Save Our Land

hearing January 9th at Estabrook, on the CREG Center

2012-01-08T14:07:00.001-05:00

A member of our household who no longer blogs sent this to me by email, and I decided to share it here. It’s about the proposed CREG Center, which seems not so much proposed as implemented without asking. At the links you will find dates, times, and places. We plan on attending.

SE Kiwanians,

Mulling over the effects of this incinerator proposal, I remembered that the Kiwanis Club of SE Cleveland had as one of its missions or objectives the mitigation or eradication of unnecessary causes of respiratory problems in humans. This gasification project will create problems with its incinerator itself; it will cause problems with the creation of diesel hot spots in areas affected by the 500+ additional trucks daily required to keep the plant at a break-even level; and it will also cause problems when the trash pellets it produces are burned again to produce electrical energy.

Not much attention has been paid to collateral costs to the community; this is not a green project, it will not create many jobs at all for the amount spent, and its an unproven technology promoted by an administration with no history of sensible undertakings.

There is a public hearing Monday on this issue, and it was mentioned in the PD just recently. I think that Kiwanis involvement is appropriate at this time, given the stated mission of the local chapter. The Ohio EPA is trying to sneak this one by the federal EPA; they are not acting in the best interests of the community, the way Gloria and I see it.

It affects the area in which your club operates; it is said that it should have an adverse impact up into the Cleveland Heights/Shaker Heights area.

Please see more about the hearing at the following links and if, after giving this stealth project a cursory inspection, you decide it might not be in the best interests of the people and businesses of the Cleveland area, please lend your support to efforts to promote health and wellness, which probably entails the scuttling of this gasification fiasco as soon as possible.

http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/the-mysterious-mister-tien/Content?oid=2772517

http://topics.cleveland.com/tag/gasification/index.html

http://epa.ohio.gov/dapc/permitsonline.aspx

http://realneo.us/events/ohio-epa-hearing-city-cleveland-incinerator-monday-january-9th-2012-6-pm

http://ohiocitizen.org/?p=11256

http://www.friendsofbigcreek.org/CREGhearing9Jan2012.pdf

Note also that the PD editorial stance on this project is to be in full-cheerleader mode, as they sell full-page advertisements to this CREG group promoting the project. Conflicts of interest do not exist for the shameless. We hope to see as many of you as possible at the hearing, and later, in the fray. There are lives and property values in play here.

City of Cleveland and the Landmarks Department

2011-08-21T15:21:00.012-04:00

We have a case in the courts against the City of
Cleveland and their Cleveland landmarks department. It has
been ongoing sense 1998. Landmarks voted themselves the rights
to control our property on Archwood Ave. It is not up for a
public debate and discussion on the pros and cons of preserving
a private property. The discussion to preserve or not to preserve a private
property is private, by the home owner. Only Public Lands and properties
are in the City of Cleveland's or Landmark department control. Cleveland
Landmarks needs to stop trying to control private property. Ask me about
the lies we have been fed by the City of Cleveland and their Cleveland
Landmarks department.

The Cleveland courts and the Judge presiding over the case have been
prolonging the case in the court !!!! We have been informed that we will
never see the inside of the courtroom. ( They will settle out of court )
If we get heard in the court the game is over for the Landmarks department.
They would have to stop playing the shameless game of denying property
right to the homeowners in the City of Cleveland. I want to make the public
aware of what has been going on in our city. All property owners should be
warned of the control exerted against property owners in the City of Cleveland.
We were constantly told "You people should know when you buy these houses,
you are under our jurisdiction." Last time I reviewed the charter 161 Landmarks
laws it states they are an advisory panel only.
So where do they come off enforcing it as a law??????

Historic Districts Are Legal — Right?
Legal, yes—but are they lawful? There is a difference.
Americans, who want to truly preserve their freedoms, culture,
heritage, and their history, need to learn the difference in
meaning between “legal” and “lawful”. Private property rights...,
the right of due process, and the protection against
involuntary servitude (all violated by most Historic District
Ordinances) are examples of lawful rights protected by our
Constitution.
Statutory enactments are legalities. Legislatures enact
thousands of statutes each year, such as the enabling
legislation permitting localities to pass Historic District
Ordinances. Most of us refer to statutes as “laws”, but to the
extent statutory enactments undermine or are contrary to
constitutionally protected rights, they are not law, and should
be defiantly resisted and defeated.
"The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though
having the form and name of law, is in reality no law, but is
wholly void, and ineffective for any purpose; since
unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment,
and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it...
No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law, and no courts
are bound to enforce it.

My husband and I have a very long and distinguish history in the United States of America. For instance my husband’s Great Great ...Grandfather Captain George Lemley who served in the American Revolutionary War, pioneer settler of Greene County Pennsylvania. Then there is his Great, Great ....Grandfather Robert Morris who help fund the American Revolutionary War, The Boston Tea party was done by another one of his Ancestors. My Great Great.... Grandfather Captain William Phillip Null served in the American Revolution War ............... My Great, Great.......Grandfather John Adam Roush, all of his children fought for our freedom in the Revolutionary War, and help settle the southern part of Ohio and parts of West Virginia……………the list go on and on................. Let’s talk about real preserving of our freedoms, culture, heritage, and our history in America. Our ancestor would be shocked at the outlandish behavior going on in the City of Cleveland Ohio. The outright denial by the City of Cleveland, their Landmarks Department, and all the special interested parties involved in this shameless scam. Their outlandish display of injustice, done to property owners, and their property rights. Our ancestors would declare WAR on the City of Cleveland. They fought and died for our freedom.................. Study the history of America. This is what our history is all about. Not brick and mortar, but the rich history of our freedom in America.!!!!! When a City does this to property owners they are not just controlling a house, they are controling the finances of the owner. I for one am not willing to let the City of Cleveland or special interested parties control, and tell me how much of my money will be invested in my home. ............. They voted to give Landmarks complete control of the repairs, then just hand us the bill. We were shamelessly subjected to tons of people parading around our house........ ""saying I want this" ...." I want that"....... When we asked them what about what we wanted, we were told...." it did not concern us" The final decision was up to them, we would be notified of their decision!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you call this private property rights. How about you???

One last comment......................... Cleveland City council can nominate a house or district for Federal Landmarks................ But it cannot be made a Federal Landmarks district if homeowners disagree on the home or district being formed. It is null and void if homeowners did not vote on it. The power is with the homeowners, not city council, renters or special interested parties. . It does not give them the right to control the repairs or the appearance of your home. The City of Cleveland is shamefully doing this all on their own !!!!! Home Owners in the City of Cleveland need to remove their properties from Landmark Status!!!

IMPORTANT: Bradley Road Landfill Meeting July 13, 2011, at 6:00 P.M.

2011-07-12T14:01:00.001-04:00

I sent this as a email today to our distribution lists and am sharing it on the blogs and social media sites as well. This is a critical issue that is not receiving the attention it deserves, and it makes you wonder, “Whose interests are being served here?”

Hello everyone-

On April 18, 2011 the Board of Zoning Appeals denied the application made by the Baumanns, Bradley Road Landfill, Landsong Environmental, Inc. and Ty, Inc. for the variance to allow the strip mining of the topsoil at Bradley Road Landfill.

On April 25, 2011   the denial was to be ratified but the City of Cleveland asked that BOZA rehear now that there is a letter of intent. BOZA agreed and said that they would IF certain things happened.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CLEVELAND BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS that the parties have shown good cause to rehear Calendar Nos. 10-194,

10-259 and 10-260, which the Board shall set for a rehearing upon the filing of a joint stipulation between the City and the Appellants that a

pre-rehearing conference was held by the principals of the City, the Appellants, the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation, and

the directly affected property owners to discuss the previously mentioned Letter of Intent, including a Settlement Agreement and Consent

Decree involving litigation in US Northern District Court of Ohio Case No. 1:04-CV-1757.

http://www.oldbrooklyn.com/BradleyRdMining/BZAresolutionrehearCP6849.pdf

To get an idea of the seriousness of the proposed plans for this landfill and the impact for a much wider community than is included in the invitation list for Wednesday's meeting:

GO TO www.oldbrooklyn.com click on Bradley Road Road Mining http://www.oldbrooklyn.com/BradleyRdMining.htm

Be sure to read these letters to:

OH Dept of Natural Resources http://www.oldbrooklyn.com/BradleyRdMining/Brady_to_ODNR_6-11.pdf

Army Corps of Engineers http://www.oldbrooklyn.com/BradleyRdMining/Brady_to_ACofE_6-20.pdf

Watch for words like "yellow cake" and "radioactive." Note the number of people potentially affected, just in contiguous areas.

Tomorrow is the meeting for the "affected" land owners requested by BOZA.

Here are the details:

WHAT:     Bradley Road Landfill Meeting

WHERE: Knights of Columbus Hall, 4730 Pearl Road

WHEN:     Wednesday, July 13, 2011     6 pm

WHO:       City of Cleveland and

WHY:        Board of Zoning Appeals condition for reconsideration of Request for Variance

As you know this landfill has been problematic since its inception, and its impact is much greater than they would have you believe.

Air quality, water quality, real estate valuation effects everyone's quality of life and impacts our WHOLE community.

This will probably be the usual "sit, be quiet, and listen" kind of meeting held in the City of Cleveland with few questions and fewer answers, BUT

We should attend so that they will see by our numbers we are concerned about our community.

MAKE THEM GET MORE CHAIRS!!!

South Euclid Council says :Big Box Retail-It’s a Good Thing

2011-06-15T22:22:00.001-04:00

may just have something to say about all that.

As more people opt for walkable bikeable communities with boutique commercial districts, South Euclid’s elected officials buy into an outmoded business model with the promise of it “being green”. You tell me how taking 144/54 acres of green space and replacing it with much less is “being green”. Obviously, someone is keeping South Euclid’s government occupied so they don’t see all the studies showing that those communities with parks for walking and biking are the ones where people are now settling. I haven’t seen any studies lately on the hordes of people moving to be close to “big box retail”. I have seen a lot of news articles about the eyesores and blight left behind when “the big box” moves to the next community willing to sell its soul.

I am thankful for my friends Susan and Carla and so many others willing to devote precious free time to combating Mitch Schneider’s latest venture to make his investors and himself rich and to make South Euclid/Cleveland Heights poorer. Here is the link to their face book page:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/citizensforoakwood

Here is an email I received from Susan earlier today. I asked her if I could post it on my blog because I want her reasons for standing up against this development known. Please sign her petition asking for sustainable land use and take the time to read what she has to say. It’s good stuff. Oh and those of you talking about “class warfare” shame on you. We are into this together and when we allow what makes us all “rich”- the beauty of our land to be plundered- those “selling out” for the short term are the ones who are waging class warfare. You are taking what made our area prosperous and selling us all into poverty.

If you feel that we have enough big box retail in the Heights Hillcrest area and need not destroy precious green space to build more, you may wish to add your name to the petition linked here:

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-ripping-up-green-space-to-build-shopping-centers-support-sustainable-land-use?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email

Here's the long story of why I've directed so much time and attention to this:

You may or may not know that I have been involved with a group called Citizens for Oakwood. We're trying to save 144/54 acres of green space - the former Oakwood Country Club. We'd like to see it become a public park (and improve it's ability to be a sponge for stormwater by allowing it to be a passive park). First Interstate/Legacy Capital Partners would like it to be big box retail. Of course, Jane Goodman, city council person in South Euclid where he's begun the rezoning for big box process, promises that this will be a green infrastructure exemplar. Since South Euclid is in such a fiscally dire situation, it is clear to most that it is not a lack of retail, but rather downward (economic) pressure that is driving this. I think most adults know that we can't buy our way to prosperity. Some are still fooled I guess. What was that Bush said about fool me once, keep right on foolin' me - I'm feelin' foolish?

It has raised three issues for me and for many of us.

1) Golf clubs are dying - Landerhaven was first, Oakwood is now, Acacia is next (now that it's out of litigation). Then which golf/country club private course will fall to a developer? Seneca just sold to Metroparks. Hmmm... Which golf course will go next? While the focus will undoubtedly be on our poor relation, the City of Cleveland, you are aware, I'm sure, that poverty is creeping outward, just as population has. Now it's also the inner ring that's feeling the pressure. Please consider the golf courses and work with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy to help these clubs to stay green space. By the time all the planners have finished their studies and identified the "value" of green swathes to our Lake, big box retail may have ruled the day and the tiny municipal governments in South Euclid and Cleveland Heights despite our efforts. I have tried to make the argument that this is more valuable to South Euclid and Cleveland Heights as open green space from a water quality and quality of life standpoint, but I don't have the metrics. Tacit knowledge is much harder to convey in a world where everything is a transaction. South Euclid just rewrote their entire comprehensive plan to accommodate this development. They did it in two weeks with two people. For golf courses, the WRLC exemplar is Orchard Hills - admittedly "out there", but still a good example of what could be "in here".

2) The downward pressure might be lessened if these balkanized municipalities had merged years ago. I'm going to keep exploring this for our future. It would be good to fold in the value of water absorbing green space when that muni mapping becomes a part of that discussion. The idea? What if Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, University Heights and South Euclid were one suburb? What white collar efficiencies might be gained? And could those efficiencies result in some greater resiliency and redundancy in our shared green space?

3) At a forum sponsored by Future Heights on land use and Oakwood, Terry Schwarz mentioned that the metric for jobs and parkland is 1 job per acre. I realized that agricultural land has no metric. Why is this important? Because, growing food, farming in the city has no value. It may not now, but it will shortly. The day will come (sooner than later in my estimation) when refrigerated trucks from the valleys of California will not arrive in NEO. We will need to be reliant on what can be grown and raised locally. We may tear down buildings just to be able to farm. Impending doom - energy crisis? Yes. It is upon us. We may look back and say, "Boy! We sure wish we'd saved this land for growing food!" 154 acres is a substantial bit-o-farmland. I'll be meeting with farmland and farming experts to discuss how to discover per-acre metrics for ag land so that local food can enter these planning discussions.

In an article in Ecowatch Journal, it is noted that new project efforts at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens will include this issue: "Based on existing work being done in the region and success stories in other cities, identify barriers to implementation of green infrastructure as targets for future action and develop strategies to overcome them." Funny. I asked NEORSD if there might be a land use aspect to their big stormwater plan. You know like, residents of municipalities that have retained green space would get a tiny automatic credit. They said - no, NEORSD doesn't get into land use. I guess NEORSD will be in these discussions though. Land use and such best management practices as downspout disconnects where appropriate (most places in NEO) are the low hanging fruit of addressing our water quality issues. Mother earth is a filter. We have abused her mightily, no doubt, but she is still there, still willing like any mother to help her children.

It may be too late for Oakwood unless we all come together to stop this madness. We're not giving up, but South Euclid's government seems to have. They're in a deep hole at Cedar Center - $19 million deep. What could be another piece of Ginny Aveni's County Greenprint - the Emerald Lace that connects our Emerald Necklace, the Cuyahoga River Valley and Lake Erie, may be paved to put up a parking lot. No pink hotel, no boutique - big box retail. We don't plan to stop our arguments now and we hope you'll raise your voice as well and participate in this democratic practice. We need to do everything we can to keep the bulldozers from rolling over Oakwood. At rallies for SB5 I heard the now familiar chant, "This is what democracy looks like!" Letting our elected officials know how we feel is democracy. Democracy isn't just voting; it's a state of being, a way of life.

My son has graduated from college and moved away to Seattle for work. There he can take public transportation, ride his bike, pay his college loan instead of a car loan and visit the wonderful parks that the city has protected. How I hope that someday he can move back to Cleveland Heights and appreciate similar amenities here - NEO - the region that woke up and got busy turning what seemed like a burden into a blessing! This would be an even better story of how Cleveland beat Wall Street. That's the story I want to hear when I'm passing into another world.

Currently we're all feeling the downward pressure. It's palpable in Cleveland and the region, in the state, in the nation. We just want our fellow citizens to look farther, longer and with an eye to water quality, air quality, quality of life. We want them to see that there is a world water crisis that will not bypass the Great Lakes. We want them to think not so much about the hardship they're enduring, which will increase in the near term, but to consider the outcomes in the long term, however difficult that may be. We'd like to make a gift to future generations. As Ellie Strong said speaking of the "little old ladies in tennis shoes" who saved the Shaker Lakes, "to each generation there is something to save."

Susan

OBJECTION LTR: EARTH DAY COALITION WEIGHS IN

2010-10-23T01:47:00.001-04:00

My apologies to Earth Day Coalition’s Executive Director for being unable to use your letterhead to post your letter here. Chris Terpal will be at Lincoln West High School working with a group of students or she would be at the hearing in person.

October 22, 2010
Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals
City Planning Commission
601 Lakeside Avenue, Room 514
Cleveland OH 44114
ATTN: Chairman Carol A. Johnson
Dear Chairman Johnson and Board Members Dobbins, Donovan, and Washington,
On behalf of Earth Day Coalition I am writing to oppose the Zoning Code Special Use Variance requested from W.B. and M.E. Bauman and Bradley Road, Incorporated for parcel numbers 009-36-001, 009-36-002, 009-36-005, 009-36-006, 009-36-007, 009-34-002, and 009-34-004.
Northeast Ohio is not meeting the fine particle pollution health-based standards (National Ambient Air Quality Standards) of the federal Clean Air Act. The proposed operation would likely add to particulate pollution. Many Cleveland residents are already suffering from breathing unhealthy air.
Although these types of operations may primarily produce coarser particles we remain concerned about strip mining for clay and sand on 8.2 acres within the city limits both for the residents of Sky Lane and Bradley Road, and for the residents of Cleveland. Potential increased truck traffic is also a concern.
We are also concerned about water quality impacts on the two creeks near the proposed site and the proposed pond storage.
Thank you for your attention to our concerns, and again we urge the Board of Zoning Appeals to deny this variance request.
Best regards,
Chris Trepal
Executive Director

http://www.earthdaycoalition.org/

Consider supporting this worthwhile organization by attending the Thirteenth Annual Instrumental Celebration of the Earth. http://www.earthdaycoalition.org/iefe.10.php You should click thru for no other reason to see the great graphics for this quality event.

OBJECTION LTR: DENISE DONALDSON, BRKLYN CTRE

2010-10-21T16:14:00.001-04:00

October 21, 2010

Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals

ATTN: Chairperson Carol Johnson

City Planning Commission

Room 516

601 Lakeside Avenue

Cleveland, OH 44114

RE: request for zoning variance for 4300 Bradley Road

To the Board of Zoning Appeals:

As I cannot be present at the hearing on November 1, please let this letter stand as my statement regarding the requested zoning variance for 4300 Bradley Road.

In the strongest possible terms, I oppose the granting of the variance. The landfill site has been an eyesore and an ongoing point of contention for nearby residents over the course of more than a decade. At this point, it appears that Mr. Baumann merely wishes to unload his problem onto another entity, one that will worsen, not alleviate, the site’s impact on the area.

On the very face of the issue, a plan to operate a strip mine in the middle of a densely populated residential sector belies all claim to any care or concern for the neighborhood. The noise and the air pollution alone would do immeasurable damage to the local quality of life. In addition, such an operation would inevitably adversely affect the stream in question, part of the Big Creek watershed, as well as the adjacent wetland and other ecosystems. There is simply no way to disguise or mitigate the disruption that would be caused by a strip mining operation imposed upon a residential area. Who would benefit, besides two companies based outside the city? These entities would profit from a distance, while the citizens actually living around the site would suffer the havoc wreaked by the proposed operations at the landfill. It defies logic and common sense that such a variance would even be considered.

Rather, Bradley Road Inc. should be forced to finish correcting the current violations and bring the property into compliance with all regulations. Once that process is completed, then it would be appropriate to entertain proposals for productive use of the site that would not entail damage to ecosystems or quality-of-life losses for the surrounding population.

Sincerely,

Denise A. Donaldson

concerned citizen and past secretary, Brooklyn Centre Community Association

3856 West 44^th Street

Cleveland, 44109

OBJECTION LETTER: JEFF SUGALASKI, OLD BRKLYN

2010-10-21T14:00:00.001-04:00

From: Jeffrey Sugalski jeffreysugalski@gmail.com

Date: Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 7:32 PM

Subject: 4300 Bradley Road, Cleveland, Ohio

To: jhuber@city.cleveland.oh.us

Board of Zoning Appeals

Attention: Jan Huber

City of Cleveland

601 Lakeside Road, Room 516

Cleveland, OH 44114

Re: Zoning Appeal for 4300 Bradley Road, Cleveland, Ohio

Dear Ms. Huber:

The purpose of this correspondence is to apprise you that the Lakeview Ridge Condominium Association very strongly objects to the City of Cleveland's issuance of a zoning appeal to W.B and M.E. Bauman and Bradley Road, Inc. for mineral mining at 4300 Bradley Road, Cleveland, Ohio.

The Lakeview Ridge Condominium Association is a nonprofit organization formed in 1996 that oversees the 110-unit Lakeview Ridge condominium development located in Cleveland along Jennings Road just south of Bradley Road. The association, whose primary function is to own and maintain nine and a half acres of common areas and building exteriors, is comprised of 110 homeowners who have chosen to make a substantial investment in the city of Cleveland.

As Lakeview Ridge is situated approximately 500 feet from the site in question, the quality of life of our homeowners would be negatively impacted by a nearby mining operation. A considerable amount of heavy machinery will be utilized in extracting materials and trucks to haul them off-site, resulting in vibrations that will affect the structural integrity of our homes; increased traffic; noise; and dust and pollution that will worsen our air quality. Several of our residents would have a direct view of this operation, which we anticipate would be unsightly. For these reasons, such an operation would have devastating effects on property values.

As elected president of the board of directors of the Lakeview Ridge Condominium Association, I implore you to deny this zoning request. The vicinity of the site is urban and dense, and is not suitable nor appropriate for a such an operation. Several hundred families, including the 110 of them at Lakeview Ridge, reside within a close proximity to 4300 Bradley Road, and our health, peace, property, and safety would be dramatically impacted.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Sugalski, President

Lakeview Ridge Condominium Association

856 Overlook Ridge Drive

Cleveland, Ohio 44109

4300 Bradley Rd. Landfill BOZA Hearing Scheduled

2010-10-21T13:07:00.001-04:00

Owners, Bill and Mary Ellen Bauman, owners of the Bradley Road Land Fill have requested a zoning variance for their property owned at 4300 Bradley Road.

