Norm you have outdone yourself with today's header.   Mayor Tom Johnson stands for the standards we have lost in this town.   Getting rich at the expense of the poor does not help any of us.

And as your text evolves, I guess I get more of your drift, but I would say that if you refer to the ban on hoardes of teens and hoodies at Tower City--you will see the same ban in effect in suburban malls.  We need standards.

We as a society, have to teach our teens that it is not right to intimidate and bully and shop lift.  As a teen, who grew up in Rocky River, I can tell you I received the same "not welcome" treatment at Westgate Mall.  And for good reason, we stole merchandise.  As a teen, I did other bad things.  Can this be my absolution during this season of forgiveness and restitution?

Norm, I wish that shoplifting was not a rite of passage in this country, but it is, and you will find it at all socio-economic levels.  Merchants have every right to set a standard.  And every right to advertise that standard on RTA buses.  

We also have a right in this city to set standards of public health. Yes--it seems heartless to  ban loitering and food distribution on Public Square, if it affects the homeless, but it is a standard that has to apply to all of society, too.  In the long run, it helps all of us to maintain some standards of dignity and respect for property--especially common property, like our parks and libraries.  Vandalism, grafitti, littering, loitering and profanity are not signs of a civilized society at any socioeconomic level.  We should not tolerate it.

I will save my sermon on respect and dignity for the less fortunate for another post, or perhaps, in the tradition of free speech,  I will just set up my soap box in Public Square (unless, Brian, do you care to chime in here).

(Also-Jerry Masek from RTA responded to all of the inquiries related to RTA's loss of hours and the sign posting at Tim Ferris' blog--reproduced here)

JMasek said...

Jeff Buster asked about the Tower City stickers posted on RTA rail cars.

RTA GM Joe Calabrese approved the posting. He notes:

"These stickers about the parental involvement program are a public service. Many rail passengers (30,000 a day) are bound for Tower City, and we want them to know of the regulations they will face when they arrive."

Jeff, I hope this answers your questions. There is no contract to review, because no money changed hands. The GM has the authority to act in the best interests of RTA, and he used that authority here

Imc,

I  believe "StealNeo" is not referring to   rite-of-passage teens wrongfully bagging merchandise inside Terminal Tower or Tower City Center mall, but rather to yesterday's Dirty Dealer headline that the City of Cleveland is, essentially, at the end of its road into bankruptcy. 

 Cleveland has suddenly arrived

And now, with the City desperate for cash, those same developers will get a huge Christmas windfall if they pay the city back some cash, because they have the City by the short hairs. 

The Dirty Dealer has already couched the debate to the benefit of the developers, without explaining the inordinate and inequitable leverage against the City this "early pay back" provides the developers.  The developers will profit handsomely from the City’s non-existent “bargaining position” – non-existent because the City is attempting to call in loans which are not yet due.   

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Maybe this has been the plan all along

The banner headline is, I believe,  talking about stealing public money to the tune of multi-millions (billions actually) and distracting the public's notice of  that theft by the additional diversionary discussion around stealing  public access and convenient food distribution from the poor and homeless in Public Square.   You can read more of my outlook on Cleveland, the Grinch City here <!--[endif]-->

on realneo.

They want it all.

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 They want all the public’s money, and they don’t want to see anyone who doesn’t have money to spend. 

Merry Christmas, Cleveland!

From today's PD:  The biggest holiday of the Muslim year, Eid al-Adha, begins on Thursday, Dec. 20, this year. Because it follows the Islamic lunar calendar, it will move 11 days earlier next year and every succeeding year on the Gregorian calendar. Its timing within a week of Christmas happens only once every three decades.   Read about the holiday and the author of the book, Best Eid Ever:

Ohio author fosters understanding of Eid, and Islam, with children's book

Written by Asma Mobin-Uddin and illustrated by Laura Jacobsen.