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FIRE GUS FRANGOSSubmitted by lmcshane on Thu, 01/11/2024 - 05:02.
I use Twitter, now X, to hashtag #FIREGusFrangos. This past week, Nick Castele published the latest crime in progress: Cleveland taxpayers are paying to demolish a property owned by the Cuyahoga County Council president and the Cuyahoga Land Bank is "selling" Cuyahoga County Council President Pernel Jones' property at 8637 Buckeye- an HISTORIC building Jones let fall into disrepair and delinquent on back taxes until this report came out. Marshall Project reporter Mark Puente also noted that Pernel Jones' business operation on Cedar was similarly tax delinquent until the report. The roof has collapsed, and the building was damaged by a fire, Beth Mackey with Cleveland’s demolition bureau said at a city planning meeting Tuesday morning. Now Cleveland plans to raze the building at taxpayer expense and stick the funeral home with the $106,355 bill, according to the city.
Jones said he has privately contracted with the Cuyahoga Land Bank to find a buyer for the land. The council president said “no county money whatsoever” is involved in the deal.
Of course, Nick Castele fails to mention anything about the influx of federal money that Uncle Gus will use to find a BUYER for the site
2023 Strategy Development Grant Recipient Application Title: Site Readiness and Good Jobs Initiative (SDG) Lead Applicant: The Fund for Our Economic Future of Northeast Ohio State(s) Served: Ohio Applicant-Defined Region: 5 census tracts in what is known as the Opportunity Corridor in the city of Cleveland, OH Contact: Reanna Karousis (rkarousis [at] thefundneo [dot] org) Site Readiness and Good Jobs Initiative, led by The Fund for Our Economic Future, will connect land use and growth initiatives with community development in Cleveland, Ohio. The plan aims to leverage investments in the Opportunity Corridor—a former brownfield redevelopment area on the southeast side of the city. Activities include hiring a Recompete Plan Coordinator and necessary staff and funding contracted support for community outreach and strategic implementation planning.
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15 minute PRISONS for NON Friends of Justine
For SOME reason I confuse Pernel Jones with Ken Johnson. Both elected crooks but only one went to jail. I just love that FABULOUS pan handling proposal. Another million or billion requested from our totally broke federal government for "site readiness" by Justine. Ready for WHAT. Justine's 15 minute peneteniary that's WHAT. Not 69 factories that he lied about which will employ 9834 people. All of it is a huge scam while Justine struts around in his pink tie refusing to answer any questions.
Public RECORD of corruption - Updated
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/01/cleveland-to-demolish-county-council-presidents-condemned-property.html
The irony that a local public official’s decrepit property would be contributing to a city’s blight was not lost on the commission. August Fluker, an architect on the panel asked during the meeting, “Why is the city paying to tear down the property of the business of a county (councilman)?
“We’re worried about out-of-towners coming in, but we have bad players in our community.”
Pernel Jones is not the only person who is a political profiteer thanks to the Rokakis-Frangos engineered CITY of Cleveland AND Cuyahoga County Land Bank. Here is a partial list of the crony club:
--Jim Rokakis (Former City Council, Former County Treasurer, Former broker of shady land deals at Western Reserve Land Conservancy)
--GUS Frangos (Former City Council, former Deputy County Treasurer, Now directs Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp CCLB)
--Steven Pontikos (Gus Frangos'- Nephew)
--Cheryl Stephens (Former staffer of the treasurer Jim Rokakis(changed her own property taxes), Executive of Cleveland Heights, candidate for Lt Governor, currently at Cuyahoga County Council but not running again)
-- Brandon King (Mayor of East Cleveland)
--Ray Pianka (Former City Council Former CDC and Former Housing Court judge-heart attack/deceased after visit from Federal agents)
--Ron O'Leary (Former DDirector B&H, Housing Court now the FIXER of records at Board of Revision)
--Matt Zone (Former City Council - now WRLC)
--Tony Brancatelli (Former City Council)
--Basheer Jones (Former City Council) and State Rep Terrence Upchurch
--TJ Dow (Former City Council)
--Briana Butler (Former City Program manager in Community Development now at NPI)
--Matt Moss (Cleveland City Planner - former Tremont West CDC employee)
--Brad Sellers (Mayor Warrensville Heights) CHAIR County Land Bank
--Sharon Dumas (Former Cleveland finance director)
--Ricardo Leon (Former MetroWest CDC person, now at CCLB)
--Jenny Spencer (Former DSCDO staff and now council person appointed by Matt Zone now at WRLC )
--Jasmin Santana (Current Ward 14 council rep) ON Land Bank Board
--Jeff Ramsey (Former DSCDO staff)
--Steven Rys (Cleveland City Council staff member)
--Debra Gray (Current City Council member)
--Marion "Anita" Gardner (Former City Council Member)
http://realneo.us/content/arpa-funds-given-corrupt-cuyahoga-county-land-bank
--Michael J. Houser (replacement for Cheryl Stephens at County Council)
I will update this but these are major protected players to date.
LOOK under any CDC or affiliated non-profit rock and you will find an employee who got an inside deal on a wite out or reduction in property taxes or a sweet land/property transaction.