What: Bradley Road Zoning Appeal
When: Monday, November 1, 2010
Time: 9:30 am
Where: Cleveland City Hall
Room 516
Why: Zoning for the Bradley Road Landfill needs to be changed before the ODNR Request for a Strip Mining Venture

Everyone who can should attend the meeting. If you cannot attend the meeting and would like your thoughts recorded, send your letter to:
Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals
ATTN: Chairman Carol Johnson
City Planning Commission
Room 516
601 Lakeside Avenue
Cleveland OH 44114

Send a copy to: Councilman Tony Brancatelli by email:council12@clevelandcitycouncil.org
or FAX: 216-664-3837. Councilman Brancatelli's phone number is: 664-4233

If you attend the meeting and want to speak you must sign in and say you speak in favor of or object to the variance.

Lots Happening This Fall

2010-09-15T20:10:00.000-04:00

Dear Save Our Land reader-

We hope you had a beautiful though hot summer and are ready for some fall planning and work projects before the snow flies. This Saturday marks the beginning of the Brooklyn Centre Naturalists Fall Calendar.

First up is our Annual Review and Strategic Planning Meeting.
Saturday, September 18
Cleveland Public Library--Brooklyn Branch
3706 Mapledale Avenue
1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
COME and BRING a FRIEND.
BE READY to SHARE your IDEAS and PLANS for 2011
One decision to make: FALL BULB PLANTING WHEN< WHERE>WHO

SATURDAY September 25
WORK at 3848 West 36th begins in earnest
9:30 am to 4 pm
Stone walls, fall planting, and other tasks will occupy us.
Again, bring a friend and/or tools to the site.

SEPTEMBER 18 THRU OCTOBER 23
Wraps up our BCN Kids Program at Brooklyn Memorial United Methodist Church
10:30 am to 1pm Lunch Included
Know a child 10 yrs and up. Suggest they try out "Community Thru Nature" Program.
There are a few cool field trips on the agenda as well as some surprises in store for our participants.

Gloria Ferris and Sharon Martyn, co-chairs
Brooklyn Centre Naturalists
216-351-0254
BCNaturalists@gmail.com

Lots Happening This Fall

2010-09-15T20:06:00.000-04:00

Dear Save Our Land reader-

SATURDAY September 25
WORK at 3848 West 36th begins in earnest
9:30 am to 4 pm
Stone walls, fall planting, and other tasks will occupy us.
Again, bring a friend and/or tools to the site.

Gloria Ferris and Sharon Martyn, co-chairs
Brooklyn Centre Naturalists
216-351-0254
BCNaturalists@gmail.com

Farkas enters fracas weakly: Sound wall made of vegetation to be studied by ODOT as alternative to concrete wall | cleveland.com

2010-07-18T14:10:00.001-04:00

Ken Wohlgemuth, our friend and neighbor in Brooklyn Centre, lays things out in a comment on Karen Farkas’ story today in the PD about the ODOT sound walls. She misses a lot; perhaps it was intentional. What follows is Ken’s commentary on an article by a professional journalist who leaves out more than she should.

ken July 18, 2010 at 12:48PM

Follow

As we make our pilgrimage through life, is it too much to ask to be inspired by architecture design, form, landscape, natural beauty and new ideas?
The pilgrimage is a metaphor for our daily drive to work, errands as we use the highway. Or the tourist traveling through our city for the first time. What are their impressions? Do I want to stop and explore this part of the city or do I want to drive through as fast as I can because the landscape feels and looks daunting?
Why is Paris the most visited city in the world is urban planning important to them?

I am writing you today regarding the sound mitigation walls being placed on US 71 between Fulton Rd. and Pearl Rd. On both sides of the highway, walls are being installed without any design review process -- and I have not heard any explanation of why the City of Cleveland has not requested any uniform code of wall design review or Brooklyn Center National registered historical neighborhood design review board was not consulted.

The community was notified that walls were being considered erected July 2009 there was no follow up meeting regarding design that was a visible issue at the time and after our protest. ODOT’s reply “nothing you can do about it contracts have been signed” There is not a single building that goes up in our historic neighborhood or the City of Cleveland that does not go through the mandatory design review process. Why are the highway sound mitigation walls exempt from this process?

Urban planning and design are very important – especially important for highways, which are often the only connection between travelers and our city.

Gateways are key points of arrival into a city. They are also physical opportunities to announce and convey civic culture and identity. Gateway corridors are often emphasized with landscaping, lighting, signs, art, banners or gate markers. The location and design of new buildings can also contribute to the sense of entry and gateway experience.

Our neighborhood -- Brooklyn Center, south of the highway -- was founded in 1812 conceptually designed as a garden neighborhood you would see in Connecticut. We have many of the existing historic houses and architecture from that era. We are also the home of the Cleveland Metro Zoo (one of the top zoos in the country), the historic Brookside Park, and the Big Creek watershed confluence, which enters the Cuyahoga River and is part of a greater scheme of the towpath trails and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. On the other side of the highway Cleveland Metro hospital (world class hospital). And a thriving Hispanic neighborhood

Why has their not been an emphasis placed on incorporating designs, monikers, or signage that reflect these attributes? Do not tell me there is no budget for this -- at 2.5 million dollars a mile for walls that are expected to last 20 to 25 years, when there are still walls and aqueduct standing from the Romans in Europe I expect design work to reflect the greatness, culture, and quality of our city (Cleveland) and neighborhood. Travelers want to see and be inspired by great craftsmanship and design, intrigued… the proscenium, life beyond the wall.

Ms Farkas your article seems superficial stating only one example of failure and one example of green design. America was not built by Individuals afraid of failure one of our strong points is the freedom and markets to allow individuals to bring new Ideas to fruition we are entering a new green phase in our country some have said similar to where the computer makers were in 1984… I would like to get an answer to the question “should there have there been a design review”? And if not, what is the reasoning behind that decision? Why is this crucial issue not given the priority it deserves?

Ken Wohlgemuth

Sound wall made of vegetation to be studied by ODOT as alternative to concrete wall | cleveland.com

Cleveland: Angry residents fight highway noise wall

2010-06-19T00:41:00.001-04:00

Here’s the coverage from WKYC of the ODOT debacle on I-71.

CLEVELAND- Interstate 71 between Fulton and West 25th Street is on Ohio's top 25 list of noisy stretches of highways.

But the Department of Transportation's wish to put in noise walls is sparking a very noisy debate.

The Brooklyn Centre neighborhood that surrounds the highway is battling to keep its identity and avoid being confused with Old Brooklyn.

"We are the gateway to the city of Cleveland. (Those walls) look like a welcome to East Berlin, " neighborhood activist Tim Ferris said.

ODOT wants to put in faux brick concrete walls already installed further south on the highway.

"We're not a typical suburb. We don't want a typical suburban noise wall," said Councilman Brian Cummings.

Trees abutting the access roads were cut down this week sparking more outrage.

Opponents say ODOT needs to have some green-friendly alternatives for noise abatement.

They are proposing a vegetation noise wall concept being used in Europe and Canada. It's about a dollar-cheaper per square foot than concrete. But ODOT's concerned about possible maintenance costs.

ODOT says it will study green alternatives for the future. But it wants to act fast to build walls to make sure more than $2 million of Federal money is not lost.

"What they are proposing is something that has not been tested or proven in Ohio," said ODOT spokeswoman Jocelynn Clemings.

"I'd like to get a say. I'm a taxpayer. It's going to make us more forgotten than we are now," said resident Laura McShane.

Some residents who live close to the highway want the walls.

Awilda Soto's backyard is a showplace of statues and landscaping. She's lived next to the highway for 25 years.

"I like it because we're not going to have as much wind or noise and will have privacy. I wish it here tomorrow," she said.

This situation is the latest of many where residents or businesses feel ODOT is pushing its own agenda without regard for their concerns.

ODOT rejected proposals to put a bike line on the Innerbelt Bridge.

Midtown businesses are upset ODOT plans to eliminate Innerbelt interchanges they regard as essential routes for their customers.

A task force recently recommended ODOT update its transportation planning process to allow more consideration of human, economic and environmental impacts of what it builds.

http://www.wkyc.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=97278808001

Cleveland: Angry residents fight highway noise wall

6:30 PM tonight, Friday, June 18th: Flash Mob in Brooklyn Centre protesting ODOT’s marring of our landscape, I-71 access road. Be there!

2010-06-18T16:43:00.001-04:00

I just got this email from Tim regarding a flash mob protesting the destruction by ODOT district 12 of the gateway to our park neighborhood. Please, be there. We’re going to try FaceBooking this as well. It should be a salutary way to start a Friday evening.

Dear XXXXX--

I just got off the telephone with Tom Beres of WKYC Channel 3 News. He has time in his schedule tonight to do a spot at 6:30 PM (1830 if you want to think this is a military operation) about ODOT 's unwelcome incursion into the previously green and peaceful Brooklyn Centre.

We need as many people out there as the berm and the access roads can handle--there's more room now since there are fewer trees. We will be assembling between Fulton Road and Pearl (West 25th Street); I will try to get police support to control traffic and keep things moving. (We will be past the rush hour.)

All of us in Brooklyn Centre are affected by what ODOT has done by destroying the trees against our wishes. Everybody visiting the zoo or MetroHealth is affected. People entering the city from the western approach are affected. It is not too late to make ODOT put the trees back and make a natural, green solution for our noise problem.

Please, show up, especially if you live in Brooklyn Centre or in Tremont and will have to pass by the enormous monstrosity of ODOT's 20-foot high walls daily for the next few years, closing our neighborhood off, limiting admittance of light and air--the negative impacts are many and varied.

If you despise government overspending and pork, show up. These things are 165% of the cost of a superior green solution, at least.

If you despise bad design, show up. Canada and Germany and now Vermont have viable green solutions that look and function better than this ODOT concrete crap.

If you are offended at having government workers operate with arrogance and impunity, and immunity from adverse consequences, show up. These ODOT punks answer to no one; Lee Fisher and Ted Strickland can't control them; having ODOT determine our neighborhood's future is tantamount to being walked by your dog.

If you think first impressions count, show up. Brookside Park, the ZOO, Brooklyn Centre, Riverside Cemetery, and MetroHealth are all part of the same visual approach, welcoming people to the neighborhood and to the city. These hot concrete walls, devoid of trees, change the entire visual statement. Instead of saying welcome to our park neighborhood, welcome to the Forest City, they shout out, Welcome to Cleveland, Now go home.

Again, we're getting together to get our pictures taken, all of us, at 6:30 PM tonight on the access road to the south of I-71, behind Riverside Avenue, entering from Fulton and proceeding towards Pearl.

This is what the young people call a Flash Mob. We will assemble, have the TV people do what they can, get our pictures taken, and demobilize.

The more the merrier. See you there. Car pool, ride bikes, walk, ride motorcycles, do what you can to conserve space, but show up a little prior to 6:30 PM.

--Tim Ferris & Gloria Ferris

(writing to assemble a media event for Tom Beres, which, as he pointed out, rhymes, sort of--Ferris/Beres)

from the ODOT site, some search results: “waste, fraud, and abuse”

2010-06-16T12:36:00.001-04:00

If you feel that, in the handling of our genuine, sincere, authentic objections to the concrete sound-barrier walls in the Brooklyn Centre and Tremont neighborhoods, we have been given short shrift, been ignored, been given the run-around, or unfairly foreclosed from the process of determining our own destiny, then perhaps you might want to click the link at the end to report your suspicion of waste and/or fraud and/or abuse. We are located in ODOT’s district 12, which has a recent history of mismanagement, fraud, kickbacks, and theft.

Why else would a transportation department of a state want to pay 165% more than a green, sensible solution would cost, unless there were arrangements of which the public knew nothing? We’ve been objecting as neighborhood groups to the concrete barrier walls since 2005, and yet ODOT seems intent on delivering them, despite our objections, and they refuse to investigate greener solutions.

All this is happening in a department where the director’s bio at its outset advertises her position on green issues as being in consonance with the governor’s (emphasis mine):

Ohio Department of Transportation Director Jolene M. Molitoris strengthens Governor Strickland’s commitment to moving Ohio into a prosperous new world, by investing in a safer, more multi-modal, greener transportation system to create jobs and revitalize Ohio’s cities and towns.

Seems this new world, too, is determined to handle the natives roughly. Here are some guidelines for us native types for registering a report of suspected waste, fraud, and abuse:

U.S. DOT, OIG Hotline Page 1 of 2

OIG Hotline Complaint Center
Introduction:
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) maintains a Hotline to facilitate the reporting of allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement in U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) programs or operations. You may report such allegations through the contact information listed on this page.
Allegations may be reported by DOT employees, contractors, or the general public. OIG’s Hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is operated by a third party contractor.
The OIG Hotline is obligated to expeditiously forward all safety-related complaints to DOT’s safety regulatory agencies.

Issues that should be reported:

Contract, Procurement, and Grant Fraud
Environment, Health, and Safety Violations
Computer Crimes
Product Substitution and Suspect/Counterfeit Parts
Bribery, Kickbacks, and Gratuities
False Statements and False Claims
Conflicts of Interest and Ethics Violations
Travel Fraud
Theft and/or Abuse of Government property
Stimulus Abuse: American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 (ARRA) violations
Other Violations of Federal Laws and Regulations

Callers are encouraged to provide relevant and specific details of their complaints, including the identity of the person, company, or organization alleged to have engaged in wrongdoing; a description of the alleged impropriety; the DOT facility and program affected by the alleged misconduct; contract numbers; date(s) of alleged wrongdoing; how the caller is aware of the alleged impropriety; the identity of potential witnesses; and the identity and location of supporting documentation.

Complaint processing:
Upon receipt of a specific allegation of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement, the OIG may take any one of the following actions: open an investigation or audit; refer the matter to DOT management for appropriate review and action; or refer the allegation to another Federal agency. Allegations with limited specificity or merit may be held in abeyance until further, specific details are reported.

Callers may remain anonymous:
Individuals who contact the Hotline, via telephone or letter, are not required to identify themselves to the Hotline operator. However, persons who report allegations are encouraged to identify themselves in the event additional questions arise as the OIG evaluates or pursues their allegations.

Confidentiality:
The Office of Inspector General will protect the identity of complainants to the maximum extent possible by law. Confidentiality is established by Section 7(b) of the Inspector General Act of 1978, which precludes the IG from disclosing the identity of a DOT employee who reports an allegation or provides
information, without the employee's consent, unless the IG determines that disclosure is unavoidable during the course of the investigation. Non-Department of Transportation employees who report allegations may specifically request confidentiality.

http://www.oig.dot.gov/Hotline 6/25/2009

Contact:
If you want to report an allegation of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement at the U.S. Department of Transportation, you may do so by using one of the following methods:
On-line Complaint Form
Call 1-800-424-9071 (toll free).
Fax your concerns to 540-373-2090.
E-mail your concerns to hotline@oig.dot.gov
Mail your concerns to: DOT Inspector General, P.O. Box 708, Fredericksburg, VA 22404

Other Resources:
1. Our online privacy policy can be found at http://www.oig.dot.gov/privacy.jsp.
2. Inquiries about DOT press releases, programs and operations, publications, and energy information data can be made at the DOT home page or by calling the DOT Public Affairs Office at 202-366-5575.
3. If you would like to locate a DOT employee, please call the operator at 202-366-4000.
4. Questions about motor vehicle registration or state drivers' licenses should be directed to state's Department of Motor Vehicles. A listing of state Departments of Transportation may be found here.
5. If you are concerned about motor vehicle recalls or would like to file a complaint about defective motor vehicle, you should contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or visit the NHTSA Hotline website.
6. For questions involving your rights when moving household goods, please visit our Household Goods Movers Media Room.
7. If you are seeking consumer-related information, http://www.consumer.gov is a "one-stop" link to a broad range of Federal information resources available on-line. It is designed so that you can locate information by category, such as Food, Health, Product Safety, Your Money, and Transportation. Each category has subcategories to direct you to areas within individual Federal
websites containing related information.
8. If you are a Federal employee or job applicant with concerns regarding prohibited personnel practices, including non AR A whistleblower reprisals; Hatch Act violations; or other workplace improprieties, please visit the Office of Special Counsel's website at http://www.osc.gov for more information.
9. If you have a safety-related complaint concerning FAA, such as an aircraft incident or violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR), you may contact FAA’s Safety Hotline, which is open 24 hours a day, at (800) 255-1111. Their website is http://www.faa.gov/safety/.
10. If you feel your employer or a driver is violating the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and/or the Hazardous Materials Regulations, or if you have been victimized by a household goods moving company, broker, or any other carrier, you may file a complaint with the FMCSA National Consumer Complaint Database, http://nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov/HomePage.asp. You may also call 1-888-DOT-SAFT (368-7238), Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM EST, to speak to a representative who will assist you in filing a complaint.
11. Additional information regarding ARRA and related whistleblower protection can be found at www.oig.dot.gov/recovery/whistleblower_protections.jsp, www.oig.dot.gov/recovery/, and at
www.recovery.gov.
OIG
U.S. DOT, OIG Hotline Page 2 of 2
http://www.oig.dot.gov/Hotline 6/25/2009

Search Results: fraud and abuse

Tuesday’s ODOT thread about best practices, and bringing current practices into compliance

2010-06-15T21:54:00.001-04:00

The thread left off around 10 PM last night, and continues with Darren’s post just after that, carrying forward to Tuesday. Frank Mestnik found out that The Living Wall costs $750 a meter. At $2,000,000 a mile, ODOT’s solution should cost $1,242 a meter. The ODOT solution is 165% of The Living Wall solution, and we still have not verified the cost of the wall installation at this proposed site. The contract, we hear, was awarded to Great Lakes Construction, presumably the one from Hinckley

1 meter = 3.2808399 feet

More about calculator.

Here is the ongoing conversation:

DARREN HAMM:

Johanna and Joe (et.al.):

Attached is copy of the ODOT Sound Barrier survey that I circulated with Tom Sorge from ODOT in August. We spent the evening covering a large majority of the targeted area.

My perception of the outcome, though never confirmed, was that the survey participants were split fairly evenly and those farther east in the area far more in favor of seeing the barriers installed. However, I was definitely pushing those I spoke with to consider the long term implications and alternatives. So long as that information was presented, it seemed many were interested in green or similar solutions.

I guess it should be noted that this is in the hands of an entity that believes greening efforts are not considered a viable abatement strategy and that trees are a deadly hazard to "their" roads. I'd be happy to share more information and research if necessary.

Darren

GLORIA FERRIS:

Dear XXXXX--,

We've taken the thread of yesterday's emails concerning ODOT's surreptitious handling of the sound-wall issue and assembled it on a few of our blogs. One of them is here:

http://www.gloriaferris.net/2010/06/todays-thread-concerning-odot-district-12-and-how-they-ignore-the-people-who-make-their-employment-possible/

We believe this discussion should be expanded in that it affects not only those people with contiguous properties but everybody who lives in a neighborhood and who would have to drive by high-prioced bad design every day, never knowing what was on the other side of the wall. We happen to have a park neighborhood which we are reclaiming and restoring, and we are proud of what we have; we don't want to be walled off by expensive, intrusive structures. We are still waiting for a presentation of natural alternatives to abate sound--this is ostensibly the purpose of the ODOT walls.

What we do here in Brooklyn Centre by way of design impacts the entire city, and these walls are at odds with a city and a state that claim they are "green" and cost-conscious and wanting to attract people who have those same values. We are the gateway to the city, we have much green space, and we can be more attactive than we already are if ODOT would augment the barriers we already have by installing more natural barriers; the fact that ODOT has already maintained the side of the right-of-way poorly is no reason to erect walls to hide a record of bad practice.

The cost of natural barriers is, I have been told, about 1/5th of the cost of the artificial barriers, which I was also told cost approximately $2 million dollars per mile, on one side. This is an election year; cost, waste, extravagance, pork, insensitivity, and plain old just not listening to constituents can really be meaty issues. Certain people have offered to contact Strickland and Fisher on these points on behalf of those of us who want more sensible solutions than what ODOT is forcing on us.

The surveys conducted by ODOT are another issue; they seem slanted and need to be vetted to make sure they are more fair. Why are they on such close hold, even with the trees about to be cut any moment?

How well we implement from this point forward has a huge impact on our future; wasteful spending and poorly designed installations are things we must put behind us. Simply stated, we cannot afford dumb stuff at high prices. We would like to show some intelligence in what we do and how we live.

The city would do well to have guidelines in place for intelligent design, friendly to the environment, in consonance with the existing built environment. Has Watterson's office dealt with this at all, and if so, what was the outcome?

Anyway, please share the synopsis of yesterday's thread as widely as possible with people interested in seeing a living city emerge and thrive, with people who consider the barrier walls something akin to a "concentration camp."

With the money we save with a natural sound-barrier installation in Brooklyn Centre, perhaps we can repair the walls out by the airport, which are a regional disgrace and which should have been maintained long ago.

If there is no money for maintenance and repair, why should any city allow the state to install these in the first place? What are the incentives, because all we can see from our vantage point are negatives.

http://save-our-land.blogspot.com/2010/06/todays-thread-concerning-odot-district_14.html

JOCELYNN CLEMINGS:

Dear Frank:
I just wanted to let you know that the records you requested will be ready later today. As you also know, there is a meeting being scheduled regarding the issue for today. Hopefully, we'll have the records to you prior to that meeting.

As part of ODOT's 2010-2011 Business Plan, we are committed to using the best environmentally-sensitivity practices in our operations and pilot new green initiatives as ODOT leads by example in embracing environmental stewardship and reducing energy consumption. I've passed this along to our Office of Innovation, Partnerships and Energy and ask that it be something they look into further for possible consideration in future projects. We would be very interested in working with Mr. Ferris in the future regarding the initiative.

From my very quick Web search of the topic, there appears to be very little research on Living Walls for noise abatement purposes and even less information on the cost of such a proposal. In fact, so far, the only research done on a Green or Living noise wall was done by WisDOT entitled “Living Noise Wall – Final Report" dated January 1998. A failure in the plastic cribbing caused a collapse of a portion (100’) of the structure. We will certainly need more research to ensure this type of wall meets federal requirements for addressing noise conditions and can withstand northeast Ohio conditions.

Although we didn't propose a living wall for the location along I-71, we do have a research project underway that will build and test a section of green wall along a 400 foot section of Interstate 70 in Licking County near Columbus. That test section will use the "Deltalok" system which is similar to what Mr. Ferris proposed. Here is the Web site for more information: http://www.deltalokusa.com/. It's a different concept than this one, so down the road, we can study an option like this one to compare the different types.

