Nestor Davidson was quoted in a Cleveland.com article that explores the idea of the Cleveland metropolitan area separating from the rest of Ohio.
“I do think we are seeing a rise in state local conflicts in a number of policies and an increasing willingness of state legislatures to exercise whatever power they have to rein cities in,” said Fordham University law Professor Nestor Davidson, who focuses on local government. “I think it’s an interesting thought experiment.”
The National League of Cities wrote about the issue of preemption, when a state fights cities’ rights to make their own laws.
“When decision-making is divorced from the core wants and needs of community members, it creates a perilous environment,” the league writes in a February report. “Recent preemption has pitted rural- and suburban-dominated state legislatures against cities with large populations of low wage earners and ethnic minorities.”
Davidson would rather see cities and states work together, rather than secede.
