It's interesting to note that the PD assailed Bill Mason for being too political in the past as county prosecutor but endorse his political role in this reform effort.
"There are certainly flaws in the proposed charter that deserve serious discussion between now and November."
The sentence above was lifted directly from the editorial above. The Plain Dealer finally acknowledges that "flaws" exist in the county reform charter proposed by a group led by Mayor Martin Zanotti, Mayor Bruce Akers and Prosecutor William Mason. I'm just not sure the writer understands how serious the flaws are, and how harmful they are to the interests of good government in Cuyahoga County. Why? Because the "flaws" have never been identified in any editorial or story authored by a Plain Dealer reporter. The newspaper has "promoted" rather than "examined" the "flawed" reform plan, which means it has failed to provide its readers with an honest review of a very complex topic.
The convolution in the editorial writer's thinking is that the Plain Dealer has already endorsed a "flawed" reform plan, has encouraged voters to sign petitions to get the flawed plan on the ballot, has helped fund Zanotti, Akers and Mason's petition drive, and now wants a "discussion" about their flawed plan before the November election as if a "discussion" provides an opportunity to modify it. This is exactly the flawed line of thinking the Plain Dealer's editorial writers offered on June 7 after its editors endorsed a plan they hadn't read, and Metro Editor Chris Quinn asked me for a copy of it the day after.
If the reform plan offered by Zanotti, Akers and Mason is flawed as the Plain Dealer now admits, then the newspaper should have encouraged reformers on June 7 to go back to the drawing board instead of promoting and helping to fund the petition drive to get it on the ballot. Once voters signed the petition to place the plan on the ballot, then it was too late to make changes. Their signatures meant they were adopting the plan "as is." The only choice voters now have is to accept or reject Zanotti, Akers and Mason's "flawed" reform plan in November, and the Plain Dealer's leadership doesn't have the guts to say its editorial bosses and writers made yet another mistake by actively involving the newspaper in political affairs rather than simply reporting the news.
Instead of attacking Commissioners Peter Lawson Jones and Tim Hagan by labeling their reform efforts as "phony," the newspaper's editorial writers don't have the sense to understand that their placing an alternative plan on the ballot gives the newspaper the opportunity to save face for the mistake they made on June 7. The Plain Dealer's editorial bosses can't label Zanotti, Akers and Mason's reform plan as flawed and then continue to endorse it. That makes no sense.
I'll say now what I've said before, and what many voters now understand that the Plain Dealer is stubbornly refusing to admit. Cuyahoga County government is not broken; there are simply broken people serving in government everywhere.
Americans didn't vote to change the way we elected presidents when Republican President Richard Nixon committed crimes in office, we changed presidents. Ohioans didn't vote to change the way governors were elected when Republican Governor Bob Taft was convicted in office, we changed governors. And if the investigation of corruption in Cuyahoga County government ever exposes acts of impropriety on the part of any elected official, we voters will have the opportunity once again to replace the officeholder. Real reform occurs at the ballot box.
Newspapers can help government improve by simply ensuring that journalists are thorough, objective and well-informed in their examination of complex issues. With all the staff reductions at the Plain Dealer, no reporter there is a specialist on any topic other than sports, entertainment, real estate, fashion and food. It takes time to develop knowledge and sources on a beat, and simply assigning a police beat reporter to cover a public meeting at the county administration building doesn't make that reporter an expert or his insights reliable.
A bit of advice. Leave politics to the politicians. The fact that the FBI is investigating and the U.S. Attorney is prosecuting public corruption all over America is a more effective "reform" tool than changing the form of government. Any elected or appointed official, or any contractor who is operating in a corrupt manner in today's environment is a fool.
Respectfully, Eric J. Brewer, Mayor City of East Cleveland
The voters of Cuyahoga County will have their chance in November to tell the DEMOCROOKS Hagan & Jones NO to their commission delay tactic, and YES to county reform government that is much needed. How many more DEMOCROOKS have to be indited or convicted before we get real reform and change to make Cuyahoga better? Just vote NO for the commission and YES for the reform.
Just wait until "Taxin" Tim, Chairman Jimmy & Frank "Dimples" Russo's mentally challenged patronage drones that haunt this site stagger out of bed and read this.
Hope their local beverage stores stocked plenty of cheap beer and Tylenol. The thought that they might soon have to obtain real jobs will flip them out and get them ranting again about lipstick. (Some sort of a gender issue I guess)
Mayor Brewer is absolutely correct. We have corrupt politicians in office currently. Why is it necessary to completely restructure the county government system to fix that?? Just vote them out! If you're worried that it will just result in more democratic candidates getting voted in to office -- don't worry, this FBI investigation is not going away anytime soon. I'm sure it will still be around, thrown in peoples' faces, giving the local democratic party a bad name. Changing the structure of elected positions isn't going to prevent the election of corrupt politicians.