Please feel free to pass this along to whomever you feel appropriate!

For more information on our "Go with Green" initiative please follow the link below:
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/policy/Initiatives/Pages/StrategicInitiativeSix-10-11.aspx

Safe and pleasant travels,

Jocelynn Clemings, Public Information Officer
Ohio Department of Transportation
District 12: Serving Cuyahoga, Lake & Geauga Counties
Ph: 216.584.2006
"Moving Ohio into a Prosperous New World"

JOCELYNN CLEMINGS:

Dear Mr. Ferris and Ms. Ferris:
Please see the below e-mail written this morning to Mr. Mestnik. I think it will address many of the questions you posed in your previous e-mails. Please feel free to contact me or Transportation Planning and Programs Administrator Dale Schiavoni (who is copied on this e-mail) again if you have any other questions.
Mr. Schiavoni will also be available at today's meeting regarding the I-71 noise walls.
Safe and pleasant travels,
Jocelynn Clemings, Public Information Officer
Ohio Department of Transportation
District 12: Serving Cuyahoga, Lake & Geauga Counties
Ph: 216.584.2006
"Moving Ohio into a Prosperous New World"

TIM FERRIS:

Jocelynn—

Thanks. I know of no meeting today. Tell me more, with detail, please. This is short notice. The last thing we heard from Councilman Cummins was something about Thursday.

We were promised that the dialogue would be far more extensive than it has been, that ODOT would make an attempt to save money and also do a more “green” implementation, in line with other things we do.

We are nowhere near done talking here. As things stand for us, the proposed ODOT implementation not only costs way more than it needs to cost, and cheapens the surrounding area in the process. This is a perverse dynamic.

SHARON MARTYNOWSKI:

I would like to point out that the neighborhood that ODOT is so intent on “Walling off” as if we were some dead zone from a science fiction movie is the home of the Cleveland Metro Park Zoo, one of the foremost ranking Zoo’s in the country and the single most visited recreational destination in the County. It is also the home of Riverside Cemetery, one of the oldest, historical and most picturesque park like Cemeteries in the city of Cleveland. It is also the neighborhood that has recently received three of the ReImaging Cleveland grants which is an initiative that has received Federal funds to help the City of Cleveland transform vacant city-owned land bank lots into community assets and create new and sustainable land reuses of those vacant lots. This program was applauded by Mayor Jackson as a way to “bring a progressive outlook to a sustainable vision in our neighborhoods.” Cleveland claims to be striving to be more eco-friendly. We have all heard the new catch phrase “A green city on a blue lake.” The local politicos and movers and shakers are all giving lip service to being environmentally aware and “thinking green.” But they are all willing to turn a blind eye and let ODOT do whatever it wants, regardless of what the community wants, just so they can justify spending money and justify their existence. Why not use that money to fix the broken walls that are already in place? Oh, that’s right, ODOT claims, there is no money to fix the walls or to maintain them. Then why do they think we would want MORE walls?

I’d like to know what the people at ReImaging Cleveland think about this issue. How about the Neighborhood Progress folks? Sustainable Cleveland? And what about all the other groups and organizations out there trying to improve our Cleveland neighborhoods? What do you think Mayor Jackson? You’re the one asking us to provide a progressive outlook in our neighborhoods. How do concrete walls fit into that vision?

TIM FERRIS:

Good one—I’ll post it with today’s collection late this evening

BRIAN CUMMINS:

Dear residents and stakeholders,

This message is intended to update and inform people regarding the status of the ODOT Noise Mitigation project: I-71 from Pearl Road/W. 25th Street to Fulton Avenue.

Summary timeline – ODOT concluded its noise analysis back in April of 2009 and at that time prepared various potential alternative designs for noise mitigation walls based on their noise analysis of the project area.

Project meetings were held by ODOT with the public through September – October of 2009 (north and south sections of the community) and public outreach on the streets immediately affected continued through November as well as in February/March of 2010.

We’ve recently learned that ODOT went to bid with project in March 2010 and Greatlakes Construction received the $2.5 million contract in April. Surveying began in June and as many of you are aware trees began to be marked for removal this past week.

We’ve learned that construction is anticipated to be from July through October 2010 with tree and drilling work first and then wall placement to follow.

In communications with ODOT over the past month my office sought clarification regarding the final plans for walls and requested to have input into those plans before they were implemented. We had a meeting scheduled with ODOT officials for Thursday of this week, but through our discussions ODOT agreed earlier this morning to meet in the field today. Johanna Hamm and I spent several hours in the field with ODOT officials this morning reviewing plans and discussing operations.

Plans for a Public Meeting - We are coordinating with Applewood Centers to secure their auditorium/gym for a public meeting for either Wed/Thurs. June 30^th/July 1^st at 6:30 pm. We’ll send out an email as soon as we confirm this as well as work with local area CDCs to help flyer notices.

The Project – We are working with ODOT to ensure that noise barrier walls will only be placed in areas between Pearl and Fulton along I-71 where the majority of homeowners expressed a strong interest in them. ODOT’s plans were to install walls the full length of the access road on the south side of the freeway and from the Jones Home (W. 25^th St.) to W. 39^th Street on the north side, leaving the portion that abuts Smith Avenue as is – with no wall installed.

In our discussions today ODOT is willing to considering changing their plans to eliminate the installation of a wall from W. 39^th St. to Fulton on the southern side of the freeway. There are a majority of property owners that would rather not have a wall in this area and to maintain the lush tree growth instead. Other changes we hope to influence include backing the wall off of the eastern entrance and exit of the access ramps at Pearl Road/W. 25^th Street to better protect the viewsheds of that corridor, and additional discussions are occurring with property owners in these areas to help delineate where the walls would begin. In addition, we walked the project area and reviewed the trees that are marked for removal and the contractor will be working to try to save as many trees as possible given the 10-foot width requirements for installation.

NOTE: See the enclosed reference map. The project area only consists of the areas labeled NSA3 and NSA4. NSA 1, 2 & 5 are not being considered for a wall. Also, the area to the north beginning at W. 39^th and extending to Fulton Road will not see a wall installed and we’re working with ODOT to ensure a wall will not be installed on the south side of the project, also from W. 39^th to Fulton.

In terms of a green-structure alternative to the cement walls, ODOT has stated that they will not be considering this as an option. They have responded that they need more research to ensure this type of wall would meet federal requirements (There is an example that has been given in Canada provided by resident Ken Wohlgemuth) for addressing noise conditions. And, that without that, this type of solution would not be available at this time.

My perspective on this issue is that it is a tough balancing act to 1) be responsive to the majority of residents that are most negatively impacted by the sound of the freeway - many of them have expressed their frustrations over the last 6-years that it has taken this long to get a project of this kind funded. And, 2) on the other, with all of the greening activities we’ve seen in the last 5-plus years with groups like Friends of Big Creek and the Brooklyn Centre Naturalist and recent Reimagining Cleveland Projects (BCCA & BCN) projects we’re aware of the desire by many oppose such noise walls in our neighborhood or loss of any existing trees.

As a compromise we want to work with ODOT as described above in terms of limiting as much as possible the installation of the walls only where they will mitigate noise for a majority of residents who want them, and also see if we can either reallocate/apportion funding out of this project or seek out additional funding for more landscaping and buffering for the entire area covered by the project. We also want to work to see what can be done for better landscaping and improved fencing at the end points of the project (entrance and exit ramps) where on the western end Metroparks has been helpful in maintaining and improving the areas, and to work with and learn from the Tremont neighborhood’s implementation of a vegetative screening in lieu of noise walls in their neighborhood.

If anyone has any questions please contact me and please feel free to post comments as well on the pages referenced above.

Sincerely,

Brian.

---------------------------------------------

Brian J. Cummins

Councilman, Ward 14

Cleveland City Council

City Hall, Room 220

601 Lakeside Avenue

Cleveland, OH 44114

216-664-4238 office

216-664-3837 fax

bcummins@clevelandcitycouncil.org

Johanna V. Hamm

Executive Assistant, Ward 14

jhamm@clevelandcitycouncil.org

NOTE: This information will also be posted as a link on the at the Realneo.us blog site and the Brooklyn Centre Community Association facebook page

today’s thread concerning ODOT District 12 and how they ignore the people who make their employment possible

2010-06-14T22:22:00.001-04:00

What follows is a thread of emails, cut and pasted, from this morning onward to this evening, concerning the Ohio Department of Transportation's attempt to subvert the public dialogue and in the process spend 5 times more than is necessary, and to achieve a less satisfactory result. Here goes, in a roughly chronological order. I tried doing this in CoverItLive but found it unwieldy and myself out of practice.

***Ken Wohlgemuth:

Hi Frank regarding conversation yesterday sound barrier wall Brooklyn Centre, here is the link to the living walls site. I have not done any cost comparisons, but I would prefer this type of concept compared to the concentration camp type walls they are considering building. --Ken Wohlgemuth

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Ken Wohlgemuth <kpwogie@sbcglobal.net>
To: brian cummins <bcummins@clevelandcitycouncil.org>; Johanna V. Hamm <johannavhamm@earthlink.net>
Sent: Fri, July 24, 2009 11:48:49 PM
Subject: Living walls-odot

http://www.thelivingwall.net/ Have you seen this. Ken

***Tim Ferris:

Thanks, Ken .

This morning, the first task at hand—

Who will make the calls this morning to ODOT and to the City to find out what is happening and when on I-71, with trees now marked in orange and in red on both sides of the highway between Fulton and Pearl?

We never finished our discussion of how to implement sound barriers, and the living wall needs yet to be vetted.

It feels as though ODOT is shortcutting the process they promised us—survey, study, cost comparisons, natural alternatives, and so forth.

***Gloria Ferris:

We were supposed to discuss such solutions with ODOT for our park neighborhood here in Brooklyn Centre. ODOT seems to be avoiding the issue so they can just do what they always do, and avoid saving public money and saving the environment. This link was provided by our neighbor Ken Wohlgemuth.

The Living Wall is a sound attenuation/privacy screening solution that incorporates ecological principals with engineering practices.

The vegetation used in The Living Wall , willow shrubs native to Canada and the US, has the ability to grow rapidly and thus provides an almost instant landscape.

The construction is carefully planned to ensure the controlled growth of roots and shoots. As the vegetation spreads over its biodegradable wooden framework, it matures into an integrated unit that is able to withstand harsh winters and hot summers; maintaining its aesthetic appeal in all seasons.

The Living Wall naturalizes urban and rural environments while providing superior sound absorption and a substantial privacy structure. It is an organic manufacture that has enormous environmental benefits including: photosynthesis, pollution filtration, and soil stabilization.

The Living Wall is 100% recyclable! It is appropriate for large and small-scale usages such as commercial, parkland, and highway installations, as well as individual residential lots.

The Living Wall Is available in two applications privacy screen fence and sound barrier with soil.

--
Posted By Gloria Ferris to Save Our Land at 6/14/2010 09:44:00 AM

***Joe Cimperman:

Director Brown
please advise.
Joe Cimperman

***Tim Ferris

Nothing yet from ODOT—at the link is a blog post regarding the living walls.

***Joe Cimperman:

Ms Hill
Ms Teeuwen
Please help clarify this. As you can see residents are rightfully concerned.
Joe

***Robyn Sandys:

Thanks for keeping me in the loop!

Robyn Sandys

Executive Director

Old Brooklyn CDC

***Ken Wohlgemuth:

Tim, I took the liberty to contact, Living Walls Co. I wanted to make sure they are a viable company not just a web page, they will forward information regarding a project in Vermont and other projects they are in Canada, my tunnel vision is not alone on this company but through my searches have not seen any other choices.—Ken Wohlgemuth

***Tim Ferris:

Right—it’s a starting point to restart the discussion.

***Frank Mestnik:
Thanks Tim & Ken.

What’s the location of the wall? I recall Riverside Drive from yesterday, but want to confirm before I start making the calls.

Also, do you have a picture of the X’s on the trees by chance?

Frank Mestnik

Editor - Liberty News

216-373-3265

***Tim Ferris:

Frank—

No, I didn’t have a camera this morning, when I noticed the marked trees on the north side of the freeway. The trees either side of the freeway are marked either in red or orange, and at least between Fulton and Pearl. I noticed the south side this past weekend.

We were not done talking about putting in natural barriers at 1/5^th the cost of the concrete-wall installation, and way less ongoing maintenance and replacement cost.

ODOT is premature, and probably dealing in bad faith. They are on site with trucks

***Frank Mestnik:

Good Afternoon,

Per ODOT- They are clear-cutting and installing a concrete sound barrier on I-71 between Fulton Rd. & Pearl. Their interpretation of the public meeting is that residents wanted the sound barrier. A survey was sent out and they are reporting that the results of the survey prompted them to move forward with the project. However, she noted that they did not receive as many survey respondents as they would have liked.

The Living Wall/green barrier idea was rejected because it, “has not been tested or used in Ohio and does not meet ODOT specifications.” This, in my view, does not represent innovative solutions for a green city and a green state.

I have requested a copy of the public meeting minutes and survey results. On my question regarding whether this could be turned into a pilot project, she said it could not, because the plans were already set.

I have a call in to the Living Wall group. I see they have been active in Toronto and other parts of Canada which would certainly be a similar climate. In order for this to turn into an innovative pilot program and stop the clear-cutting, higher level involvement and leadership is required.

Heading out to take photos of what is currently green space and what may be clear-cut in the next day.

Thank you,

Frank Mestnik

Editor - Liberty News

216-373-3265

***Tim Ferris:

We were there; the indigenous population were, for the most part, up in arms and did not want the installation of concrete barriers. The “interpretation” is loose and self-serving, at odds with the spirit of the meeting.

Bear in mind that the community has united twice, in 2005 and again in 2009, to tell ODOT that the community finds it offensive to have these walls foisted off on us, a turn-of-the-prior-century park neighborhood of the city of Cleveland. From the point of view of design, most preferred a natural, green, solution consisting of trees, bushes, and berms. From the point of view of cost, most were outraged at the waste involved in the concrete walls, estimated at being 5 times the cost of more sensitive, more sustainable natural solutions.

Our design contingent of the community thinks the concrete walls are tacky and tasteless.

Our historic preservation crowd thinks they will detract not only from panache but also from property values.

ODOT’s version of the meeting verges on fraudulent.

***Johanna Hamm:

Good afternoon,

We will be meeting with Tom Sorge and Mark Carpenter from ODOT on Thursday of this week. From what we have been told so far, the majority of residents on Riverside and Poe, with the exception of Smith ave., wanted the concrete sound barriers, even after we revised the original survey to include a green option. We have asked multiple times to see the returned surveys to verify this and hope they are provided this Thursday. We also have asked to see the final plan to ensure a minimal amount of trees are impacted and that the walls transition smoothly at their ends.

-------------------------------------

Johanna V. Hamm

Executive Assistant

Ward 14 Councilman Brian J. Cummins

(216) 664-4238

(216) 664-3837 - fax

jhamm@clevelandcitycouncil.org

***Tim Ferris;

Johanna—

Did anybody in any position to do so give any assurance that no cutting will proceed until after the meeting, and until after the results of the survey are verified?

What are the guarantees here?

I also recommending thoroughly auditing any results they have to make sure the questioning wasn’t slanted to give ODOT the answer it wanted to hear. I do know from our experience on this same issue of barrier walls in 2005 and again in 2009 that the neighbors, with very few exceptions, were opposed to the tall concrete walls.

Remember, too, that these walls impact our entire neighborhood on each side of the freeway, not just those few properties that are contiguous to the right-of-way. We should not frame the issue too narrowly. The crumbling walls by the airport, for instance, are an embarrassment to the region, not merely to the property owners whose land is next to them.

When we mentioned this marking of trees to our councilman over the weekend, he did not mention a meeting with anybody from ODOT? Is this a recent arrangement? Who is attending? Again, we don’t want to limit access.

***Joe Cimperman:

Ms Hamm
Thanks for your diligence. When and where is the meeting?
Joe Cimperman
216 215 6765

***Brian Cummins:

We’re in the process of finalizing meeting details between our office and ODOT – it will likely be on-site by the I-71 access ramps. Note that our office has received the plans and completed resident surveys pertaining to the noise wall issues for the area of I-71 between Fulton and Pearl in Ward 14. We’ll be reviewing that information with ODOT as well as doing some field work with them to review the plans.

We’ll follow-up with a public meeting to share this information as soon as we complete our review.

If anyone has questions please contact me.

Regards,

Brian.

216-333-5453 cell

***Joe Cimperman:

So the time of this meeting is?

***Tim Ferris:

I’m not comfortable with scant representation; we have two or three councilpeople impacted by this proposed work, and they all should be present.

Public meetings recently have been less than satisfactory, with guys from ODOT saying they’re going to do this anyway regardless of what we taxpayers want. There’s some real dysfunctionality in all this that needs to be rooted out.

I’d suggest that at the outset we engage all who are concerned with sustainability issues, with green issues, with initial cost/benefit analysis, and with long-term maintenance costs and how they’ll be covered—we have a lot of government offices we pay to fill this role, as well as nonprofits, and I would like to see them step up and do that for which they are designed—promote the public interest and safeguard the public trust.

***Frank Mestnik:

Good afternoon-

From my viewpoint, this looks like a great opportunity to study and, if viable, cost-comparable or superior and practical, implement an innovative green solution that may very well be superior to the cement barricades. This may turn out to be one of those grass-roots solutions that lead to annual multi-million dollar savings to the taxpayer if this can be implemented and scaled up state wide – or this could be yet another missed opportunity for Ohio and Cleveland to lead the way.

At the very least, it’s worth a feasibility study, possible small scale pilot program and after-action analysis. I would find it highly unlikely residents would prefer a concrete barricade to a tree-wall if the facts revealed the tree-wall was superior or comparable. I have a crew canvassing businesses this week, but can certainly re-direct a few of them to those streets to do an independent door to door survey.

Whichever way this turns out, the residents will have the information and independent analysis published in the paper.

Thank you,

Frank Mestnik

Editor - Liberty News

216-373-3265

***Tim Ferris:

Frank, this is certainly a reasonable proposal. We need to analyze cost, delineate benefits, and look at the impact now and later on people who make government possible and necessary, values of all properties that constitute the built environment, and the natural environment.

The Zoo should weigh in, too. They reminded us years ago that they are the outgrowth of the “park neighborhood” called Brooklyn Centre.

A few people have agreed to suggest to Strickland and to Fisher that this heavy-handed behavior on the part of ODOT may prove a liability to each of them, as the state and the national level, respectively, in this election year.

***Joe Cimperman:

Councilmen Brancatelli and Kelley,
Fyi.
Joe Cimperman

***Ken Wohlgemuth:

Map of area in question from July 2009 meeting. [this can be sent to you if you ask for it]

***Brian Cummins:

Councilman Cimperman,

Are you aware that the noise barrier walls being discussed in the thread below pertain to the area solely within Ward 14? – the part of I-71 with the access roads bordering 1) Riverside Avenue to the south and 2) Poe and Smith Avenues to the north. There are no other Wards being impacted by this specific project.

If you have an interest in this issue, as it pertains to Ward 14 or otherwise and would like to discuss it, I again ask that you please call me directly on my cell phone and I can fill you in on the work done to-date and being planned.

One of the biggest challenges we face is that there have been requests by residents FOR a noise barrier wall for portions of the access roads (primarily the eastern portions), whereas residents on the western potions, and some vocal residents throughout the area are AGAINST walls. We’re working with ODOT currently to delineate where walls will be installed and how we can ensure resident interests are well represented.

Please call me to discuss, as from your emails today it appears you are very interested in the issue. If there are any constituents from Ward 14 or otherwise that have/are contacting you, that would like more information, please direct them to me via my cell. Regardless of where any new walls go within this segment of I-71 in Ward 14, I’m confident that there will be an interest from residents and local groups to ensure significant additional green buffering and in that case our two wards and the communities involved could benefit from each other’s work.

Brian.

216-333-5453 cell

***Joe Cimperman:

Councilman Cummins.
As you know this area also impacts Ward 3, and I bet residents from wards 13 and 12 are interested as well.
At any rate, it was great working collaboratively with you on the Scranton Library and look forward to this meeting as Mr Ferris and others have included us on the email.
Cheers!
Joe Cimperman

wise practices from Toronto: The Living Wall sound barrier

2010-06-14T09:44:00.001-04:00

We were supposed to discuss such solutions with ODOT for our park neighborhood here in Brooklyn Centre. ODOT seems to be avoiding the issue so they can just do what they always do, and avoid saving public money and saving the environment. This link was provided by our neighbor Ken Wohlgemuth.

The Living Wall is a sound attenuation/privacy screening solution that incorporates ecological principals with engineering practices.

The vegetation used in The Living Wall , willow shrubs native to Canada and the US, has the ability to grow rapidly and thus provides an almost instant landscape.

The construction is carefully planned to ensure the controlled growth of roots and shoots. As the vegetation spreads over its biodegradable wooden framework, it matures into an integrated unit that is able to withstand harsh winters and hot summers; maintaining its aesthetic appeal in all seasons.

The Living Wall naturalizes urban and rural environments while providing superior sound absorption and a substantial privacy structure. It is an organic manufacture that has enormous environmental benefits including: photosynthesis, pollution filtration, and soil stabilization.

The Living Wall is 100% recyclable! It is appropriate for large and small-scale usages such as commercial, parkland, and highway installations, as well as individual residential lots.

The Living Wall Is available in two applications privacy screen fence and sound barrier with soil.

Gateway to Our Past: The 2010 Brooklyn Centre Garden Tour, June 13th, 2010, at Riverside Cemetery

2010-05-31T16:29:00.001-04:00

Here is the information from this year’s promotional postcard:

THE 2010 BROOKLYN CENTRE GARDEN TOUR

“GATEWAY TO OUR PAST”

June 13, 2010 ~ 1 – 5 P.M.

Riverside Cemetery, 3607 Pearl Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44109

costumed narrators ~ musical entertainment

refreshments served ~ free parking

continuous walking tours throughout the afternoon

(last tour starting at 4:15 P. M.)

Admission $8.00 ($10.00 day of tour)

Seniors $5.00 ($7.00 day of tour)

Reserve your tickets today!

Group Rates Available for Parties of 6 or More.

Call: 216-351-0254

or email: gloria.ferris@gmail.com

Brooklyn Centre Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday, May 31st, at 1100

2010-05-19T23:01:00.001-04:00

The following email message came from our friend Rick Nicholson on lower Denison, near the Brooklyn Centre Burying Grounds, or Denison Cemetery. We plan on being there:

PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL CONCERNED. SEE YOU MEMORIAL DAY.

