures taken for security reasons since there have been threats of reprisals against the Iraqis, officials said.

In addition to Bay Village, the officials also met with city of Cleveland officials while in Northeast Ohio. They previously had been to the Phoenix area and are scheduled to go to New York.

While in Bay, members of the Iraqi group discussed government with the Bay Village city officials for more than an hour before they then took a tour of the new Bay Village police station. The Iraqis presented Sutherland with a gift of a small folding screen with intricate symbolic illustrations of different scenes attached to each other.

“They said that the Iraqi government would be like the screen,” Sutherland said. “That as long as the different parts hold together it will stand; if they do not it will fall.”

Sutherland said she enjoyed talking with the Iraqis.

“It was a very good discussion of many things,” Sutherland said. “It’s something great to see how committed they are to building a strong democracy in their country. They were intelligent, interesting, savvy and very witty while talking to us.”

Bay Village Law Director Gary Ebert said it was extremely interesting for him.

“That’s definitely not your everyday government experience,” Ebert said. “It was interesting to see the different areas of government they’re interested in.”

Lt. Barbara Slepecky, the city police executive officer, said it was enlightening for her.

“They certainly have major security issues to deal with,” Slepecky said. The Bay officer answered questions about city criminal matters, her role as a bomb disposal expert and also led the tour of the new police station.

While at the police station, the Iraqi officials noted the fire trucks in the fire station a short distance away on Wolf Road and said there had to be close cooperation between the different safety departments.

“We have an average of four people exploding themselves a day,” one Iraqi said.

“That is just so tough to hear and listen to that that they have to deal with situations like that on a regular basis,” Sutherland said. “Thankfully, it’s not something we have to deal with that way. But it still helps to learn from them as well on matters like that because it’s a different world now.”

Other Bay officials at the meeting included Building Director Doug Milburn, Finance Director Steve Presley and Ward 4 City Councilman Mike Young.

During the earlier discussion, the Iraqi officials had asked how different decisions are reached and the type of input used to reach the decision. Sutherland explained how each situation is different and cited examples of top-down government decisions or grass-roots movements.

She said the building of the new police station is a good example of a top-down government decision noting that Bay Village was in violation of several state jail regulations with the former police station.

“We were in a position where we had to build the new jail to get into compliance with the regulations,” Sutherland said.

Building the new swimming pool recreational facilities was a good example of a decision with grassroots support.

“That was something a lot of people in the community wanted,” Sutherland said. “A lot of people got behind the project and got it done.”

One Iraqi official said he appreciated the opportunity to discuss government.

“We are building a democracy the best way we can,” he said. “There is support for it in our country. We just need to be able to build a strong one.’

Several of the Iraqi officials also asked if there were problems with having homeless people in Bay Village.

Sutherland explained that there was not in Bay Village, but noted that there are issues with it in larger cities. Two of the Iraqi officials differed with each other on the subject, with one saying there was a problem in his area with the homeless and the other saying there was not. The two verbally compromised, noting that the fighting in Iraq had caused many refugees.

Afterwards, Sutherland said she would enjoy other similar visits.

“If the chance came again we’d certainly try and take advantage of the opportunity,” she said.