Beginning the evening of Thursday, September 18, Cuyahoga County Treasurer James Rokakis ’77 will teach a four-week mini-course titled Subprime Mortgage Meltdown: Analysis of Market and Regulatory Failure. Rokakis will examine such issues as the securitization of mortgages, lax oversight by financial market and banking regulators, and fraud, plus the devastating effects of the crisis on the Greater Cleveland housing market.

One of the country’s leading experts on the subprime mortgage crisis, Rokakis developed his interest in housing issues while at Oberlin. He wrote his senior thesis on the nation's housing courts whose judges have the power to fine negligent absentee landlords and force them to fix their properties. After graduating from Oberlin, he earned a law degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. At 22, he became the youngest person elected to Cleveland City Council, where he proposed a housing court for the city and pushed successfully to make it a reality.

Rokakis’ council leadership also helped redevelop Cleveland’s downtown. He was instrumental in key projects, such as the Gateway Sports Complex—home to the Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Cavaliers—and crafted the compromise that allowed construction of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Rokakis created Cleveland’s Gun Buy-Back Program, wrote the Chop-Shop Law that reduced car thefts, and authored the In-Door Clean Air Act. He was also responsible for the creation of Cleveland’s Housing Court. His efforts were widely recognized by his peers, and he was appointed chairman of the city’s pivotal finance committee, a role he filled for seven years.

In 1997, Rokakis took office as Cuyahoga County treasurer. In the decade that followed, he overhauled the entire office and greatly enhanced the county’s existing tax collection system by instituting a state of the art billing and collection process and making property tax payments easier for residents through web-based property information and payment options. Under his close supervision, the office was able to expand programs and services while saving taxpayers dollars by reducing staff levels.

In cases where he was unable to implement a program because it was beyond the scope provided by state law, Rokakis worked with legislators and leaders to develop and pass legislation that made them possible. His hands-on leadership inspired the creation of many innovative programs to improve neighborhoods, communities and the entire region.

Faced with Cuyahoga County’s mortgage foreclosure crisis, Rokakis helped to write and pass House Bill 294 that streamlines the foreclosure process for abandoned properties. He took a leadership role in creating the county’s Don’t Borrow Trouble mortgage foreclosure prevention program, which combats predatory lending and assists homeowners facing foreclosure. Additionally, he has developed a program that uses the investment portfolio to purchase bonds from cities to help them deal with the costs associated with abandoned properties resulting from foreclosures.

As one tool to address the issue of the decline of older suburbs and the resulting out-migration, Rokakis developed the Home Enhancement Loan Program (HELP). This program, the first of its kind in the country, offers home improvement loans at three percentage points less than the lowest rate a bank would charge. HELP has received the Community Impact Award from Dominion East Ohio/Inside Business magazine, an award from the Greater Cleveland chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, and won the 2003 Environmental Protection Agency Smart Growth Award. Rokakis, in partnership with the Cleveland Restoration Society, also introduced the Heritage Home Loan Program (HHLP), designed to preserve neighborhood character.

Rokakis was instrumental in the enactment of Ohio House Bill 293, which helps senior citizens remain in their homes by allowing them to defer all or part of their property taxes.  He is also leading a debate over payments in lieu of property taxes by non-profit organizations to help lessen school funding problems created by a shrinking tax base as well as exploring ways to encourage area students to remain in Greater Cleveland upon graduation.  Rokakis is spearheading the creation of a county land bank that would keep properties away from speculators and facilitate economic and neighborhood development.

Local and national organizations have recognized Rokakis for his efforts in strengthening neighborhoods and communities.  In 2007, he received the NeighborWorks America Local Government Service Award, the Leadership in Social Justice Award from Greater Cleveland Community Shares, and was named the County Leader of the Year by American City and County magazine.