THANKS RICK

BROOKLYN CENTRE

MEMORIAL DAY

CEREMONY

JOIN US FOR A SERVICE AT THE HISTORIC BROOKLYN CENTRE BURYING GROUND, ALSO KNOWN AS DENISON CEMETERY. TO HONOR OUR MILITARY VETERANS.

11:00 AM, MONDAY

MAY 31ST 2010

MEET AT THE BURYING GROUNDS LOCATED ON GARDEN AVENUE, NORTH OF DENISON AND EAST OF PEARL ON GARDEN AVE BEHIND ALDI'S

THIS CEMETERY HAD ITS FIRST BURIAL IN 1823 AND WAS DEEDED BROOKLYN CENTRE BURING GROUNDS IN 1835. MANY WAR VETERANS, STARTING WITH THE "REVOLUTIONARY WAR", ARE BURIED IN THIS LOCAL HISTORIC CEMETERY.

ALL WELCOME TO CONTRIBUTE. PLEASE CALL RICK NICHOLSON AT 216 398 1494 TO SCHEDULE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE. MUSIC WILL BE PERFORMED BY JOY AND DOC.

New National Report: Economic Impact of Historic Tax Credits

2010-04-19T10:23:00.001-04:00

Here’s a tidbit showing how preservation is good business:

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has released a new report produced by Rutgers University which attributes the economic impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credit since its inception in 1976.

Federal Historic Tax Credit is a highly-efficient creator of jobs, accounting for the creation of 1.8 million new jobs over the life of the program. About 75% of the Federal Historic Tax Credit's economic effects are retained in the localities and states where the projects are located.

Since 2002, National Park Service statistics have indicated that about two-thirds of all Federal Historic Tax Credit projects have been located in Qualified Low-Income Census Tracts.

Link to Preservation Nation and download the report HERE

Thank You!! Thank You! Thank You!

2010-04-11T12:06:00.001-04:00

There are a lot of people to thank for yesterday's VERY successful work day on our ReImagining Cleveland project. There were many people behind the scenes as well as on site who made the day a very prosperous one for our neighborhood. I say prosperous because to see the talent, the cooperation, the sense of community, and the smiles made us all feel wealthy, or prosperous, while doing some very hard work was inspirational to me and others.

A mere thank you doesn't seem quite enough, but it it what we have. Thank you!

Each and every one of you deserves a thank you—those of you who were there digging trenches, hauling sand and gravel, pouring concrete, clearing brush, and attending to our "oil spill" discovered below a trash pile.

As always, there were people behind the scenes who helped make our day so successful, and we would like to thank them as well.

Maria Dimengo who contacted Angela Lowrey from CWRU who coordinated our "college day of service" group of Case Western Reserve students.
Donn Hecklemoser who worked with Lynn at Community Service to get us Melvin and his work crew of eight
Barbara Hermes of West Creek Preservationists and Paul Fabek, Baldwin Wallace intern, who got us the BW crew who worked at Brooklyn Memorial to prepare gardens for the summer.
Pastor Pam and her "church ladies" who provided bagels, pastries, and lunch to some of our crew.
Greg Cznadel, Ann Kuula, and Christine Stuckey who ran our weekly neighborhood kids' program so the rest of us could work on the vacant lot sites.
Sherry Perry, owner of "The Ugly Broad" and her bartender Scottie who opened her bar to our volunteers for restroom concerns and allowed Katie Ferris to use her grill so our volunteers could have a hot lunch.

An now, on to "on the scene" people:

Joe Mestnik who coordinated the WHOLE project and was on site at West 36th street.
Dave Boyce who oversaw the work crews at West 39th Street.
Georgia Althar who coordinated the garden clean-up at Brooklyn Methodist.

And last, but not least, every one of you who volunteered on an incredibly beautiful April day in Cleveland.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Gloria Ferris and Sharon Martyn

Co-chairs

Brooklyn Centre Naturalists

P.S.--Angela, Paul, and, Donn--if you would pass this LONG thank you on to everyone in your volunteer corps, we would appreciate it.

UPDATE: Mineral Mining Permit #10428 Application

2010-03-24T14:16:00.001-04:00

At Monday’s City of Cleveland Council meeting, Councilman Brancatelli, Cummins, and Kelley submitted emergency Resolution 375-10 opposing the above referenced application.

The resolution was read three times, and then, council voted. It passed with all eighteen members present voting “yea”. Councilman Cummins verified that this mining permit application does have a connection to Bradley Road landfill. Councilman Brancatelli confirmed that information on TY Inc. has been difficult to obtain at this point.

Several people have submitted letters of objection. Chris Trepal, executive director of Earth Day Coalition notified me her letter of objection has been mailed. Robyn Sandys, executive director of Old Brooklyn CDC emailed me to tell me that OBCDC would be formally objecting. I learned today that the objection was unanimously approved at last night’s board meeting.

At this point, not much is known about the details of the application or the ramifications of what such a permit would have to the community. Many city departments are compiling data, city council has objected and asked for answers, OBCDC is gathering information, and most importantly, private citizens are aware and asking questions.

Eight Days and Counting….

2010-03-22T16:33:00.001-04:00

until March 31, 2010 when the time for public comment is closed on Mineral Mining Permit Application #10428 which would allow strip mining for sand and clay between Sky Lane and Bradley Road.

Here is the letter I sent to the Chief of Mineral Resources at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Feel free to use it in its entirity adding your own concerns, use parts of it our write you own letter. Just WRITE!

March 22, 2010

Chief John Husted

Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Division of Mineral Resources Management

2045 Morse Road, Building H3

Columbus, OH 43229-6693

Dear Mr. Husted:

I object to the application #10428 Request for Mineral Mining between Sky Lane and Bradley Road in the City of Cleveland. My reasons include but are not limited to the following:

Effect of Strip Mining on Neighborhood: How will the strip mining affect residents of Sky Lane and Bradley Roads? How much noise, dust and traffic will be created? Can the infrastructure handle the strain of heavy machinery and trucks? What impact will this have on property values and even the ability to sell at all? How far into the neighborhood will this effect reach?
Effect on Watershed: Will the ecosystems of two creeks be compromised? What will ensure that they are not? What is the Ohio EPA’s position on covering over streams?

Effect on Air Quality: What particulate matter will be added to the atmosphere?

Effect on Community: Will this set a precedent for other vacant land within the city limits of Cleveland? What rights do the City of Cleveland and its citizens have in such a matter?

Need for Transparency: What is Ty Inc. and what assurance do we have that the corporation has the expertise to take on this undertaking? Who will the partners be in this operation? How will the public be assured that they will not be burdened with a failed enterprise? What will the transparency of such a major undertaking be? Will all contracts be approved in the light of day? What assurances will the public have that the corporation and partners are financially able to underwrite the endeavor?

I request a public hearing to be held so that the residential neighbors in this area as well as their fellow Clevelanders can ask questions and speak to the impact the awarding of a 15 year permit for mineral mining would have on our city and the community of Old Brooklyn.

Sincerely,

Today’s Cleveland City Council Meeting is of major importance for those community members who are lobbying for pedestrian and bicicyle access on the planned Innerbelt bridge. Rally at 6:30 on steps of City Hall.

During the City Council Meeting which starts a 7 pm Councilman Brancatelli will be introducing a formal objection to introucing mineral mining with Old Brooklyn.

Is Applying for Mineral Mining Rights within the City Limits of Cleveland Newsworthy?

2010-03-22T16:32:00.001-04:00

It would probably depend on your viewpoint. I would say that the residents on Sky Lane and near Bradley Road would be very interested in Mineral Mining Permit #10428. The public notice for this application was placed in the Plain Dealer beginning in February. I went on line to www.Cleveland.com to find one of the public notices by scanning the classifieds but gave it up as a futile endeavor. The public notices are included with the classifieds and not searchable as far as I could tell.

I decided to call the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to ask for a copy of the permit application. The very helpful state employee told me that the original application could have been revised several times so that the one he had available to send might not have up-to-the-minute information. He said he would answer my questions if he could.

Who applied for the permit? Ty Inc. out of Independence Ohio

Where were the public notices advertised? They advertised in the Plain Dealer that they would be mining for sand and clay.

He suggested that he tell me what they planned to do. They will be using heavy equipment to extract the sand and clay. This will be open pit mining . In an open pit mining situation,the site must be reclaimed. They plan to use the soil and restore the site to a condition as close to original as possible.

What is the time frame? It is a fifteen year permit.

How do they plan to reclaim the site? It will be an open, vegetative site with a big pond. He told me it actually would be a water impoundment feature. He began to explain what water impoundment is. I asked him if it was like water impoundment used when strip mining for coal. The answer was: yes. He then went on to tell me that the contouring would be a 3/1slope and rolled erosion webbing around the water impoundment would be used.

How large of an area are we talking about? He said well, it is pretty large. 8 and 1/2 acres. They intend to mine 30,000 tons of clay and soil and expect to reach gray silt at 12 ft with an ending depth of 24 feet with the average being 20 feet. The area is along Sky Lane and Bradley Road.

The last thing he told me is VERY IMPORTANT. The DEADLINE for public comment is March 31st. Here is the address to send letters with questions, concerns, and a request for a public hearing to:

Chief John Husted
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Division of Mineral Resources Management
2045 Morse Road, Building H3
Columbus, OH 43229-6693

So here are some questions :

How will the strip mining effect residents of Sky Lane and Bradley Roads?
Will the ecosystems of two creeks be compromised? What will ensure that they are not?
What particulate matter will be added to the atmosphere?
What will be the effect on the water table and the watershed?
If this permit is granted, will this set a precedent for other vacant land within the city limits of Cleveland?What is the assurance that Ty inc. has the expertise for such an undertaking?

Is the EPA involved in the vetting of this application? Where and when do they step in?

What rights does the city of Cleveland and its citizens have in such a matter?

I talked to Councilman Brancatelli who has objected to the application. Monday, March 22 Councilman Brancatelli will formally oppose this application at the City Council meeting so that the City Law Department can take the objection forward. Councilman Brancatelli has also requested a public hearing but does not know when and where it will be held yet.

I do know from my talk with the state employee that a public hearing is usually held within two weeks after the deadline date. In this case, March 31. he said that the downside to a public meeting is that sometimes not all people are able to speak because of time constraints. He said that letters of objection sent until March 31will be considered and that these letters should be sent. he said the best way to be heard is to write a letter with concerns and request a public hearing so that a lot of questions can be answered beforehand and included in information at the public hearing.

There are two things we can do:

1. WRITE a letter of Objection that requests a public hearing to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources
2. ATTEND Monday’s City Council meeting and support Councilman Brancatelli.

Is this newsworthy? I believe it is. Every resident of the city of Cleveland and beyond should know about this mineral mining rights application that would approve mining within city limits. But how will they know? I am pushing this information out to as many people as possible. If you agree, take the time to write a letter requesting a public hearing. Send the information to others who you think will want to support Councilman Brancatelli’s efforts. Find out as much as you can about this latest assault on the residents of Sky Lane and Cleveland.

McQuillin’s Newsletter goes online

2010-03-17T08:26:00.001-04:00

Our friend, preservationist and former neighbor Steve McQuillin, forsakes print for digital. This should expand his sphere of influence even further, and we welcome the change.

Our New On-Line Newsletter:

Over 20 years ago, in the fall of 1989, this newsletter for Steven McQuillin & Associates, was first launched. That first issue, highlighting a preservation plan at Nela Park, the re-opening of the Forest City Bank Building, the Broadway Building, and a district in Gates Mills, also featured the firm's then-new offices at 3515 Archwood Ave. Appearing twice each year thereafter, this printed version is a compendium of preservation projects in Northeast Ohio. It is hoped this new on-line version can appear more often and feature more articles as well as reach a wider audience.� Comments and feedback are welcome.� Please feel free to suggest new email addresses for this on-line publication.

Below are links to the twelve articles in the Winter 2010 issue.

Newsletter

BCN & FOBC Joint Mtg March 9

2010-02-28T22:05:00.001-05:00

Dear Save Our Land reader-

Brooklyn Centre Naturalists and Friends of Big Creek have joined forces to bring us "Putting the "U" in Urban Watershed Stewardship". The line up of speakers, Joe Mestnik, Terry Duncan, John Rakauskas, and Lisa Warner will be sharing ways to impact The Big Creek Watershed in positive ways. Ways that will include storm water management, creating healthy backyard and public environments for humans and wildlife through the use of native plants and organic garden practices, and understanding how water Quality can be improved from individual action..

The program will be Tuesday, March 9th from 6 pm to 8:30 pm at the Reingberger Education Center located at 3900 Wildlife Way.

GO HERE http://tinyurl.com/yg7j4r3 for all the details.

Please register by calling 216-351-0254 or email gloria.ferris@gmail.com.

Gloria Ferris and Sharon Martyn, Co-Chairs
Brooklyn Centre Naturalists

how to be putting the “u” in urban watershed stewardship; “b” there March 9th; “c” how it’s done

2010-02-23T18:10:00.001-05:00

VDAY2

2010-02-12T16:14:00.001-05:00

Dear Save Our Land reader-

Mike Lang our neighbor and friend is hosting a Valentine's benefit for Big Brothers Big Sisters today and tomorrow. http://www.gloriaferris.net/2010/02/valentines-weekend-bigbrothersbigsisters-benefit/

There will be raffles of sports event tickets, playhouse Square events, artwork, clothing and other fun stuff to win.
Brooklyn Centre artists will be attending as well. Mike displays and sells their work. It would be a great time to visit Mike's shop, support a good cause, and meet some of our local artists.

http://www.gloriaferris.net/2010/02/valentinebenefitartjewelryrafflesfood-much-much-more/

Gloria Ferris

Valentine's Weekend Benefit

2010-02-05T19:47:00.000-05:00

Dear Save Our Land reader,

One of our friends here in Brooklyn Centre who owns m lang clothing & cocktails will be holding an event for Big Brothers Big Sisters (BCBS) next weekend. There will be food and drink and items to purchase, and the profits will benefit the BCBS organization.

How is this for a deal? Donate $49 to Big Brothers Big Sisters and receive a custom shirt FREE, compliments of Mike and Savile Lane. These custom shirts are a regular $89 value. Nice Valentine's gift, yes?

I posted the flier with details here:

http://tinyurl.com/yenf25d

Hope to see you there.

Gloria Ferris

Cleveland Housing Court Informational Meeting

2010-01-26T16:54:00.001-05:00

This Saturday—everybody’s welcome. Judge Pianka will be there.

The Cleveland Housing Court is offering an informational meeting on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 10:00 AM at the Justice Center, 13 Floor, Courtroom 13-B. Please plan on attending this event to learn more about the Cleveland Housing Court.

Information presented will include the following:

the role of the Housing Court in criminal and civil cases;

how cases are filed in the Housing Court;

the role of the City of Cleveland Prosecutor’s Office in Housing cases;

the duties of the City Inspectors in Housing cases;

search warrants;

Housing Court programs and initiatives;

the role of Housing Court Specialists, Magistrates and Bailiffs; and

the outlook for 2010.

Please RSVP the number of attendees to: mooredi@clevelandmunicipalcourt.org.

Cleveland Housing Court Informational Meeting

update on permeable driveway surfaces in Cleveland

2010-01-20T12:56:00.001-05:00

Cleveland seems to be making headway regarding sensible adoption of code governing permeable driveway surfaces. Our friend Lynn Lemley of Archwood reports this about her brother’s case yesterday at some sort of hearing downtown:

"Update of Burnice Weaver versus City of Cleveland laws on gravel driveways:

“I have spoken to Councilman Brian Cummins concerning the debate over the laws pertaining to gravel driveways, and ways to resolve the issue to allow for more common-sense, “green” solutions. We attended a meet at the board of appeals today. I informed the board of the intention of City Council to draft new legislation to alter the current law in place. My brother was granted a continuance until the new legislation is passed by City Council. "

We’ll let you know when gravel drives are once again permitted in this fair City.

Public Meeting Scheduled: Uranium Remediation at Harshaw Chemical Plant in Old Brooklyn on Shores of Big Creek.

2010-01-06T13:20:00.001-05:00

Brooklyn Centre Naturalists received the email below from member Ellen O’Neill. Ellen is correct that this issue should concern city residents and park users alike. My concern is that I googled the info and found no mention of this public meeting scheduled in three weeks. Where are the public notifications about this meeting? Why do we not see advance notifciation of PUBLIC meetings? Please feel free to repost the info wherever and however you can. And a big Thank you to our BC Naturalist for the heads up. If anyone can point me to an “official” public notice of this pending meeting I would appreciate it.

http://www.lrb.usace.army.mil/fusrap/harshaw/index.htm#Documents

This is the link to the new report from the US Army Corps of Engineers on the Harshaw Chemical plant, located at 1000 Harvard Avenue, south of downtown Cleveland. This plant is near the CanalWay trails and Old Brooklyn, as well as other areas.

There is a public meeting on Wednesday January 20, 2010 from 7 to 9 pm. at the State Boat Landing Room of the Cleveland Metroparks Leonard Krieger CanalWay Center. This is located off 4524 East 49th Street, Cuyahoga Heights, Oh 44125. This is about a 15 minute drive I think, from Old Brooklyn.

Uranium is present at this site. It was processed during the war years, and contaminates a 55 acre site. In their report it states that "remedial design and action will begin based on the availability of funds."

Not a great statement! Remediation needs to begin now!

Please get the word out about this meeting. If anyone would like to carpool let's get that organized too.

This is an issue that should concern city residents and park users alike.

Ellen O'Neill

January E News from Heritage Ohio

2010-01-06T09:41:00.001-05:00

Just in on our email:

Weatherization & Historic Buildings

Each owner of a historic home should be asking themselves some very important questions, especially this time of the year:

Do I have an insulated attic?

Have I caulked and weatherstripped my windows and doors?

Have I caulked other areas where cold air can get in? (where utilities, cables, or vents enter the building)

Are there areas in the house where I can look out and see daylight?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, don't fear (but DO take action). The National Trust has prepared an excellent Weatherization Guide to get you started. This is your one stop resource for information on home energy audits, making your historic windows energy efficient, mechanical systems upgrades, installing insulation (a relatively easy task that can provide a big payoff), roofs, and the latest incentives & funding opportunities for building owners interested in making energy investments.

Thanks to the National Trust for creating this much-needed and valuable resource!
For those of you interested, the US EPA is hosting a "Green Historic Preservation Symposium" in Indianapolis January 21st, 2010. There is no registration fee but you must register at the Green Historic Preservation Symposium site.

January E News from Heritage Ohio

Give and U shall Receive

2009-11-18T14:01:00.001-05:00

Dear Save Our Land reader:

Each year Brookside Center has a local food drive the week before Thanksgiving. Yes, I know it seems like summer just ended but the beginning of the holiday season is upon us.

Sherry Perry is offering a free taco to anyone who stops by The Ugly Broad at Denison and 39th Street with a food or cash donation today, Wednesday, November 18th.

Here is more detail I posted on my blog: http://www.gloriaferris.net/2009/11/give-and-you-shall-receive/.

Since many of you are BCCA and BCN members, you may have already received a notice on this event from another source. If you did receive another notice, then please accept my apology, if one is needed.

A blessed Thanksgiving season to you and yours.

Tim and Gloria Ferris

Gloria's keynote speech posted

2009-10-30T08:43:00.001-04:00

Dear Save Our Land reader,

Our friend George Nemeth has posted his podcast of Gloria's October 9th keynote speech at the annual MetroHealth Stroke Convention. Here's what he has to say on his blog:

"G says:
Gloria shares the story of her stroke and treatment at MetroHealth. I especially love her description of art therapy. There's a wonderful Q&A at the end. If you aren't a fan of Metro and the work they do, you will be after this."

You can access the speech through a link on George's blog at http://georgenemeth.com/post/225753720/gloria-ferris-stroke-conference-keynote-address

You can access the recorded material directly at http://www.archive.org/details/GloriaFerrisStrokeKeynote

We can't say enough about how grateful we are to have the support of our family, friends, and community during this time of repurposing, readjustment, and refocusing. And we daily continue to be amazed at the "miracles and hope" made possible by the most marvelous and valuable MetroHealth Hospital.

The speech and comments run for about an hour; Gloria's a good storyteller, and time flies when she's doing what she does best .

Thanks, everyone.

--Tim Ferris

Brown’s Tavern clarifications from our local architectural historian

2009-09-11T11:39:00.001-04:00

Last night, we met at Brown’s tavern to review forthcoming renovation plans. Today, doing cursory research on the internet, I came across this comment from Craig Bobby.

Architectural historian takes issue with
“certain statements” about Brown’s Tavern

To the Editor: (Plain Press, July 2009) I am an architectural historian and am writing to you in regards to certain statements made in the article about Brown’s Tavern, which appeared in the April 2009 issue.

In this article, it states, “the front part of the building was built as a carriage stop tavern in 1859.” This is categorically false. The front part of the building was built in 1892.

Elsewhere in the same article, statements are made that allege the building “housed a pool hall during prohibition, a back room barber shop, and a branch of the Leisy Brewing Company.” These are all distortions of the actual facts.

The pool hall was there from the time the structure was built in 1892, as a secondary business associated with the primary business of a saloon located there.

A barbershop was located in the northernmost storefront (which has since been consolidated with the tavern space) from the 1890s onward for many years – a “backroom barbershop” would have been pointless.

A “branch” of Leisy Brewing is a misnomer; Leisy Brewing was eventually the owner of this structure, as it was a common practice of theirs to own saloons, which would only sell their beer.

A question to either the author of the article, or the buildings” owners: What is a “carriage stop tavern”, anyway? Or, what even is a “carriage stop”?

There seems to be no end to the wild nonsensical accounts of fiction being portrayed as factual history. Trying to eradicate these stories can almost be a full time job, in itself.

Craig Bobby
Lakewood, OH

petition to ban ODOT barriers

2009-08-11T17:52:00.001-04:00

Dear Save Our Land reader--

The neighbors of Brooklyn Centre are uniting to stop the erection of unwanted barriers along I-71, barriers that not only wall off our historic, park neighborhood from the outside and also wall us in, but also cost 6-7 times what natural barriers like trees and shrubs would.

We united to tell ODOT in 2005 that we didn't want the sound barriers. We now have to do it again. Please sign the online petition, and leave your address if you are a resident of Brooklyn Centre.

