George Zeller, the meticulous Cleveland economist who tracked the fortunes of Northeast Ohio鈥檚 poorest residents through industrial upheaval and painstaking recovery, died over the weekend after a fire at his West Side home. He was 71.
The blaze was an accidental electrical fire, Cleveland Division of Fire spokesman Lt. Michael Norman said.
For decades, Zeller was the go-to voice for journalists looking to illuminate Ohio鈥檚 economic picture as the state weathered recessions and job realignments. In recent years, he pored over unemployment, wage and sales tax data in reports emailed to news media and others, tracing the state鈥檚 path out of the Great Recession.
While many found cause to celebrate Ohio鈥檚 recovery after 2008, Zeller bemoaned its laggard pace. In one 2014 interview with ideastream, he decried the prospect of ending extended unemployment benefits as many workers remained jobless.
鈥淪o what did we do to help these workers?鈥� Zeller asked rhetorically. 鈥淣othing! We told them, 鈥楪o get a job, even though you can鈥檛 find one. We don鈥檛 have enough jobs for you, but go get a job.鈥� We blamed this on them, and it was not their fault.鈥�
If Zeller鈥檚 prognoses were often gloomy, it was because he focused intently on the Ohioans whose boats did not rise with the tide. Now, as the country climbs out of a cavernous pandemic recession, the economic stance of many in Washington, D.C., seems to have come around to his point of view.
鈥淚 think a lot of economists agree with George Zeller, that we should have done more, that we should have invested more [after 2008],鈥� said John Corlett, the director of the Center for Community Solutions, a local think tank. 鈥淏ecause we left too many people behind and it took too long for the economy to recover. And for some, it never recovered.鈥�
In the late 1980s and 1990s, Zeller kept a close eye on neighborhood-level poverty statistics as a senior researcher for the Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland. When the center laid Zeller off amid budget shortfalls in 2005, he found a new perch from which to analyze economic data at the Center for Community Solutions.
鈥淗e was one of the leading poverty fighters in Cleveland and the state of Ohio,鈥� said Zach Schiller, research director for liberal-leaning think tank Policy Matters Ohio. 鈥淎nd he fought poverty and inequality with data. And George was a stickler for using data, but using it well and wisely.鈥�
Zeller also was a dedicated public transit rider and advocate, serving on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority鈥檚 community advisory committee.
At Tuesday鈥檚 board meeting, RTA鈥檚 newly elected president, the Rev. Charles Lucas, recalled how Zeller regularly gave trustees updates on sales tax collections, the transit agency鈥檚 primary revenue source.
鈥淵ou could always tell when the sales tax was down, because he would get up shaking his head, [saying], 鈥楾his is bad news!鈥� and he would pass it out,鈥� Lucas said.
When Zeller was not crunching economic figures, he was listening for radio broadcasts from afar. An avid shortwave radio enthusiast, he wrote a column on covert broadcasts for "The Monitoring Times," a radio hobbyist publication.
He regularly attended the Winter SWL Fest, a convention for shortwave devotees, said Rich D鈥橝ngelo, a longtime friend and the director of the North American Shortwave Association. At the conference, Zeller hosted a well-attended panel on unlicensed pirate radio.
鈥淕eorge had a quirky side to him,鈥� D鈥橝ngelo said. 鈥淗e enjoyed the鈥擨鈥檒l call it the inventiveness鈥攐f pirate radio stations, who would try to avoid being tracked down by the FCC and would put entertainment programs on the air to attract a little niche crowd of listeners.鈥�
One undated photo on shows him sitting in front of a radio in a cabin at Gifford Pinchot State Park in Pennsylvania. There, away from electrical interference, Zeller and friends could tune in to shortwave broadcasts from around the world, D鈥橝ngelo said.
鈥淲e would go to these remote locations in the cabin, and maybe four or five of us, and spend several hours a day listening to radio stations, as well as swapping stories,鈥� D鈥橝ngelo said. 鈥淲e used to do that just for the sake of doing it.鈥�
A dedicated baseball fan, Zeller would travel the country to watch games, D鈥橝ngelo said. The late economist kept in touch with D鈥橝ngelo regularly, sending him news tidbits about FirstEnergy, where D鈥橝ngelo formerly worked.
鈥淗is warmth and his friendship are two things that I instantly missed,鈥� D鈥橝ngelo said. 鈥淛ust the thought of a phone call from him periodically, just kind of all disappeared instantly.鈥�
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