SMEDLEY smoking gun on East Cleveland and Land Bank
Date: Thu, Nov 16, 2023 at 4:23 PM
Subject: The Taking of East Cleveland
I wanted to make sure that I am clear on how ownership of land within the city was given to the Cuyahoga Land Bank's Land Reutilization program and was achieved without council review or approval.
By using the city's charter and the housing department I have successfully demolished over a third of the homes within the city and transferred ownership of land parcels to the Land Bank's Land Reutilization program. This plan has been in the works since the Norton administration when we attempted to have the city annexed to Cleveland and Cleveland Heights. The residents voted against the annexation, so we began working with the Land Bank to gentrify the city.
The new development properties that are planned will be sold with a tax abatement, meaning the new owners and residents will not have to pay property taxes on their condos or homes. This new development will not increase the tax base as I have boasted. I anticipate the new residents paying their R.I.T.A. taxes to infuse new money into the city, not property taxes.
Cuyahoga Land Bank is not a government agency; it is registered as a non-profit. The Land Bank Director of Land Bank & Land Bank Charities is Gus Frangos & Dennis Roberts owns several development companies nationwide. Land Bank Charities is a front to launder funds received from the sale of the properties it has acquired.
Memorandum of Understanding with Land Bank & Resolution 15-16: This is the agreement between the City of East Cleveland and the Cuyahoga Land Bank to do the following:
A. To demolish dilapidated and blighted houses to assemble land for
Development, to assemble land for development in ‘target area’ as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding.
The MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) expired in 2021 and specified that if a development plan was not in place and initiated, then the land assembled by the land bank was to be returned back to the City of East Cleveland. The Land Bank owns and is selling properties throughout the entire city, including wards 3 & 4 although land assembly was specific to Ward 2 per the resolution.
Nuisance Abatement:
Chapter 1345 Housing Enforcement & Penalty
Chapter 1313: Abatement of Nuisances & Demolition of Structures
Chapter 1373: Enforcement; Unsafe Buildings
These ordinances were used to take possession of properties and transfer ownership to the land bank; the property receives a complaint and inspectors are dispatched to inspect the property and it is declared a nuisance; declaring a property a nuisance allows the city to take ownership and then transfer to the Land Bank’s Land Reutilization program. Homes identified as unsafe/ nuisance should’ve been reviewed by the Nuisance Abatement Board ( 1313.08) before being demolished and ownership transferred to the Land Bank per the East Cleveland charter.
Residents identified properties that needed demolishing via neighborhood groups and then the properties were placed on a list and submitted to the administration. Houses placed on the list to be demolished, are now owned by the land bank as a part of the Land Reutilization program; once a home has been bid out to a contractor for demolishing, some homes are stripped of their ornamental accents and other valuable things, such as sandstone, contributing to the blight of the city.
Councilman Timothy Austin purchased a home on Farmington from the previous owner after the home was presumed to be vacant and on the demolition list was stripped of its sandstone stairs. The porch was destroyed. The home was vacant but the owner maintained the property so it could not be mistaken for a dilapidated property that needed demolishing. Several other homes throughout the city were vandalized in this same manner, such as homes on Speedway-Overlook Road where the sandstone stairs, walkway and porch slabs were stolen off the home. The stolen sandstone was kept behind a building on Shaw. The owner of the building was never charged nor was his equipment confiscated.
Some houses that could’ve been saved or not needing to be demolished, were taken down because they were located within the target area. For example, almost all the homes on Brightwood were demolished while other homes in Ward 3 and 4 in far worse condition were allowed to remain standing.
Cleveland Bricks has owned the abandoned apartment building across from the site of the former Huron Hospital for several years and has not secured the building and has received numerous complaints of safety issues for residents and children. This building has yet to be deemed a nuisance or placed on the demolition list.
The Metroparks Agreement is vital to validate this theft.
Within this agreement the EPA will provide the city with a
development plan that was required within Resolution 15-16 for the Land Bank to keep all the land that it has acquired and assembled within the city, otherwise the Land Bank is in forfeiture since the Memorandum of Understanding attached to the resolution expired in 2021.
Gus Frangos' salary paid out of delinquent tax fees
FTR - Gus Frangos, who lives in Summit County, hauls in more than Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne.
Ms. McShane:
This email is in response to your public records request sent by email on June 27, 2024. Your email stated “Please reply with annual salaries,” and then listed the names of 7 employees of the Cuyahoga Land Bank. Although no specific record are requested, I am interpreting your email to be a request for a record that contains a list of the annual salaries of those employees. The Land Bank does not possess any record that lists annual salaries by employee as you requested, but below please find the annual salaries for those 7 employees requested.
2024 Salaries
Gus Frangos - $277,868
Ricardo Leon - $170,000
Dennis Roberts - $179,399
Michael Schramm - $127,733
Ronald Pavlovich - $166,742
Douglas Sawyer - $125,412
Adam Stadler - $125,000
--
Douglas Sawyer
Assistant General Counsel
Cuyahoga Land Bank
812 Huron Rd E, Suite 800
Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 698-3543 (ph)
(216) 698-8972 (fax)
dsawyer@ cuyahogalandbank.org
The tentacles of Cuyahoga County corruption
Includes respectable people like Ms. Roberts who is well-credentialed -
However, the set up for her husband at the Cuyahoga County Land Bank REEKS of NEPOTISM -and Gus Frangos is expecially good at exploiting family ties.