You'll find the petition here:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BanTheBarriers/

Here's a snippet you can send to your friends, as well:

______________________________________________________________________________

Hi,

I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:

"Ban The ODOT Barriers in Brooklyn Centre"

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BanTheBarriers

I really think this is an important cause, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes less than a minute of your time.

Thanks!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you have questions or would like to see the verbiage of the petition reworked or expanded, please call me or send me an email. This is an augmentation to the handwritten petitions being circulated, and is not intended to be a substitute for them or a replacement of them.

Tim Ferris
4022 Denison Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44109

216-255-6640
taferris@gmail.com

Brooklyn Centre Loses another historic structure

2009-07-23T22:53:00.002-04:00

Look! Al Nemeth has started a sister blog/brother blog/sibling blog to our own Denison Avenue. In the face of egregious chicanery and overwhelming duplicity, we need all the help we can get. Thanks, Al.

Brooklyn Centre Loses another historic structure

URGENT: meetings to discuss erection of sound barriers

2009-07-19T21:08:00.002-04:00

Here is an email I sent this evening to our mailing lists:

Hello all-
Please plan on attending one or both of these meetings concerning the erection of noise barriers along I-71. Many issues to discuss--storm water run off, loss of habitat, loss of trees, air flow, potential loss of land by homeowners, soil degradation,noise pollution, air pollution.
There will be two community meetings for neighborhood residents to comment.

The first: Wednesday, July 22nd at 6:30 p.m. at Applewood, 3518 W. 25th Street.
The second: Thursday, July 23rd. It will be on the agenda of the BCCA meeting to be held at Brooklyn Memorial United Methodist Church, 2705 Archwood Ave., also at 6:30.

The Item to discuss: Noise Barriers along I-71 in the Brooklyn Centre Neighborhood. Here is where they would be placed.
North side of I-71 from W. 25th Street/Pearl Road going west to Denison overpass, and
South side of I-71 from W. 25th Street/Pearl Road going west to Fulton Road and also from Westside of Denison (other side of overpass) to the first railroad crossing overpass by the small residential section containing W. 46th and W. 47th and Denmark Avenue.

--Gloria Ferris

historic home restoration guidance from CLEVELAND Magazine

2009-07-10T05:36:00.001-04:00

Here’s an article from CLEVELAND Magazine featuring our friend David Ellison and a listing of restoration resources, to include Antiques in the Bank at 4125 Lorain. I’ll have to hop on over there, because I didn’t know they were still in business. Here’s an excerpt:

Once you’ve found your fixer-upper, whether it’s a 1914 bungalow such as Hobb’s Lakewood home or a sweeping Victorian manor, have an expert help you come up with a project plan. One of the biggest mistakes is rushing into a project without any plans or information, says architect David Ellison. He recommends having an expert, “someone who knows what you are getting into,” look at the property with you before you begin any project.
“Don’t just jump into hiring a contractor,” says Ellison. You need to make sure the contractor you do hire has worked with old homes before. Contractors who work primarily with new homes will often go into an old home and try to replace everything, from old-growth woodwork to slate shingles, when such features could easily be saved with a little work.
Not only does this take away from the historic integrity of a home, the process can often be more expensive and result in an inferior product. Instead of slate shingles, you might end up with asphalt. Instead of plaster walls, you might get drywall.
Bottom line? Get help with every step. Hire contractors with experience working in old homes whose work you have checked out. And don’t scrap anything unless you’re 100 percent sure it can’t be fixed. Old-home rehab is a journey, but those who love the architecture and character of old homes collectively agree that it’s a labor of love well worth it.

And here’s the whole article and the lists: Home Restoration Guide | Article Archives | Cleveland Magazine - Your guide to the best of Cleveland

Brooklyn Centre Naturalists July Meeting

2009-07-08T13:19:00.001-04:00

Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:30pm – 4:30pm
Cleveland Public Library-Brooklyn Branch
3706 Pearl Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44109
(corner of Pearl Rd (W 25th) and Mapledale)

This month we will be looking at vacant land use and the possibility of obtaining a lot from the Cleveland Land Bank for use as a native plant nursery and garden. We will also be discussing plans for our fall native plant sale on Labor Day weekend.

Please join us and share your ideas.

Gloria Ferris & Sharon Martynowski

Unanswered questions about the NRP & B. C. Ziegler project on lower Denison in Cleveland, Ohio

2009-06-04T11:31:00.002-04:00

I. Prior histories that may bear on the feasibility or suitability of the project--

A. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, John Baran, his family, and other neighbors presented detailed information about why any additional housing units in the vicinity of Fern Court, Forestdale, Park Place, and Willowdale and the numbered cross-streets north of Denison and east of Pearl would strain the existing infrastructure, especially the sewer systems, and result in backups into the existing housing. Additional housing units were not built as the result of these findings. Where is this study?
B. The garden apartments on Forestdale have a long history of sinking, moving land beneath them and their parking lots; at one time, one of the parking lots looked as though it had been through an earthquake. Some of the apartments have been demolished because of structural problems. These apartments are built over the same ravine or creek as the proposed NRP project. Has this been taken into account in planning the project; do the financing experts at Ziegler and their investors know about the instability of the land over this ravine, and that their particular project is close to the area that was the area dump? Are they aware that their money
is being invested in a traditionally problematic area?
C. A few years ago, some developer ignored the earlier study and tried to build some housing units on the south side of Fern Court. The developer abandoned the project and somehow gave the land back to the city of Cleveland. Who was this developer? Did work cease because the land was unstable? Was there a court case involved and, if so, what number is it? What are the details of this startup and backoff? Who holds the land in question now?
D. Have the historic pictures of the ravine and town dump been entered into the public record of the hearings on this NRP project?
E. What are the details of the way NRP handled a similar case in Akron, where NRP built structures in an area of insufficient infrastructure and then pleaded ignorance when problems developed, blaming the city? How was this situation resolved? What were the damages, the remedies, if any? What is the disposition of these housing units now?
F. In 1968, Louis Fodor Realty constructed senior housing units at 4016 Denison, then called the Park Dennison apartments. In 1988, after a holding period of 20 years, the units began to be used for all CMHA disabled as well as seniors, with the result that the “normal” seniors fled as the quality of life quickly deteriorated; never did the units have a resident manager. What are the intentions for this subsidized housing on lower Denison?

II. Current

A. All of Brooklyn Centre has vacant housing units; some are for sale, some are for rent. They have not yet been absorbed, or used. What economic studies have been done recently showing how adding 60+ units of new, subsidized housing positively affects the pricing of existing housing stock?
B. Why isn’t this NRP project at the wide-open site of the already-demolished Memphis School, as was originally advertised to all of us?
C. How much more money is being spent to acquire properties and demolish them to make a site on lower Denison?
D. We hear that current residents in the property-acquisition area are being pressured to sell, and that the representatives of NRP tell them that this is merely phase 1, and that phase 2 will be ever more undesirable to live near. What is this about pressuring our neighbors, first of all? And, what is this about phase 2? We’ve never heard about it.
E. This lower portion of Denison has open space/green space with W. C. Reed Field, Denison Cemetery, and Riverside Cemetery; what studies have been done in this vein, if any? How much of this space does NRP think it can eventually acquire from an all-too-cooperative city central planning department?
F. What covenants do we have in place to protect our open areas and our green space?
G. Which population will this project serve? A recent article by the OBCDC executive director puts the senior population at less than 15%, and they seem quite well off in their current homes. What are the proposed rents in the new projects? Would our seniors be able to pay them without subsidy, coming from fully paid-up homes? Would they need a subsidy?
H. What is the rental experience of the completed NRP projects in the city? We hear that they have high vacancy rates.
I. Recently, subsidized people-warehousing housing of one type or another has sprung up all over the place, and I think we probably have more than our quota. There is the new place over near Metro, the monstrosity on East 55th past Broadway, the existing CMHA apartment units and scattered-site single housing, the Ohio City NRP project--it’s almost as though the city’s central planning department is engaging in block-busting.
J. What are the conflicts of interest involving Abe Bruckman’s promotion of NRP from his salaried positions and his secular-nonprofit board positions? At times, he seems to be acting as the agent of NRP, as their salesman, and I wonder if he should be subsidized with a regular paycheck while pursuing entrepreneurial interests.
K. What are the conflicted interests of the recently cobbled-together Near West Design Review committee? It seems that none of them is from or has any stake in Brooklyn Centre, and that they may have a vested interest in keeping this project as far from their homes and businesses as possible, and to subvert the interests of Brooklyn Centre by using it as a dumping ground for the projects nobody else wants.
L. Please disclose the fees earned by the secular nonprofits in this development.
M. Please disclose the fees and commissions earned by those acquiring the properties for demolition
N. Please explain the delinquent property taxes on one of the Denison Elderly properties being used in this project. O. Has anybody mentioned that this really alters the streetscape and the scale for lower Denison, taking out a row of stores & businesses and a rowhouse that have significance, making future renovation and preservation far less desirable?
P. There was a frame house that was quickly demolished at 2000
Denison--why was is demolished, what were the acquisition costs, what were the demolition costs, what is the chain of ownership starting with the Howells, and who paid for what, and who took what losses in transactions? We need complete disclosure in this case.
Q. Has anybody looked into the prospects of locating this up near Deaconess Hospital and the shopping strip, on the site of the abandoned housing now being “deconstructed” by Lightning Demolition?
R. Would you care to answer these questions permanently, for the record, transparently, publicly, on the Denison Avenue blog at
http://denisonavenue.blogspot.com? We can grant you government types contributor privileges.
S. Why is this project on such a fast track?
T. Why has the normal process of approval been altered to propel this project forward?
U. There seem to be a lot of changes of ownership, changing players, ad hoc committee formations, and other seemingly frantic, disjointed movements in this project--lots of changes, perhaps even baiting and switching. Can we have rationales on all the changes, switches, and transfers? It’s too much like a shell game right now to be allowed to pass muster as a legitimate development.

III. What about the future?

A. Are there studies extant on the future impact of such subsidized
senior-housing units on a neighborhood?
B. What are the current plans for resale?
C. What are the holding periods?
D. What might disqualify the property?
E. What is the future liability of the local government here?
F. What is the future liability of NRP here?
G. What is the future liability of the Near West Design Review committee here

my current Sales Practices Manual tells me I am not to be engaged in blogging activity

2009-05-27T15:01:00.001-04:00

I have never used this or any other blog for professional purposes.

That being said, I am aware, as of today, that because of considerations relating to my registrations with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), I am not to be engaged in blogging activity. Therefore, this is my last blog post here; and here is the proximate rule, the one that most closely affects me:

Prohibited Activities

The below list is not intended to be inclusive of all of the instances in which the Firm will prohibit a communication with the public; rather it is intended to demonstrate some of the most common types of communications that are not approved. . . .

. . . Blogs: Interactive electronic forums such as blogs subject a member firm to various supervision and record keeping requirements. As such, no employee or affiliated person with the Firm may participate in blogs or other similar interactive electronic communications such as chat rooms.

WSP Online: Current Manual

And another, less proximate:

Electronic Chat Rooms, Blogs and Bulletin Boards

The fact that an individual is registered subjects him/her to a higher standard than members of the general public. Given the fast-paced environment of chat rooms, blogs and bulletin boards, casual or off-handed statements have the potential of crossing the line between being a reasonable opinion and an exaggerated or unwarranted claim. Because of the difficulties of supervision and the potential liabilities from participating in these forums, many firms limit or prohibit participation altogether.

Chat room participation by RRs is considered a public appearance. Therefore, RRs must follow the same requirements for participating in a chat room that they would if they were speaking in person before a group of investors. There are no filing requirements, but RRs are accountable under FINRA Conduct Rules and the federal securities laws for what they say regarding securities or services. Also, member firms are responsible for supervising the business-related activities of RRs including chat room participation. Remember, these rules apply regardless of whether an RR is in the office at home or a public computer.

In general, blogs and bulletin boards are considered advertisements and as such, all the content standards apply. Depending on the subject matter, firms may need to file these postings with FINRA.

RRs who are considering hosting a bulletin board, blog or chat room should contact their compliance department to determine whether such activities are permitted and what procedures may apply. Member firms must supervise the operation of any securities-related blog, bulletin board or chat room hosted by an RR or by the firm itself to ensure compliance with FINRA Conduct Rules and the federal securities laws. For example, a member firm may limit when commenters can post new messages to times when such messages can be monitored. A member firm may also require commenters to register and agree to abide by the terms of the Web site, including limitations on content.

Denison Cemetery Memorial Day Service

2009-05-24T19:06:00.001-04:00

Who: A group of friends and neighbors are called together by another neighbor Rick Nicholson each year to remember those who served our country—living and dead. We give thanks for those who protected the freedoms of our country so that we can live without fear.

When: Monday May 25, 2009

11:00 am

Where: Denison Cemetery

Turn left Off Pearl Road on to Garden Avenue (north of Denison Avenue

Knox Heritage celebrates five preservation victories and mourns five losses

2009-05-24T09:06:00.001-04:00

One of our adopted cities is Knoxville, Tennessee; our older daughter left home to run for the University of Tennessee and settled in Knoxville with a Masters degree, a husband, and now a new baby. Life is good there, and businesses and private interests direct the growth of the area, not the government.

The people of Knoxville value their built heritage. In the article at the link below is a recap, with pictures, of the successes and losses of the local preservation advocacy, created in 1974.

Has anybody done a preservation “balance sheet” article here in NEO, detailing the wins and the losses of the preservation effort in Cleveland and in Akron?

Knox Heritage celebrates five preservation victories and mourns five losses : Features : Knoxville News Sentinel

Preservation Sans Politics in the Slough of Despond: Cleveland Clinic in the Ignorance Pit

2009-05-22T22:06:00.001-04:00

Preservationist Craig Bobby’s back at it again, this time delineating the Cleveland Clinic’s predictably tacky, tasteless, disrespectful ways. He has three great pictures; follow the link at the end of this post. Here’s an excerpt of his latest offering.

According to a recent Cleveland newspaper article, the Clinic construction manager referred to this building as a "money pit", that it would be "substandard in comparison with other Clinic buildings", would always be "dark and cramped", and would have only "half the usable space" that other Clinic buildings have. It's always so convenient to use the tired "money pit" cliché, isn't it? What all this really tells us is that the Clinic wants only new buildings. They have no respect for history. Guess what's presently planned for the site -- a parking lot. And just how well will that "structure" measure up to the Clinic's lofty standards for structures? And what about the colossal waste of embodied energy that destroying such a large building will result in? Who cares about Sustainability, here? The only "pit" that's "substandard" and "dark and cramped" is the shallow cesspool of thought that ultimately leads to decisions to destroy buildings like this -- the Ignorance Pit.

Preservation Sans Politics

great ideas from mid-state: The Lazarus Building

2009-05-21T10:26:00.001-04:00

Here are a few great ideas about sustainability and preservation coming out of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. The ideas are both specific to the Lazarus project and also applicable to “green buildings” in general. I’ve provided the entire text here in case the site page goes away after a while.

The Lazarus Building

Once a thriving department store and Columbus landmark, Lazarus has been renovated into a premier "green" office space. Located in the heart of downtown, the Lazarus Building is once again a prominent destination due to its innovative method of redevelopment. The method included recycling more than 75 percent of the materials removed from the facility and the inclusion of a rooftop living garden which keeps the building cool. The Lazarus Building is the most significant "green" building in the country and is certified Gold through the LEED Program. The Lazarus Building provides space for 2,600 jobs in Downtown Columbus.

History/Value of Renovating the Lazarus Building:

Important not to demolish the building – it's a community and historic landmark.

The Lazarus Building is actually seven buildings, the first building – the East Building – opened in 1909. The other additions were added over the following 60 years. Reconstruction involved dealing with diverse structural systems, differing elevations, unseen and unknown conditions. Significant aspects of this project resembled an exercise in urban archaeology as much as executing 21st century construction.

The renovation was a tipping point and a showcase for Mayor Michael Coleman's "Get Green" program.

The renovation of Lazarus could be viewed as an "anchor" for the redevelopment of downtown.

Lazarus could be a "sample box" – an example for all of Columbus and Ohio to better understand what it means to develop a landmark building with environmental sustainability as its central focus.

A larger objective was to enable residents of Columbus and surrounding areas to utilize the Lazarus Building as a "teaching tool" and learning experience for students, real estate professionals such as contractors, architects and developers, and residents working or living downtown. Through displays, exhibits and tours, they can understand the lessons of Lazarus and utilize these lessons in their daily, personal and professional lives.

Six major hallmarks of "Green Buildings"

Sustainable Development

The recycling of existing buildings, such as Lazarus, rather than building new buildings both conserves resources and helps revitalize urban centers.

Energy Conservation

Buildings use 65 percent of all electricity within the United States.

Efficient building systems and “daylight harvesting” for Lazarus’ oversized windows and center atrium enable the building's energy systems to operate 30 percent more efficiently and at a reduced cost.

Clean Air and Global Warming

Buildings consume more than 40 percent of the energy produced in the country, adding to the emission of CO2 and other Greenhouse Gases.

Efficient mechanical systems, conservation and support for renewable energy sources such as wind power improve air quality and minimize the adverse impact of CO2 and other emissions.

Water Conservation

Water usage in U.S. buildings accounts for 42 billion gallons per day, which equals 88 percent of our nation’s potable water supply.

Lazarus' "grey water system" and highly efficient plumbing fixtures reduce water consumption by up to 80 percent.

Indoor Air Quality

Non-toxic adhesives, sealants and paints were used throughout the building, and adhering during construction to stringent air quality plan created a superior interior environment - conducive to increased worker productivity.

Resource Conservation

Buildings use 50 percent of all woods and materials nationally, while construction waste is estimated to account for 150 million tons each year.

Lazarus' recycling programs, during demolition, reconstruction and occupancy were all geared to conserve resources and reduce energy consumption.

Green Characteristics of Lazarus:

"Art Deco" lobby consisting of architecture similar to the 1920's, while utilizing 21st century materials.

7-Story light well, efficient building systems and "daylight harvesting" for Lazarus' oversized windows and center atrium enables the building's energy systems to operate 30 percent more efficiently and at a reduced cost.

The lobby and all other finished spaces in Lazarus were constructed using recycled products or are considered sustainable.

The floor in the lobby is terrazzo from recycled glass.

The elevator and trim is recycled metal.

The wall trim is made from wheat board instead of customary drywall.

Bamboo was used as a flooring material because it’s a sustainable material. Bamboo is not a tree—it's a grass, and it grows like one. Many species of bamboo can grow two feet or more a day. When it's harvested, it need not be replanted, because it will grow a new shoot from its extensive root system. So bamboo renews itself readily, unlike hardwood trees, which, once cut, are gone forever. Bamboo is an endlessly renewable resource.

Green planted roof – 1/3 of an acre in size – with living plants reduces summer heat buildup.

Rainwater is harvested for cooling.

75 percent of the construction and demolition debris was recycled.

Low-flow plumbing.

Energy efficient windows that reduce utility cost by 25 percent.

Recycled materials were used wherever possible.

The Lazarus Building recycled more than 50 percent of the materials removed from the project.

For more information on green buildings, visit www.usgbc.org

Lazarus Building

18 i-neighbors since January, 2008

2009-05-19T11:25:00.001-04:00

I now have 18 neighbors in 44109 using this neighborhood unifier promoted at one time by our city people and our secular nonprofits. I’m married to two of them, the directory says. The actual good-neighbor body count is therefore 17.

Brian, Dora, Johanna, and Laura work for government entities. (4/17 = 23%)

Rosemary will work for the government when she gets elected, and she will. (5/17 = 29%, and we’re already nearly 1/3rd government-based)

Reggie, Darren, Donnald, Lois, Lori, and Debra (6/17 = 35%) work for or contract with secular nonprofits, and these entities in Cleveland largely get their money through government ties.

11/17 = 65%

Retired, not working, nonsecular nonprofit, and private sector must then comprise the remaining 35%.

Woncha be my neighbor? Click below. Be #19.

i-neighbors

Where does the orchard go?

2009-05-16T19:24:00.001-04:00

Read this article in Scene magazine--I am sorry, but what a load of horse manure:
http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/if-you-lived-here-youd-be-home-already/Content?oid=1567496

Senior Face Time with our Congressional Office

2009-05-15T18:20:00.000-04:00

Please forward the following information--

Cleveland Public Library will provide an opportunity for Seniors to address their concerns with Steve Inchak, Congressional Senior Liaison for Congressman Dennis Kucinich at two open sessions.

Monday, May 18th at 10:30 a.m. at the Brooklyn Branch Library, 3706 Pearl Rd., Cleveland, OH 44109, Please call 623-6920 for more information.

Tuesday, May 26th at 10 a.m. at the Lorain Branch Library, 8216 Lorain Ave., Cleveland OH 44102, Please call 623-7011 for more information.

Thank you!

and all we got was this stinkin’ bridge…

2009-05-12T18:42:00.001-04:00

None of us was invited to tag along on the Lake Erie business trips.

Dealing with ODOT has always been pointless, as we found in the case of the Fulton Road Bridge ramrodding we got, but we took it as a neighborhood; they just go through the motions of holding a public hearing and then go ahead and do as they please anyway.

If ODOT lies all the time anyway to the public, along with the county engineer and the Michael Baker consulting firm, it’s easy to understand how employees get away with their own duplicity in the midst a culture of deceit. Succinctly, everything goes because nobody knows which end is up; nobody knows what’s true, and I guess nobody really cares enough to safeguard the public trust day to day. It appears that each employee is autonomous until apprehended. This, from our friend Kim Wendel:

WKYC.com | Cleveland, OH | Inspector General: More alleged corruption in ODOT District 12

COLUMBUS -- Ohio Inspector General Thomas P. Charles leveled more allegations of corruption Tuesday against former Ohio Department of Transportation District 12 Facilities Manager Dennis L. Kratochvil, of Chagrin Falls.

Charles alleges that Kratochvil, 64, cheated the state out of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars while colluding with friends and family, who also benefited financially.

Charles sent the report to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason's office for possible criminal charges. Charles did likewise with his Oct. 16 report.

[Read entire report (PDF format)]

The original investigation that began in April, 2007 started with an anonymous complaint that Kratochvil had taken "gratuities" from an ODOT vendor.

That resulted in the terminations of Kratochvil and six other ODOT employees. Charles also referred 20 ODOT vendors and their associates to the Prosecutor for possible criminal charges.