FBI investigations take years and frequently do not result in convictions even though politicians are clearly guilty of unethical, illegal & corrupt behavior. We can't rely on the FBI, which can be very slow and sadly be corrupt itself.
Cuyahoga County residents have had years & years at the ballot box to invoke change, change the status quo and remove the incumbent. They did not. Sadly, the poor, often illiterate voters in inner-city Cuyahoga rather have a democrat in office regardless of ethics, or perhaps they also just don't care.
Political power in this county needs to be sucked out of the city of Cleveland for meaningful reform to happen. Time and time again the voters of this county have elected corrupt politicians and destroyed this regions future.
The reform ballot initiative is far from perfect, but it is our best shot. Every day with corruption is another day for money laundering and misappropriation with our tax money. Every day with corruption is another missed opportunity to bring meaningful investment and jobs back to Northeast Ohio.
Perhaps Mayor Brewer would be correct if voting was rational, and if voters were literate and educated. Sadly, the voters under the current county governmental system have "blown it" time and time again by electing these toxic windbags.
This is another "hurry, we have to do this now" circus. Reform should be thoughtful and involve serious public debate and the "Plain Dealer" is hell bent on derailing any serious public input. Do not forget all these officials currently under investigation received ringing endorsements from this very paper for years. The PD's credibility is ZERO. Their emphasis is to dazzle the readers with sports drivel while the fat cats rob us and County citizens sink in a cesspool of corruption.
This did not start yesterday and will not be fixed tomorrow. Let the citizens start taking their civic responsibilities seriously and get some Town Hall style meetings going.
Do not forget Mason's responsibility in this mess, that he now claims he wants to "fix". I think we all know what this "fix" is about. The same "fix" that has been going on for years.
"Political power in this county needs to be sucked out of the city of Cleveland for meaningful reform to happen. Time and time again the voters of this county have elected corrupt politicians and destroyed this regions future."
Are you serious?? Is it your suggestion that we eliminate the Right of the citizen to vote,because they do not vote "correctly" and they should be disenfranchised?
A bit of advice. Leave politics to the politicians.
Mr. Brewer:
While you certainly raised some valid points in your comment, I find the one quoted above to be stunningly arrogant. Particularly coming from the mayor of a municipality which has had rather Brobdingnagian problems with corruption - even by the standards of Cuyahoga County - for many decades.
(This comment is not intended to be a personal attack on you; merely an exceedingly jaundiced, ironic observation on the tone-deafness of virtually all politicians at every level across this country.)
Cuyahoga County's corruption finally got bad enough to attract the attention of the Feds, which, given their general ineiptitude, ought to indicate just how bad it is; some sort of major overhaul is needed to dilute the power of its government.
Lastly, if one has read the Federalist Papers, it is abundantly clear the intent of our Founders' (those "dead, rich white men" so often disparaged for not being perfect enough to suit some) never suggested a professional political class was desirable.
Rather, they promoted the idea of actual "public servants" (as opposed to the "public masters" we now have) who would assume office for a term or two before stepping-down and resuming their private lives. They considered leaving public office as a promotion, as the bulk of power in America was vested in the individual.
[For the record; I loathe both major political parties in our country equally; just for slightly different reasons.]
Back in the glory days when the Cleveland Browns under Coach Paul Brown were racking up NFL title after title one wintry Sunday they had to play an away game against the Chicago Bears.
The morning of the game a snow storm blanketed the city and when the Browns ran on the field a cadre of Chicago snow shovelers yelled insults at them and told them that the Bears were going to kick their butts.
Coach Brown gathered his team around him just before kick off and said "Young men don't ever pay much attention to someone with a shovel in their hand." They didn't and the Browns won easily.
Same thing here Mayor: If you headed a city that was financially solvent, safe to live in and had a school system that wasn't a disgrace you & the dem party hacks fighting reform might be relevant.
I give Mayor Brewer credit for speaking up on this urgent topic. It is my opinion that the federal probe must reach its finish line before there is any talk of reform plans.
The corruption is in the foundation of our government entities and putting a new paint job on this rusted-out car still won't get it out of the driveway.
Well, we see how the civil thoughtful discourse is steered into drivel, innuendo and personal attack by some of the less articulate and intellectually challenged.