Dennis Roberts is one of many African Americans used as the "face" of Cuyahoga County Land Bank. Let's remember Kenneth Tyson https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/oh-cuyahoga/cuyahoga-county-land-bank-employee-facing-federal-bribery-fraud-charges
Dennis is the front man for Russell Berusch. http://realneo.us/content/russell-berusch#comment-36219 See also: Cheryl Stephens. http://realneo.us/search/node/cheryl+stephens
Land Bank is STILL corrupt without Gus Frangos
I am not going to pretend I had an ounce of respect for the guy. Who is now in charge and will he reform the extremely corrupt agency?
https://neo-trans.blog/2024/08/10/cuyahoga-county-cleans-up-with-brownfield-bucks/
Cuyahoga Land Bank received $23 million for the mass demolitions plus millions more for cleaning up former industrial-commercial sites for new development projects.
Relevant:
http://realneo.us/content/tax-lien-sales-fraud-racism-scams-abuse-naacp-takes-action-cuyahoga-county By Lily Miller who broke story on tax lien sales with Michael Sallah of the Washington Post (at the time)
http://realneo.us/content/case-model-study-about-cleveland-land-bank-property by Dianna Hill who ran for Cuyahoga County Executive
And on-going reporting by Eric J. Brewer - who first called attention to the EVIL tax lien sales in East Cleveland. https://ejbnews.com/?s=gus+frangos
And me - who has to archive all of these urls at the WAYBACK MACHINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update : Board President of Land Bank, Brad Sellars, Mayor of Warrensville Heights under investigation https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/08/warrensville-heights-mayor-brad-sellers-charged-with-petty-theft-tampering-with-evidence-in-tax-scandal.html Hasn't stepped down from Land Bank board 9/6/2024
Brad SellersBoard Chair | Mayor, City of Warrensville Heights
Board Vice Chair | Mayor, City of Seven Hills
Council President, Cuyahoga County
County Executive, Cuyahoga County
Treasurer, Cuyahoga County
Pastor, East Mount Zion Baptist Church
Director of Building and Housing, City of Cleveland
Council Member, City of Cleveland
Director of Research and Impact, Signal Cleveland
Date stamps: Emails sent to County Prosecutor RE: Land Bank
Tue, Jun 27, 2023 at 4:21 PM Dear Ms. McShane: Thank you again for all of your work, information, and documents assisting our Office looking into the Lank Bank/Frangos/Pontikos matter. At this time, after conversations with the Ohio Ethics Commission and the Ohio Auditor of State, we have decided not to pursue prosecution as we do not have evidence of the commission of a criminal violation. However, thank you for calling our attention to this situation and the LLCs in question. I will be in touch should we decide to reopen the matter.
Sunday, June 30, 2024 5:45 AM
Eric J. Brewer forwarded an email to me regarding the criminal activities of the land bank in East Cleveland. Am I allowed to send it to you? Michael Smedley acknowledges collusion.
Mon, Jul 1 2024 at 9:16 PM Good morning: You are allowed to send it to me, however, is this new, is it something that should be reported to police or the state auditor?
Respectfully, I posted it to REALNEO after conferring with Eric J. Brewer FIRE GUS FRANGOS | REALNEO for all FIRE GUS FRANGOS | REALNEO for all As you can see the CCLB is in a free fall. East Cleveland’s Loiter café on hold amid lawsuit against Cuyahoga County Land Bank East Cleveland’s Loiter café on hold amid lawsuit against Cuyahoga Count... Loiter Cafe and Marketplace , the first tenant in East Cleveland’s emerging Circle East District development, ha...
And Cuyahoga County is also being sued for the practice of expedited foreclosure started by Rokakis-Frangos Cuyahoga County took millions from property owners through unconstitutional foreclosure practices, lawsuit claims that started under Rokakis-Frangos.
https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2024/06/cuyahoga-county-took-millions-from-property-owners-through-unconstitutional-foreclosure-practices-lawsuit-claims.html
Fortunately, these attorneys are from outside Cleveland :) The plaintiffs are represented by law firms in Cincinnati and Chicago, including former Ohio Solicitor General Benjamin M. Flowers. Their lawyers are seeking class-action status on behalf of thousands of Cuyahoga residents who potentially lost millions of dollars in property surplus values.
Fraud artist Ricardo Leon to lead corrupt Land Bank
https://neo-trans.blog/2024/09/27/leon-to-lead-cuyahoga-land-bank/
No Surprise - Chris Ronayne: do you plan to continue paying Leon the $278K that Summit County con artist Gus Frangos' raked in - out of delinquent fees to Cuyahoga County treasurer? No doubt the Land Bank will get hefty chuck of change as seniors and low income families default on their insane new property taxes in 2025.