In Tuesday's report, Charles contends that Kratochvil allegedly steered ODOT contracts to his son, Dennis B. Kratochvil, Chardon businessman James Hartory II and Solon businessman Philip C. Marek.

It was last Oct. 16 when Charles first revealed the details of that 18-month investigation into Kratochvil and others both inside and outside ODOT's District 12 offices in Garfield Heights.

Charles's Oct. 16 report also accused Kratochvil and former equipment supervisor Terrence M. Kosmata, of Garfield Heights, of taking trips paid for by vendors, in return for awarding them lucrative ODOT state contracts.

Tuesday's report is a follow-up after investigators seized records in December, 2007 from the attic above the garage in Kratochvil's Chagrin Falls home.

"Kratochvil inadvertently provided investigators with a blueprint of his scheming by holding onto the ODOT records that were found at his home," Charles wrote in today's report. "This box of records, unmissed for years by District 12's finance staff, is an encyclopedia of fraud."

"Colorcoded and meticulously organized, the files document the extraordinary lengths to which Kratochvil went to alter and manufacture records in order to steer business to favored contractors and dupe ODOT auditors," Charles wrote.

The records showed that Kratochvil allegedly steered hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of ODOT business to Marek's Nozzle New Inc. and Marek Land Company.

The reports also allege Kratochvil and Kosmata threw sex parties during Lake Erie fishing trips with state vendors and spent taxpayer money on strippers while they were on the ODOT clock.

WKYC.com | Cleveland, OH | Inspector General: More alleged corruption in ODOT District 12

Knowledge from Steelcase: designing a better “third” place

2009-05-06T13:03:00.002-04:00

Here’s a takeoff on the idea of the “third place.” I remember that Frank Mills first brought these to our attention over 4 years ago, when we began the grassroots dialogues for designing our ideal neighborhood. Read the whole thing; here’s a sampling:

Designing a better “third” place
Sometimes you just need to get away.
At the corner of Ohio and State streets in downtown Chicago, a short walk from the famous Magnificent Mile, a cozy Starbucks store beckons. People sit at tables enjoying Americanos, wireless access, and all the accoutrements of what social scientists call a “third place,” a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg.
Separate from our first place (home) and second place (office), such coffee shops, libraries, pubs, parks and other “great good places” are informal, safe, public places where people gather to soak in the atmosphere and mingle with others. But this Starbucks, like any third place, has problems as a workplace. The coffee’s great and the ambiance is a refreshing break from the office, but this is no place for serious work. There’s little privacy for information on flat screens or in printed material. Holding a conversation is a public event, and the amount of space to work in is limited, at best. There’s a reason it’s a third place, after all.
A better place for work, with its own welcoming ambiance, sits less than a hundred yards away at 12 East Ohio. It’s called Workspring, and it’s specifically designed for knowledge work away from
the office. With different workspaces for one or two workers or as many as 25, it offers all the tools and support we expect from a well-considered, thoughtful office, plus many of the comforts of home.
“People look for the right blend of privacy and isolation that’s needed to get work done, but at the same time we want to feel connected to the greater whole. Third places lack territorial privacy, visual privacy, and acoustical privacy, and the tools that collaborative work requires. Workspring is something like a ‘two-point-five’ space: a place for work that combines both community spaces and private work studios. It’s in the middle of a great urban neighbor hood, yet it also has a quiet courtyard right outside. It’s the best of both worlds,” says Frank Graziano, designer for WorkSpace Futures at Steelcase, and part of a venture team that developed Workspring.
Mark Greiner, Steelcase senior vice president and executive sponsor of the Workspring venture, says the space is designed to fully integrate architecture, furniture, and technology to support collaborative, generative work — and it shows. “Everything has a purpose, a story. Everything is intentional. It’s obvious why you can display technology easily, why there’s a café here, why there’s a long space along the windows with pairs of chairs for conversations. People ‘get’ the space right away. We don’t have to tell them.”
A mix of open and private spaces
Workspring’s 4,500 square feet are divided about equally between private studios and communal spaces. The five studios range from 190 to 660 sq. ft., sized for groups of 2 to 6 and up to 25. Inside are mobile tables at seated or standing height, ergonomic chairs, a built-in tool center with markers, sticky notes and other supplies, digital and analog content capture and display tools, and wireless access. The studio furniture and tools easily reconfigure to the needs of the moment.

no grassroots showing here: Heritage Ohio 2009 Annual Preservation & Revitalization Statewide Conference

2009-05-05T07:55:00.003-04:00

I remember going to the Back to the City Convention in Cleveland around this time in 1985 and watching my new wife, then expecting our first baby who will be 24 this year, speak about our new house in an historic neighborhood and the joys and rewards of urban resettlement. The audience came from all over, with many from the East Coast, and was filled with a lot of interesting people (the one who sticks in my mind is the single lady from Brooklyn who wrote an article on “Premarital China”); the one thing we all had in common was that we were actively involved, on a grassroots level, with the business of urban pioneering. The Convention was affordable for everybody. All that I talked to paid their own way; they were enthusiasts and crusaders; these were new ideas based on old ideas of thrift and conservation and respect for our heritage.

Now, going fast forward 23 years, we have the new uber-nonprofit on the block sponsoring a pricey 3-day program for those in what has now become the preservation industry, those whose salaries and whose attendance at this pricey affair are in one way or another paid for by a charitable dollar. Donovan Rypkema will talk about the holistic benefits of preservation and Frank Jackson will tell you, in his own endearing country way, how using taxpayer dollars for the indiscriminate demolition of 15,000 older properties somehow fits into all this.

Merely having this convention staged here in Cleveland now makes us the preservation center; it has to do with the public relations blurbs revolving around the staging, and not our deeds day to day.

Fast-forward to the present day: Since the Back to the City Convention of 1985, we have been metaphorically sodomized by our house-mortgage lender from 1983, KeyBank, as they extracted for themselves our equity from our investment in urban resettlement; we have had thrust upon us the hobby of trying to protect the interests of the individual from the depredations of the government, the secular nonprofits, the developers, and the lenders; we have watched our friends bail on the City of Cleveland, as being just too difficult to deal with; we have tried to defend against HUD and their ruination of the preservation market with the economic meddling of section 8 incentives; we’ve watched city planners put local merchants out of business by favoring big-box development and malls; we’ve watched the city systematically bedevil individual businesspeople, for numerous reasons; we’ve tried to make a go of it in the most corrupt local political environments in recent history, and have reference points because I’ve worked in Boston and in Atlanta in the same areas. How much of this do you think will be discussed at this convention? Are you going?

For us, the bloom is off the rose. True change does not come from overpriced conventions like these.

Heritage Ohio 2009 Annual Preservation & Revitalization Statewide Conference - Summary - powered by RegOnline

sewer sucker Sunday in Brooklyn Centre

2009-05-04T08:00:00.003-04:00

Enquiring minds need to know.

Yesterday, Sunday, we had a full day
of sewer-sucking in Brooklyn Centre,
and I was wondering if it was really necessary?

Did "we the people" pay double-time Sunday rates? Is the workload so great at the Water Department that they have to work the guys each day of the week, to include what is traditionally a day of rest, and quiet? Isn't the Water Department overstaffed, traditionally?

Query?

2009-05-03T13:13:00.004-04:00

Just going out on a limb here...but who wants to place bets that someone will be appointed to fill Hagan's commissioner position soon?...And, who will that person be? Imagine the chain reaction of appointments to follow....just a query, but let's just play PRETEND.

If you have lived in NEO long enough, nothing is a surprise.

east 4th’s greenhouse tavern: “the greenest building is the one you don’t build”

2009-05-03T08:46:00.002-04:00

Our friend Jamie Goldberg over at CLEVELAND FOODIE does a great review of the new Greenhouse Tavern down on East 4th, at the link below. We recently met Jamie through Midtown Brews, and his food writing is only a part of what makes him a valuable member of the online community around here. Get to know him better:

cleveland foodie: inside: greenhouse tavern

Joe Crea and John Kuntz also weigh in, in the PD. This place seems to be something we’ve all been waiting for; it shows balance and alignment with sensible principles. They mention the five key areas that came into play to make The Greenhouse Tavern “the Green Restaurant Association’s first green-certified food operation in Ohio.”

http://www.cleveland.com/taste/index.ssf/2009/05/greenhouse_tavern_in_downtown.html

http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2009/05/five_elements_of_an_ecofriendl.html

filing here for future reference: The MetroHealth Foundation board of directors

2009-05-02T15:49:00.001-04:00

I had difficulty accessing information on the Board of Directors responsible for the conduct of affairs over at MetroHealth from the Metro general website, so I figured I would publish it here, for posterity, as of today, in case we need to refer back to it later. Other such information has come up temporarily missing, from time to time, like the board of Neighborhood Progress Inc. (NPI) did as well as references to the people responsible for NRP Group, LLC:

As you review the list, what commonalities do you notice? Proficiencies? Specialties? Qualifications? Prior successes? Ability to raise funds with a well-placed phone call here or there? History of individual philanthropy? Visibility in the community? In the region? In the country? Online, even?

Here’s the roll call on the people behind all the moving and shaking at MetroHealth:

Support MetroHealth The MetroHealth Foundation

The MetroHealth Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Founded in 1954, it supports The MetroHealth System's mission as an academic health care system committed to our communities by saving lives, restoring health, promoting wellness, and providing outstanding, life-long care accessible to all. It funds programs and projects in patient care, scientific and clinical research, and medical education.

The MetroHealth Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of the community and business leaders listed below. A copy of the Foundation's annual IRS 990 filing is available by contacting Nancy Utter, Director, Financial Operations, at nutter@metrohealth.org or 216-778-5861.

The MetroHealth Foundation, Inc.
Board of Directors

OFFICERS

Chair
Robert A. Durham
HKM Direct Market Communications

CEO and President
Mark J. Moran, Ph.D.
The MetroHealth System

Vice Chair
Leslie D. Dunn
Community Leader

Vice Chair
David J. Hooker
Thompson Hine LLP

Vice Chair
David C. Jacobs
Oswald Companies

Vice Chair
James M. Malz
CHASE

Treasurer and Vice Chair
James W. Wert
Clanco Management Corporation

Chief Administrative Officer and Secretary
Kate L. Brown
The MetroHealth System

DIRECTORS

Christopher P. Brandt, M.D.

The MetroHealth System
Timothy J. King
Excelsior Partners LLC

Venerine L. Branham
Community Leader

Jack A Licate, Ph.D.
Jack A Licate and Associates

Herbert L. Braverman
Community Leader

Robert P. Madison
Robert P. Madison International, Inc.

Steve D. Bullock
The Bullock Group

J. Christopher Manners
Manners Management Company

Randall D. Cebul, M.D.
The MetroHealth System

Nancy W. McCann
Forest City Enterprises, Inc.

Michael A. Clegg
Colliers Ostendorf-Morris

Donald J. McGrath
Eaton Corporation

Polly H. Clemo
Benjamin Rose Institute

John M. Moss
Merril Lynch

Lonzo E. Coleman
Coleman Spohn Corporation

Scott C. Mueller
Dealer Tire LLC

Thomas E. Collins Jr., M.D.
The MetroHealth System

Michael J. Prokopius, M.D.
The MetroHealth System

Franziska H. Dacek
Swagelok Company

Maria Jose Pujana, M.D.
Marise Designs

Sean P. DeCrane
Cleveland Fire Department

John R. Sedor, M.D.
The MetroHealth System

Julian M. Earls, Dr.P.H.
Cleveland State University

Timothy L. Stephens Jr., M.D.
Community Leader

Kenneth E. Edelman, M.D.
The MetroHealth System

James R. Walton
Resources Global Financial

Gregory M. Jelenik
National City/PNC

Paul R. Williams, Ph.D.
Cleveland State University

LIFE MEMBERS
Dwight M. Allgood Jr.
Community Leader

Michael G. Bartels
Community Leader

Richard B. Fratianne, M.D.
The MetroHealth System

Harold E. Friedman
Ulmer & Berne

Collin K. Knisely
Charter One Bank

David A. Kutik
Jones Day

HONORARY DIRECTOR
Lawrence Schriebman
Alson Jewlers

The MetroHealth Foundation

http://blog.cleveland.com/medical/2008/04/metrohealth_marks_8_million_lo.html

http://www.newsnet5.com/money/15892057/detail.html

http://blog.cleveland.com/medical/2009/02/metrohealth_medical_center_war.html

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/123969781690320.xml&coll=2

http://www.medcitynews.com/index.php/2009/03/metrohealth-board-makes-its-interim-ceo-mark-moran-its-premanent-leader/

http://www.medcitynews.com/index.php/2009/04/metrohealth-medical-center-to-eliminate-400-jobs-6-percent-of-workforce/

http://www.cleveland.com/medical/index.ssf/2009/04/metrohealth_to_axe_another_270.html

from Richard Moe of the National Trust: “This Old Wasteful House”

2009-05-01T08:58:00.002-04:00

The president of The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Richard Moe, is giving us a blueprint here on how to revive the local economy, and his blueprint is not predicated on demolition of 15,000 vintage Cleveland properties, nor does it sing the sappy song of the benefits of “deconstruction.” Using the demolition-earmarked Cleveland funds to start a true jobs program in renovation and rehab, spurred on by tax credits at the state and federal levels, would be a morally acceptable use of the $24 million, or whatever fungible figure we’re bandying about today.

Having the indigenous population rebuild the City of Cleveland and then occupy it would be the most dramatic jobs program since the WPA. This may be the only way, too, that Clevelanders can hope to recapture the equity stolen from them by the banks. We talk all about saving the banks with bailouts, but what about some restitution first? What about us?

Moe makes some great points that we should integrate into our planning around here. If we did more grassroots planning as opposed to central planning, this is what it would begin to look like—more benefits for more people

NEVER before has America had so many compelling reasons to preserve the homes in its older residential neighborhoods. We need to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. We want to create jobs, and revitalize the neighborhoods where millions of Americans live. All of this could be accomplished by making older homes more energy-efficient. …

…The labor-intensive process of rehabilitating older buildings would also create jobs, and this labor can’t be shipped overseas. The wages would stay in the community, supporting local businesses and significantly increasing household incomes — just the kind of boost the American economy needs right now.

Before demolishing an old building to make way for a new one, consider the amount of energy required to manufacture, transport and assemble the pieces of that building. With the destruction of the building, all that energy is utterly wasted. Then think about the additional energy required for the demolition itself, not to mention for new construction. Preserving a building is the ultimate act of recycling.

Op-Ed Contributor - This Old Wasteful House - NYTimes.com

Wrestling with Moses by Anthony Flint

2009-05-01T07:30:00.002-04:00

I see this morning that Anthony Flint of the Lincoln Institute (those people who left Cleveland for the more intellectually congenial setting of Cambridge & Harvard Square) has a new book coming out at the end of July. I’m going to buy this and read it with ODOT follies in mind, and the Medical Mart, and the Opportunity Corridor, and all other forms of top-down, central planning they try to force feed us around here.

To paraphrase Michael Collins and to honor the memory of Jane Jacobs, remember, we have the right to refuse.

It’s our money they’re playing with, it’s our future they’re toying with, and they are there in public jobs to serve, not act as rock stars or entrepreneurial developers.

ABOUT THIS BOOK
The David-and-Goliath story of legendary activist Jane Jacobs’s clash with “power broker” Robert Moses, an urban planning battle that forever changed the way we look at cities

In 1968, journalist, activist, and writer Jane Jacobs ripped up a stenographer’s notes during a public hearing and was charged with inciting a riot. The hearing concerned the proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway, a 350-foot wide, fifty-foot-high viaduct that would have linked the East and West sides of Manhattan. The expressway was the final puzzle piece in urban planning giant Robert Moses’s vision of a New York City designed to accommodate traffic. But to Jacobs, it was a destructive force that would bruise vital neighborhoods and push out nearly 2,000 families and 800 businesses.

The battle between Jacobs and Moses had begun years earlier when Jacobs successfully thwarted Moses’s plan to direct traffic through Washington Square Park in the West Village. As a result of these battles, Moses would lose most of the power and influence he had wielded for so long. By successfully confronting Moses, Jacobs forever changed the way Americans viewed the city—as a living, breathing organism rather than a threat that needed to be controlled—and inspired citizens across the country to protest destructive urban “renewal” projects.

Wrestling with Moses is a tale of a local battle with national significance, that reminds us of the power of the individual to confront and defy authority.

Wrestling with Moses by Anthony Flint - Hardcover - Random House

the call from Phillip Morris: Interim Cuyahoga County Sheriff Frank Bova is best candidate for permanent job

2009-04-30T04:10:00.001-04:00

We’ve known Frank and his family since the mid-80s. He’s a decent man and a professional. We tend to agree with Phillip Morris:

It'll be a crime if Frank Bova is not appointed Cuyahoga County sheriff this Saturday to fill the unexpired term of Gerald McFaul.

It doesn't matter whether he publicly lobbies for the job.

Bova not only is a leader we can believe in, but he also embodies the sea change that we desperately need. In less than one month on the job, he has brought more law, order, discipline, transparency and common sense to the office than had been on display in decades.

This whole thing with Bob Reid and Jimmy DiMora smacks of insider dealing and gangsterism, and should be dismissed as such. We feel bad that Bob’s candidacy is cheapened merely because of his nominator, but that’s the way things should go while investigations are still in progress. DiMora and his candidates and his agendas should all be sidelined until there’s an outcome to the unfinished business of the FBI probes.

Interim Cuyahoga County Sheriff Frank Bova is best candidate for permanent job -- Phillip Morris - Phillip Morris Column & Articles | Plain Dealer Newspaper Columnist - cleveland.com

11 in all: 2009’s Most Endangered Places

2009-04-27T23:40:00.001-04:00

Here’s this year’s list of things nobody wants to expend the time, the effort, or the money to save, all compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Is anybody doing replacement-cost analysis on these structures?

The current economic downturn is a mixed blessing for endangered buildings, Mr. Moe said. Although more buildings are being neglected, fewer are threatened with demolition because development has slowed. In 22 years the trust has selected 211 sites worth saving and lost just 6 of them.

“It focuses not only local attention but national,” Mr. Moe said of the list, “and helps to mobilize both human and financial resources.”

The 2009 roster of buildings, 11 in all, includes Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple in Oak Park, Ill., a Cubist structure made of poured concrete that has been plagued by structural problems and a lack of money for restoration. Mount Taylor in New Mexico, another trust selection, is a sacred site for American Indian tribes whose cultural and archaeological resources are threatened by uranium mining.

See the slideshow.

Preservation Group Lists Most Endangered Places - NYTimes.com

Judge Peter Corrigan tackles the task of riding herd on the ‘tards

2009-04-14T22:42:00.001-04:00

It seems Judge Corrigan finds the current administration as big an embarrassment as the rest of us do, and he can do something about it before election time rolls around. The $900,750 fine should be borne by those who incurred it, our elected and hired help, and not the general fund. We have to start recovering money from them on a personal basis, and not funding their failed attempts at gangsterism out of dollars that should be benefiting all of us.

Penalties and fines need to be specifically and particularly attached to the miscreants, the mayors and their staffs. We must strip away the protections that hitherto have enabled their violating the law with impunity. There must be a personally assessed price for the practices of “cronyism and corruption.”

Judge, City Hall clash over civil service ruling - Metro - cleveland.com

commentary from The Professor over at Political Science 216: Contract killing: No wonder Bobby Kennedy's kid is such a big fan of Tim Hagan.

2009-04-09T09:20:00.003-04:00

I couldn't have said it better myself, so here is The Professor's commentary on MedMart, from late last night.

Feed: Political Science 216
Posted on: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 11:45 PM
Author: Your Professor
Subject: Contract killing: No wonder Bobby Kennedy's kid is such a big fan of Tim Hagan.

No wonder they tried to keep this thing hidden.

Your Cuyahoga County Commissioners today sheepishly and quietly released the "agreement" with MMPI for the Convention Center and Medical Mart. "Sweetheart deal" isn't nearly strong enough of a phrase to describe this document that I glanced at and highlighted while at Starbucks this afternoon.

I skimmed ahead to "Section 2.2 Costs." Would it be the often reported $500 million? Or would it be the once reported then never heard from again $1 billion?

The agreement ain't clear, but it ain't reassuring to me as a taxpayer either.

"Promptly" after they decide on the site (Mall B & C, one would certainly reckon) and prior to preparation of the Feasibility Plans, MMPI "shall" submit the "Design Budget" and "an estimated budget of construction costs." Then, "the Design Budget and the estimated budget of construction costs shall be subject to the prior written approval of the County, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed."

Translation? We're going to tell you what this costs, and you're going to quickly approve it, thank you.

I'm betting on $1 billion.

To be fair, according to what I highlighted, MMPI is going to put forward some cash. $1.5 million for start up costs and $20 million for development costs.

And what will you, gentle residents of Cuyahoga County, be asked to foot the bill for?

Well, for starters, MMPI will not be paying property taxes, special assessments or anything like that. No sir. The agreement clearly states that the County will pay any and all taxes, assumingly any taxes levied by the city of Cleveland, the state government or federal government. How much will that be? Who the hell knows?

Moving on. There's "construction management." That's $12 million.

Oh, and we'll be paying rent. Who knew? Not me. Rent is $3.33 million per… MONTH. That's $40 million per year, class.

There are also "supplemental payments" of $6 million for the first three years. We get a break in year 4, as it goes down to $5.15 million. After that, there are more supplemental payments, but it gets complicated.

I believe Chico Marx led the MMPI team in these negotiations.

So yeah, Bobby Kennedy's kid, you are investing in Cleveland. But how much are we investing in you? $75 million? Plus complicated "supplemental payments" in future years? Oh, plus the construction cost of the building, which could be $500 if we're lucky, which we're not.

You know, Bobby Kennedy deserve s a lot of credit for wanting to help the poor. I'm not sure his kid is living up to the family legacy. Perhaps us poor folks should keep the money and do something else with it.

Somebody is getting a fine tootsie frootieing right here.

View article...

new study of land trusts shows relative benefits

2009-04-02T12:49:00.002-04:00

Here is a new survey showing why land trusts may be more in the interests of owner/occupants of real estate than what is now conventional ownership.

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is brought to you by the same people, the same local family, that gave you Lincoln Electric, on Cleveland’s east side. We interviewed members of their management team in December of 2006, in a Meet.The.Bloggers session. They were in town for a screening of the film Cleveland: Confronting Decline in an American City.

Study: Land trusts lead to lower foreclosure rates - Fosters

for Chris Kennedy: Welcome to Cleveland. Now go home.

2009-03-29T15:02:00.002-04:00

I’m not going to waste a whole lot of time on this Chris Kennedy fiasco. Roldo does a good enough job.

All I can say is “Chris, welcome to Cleveland. Now go home.”

Really, who needs this crap?

KENNEDY TAKES ARROGANCE LESSONS FROM TIM HAGAN REALNEO for all

the gaping maw down by the pier

2009-03-29T14:52:00.003-04:00

Here’s a note I tried to leave over at RealNEO but couldn’t because today I don’t have posting privileges. My Drupal experience has been and continues to be uneven, and I know not to expect too much, and to be ready to adapt and work around:

Attaboy, Roldo! Good reporting! Right on! Rock on!
I suspected the situation was outrageous, but this surpasses my wildest suspicions, or expectations.
They certainly present a big fat target, don't they?
And, most of this is so, so counter to the spirit of rock and roll. What would a true rocker do?
I'll cross-reference/cross-post this over at Save Our Land, and tag it with things like "conflicts of interest." This is too good to be lost the next time the servers go down.

And here’s Roldo’s post in its entirety:

Hopefully, the Rock and Roll induction in Cleveland will help put money into the pockets of waitresses, waiters, some downtown businesses and panhandlers.
Millions and millions of public dollars have gone into for most private organization and for its mostly private parties for the elite and politicians.
So one hopes that the ordinary guy gets a little something out of it.
We’ve paid an enormous price so Sen. George Voinovich and his buddy Dick Pogue of Jones-Day can get some face time with the rockers.
Most people don’t know that millions of dollars every year from the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County go to the Rock and Roll Hall & Museum.
Most people don’t know that property taxes from Tower City – ah, yes that name again – are diverted from the city, county, city libraries - most important to the Cleveland School system – to pay for Rock Hall bonds. To give you an idea of how much money is being diverted every year I checked a few years ago. I found that between 1995 and 1998 more than $3 million of Tower City property taxes were diverted from the Cleveland schools to pay for the Rock Hall. The total diverted was $5 million. Such taxes will be paid until 2015.
The money went to pay $39 million in Port Authority bonds for the Rock Hall.
The Rock Hall started as at an estimated $28 million. It ended up costing a cool $93-million plus.
Then because Mayor Voinovich and Pogue, the leading elite of that time, wanted the Waterfront Line quickly to coincide with the Rock Hall opening, RTA built the line with local dollars alone. Seeking federal funds, which could have been as much as 80 percent of the total, would have required more time. So RTA used $69 million in local dollars from the County sales tax. The line, of course, operated so badly, with so few customers, that now it runs only for certain functions. A terrible waste of needed transit dollars.
In the late 1990s the cheer-leading Plain Dealer trumpeted the Rock Hall as another Renaissance piece of Cleveland’s Comeback:
There was no badmouthing the $93.3 million cost. No hand-wringing about scarce tax dollars diverted from the City of Cleveland, Cleveland schools, Cuyahoga County, city libraries, even the Port Authority, RTA and the State of Ohio. No distress that free city land was given or that the Rock Hall sits on the $8-million funded Inner Harbor that was meant for people access to the lake.
Hotel bed tax money, Cleveland admission taxes and County property taxes have been paying the bills for the Rock Hall. Cuyahoga County, always ready to give away your tax money, contributed outright another $5 million and the State of Ohio an $8 million grant. The Gund Foundation gave $1 million.
When then County Commissioner Mary Boyle was hesitant about the County’s $5 million share, her colleague, Tim Hagan arrogantly rebuked Boyle: “It isn’t your money; it’s public money,” he scolded. Tim believes he makes these decisions for the public good not to satisfy his elite corporate bosses.
Mayor Frank Jackson this year has gotten Hagan bug. Jackson contributed (as if it were his money, too) $1 million to this week’s Rock induction dinner. It’s from federal loan paybacks primarily from downtown developers who had used the money for 20 years without interest. It is money that should be used in Cleveland’s deeply declining neighborhoods.
It doesn’t matter to Hagan or Jackson that the music business is a multi-billion dollar business. The poorest should pay the price. Cleveland’s impoverished city provides dough for the fancy parties we’ll undoubtedly read about this week. The front page of the Pee Dee has already shifted from the hapless McFaul to the cheers for multi-million dollar entertainers.
Have fun if you can. You’re paying for it.
“What’s it going to take” to bring the dinner here, Jackson asked the New York people. I guess they said, “A million bucks more, mayor.” The city, according to the PD, also will add other in-kind help and provide security and clean-up presumably. Oh, yeah, the city put out $550,000 for an extensive renovation of Public Auditorium for the festivities.
The New York Rock Foundation has a large say in where the induction ceremonies are held. It’s usually not in Cleveland.
Of course, the big buyoff for the public to subsidize the Rock Hall was for jobs, just as it was for Gateway, as it is for the Med Mart & Convention Center and for casino gambling. We get JOBS!
The promise to City Council at the time was for between 21,000 and 27,000 new jobs with 10,000 to 13,500 for Cleveland residents. Well, these same suckers believe 28,000 for Gateway.
You must have notice the boom Cleveland has experienced since all those public investments were made.
Such bogus figures always accompany the desire for public money for private wheeler-dealers.
In the 1990s when I sought public tax returns from the publicly funded Rock Hall, I was told I couldn’t have Xerox copies (though I offered to pay). If I wanted to see the information I would have to sit in their offices and hand copy it. The law requires such non-profits to provide this information and most have the public responsibility to copy for reporters.
Presently, the Rock Hall IRS reports, as with other non-profits organizations, can be found on line at Guidestar website: (http://www.guidestar.org/).
You can tell why the executives at the Rock Hall were stingy with sharing information.
The 2007 return, latest filed by the Rock Hall, shows that its president and CEO Terry Stewart is paid $389,658 with a hefty retirement payment in 2007 of $60,637. That’s more than $450,000, similar to his income the prior year.
Nice work if you can get it. Pretty disgusting that it is supported by the children of the Cleveland school system.
In recent years, the Pee Dee reported on Saturday, the N. Y. Rock Hall, which usually requires the Induction in New York City “has been more receptive” to Cleveland, especially since Joel Peresman took over as president and CEO of the N. Y. Foundation in 2006.”
Got to be a trick here, right?
Peresman told the PD that the N. Y. foundation (The Rock Hall is the tail of New York) “is committed… to doing everything we can for the museum, not just financially, but spiritually, emotionally, marketing-wise, sponsorship-wise.” How nice.
The PD didn’t mention that the Cleveland Rock Hall pays him, according to the 2007 IRS return, Peresman $340,528. The N. Y. foundation paid him another $376,823, according to its 2008 report.
Is it any wonder he’s HIGH on Rock and Roll Halls of Fame?
Mr. Peresman, I’d suggest than that New York pay off the bonds that fund its Cleveland creature. That would be helpful. Also, that you don’t take money from Cleveland school children.
Otherwise, those nice words about Cleveland are simply empty words.
You wonder, would the Plain Dealer ever allow reporters to take a real look at the Rock Hall, what it has cost Cleveland. Get the public angry about the injustice of it? Would the PD stoke anger against our corporate elite as it does against easy targets as Gerry McFaul? Not likely.
It’s so much easier to tackle the penny ante political crooks instead of the politicians who give away millions and millions of dollars to their benefactors.
It should, of course, do both.
Our Rock Hall pays some other very fancy salaries for Cleveland’s standard of living, too.
Here are some of its executives and their annual pay: James Henke, v. p. exhibitions and curator: $187,957 with $35,734 in benefits; Christopher Dunworth, v. p. development: $161,430 with $45,405 in benefits; Todd Mesak v. p. sales/marketing: $92,825 with $22,032 in benefits; Diane Bond, senior finance director: $89,864 with $23,583 in benefits; Jacklyn Chisholm, v. p. institutional relations: $125,031 and $10,443 in benefits.
Indeed, the Rock Hall employed 22 people with salaries of more than $50,000 that year.
So you see the Rock Hall is helping the Cleveland economy.
But who’s paying most for it? Cleveland school children.
There’s a lot more interesting stuff on self-dealing by the board and losses on fund-raising. You can go to the 2007 return here: http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments//2007/341/520/2007-341520995-04a52b97-9.pdf
These reports are always revealing about how the elite and their servants live off the rest of us.
You can’t depend upon the Pee Dee to find out how Power works in Cleveland. They don’t cover that beat.

ROCK HALL A HEAVY BURDEN FOR TAXPAYERS REALNEO for all

from Sharon: Brooklyn Centre Naturalists reminder about Saturday, March 21st

2009-03-17T14:02:00.001-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. Just a quick reminder that our next meeting of the Brooklyn Centre Naturalists for the Brooklyn Centre National Wildlife Community will be:

Saturday, March 21^st

From 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Fulton Road branch of the Cleveland Public Library

3545 Fulton Road

Cleveland, 44109

Phone: 216.623.6969

We will be finalizing our plans for Earthfest at the Cleveland Zoo which is Sunday, April 19^th and also discussing plans for our fundraiser in June. If you have a project that you are interested in or would like help with, bring it up at the meeting.

Congrats to Tom Romito for a wonderful bird article in the March issue of the Old Brooklyn News. Nice job Tom.

See you all on the 21^st.

Sharon

Cleveland Council Reduction Forum Videos from March 4th | Northeast Ohio Citizens League

2009-03-17T00:46:00.001-04:00

I have found the videos of the proceedings at the Jones Home/Applewood Center with regard to ward divisioning. Judge for yourself whether we spent our time well; I think we deserved better than the ultimate outcome. Bear in mind that Kelley was sandbagging us all when he spoke; he already knew what was going to happen two days later, when Brian Cummins got official notification of the politically motivated hatchet job.

I like the material on the third portion best.

Cleveland Council Reduction Forum Videos from March 4th | Northeast Ohio Citizens League

nice letter from Matt Zone to Community Voices

2009-03-16T17:50:00.001-04:00

Matt is such a nice young man.

RE: community mtg on re-districting

2009-03-16T17:03:00.003-04:00

We talked to them at length at the Jones Home/Applewood Center over on Pearl Road at I-71 a few Wednesdays ago; they, specifically Kevin Kelley representing Marty Sweeney and the mayor, obviously knew the plan, yet did not disclose it to us or to the other council representatives. They kept everybody in the dark and then pulled a power play, as it were. You cannot trust these guys, the ones who are in charge of making the decisions. Also, all of them were not there.

Who is going to be at this next one, specifically?

Are you going to have it recorded and podcast soon after the meeting, to hold everybody accountable? To my knowledge, there is still not a podcast or available on-demand video of the last conversation we had on this.

Who is sponsoring this one? I don't know "Community Voices."

I want to know, because we have spent more time on this that it is worth, since council leadership and the mayor deal in bad faith. Sometimes, there's just no point in parleying with people who are not trustworthy. What I have seen so far of "the process" shows me that Sweeney, Kelley, and the mayor are less than "the honorable" fellows they claim to be.

From: Ward Reshuffle [mailto:wardreshuffle@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 4:43 PM
Subject: community mtg on re-districting

Community Voices

Presents

An Open Forum On The Re-Drawing

Of The Ward Boundary Lines

For The City Of Cleveland

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 ~ 6:30 p.m.

Faith Temple Church of God

7035 Lexington Avenue

(between Hough & Wade Park Avenues)

This is an "open discussion" with members of Cleveland City Council. All Cleveland residents are invited and encouraged to attend to ask questions and get information on the process.

Dear Ward 15 Constituent:

2009-03-16T14:10:00.001-04:00

We got these two pages in the mail over the weekend. The assumption underlying all of this is that city government re-districting can affect and will affect the integrity of the community. If you stop and think about it for a while, the lines drawn are not what make a difference; we all still have the same subset of problems, the same political whiz-bangs who have been in office since the 1980s ministering and perhaps abetting the economic decline, the same council leadership bribery fund, the same mayor who acts little but vetoes less. The difference will be that the same area that now encompasses ward 15 has 4 advocates instead of merely 1, for starters.

This may have the effect of uniting the community more tightly than ever; we now realize, I would hope, that it's us against them, and now with great embarrassment, we have to take the place back from the public servants turned rock stars we hired to tend to it while we went out to our day jobs. As we take back our government, I hope we also remember to take back the money our public servants wasted or worse; restitution is in order. We need to strip the protections from government that enable everything to wilful incompetence to organized crime to thrive there.

Here's Brian's letter. I'm still undecided as to whether I'll be downtown tonight. I've wasted enough time and breath on "The Honorables" at city hall. All they want to do is to continue to waste an asset, a beautiful city, until its remains qualify for still more federal handouts and "The Honorables" then have the approbation of "developers" and the banks, who in turn benefit from the infusion of new capital based on need, not productivity or the creation of value.

more contact info on Gloria

2009-03-14T10:08:00.001-04:00

Dear Save Our Land reader,

As of 3 PM yesterday, Friday, Gloria is a resident on the same floor as she was in November and December, the third floor in the MetroHealth Towers, room 334-1, telephone 216-957-7188.

If there are any changes to location or phone number, I'll post it to her blog, www.gloriaferris.net.

We expect her stay will continue 4 or 5 days past the March 19th operation.

Thanks again for your prayers, companionship, and support, all those things that are assisting her miraculous return to good health.

Tim Ferris
taferris@gmail.com
216-255-6640
216-351-0254
216-905-1049 cell

from Darren Hamm: the flyer for next Monday's event

2009-03-11T08:48:00.001-04:00

Get your Saint Patrick's day under way a wee bit early, start getting wound up with a visit to the Cleveland, Ohio, City Hall steps. I'm starting to use "Ohio" now when I talk about Cleveland to make sure we don't confuse it with the other Clevelands of the country, which may be gaining as Cleveland, Ohio, plummets downward in population under the benighted guidance of our long-term elected help.

Roll on Cleveland. Here's Darren's two-fer flyer to help build some mass to go along with the momentum here, which is very good. Take this to every bar and store this weekend. Hand it out after church. Bring your friends. This is about process.

from Darren Hamm: Cutting Up Our Neighborhoods

2009-03-11T08:21:00.003-04:00

From: Darren Hamm [mailto:dandjhamm@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 10:11 PM
To: Darren Hamm
Subject: Cutting Up Our Neighborhoods

Do you know what is happening to your neighborhood this week? If Cleveland City Council has its’ say...we are all in for a big change. If you care about the future of your neighborhood you will join with us on Monday, March 16 on the steps of City Hall at 6:00pm.

In November 2008, we saw the passage of a ballot initiative that provides Cleveland City Council the ability to redraw our ward boundaries. It was stated publicly that Council’s process and goals for redistricting would seek to protect the integrity, as well as historic and natural boundaries of Cleveland’s neighborhoods. In reality, the effort is revealing itself as another great exercise in the time-honored tradition of gerrymandering.

What’s most disheartening about this process is not merely “politicians being politicians” by securing their power structures and eliminating their adversaries. Moreover it is the fact that we the residents and voters have no input about our own communities. That’s why we need to stand now against this action and demand that our voices be heard and our interests be considered.

The leadership of Cleveland City Council is planning to rush an approval of a map drawn up in the back rooms of City Hall without any of our input. If your fate is like that of Ward 15, you too may see your community cut into four pieces with it’s livelihood in the hands of rival political personalities. What will this mean for the valuable community services? What will this mean for the already disenfranchised and less fortunate?

Won’t you stand with us and ask, “what is happening to our neighborhoods”? We all work too hard to watch our hope and progress washed away by this political gesture. If we’ve learned anything in the past year, it’s that now more than ever we need thoughtful, innovative leadership. We’ve also learned that when we get together, united, our hopes can truly make change happen.

Please join us Monday, March 16th at 6:00pm on the steps of Cleveland City Hall at 601 Lakeside Avenue. We’ll proceed into the Monday evening Council hearing at 7:00pm. Attached is a flyer to be passed along to all. Bring friends, bring signs, and bring hope.

Together our voices will be heard. Together we can change the direction of our wonderful City.

Darren T. Hamm

For more information, see the following links:
http://realneo.us/content/cleveland-lose-strong-political-voice
http://realneo.us/content/brooklyn-centre-old-brooklyn-targeted-slice-and-dice-council-leadership
http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2009/03/many_questions_few_answers_for.html
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/cleveland_councilman_brian_cum.html
http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2009/03/old_brooklyn_citizens_schedule.html
http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1236673945178760.xml&coll=2
http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1236673917178760.xml&coll=2
http://blog.Cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/old_brooklyn_citizens_schedule.html

more from Debbie Zeleny: Ward 15 Heads up Links and TV time info

2009-03-11T08:12:00.003-04:00

Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 7:09 AM
Subject: Re: Ward 15 Heads up Links and tv time info

Hello Everyone,

More updates and information

Check out these Options below:

The West Side redistricting meeting is airing everyday this week on cable channel 20. Help spread the word. Air time is as follows:
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
8:30 - 10:00 pm

(Thanks to everyone who is working on this)

For more information, see the following links:
http://realneo.us/content/cleveland-lose-strong-political-voice
http://realneo.us/content/brooklyn-centre-old-brooklyn-targeted-slice-and-dice-council-leadership
http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2009/03/many_questions_few_answers_for.html
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/cleveland_councilman_brian_cum.html
http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2009/03/old_brooklyn_citizens_schedule.html
http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1236673945178760.xml&coll=2
http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1236673917178760.xml&coll=2
http://blog.Cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/old_brooklyn_citizens_schedule.html

Debra Zeleny
--- On Tue, 3/10/09, debbie zeleny <debrazeleny@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Hello Neighbors and Friends,

Did you see this today??

http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2009/03/old_brooklyn_citizens_schedule.html

Look at the other attachments also.

We had to move the location to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Parking lot for the Bus to City Hall on Monday the 16, 2009 Transportation will begin at 5PM until 6:30 PM ( don't forget your sighs if you are going to protest on the steps of city hall with us--we will place them in Brians office during the council meeting. It is suspected that they are going to try to get pass this legislation that night.

It is critical that we stand and fight for our neighborhood, please tell everyone you know even if they don't live here.

Last night several of us ward 15 residents put together a 4000 pieces mailing that you should get no later than Thursday.The letter explaining everything is in it.

Debbie Zeleny

City of Cleveland, Ohio: CHARTER AMENDMENTS ADOPTED 11-4-08

2009-03-10T13:14:00.001-04:00

Way down the page, in section 25, you will find these parameters:

If the City’s population is: The City shall be divided into the following number of wards:

More than 575,000 ………………………………………………. 25
575,000 or less but more than 525,000………………….. 23
525,000 or less but more than 475,000………………….. 21
475,000 or less but more than 425,000………………….. 19
425,000 or less but more than 375,000………………….. 17
375,000 or less but more than 325,000………………….. 15
325,000 or less but more than 275,000………………….. 13
275,000 or less ……………………………………….…………… 11

The wards so formed shall be as nearly equal in population as may be fair and equitable, composed of contiguous and compact territory, and bounded by natural boundaries or street lines. When any territory is annexed to the City the Council shall by ordinances declare it a part of the adjacent ward or wards.

It's interesting to note here that they provide for annexation, but fail to talk about secession, or de- or dis-annexation.

It is my belief that we should now be talking about getting to a level of 17 wards immediately, if we're so hot to trot on getting busy and getting done before the census.

How many times are we going to re-tool all the systems and paperwork at the city and at the county level, to compensate for serial changes over a period of 2 or 3 years. The Honorable (this always cracks me up, how they've decked each other out with titles) Kevin Kelley, at the public review session last Wednesday at the Jones Home (little did we know we were all orphaned at that time, pending new adoption) whipped some Latin phraseology on us, saying the cost each time and every time would be de minimis.

We need to quantify de minimis and, if it's so negligible an expense, let the councilpeople pick up the tab out of their expense accounts, or personal pocket change.

CHARTER_AMENDMENTS_ADOPTED_11-4-08

Henry Gomez: Ward 15 residents angry about City Council redistricting have many questions, few answers - Inside Cleveland City Hall

2009-03-09T17:40:00.001-04:00

Henry recounts more of the chickens coming home to roost as Brian Cummins, avid supporter of Council reduction, gets reduced into oblivion, and Callahan reminds us all of the way things were.

. . . And we still don't know what will happen on the East Side, where another council member is expected to lose most of his political base and be pitted against a colleague.

Despite all of this instant drama, local blogger Bill Callahan reminds everyone that this had to have been expected - most of all, perhaps, by Cummins. Cummins, as I should have noted in this weekend's stories, advocated an even deeper council downsizing. He felt the cuts favored by Sweeney and suburban businessmen were not enough at a time when Cleveland was bleeding population.

Callahan had a front-row seat to Cummins' proposal. He was a member of the Charter Review Commission that studied various downsizing plans and ultimately backed the one pushed by Sweeney - but not until 2013, when hard Census numbers would be available.

The ballot initiative ultimately passed by council called for the redistricting to take effect this year. And city voters approved the plan last November by a wide margin.

Nowhere in the charter amendment did it say that existing neighborhood boundaries had to be protected. It didn't even say the council would try to make such accommodations.

Now, people are angry because they see the effects of this amendment coming to life. To those in Brooklyn Centre, take a look at Ohio City. Since the last redistricting earlier this decade, Ohio City has been shared by three council members. . .

Ward 15 residents angry about City Council redistricting have many questions, few answers - Inside Cleveland City Hall - cleveland.com

redoing the map, with more detail

2009-03-08T22:50:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, Blogger blogs need some help when it comes to formatting and graphics. Here's an amplification of the Ward 15 map of the prior post by dhamm, assisted by Windows Live Writer.

If you'd like to have your own copy of the graphic emailed to you, leave me a note here or send me an email at taferrisATgmail.com

Ward 15 Redistricting Map

2009-03-08T16:03:00.004-04:00

Thought that a visual may be helpful to understand the impact of gerrymandering on our community. As even mentioned by the consultant Dykes, if enough of us get up in arms over this process these lines are still flexible. Let's let them know how we feel!

Henry Gomez: Councilman Brian Cummins criticizes plan to redraw Ward 15

2009-03-07T20:53:00.001-05:00

At Terry Klima's funeral mass today over at Saint Rocco's, we heard talk that the Triad Consultants' estimate of a Cleveland population of 427,000 is deliberately high, certainly higher than the US Census' more conservative December 2008 estimate of 405,000, and 60,000 off the mark of 360,000-370,000 that political insiders think is what's real, out there on the ground. From the end of Henry's article:

One of the consultants, Bob Dykes, said that the plan should not be seen as a slight to Cummins, a constant thorn in Council President Martin J. Sweeney's side. Rather, Dykes said, the move was made to preserve a ward with a high concentration of Hispanics. Doing so would help the city protect minority voting strength -- a hallmark of the Voting Rights Act.

Cummins' Brooklyn Centre neighborhood sits south of Santiago's ward, the Clark-Metro and Tremont areas, where Hispanics make up more than 40 percent of the voting population.

"We can't build a ward that has a majority of Hispanics," said Dykes, of Triad Research Group. "But we try to come as close to having as many Hispanics as we can without having ward boundaries that look like an octopus. That's why Brian finds himself in that ward."

Dykes said he is unsure "how final" the lines he shared with Cummins are. He also declined to reveal which other wards could be significantly altered to accommodate the downsizing. But he stressed that the council could choose to pass on his recommendations.

"If there are enough people unhappy like Brian is," Dykes said, "they can change it."

I hear there's a "Roll on City Hall" planned for March 16th at 6 PM. Let's hope the weather's nice. We can probably get national coverage, especially if we start talking about secession. These are times of great opportunity, just handed to us.

Councilman Brian Cummins criticizes plan to redraw Ward 15 - Metro - cleveland.com

theory of urban secession - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2009-03-07T19:45:00.001-05:00

It is my thinking that Brooklyn Centre, Ohio City, and Old Brooklyn at this point have sufficient grounds to begin to ask to secede from the City of Cleveland and each become its own governing entity. In the coming trend towards regionalization, each of these areas needs to have parity and equal standing with each of the existing suburbs in Cuyahoga County.

If at one time it was advantageous to annex, at this point, I have a feeling that it's advantageous to detach each previously annexed area from the dysfunctionality of the City of Cleveland and its conflicted public servants, who now think they're rock stars and not accountable to their fans for their actions. The governance is not as attractive as it was when the annexations occurred; back then, the politicians had a more humanistic bent and a holistic view of the universe and mankind. Individual rights were paramount, and the welfare of the group was assured so long as the rights of the individual were held inviolate and common-sense, sustainable, economical, efficient practices prevailed. There were efficiencies and economies of scale to be achieved.

Today, the world is changing quickly, going from a hierarchical structure to a networked structure, vertical to lateral, and Cleveland government is not. I don't think those boys and girls read or think a whole lot. I see little evidence that they are lifelong learners.

Here's a snippet from Wikipedia with reference to the thinking of Jane Jacobs on the topic of secession, on which few agree, it seems. What I do know is that I want out, and I don't want to have to move and give up a nice neighborhood to escape stupidity and abuse, waste and compromised representation, withholding of services and pitting of neighbors against neighbors. I want to live in a small town again, and we have that already in Brooklyn Centre, except for our form of government. Lately, I like being close to Cleveland's downtown, but not part of Cleveland. It's a values thing.

Modern theorists of local civic economies, including Robert J. Oakerson and Jane Jacobs, argue that cities reflect a clash of values, especially of tolerances versus preferences, with views of the city varying from a pure community to that of a pure marketplace. Suburbanites have a strong tendency to view the city as a marketplace since they do not participate in its street life voluntarily, nor do they consider the city to be a safe and comfortable place to live in. By contrast, those who choose downtown living tend to see it as more of a community, but must pay careful attention to their tolerances (for smog, noise pollution, crime, taxation, etc.). Ethics and thus politics of these interest groups vastly differ.

Secession (the setup of entirely new legislative and executive entities) is advocated by certain urban theorists, notably Jane Jacobs, as the only way to deal politically with these vast differences in culture between modern cities and even their nearest suburbs and essential watersheds. She stated that "cities that wish to thrive in the next century must separate politically from their surrounding regions." She rejected the lesser "Charter" and less formal solutions, arguing the full structure of real regional government were necessary, and applied to the urban area alone. In particular she rejected the idea that suburban regions should have any say over the rules in the city: "they have left it, and aren't part of it." Jacobs herself lived in an urban neighborhood (The Annex, Toronto) which would have been paved over in the 1970s by a highway project to serve the suburbs, the Spadina Expressway, had the proponents of urban secession not stopped it. Jacobs likewise took part in blocking the development of the Cross-Manhattan Expressway in the 1960s, opposing Robert Moses. These freeways are examples of the clash of urban community versus suburban market interests.

Advocates of highway development and suburban participation in urban government theorize that cities which protect themselves from the suburbs, forcing them to become self-sufficient small towns, cutting off the freeways, forcing commuters into subways, etc., are committing suicide by forcing business out into the suburbs. Advocates respond that cities depend more on their quality of life to attract migrants and professionals, and that telecommuting makes it possible for workers in the city to live anywhere, coming into town less frequently, without the rush.

Urban secession - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the antidote for ward division: secession

2009-03-07T08:45:00.002-05:00

There's been a furor yesterday and today in Ward 15 of the City of Cleveland about a tripartite division of what is one of the Cleveland area's most intrinsically valuable suburbs, the park neighborhood from which the beautiful Cleveland Zoo sprang. Part would go to Joe Santiago to the north, part would go to Joe Cimperman to the east, and another part would join Tony Brancatelli, connecting by jumping over Newburg Heights.

I'm quite tired of arguing over basic common-sense issues with the city government here in Cleveland. It takes a lot of time and energy that could be way better spent.

I am proposing quite simply that we in Ward 15 secede, become the Village of Brooklyn Centre once more, lower our overhead, and take back our governance. This should take the population of the City of Cleveland down to less than 400,000 as of the next census, and perhaps that will qualify them for some sort of emergency-aid intervention as they waddle up to the DC trough.

We in Brooklyn Centre already have the fire station, the police station, two libraries, the hospital, two cemeteries, a lovely park adjacent to the Zoo, a number of churches, good basic housing stock, and great freeway access and transit routes. What we need now is to be freed from stupidity and the abusive actions of deeply conflicted politicians, like Marty Sweeney and Kevin Kelley.

If you're wondering what it's like to live in Cleveland and be subject to the inept ministrations of these two disgraces to my Irish heritage, try to imagine what it would be like to be walked by your dog.

from Debbie Zeleny: Heads up people ----new ward boundaries mean we get two east side councilmen

2009-03-07T08:07:00.001-05:00

Our neighbors weigh in on the proposed ward divisions:

From: debbie zeleny [mailto:debrazeleny@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 7:28 PM

Subject: Heads up people ----new ward boundaries mean we get two east side councilmen

Everyone who cares about the future of our neighborhood.

Brian and Johanna will be following up with information for you.

It is time for the neighborhood to fight for Ward 15 to keep its boundriew-----or we will have to be under two east side Councilman. You can figure out the rest from there.

If you want to fight to keep our neighborhood, be at Gino's Bar Parking Lot on Denison at the I -176 exit ramp on Monday March 16, 2009 at 6:00 PM we are going by bus loads down to fight for our neighborhood.

More details will follow--letters will be sent watch the media and look at the news paper.

There is going to be a big public meeting and I will keep you posted

Debra Zeleny

but we have been nice....

2009-03-06T20:22:00.001-05:00

Gloria got a call a short while ago about the division of Ward 15 in tres partes, with part going to Santiago, lower Denison going to Cimperman, and South Hills going to Brancatelli. I'm using Latin here because our whiz kid from Ward 16 who was chief apologist for the ward divisions Wednesday night, at the Jones Home, felt compelled then to try to elevate the discourse by using the legalese of de minimis, but then couldn't quantify what he meant. Anyway, at least Brian Cummins knows the fate of his ward at this point. Zack Reed hasn't been told, and Brian wasn't allowed to look at anything else in the city besides the travesty inflicted on Ward 15.

Marty Sweeney told Brian that if he "played nice" or "made nice," maybe some things could get worked out. What Marty fails to understand is that, up to this point, we have been playing nice.

Brian didn't take the bait. He wasn't sure what Marty meant, first of all, and he wasn't sure if Marty was wearing underwear. There are some things you just don't need to know, and Brian's getting smarter by the day, having learned from Emily Lipovan's experiences.

Henry Gomez should have this out in the PD tomorrow. Stay tuned.

In dividing and "deconstructing" Ward 15, I think they've united us, across the city.

Ron Sawyer: FACTS & STATEMENTS CONCERNING COUNCIL REDUCTION

2009-03-05T17:17:00.002-05:00

We got the following material last night from our friend and neighbor Ron Sawyer at the Jones Home meeting concerning ward division and redivision.

FACTS & STATEMENTS CONCERNING
COUNCIL REDUCTION

• At present, we have 21 council members, 12 east side, 1 east & west,
and 8 west side members.

• Voted on reduction of council from a maximum of 25 wards to a
minimum of 11 wards using a ratio of 1 ward for every 25,000 people.
It passed 68,811 for and 45,818 against from unofficial results from the
board of election.

• 25,000 people x 17 council members= 425,000

• The councils estimate of the city population is now 428,000 people,
approximately as of year 2009

• Using their figure of 428,000 divided by 17 members^ 25,176 per ward
(over)

• Using their figure of 428,000 divided by 19 members= 22,526 per ward
(under)

• The 2000 census population for Cleveland was 478,400 people and is
now estimated at 428,000 people. That equals a 50,400 loss of people
in the city.

• The Cleveland Plain Dealer estimated 75% of loss from east side and
25% loss from the west side of town.

• Using this figure 75% equals 37,800 east side and 12,600 west side
population loss in the city.

• The city is considering at this point, the reduction of 1 east side ward
and 1 west side ward. Is ward 2, formerly held by Robert White III,
not the designated ward for the east side.

To reach a redistribution of people in each ward to 22,526 per ward
would require approximately 2 and a half times the amount of people
redistributed into east side wards then into west side wards.

According to The Plain Dealer, 20% plus students from the east side
are going to west side schools. Would it not be feasible if some of their
parents would not move to the west side when possible for the
convenience of their children?

Looking at the figures and shifts in population and students, is not
council member Matt Zone and others not right in demanding
transparency on behalf of the residents. I do not believe any west side
wards should be affected until after the 2010 year census is done. If so,
then show the people why in an open, honest manner.

On January 8th, 2009 in an article in the west side Sun Newspaper,
President Sweeney wants a meeting with the Ohio Ethics Commission
and council members to brush up on local and state laws regarding
ethics standards. He stated in the article that he strongly believes it is
the role of the council to serve the citizens of the city ethically, fairly,
and with their best interest always in mind.

If council president Martin Sweeney wants to practice what he
preaches then put the redrafting of city ward boundaries on the table
for view with representatives of organizations following councilman
Matt Zone's recommendations.
Ronald Sawyer
Ward 15 Resident
January 13th, 2009
Cc Cleveland City Council Members

agendas and minutes of the Village of Bentleyville Council

2009-03-04T13:52:00.001-05:00

I was looking for an old friend and stumble across this Village website that can serve as an example for all cities and nonprofits that have an obligation to have public meetings and a duty to communicate the agendas of these meetings as well as the minutes to interested parties, in a readily accessible, open, transparent format.

Here, with Bentleyville, it's simple: The agendas are in one column, and the minutes are in the next.

       Minutes & Agendas

2009 Council Agendas                            2009 Council Minutes

   (meeting date)                                          (meeting date)

2008 Council Agendas                             2008 Council Minutes

   (meeting date)                                          (meeting date)

What's so difficult about this? Why can't everybody do it this way?

I also like the way they present themselves, down to the tagline:

Village of Bentleyville

Founded 1831

Serve, Preserve, Conserve

Simplicity. Basics. There's a premium for it, and Bentleyville's a prime example.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, out there in the Chagrin River Valley they seem to appreciate the value of older things that have survived to this day, and they are trying to find a way to save their own Greek Revival property from being razed, just as we are looking for ways to preserve and conserve the 1853 (?) Greek Revival covered with aluminum siding at 4107 Denison and prevent its impending "deconstruction." Here's what the Bentleyville home page has to say:

The Duncan McFarland Homestead

Bentleyville Village officials are interested in exploring options to keep the The Duncan McFarland Homestead from being razed. The McFarland Homestead was built in 1848, has architectural significance as one of the few brick Greek Revival dwellings in the Western Reserve and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Metroparks owns the site on land within the Village. The Village is proposing a year-long lease, hopefully at a cost of $1 a year, so that Council can explore interest, possible uses for the building and possible sources of funding both within the Village and within surrounding communities. We have some historical information posted. If you are interested in working on this project in any way, please email Wendy Gillund.

Social media madness

2009-03-01T20:06:00.003-05:00

There is Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Slideshare, Blogger...ad nauseum. Now, there is another application Ning. Here is my experimental run on NING.

http://freindsofwcreedfield.ning.com/

Unfortunately, I seem to have forgotten how to spell "friends."

Brooklyn Centre has had a hard time embracing social network that actually WORK. I-neighbors.org never got off the ground and local groups--BCCA, Southwest Citizens, OBDC, and our council reps haven't committed to a format that works for them, either.

Perhaps, NING is the answer?

Random ramblings

2009-02-27T09:26:00.002-05:00

Yesterday in the neighborhood, you could feel Spring in the air. The cardinals were singing, the squirrels have become frisky and the boys in the neighborhood are marking their territories.
Young girls were out, too, doing what they do best...torturing young males, but it is the boys I worry about more than the girls.
I witnessed two groups of boys, all hooded and droopy drawered, face off on Denison Ave. As one group walked east and the other walked west, the boys quickly sparred with each other, fists soft pounding and a flurry of contact. And, then it was over. Just a posturing move, almost sexual, followed by a flurry of expletives towards each other. So stupid and so human.

2 years later, & now comes the full disclosure: "Med mart bonds cost millions more with private company"

2009-02-21T13:30:00.003-05:00

We didn't talk about this during the Put It On The Ballot campaign nearly two years ago, and the sales tax increases sailed through in time to help the county balance the books at the end of 2007. We have the Greater Cleveland Partnership with Nancy Lesic and her airplane, Fred Nance and his firm SSD, and pre-FBI-investigation county commissioners for that one.

Now, after having tried to collect his firm's fees from the county instead of from the GCP, Vornado, or the Kennedy family's company, here's Fred again, innumerate as ever, claiming that the $75,000,000 premium we will be paying is "well worth it."

We are paying for some really bad help here. Is it time to pull the plug on this before it gets worse?

Med mart bonds cost millions more with private company - Metro - cleveland.com

HistoricForSale.com - Historic Homes, Preservation Real Estate, Old Homes and Property For Sale, and Historic Real Estate Agents - Property Details: H. Krather Building

2009-02-19T19:38:00.001-05:00

I came across this listing while blogging about the new "Old Brooklyn Blogs":

Property Details: H. Krather Building

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Property Information

H. Krather Building
4138 Pearl Rd.
Cleveland, OH
Find it with Google™ Maps!

Price: $350,000

Bedrooms: 10+

Bathrooms: 7+

Square Feet: 16,000

Year Built:
1895

Architectural Style:
Eclectic Houses
(1880-1940)

Name: Michael Cottrell

Phone: 440-956-5094 or 440-886-5300

Fax: 440-886-4572

Email: Send an email...

Website: Visit the website...

Property History

Built in 1895 by local farmer Henry Krather, the building acted as a "last stop", or gateway of sorts, before entering Cleveland proper, in a time before the bridge spanning the now Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was built. The south storefront housed the Henning & Decker Hardware store from 1900 until 1967, while the third floor ballroom was the Florentine Dance Club in 1900. In the times since, it has housed many businesses, including a repair shop, a sign shop, hunger center, Travelrama, and Adolph's Health Studio, which inhabited the third floor ballroom for many years.

Property Description

The H. Krather Building features three storefronts, six units on the second floor, and two open units on the third floor. The attached annex has two stories, as well as the stone-block outbuilding, which is behind the main building/annex. Two of the storefronts boast 1300 sq. ft., while the center storefront measures 2400 sq. ft. The second floor currently has 6 units, totaling 5500 sq. ft. The third floor has two spacious open units, and there is a full basement in both the main building and the annex. This is a Historical landmark with Phase I & Phase II completed. Phase III would come at the completion of rehab construction. It will then be eligible for Historical Tax Credits. Additionally, it will qualify for tax abatement for ten years. Complete plans are approved to make the complex into eighteen rental apartments. The units will range from 425 sq. ft. studio suites, to 1100 sq. ft. 2 bedroom suites. The two lots in the rear have been purchased for parking, and an elevator is included in the plans from the first to the third floors.

Additional Notes

for more information, and a photo tour including the interior, visit www.yorktownlanes.com/krather.

HistoricForSale.com - Historic Homes, Preservation Real Estate, Old Homes and Property For Sale, and Historic Real Estate Agents - Property Details: H. Krather Building

"Old Brooklyn Blogs"

2009-02-19T18:42:00.002-05:00

Our neighbors across the Brooklyn-Brighton Bridge now have a blog, begun in February of 2009. I follow, through Blogger.

Old Brooklyn Blogs

Old Brooklyn Blogspot

2009-02-19T15:06:00.002-05:00

Big news...the other side of the bridge has a blog!!!

Now can we call ourselves something besides...OLD?
http://oldbrooklyn.blogspot.com/

Save Our Land

hearing January 9th at Estabrook, on the CREG Center

City of Cleveland and the Landmarks Department

IMPORTANT: Bradley Road Landfill Meeting July 13, 2011, at 6:00 P.M.

South Euclid Council says :Big Box Retail-It’s a Good Thing

OBJECTION LTR: EARTH DAY COALITION WEIGHS IN

OBJECTION LTR: DENISE DONALDSON, BRKLYN CTRE

OBJECTION LETTER: JEFF SUGALASKI, OLD BRKLYN

4300 Bradley Rd. Landfill BOZA Hearing Scheduled

Lots Happening This Fall

Lots Happening This Fall

Farkas enters fracas weakly: Sound wall made of vegetation to be studied by ODOT as alternative to concrete wall | cleveland.com

Cleveland: Angry residents fight highway noise wall

6:30 PM tonight, Friday, June 18th: Flash Mob in Brooklyn Centre protesting ODOT’s marring of our landscape, I-71 access road. Be there!

from the ODOT site, some search results: “waste, fraud, and abuse”

Tuesday’s ODOT thread about best practices, and bringing current practices into compliance

1 meter = 3.2808399 feet

today’s thread concerning ODOT District 12 and how they ignore the people who make their employment possible

wise practices from Toronto: The Living Wall sound barrier

Gateway to Our Past: The 2010 Brooklyn Centre Garden Tour, June 13th, 2010, at Riverside Cemetery

THE 2010 BROOKLYN CENTRE GARDEN TOUR

“GATEWAY TO OUR PAST”

June 13, 2010 ~ 1 – 5 P.M.

Riverside Cemetery, 3607 Pearl Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44109

Admission $8.00 ($10.00 day of tour)

Seniors $5.00 ($7.00 day of tour)

Reserve your tickets today!

Call: 216-351-0254

or email: gloria.ferris@gmail.com

Brooklyn Centre Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday, May 31st, at 1100

BROOKLYN CENTRE

MEMORIAL DAY

CEREMONY

JOIN US FOR A SERVICE AT THE HISTORIC BROOKLYN CENTRE BURYING GROUND, ALSO KNOWN AS DENISON CEMETERY. TO HONOR OUR MILITARY VETERANS.

11:00 AM, MONDAY

MAY 31ST 2010

MEET AT THE BURYING GROUNDS LOCATED ON GARDEN AVENUE, NORTH OF DENISON AND EAST OF PEARL ON GARDEN AVE BEHIND ALDI'S

THIS CEMETERY HAD ITS FIRST BURIAL IN 1823 AND WAS DEEDED BROOKLYN CENTRE BURING GROUNDS IN 1835. MANY WAR VETERANS, STARTING WITH THE "REVOLUTIONARY WAR", ARE BURIED IN THIS LOCAL HISTORIC CEMETERY.

ALL WELCOME TO CONTRIBUTE. PLEASE CALL RICK NICHOLSON AT 216 398 1494 TO SCHEDULE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH TO MAKE. MUSIC WILL BE PERFORMED BY JOY AND DOC.

New National Report: Economic Impact of Historic Tax Credits

Thank You!! Thank You! Thank You!

UPDATE: Mineral Mining Permit #10428 Application

Eight Days and Counting….

Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Is Applying for Mineral Mining Rights within the City Limits of Cleveland Newsworthy?

McQuillin’s Newsletter goes online

BCN & FOBC Joint Mtg March 9

how to be putting the “u” in urban watershed stewardship; “b” there March 9th; “c” how it’s done

VDAY2

Valentine's Weekend Benefit

Cleveland Housing Court Informational Meeting

update on permeable driveway surfaces in Cleveland

Public Meeting Scheduled: Uranium Remediation at Harshaw Chemical Plant in Old Brooklyn on Shores of Big Creek.

January E News from Heritage Ohio

Give and U shall Receive

Gloria's keynote speech posted

Brown’s Tavern clarifications from our local architectural historian

petition to ban ODOT barriers

Brooklyn Centre Loses another historic structure

URGENT: meetings to discuss erection of sound barriers

historic home restoration guidance from CLEVELAND Magazine

Brooklyn Centre Naturalists July Meeting

Unanswered questions about the NRP & B. C. Ziegler project on lower Denison in Cleveland, Ohio

my current Sales Practices Manual tells me I am not to be engaged in blogging activity

I have never used this or any other blog for professional purposes.

Prohibited Activities

The below list is not intended to be inclusive of all of the instances in which the Firm will prohibit a communication with the public; rather it is intended to demonstrate some of the most common types of communications that are not approved. . . .

. . . Blogs: Interactive electronic forums such as blogs subject a member firm to various supervision and record keeping requirements. As such, no employee or affiliated person with the Firm may participate in blogs or other similar interactive electronic communications such as chat rooms.

WSP Online: Current Manual

And another, less proximate:

Electronic Chat Rooms, Blogs and Bulletin Boards

In general, blogs and bulletin boards are considered advertisements and as such, all the content standards apply. Depending on the subject matter, firms may need to file these postings with FINRA.

Denison Cemetery Memorial Day Service

Knox Heritage celebrates five preservation victories and mourns five losses

Preservation Sans Politics in the Slough of Despond: Cleveland Clinic in the Ignorance Pit

great ideas from mid-state: The Lazarus Building

The Lazarus Building

History/Value of Renovating the Lazarus Building:

Six major hallmarks of "Green Buildings"

Green Characteristics of Lazarus:

Saturday, March 21^st