This reform initiative is a joke. If speading corruption amongst more politicians is your idea of reform, then vote for this nonsense. This plan will only compound the problems Cleveland faces. I know Bruce Akers and I would not use the word smart to describe him. As mayor of Pepper Pike, his main job is to make sure the garbage is picked up and the streets are plowed. Crime and poverty, two issues the mayor of Pepper Pike knows nothing about, are major issues facing Cleveland. If mayor Akers had to deal with either one of those issues in his city, he couldn't afford to pick up the trash and would be bounced from office. I like how the P.D. view Voinovich with rose-colored glasses. We are paying the price today for all of the tax abatements he gave away. His tax abatements crippled the Cleveland schools. What happened when the abatements expired? The companies and jobs left town. George Vionovich has never once held a job in the private sector yet he is today a multimillionaire. He is living proof that the county corruption is not limited to local democratic party bosses.
Mr. Gillespie, if you want to know why voters are ignorant, just point to their "sources" of information around greater Cleveland.
This year I'm campaigning for re-election. Soon I'll get an invitation from the Plain Dealer's editorial board to meet with me and my opponent to discuss our campaigns. Afterwards, the newspaper will endorse one of us to become East Cleveland's next Mayor. Last time it endorsed Emmanuel Onunwor over me in 2001 while he was under an FBI investigation. It's editorial board then endorsed Saratha Goggins in 2005 who'd been convicted for stabbing a man to death in 1982.
I've been Mayor since January 1, 2006 and the Plain Dealer has sent one reporter to cover one meeting of Council after my nearly four years in office. Council members should attend approximately 68 meetings annually, which includes the regular meetings, agenda reviews, and two committee meetings monthly each. The Plain Dealer, again, as attended one. PD reporters have made three, perhaps four, public records requests for public records. Most of the news stories they've written have dealt with routine police beat stories about crime, although they don't have much to write about now since crime is down by 40 to 75 percent, and our homicide rate has been cut in half. Five people were murdered in 2008. We've had three homicides in 2009 and only 57 robberies until two weeks ago. All homicide suspects have been captured and prosecuted.
I've invited several reporters to drive through the city with me, and to spend some time to get to know East Cleveland so they can learn more and provide real coverage about what really transpires in a very proud community that's on the rebound. We're the home of John D. Rockefeller, the world's first billionaire. His sister's mansion is up for sale on Euclid Avenue. The world's first Standard Oil gasoline station still stands at Euclid & Page Avenue. We've rebuilt our police department, nearly tripled the size of our service department, stayed out of fiscal emergency for the last three years, and handled every emergency that's come our way. This includes repairing a 50 foot sinkhole on Taylor Road to getting 500 people safely out of 26-story apartment building, my home, when it caught on fire. Huron Hospital CEO Dr. Gus Kious is expanding his institution's footprint to a corner of Euclid Avenue, and a new $2.5 million medical arts building is being built by a private phsyician at Euclid & Eddy Road. The only reporter to drive the city with me in nearly four years is Joe Wagner, who grew up less than 500 feet from the East Cleveland border.
I say all this because the Plain Dealer's editorial writers are going to expect me to sit down with them to "evaluate" my four year tenure as Mayor and the newspaper has failed in its basic duties as a "tool" to inform the voters to cover my administration so they can "educate" the voters about my accomplishments, or my opponent's lack of accomplishments, in elected office. He presides over a council where one member's missed over 51 meetings, another 41 meetings and he himself just missed his 25th meeting last Thursday. The newspaper is going to offer their opinion about which of us deserves to be East Cleveland's next mayor and encourage voters to support one of us. I've already established by what I've described above that the PD has no "knowledge" base for offering any opinion about my term in office or his, but that won't stop them from offering it.
Journalists have "dumbed down" the residents of Cuyahoga County and made us all ignorant. With all due respect to PD Publisher Terry Egger and Editor Sussan Goldberg, neither of them are from Cleveland. Metro Editor Chris Quinn came here from Florida with former PD Editor Doug Clifton. Many of the reporting staff is from somewhere else. They have no historical perspective of any of the people and events that have shaped our home over the last 30 or 40 years, and yet we rely on them for "perspective" about "our" community.
The vast majority of television news editors and reporters, with the exception of those like Tom Beres, Leon Bibb and Wayne Dawson, have come from somewhere else. They bring their "formula" style of reporting to this news market and titilate their viewers with sensational stories about crime, dirty restaurants and trips to the Justice Center to cover murders, rapes and robberies. Investigator Carl Monday long ago lost his journalistic edge. He and other "investigators" bring us a steady diet of bottom feeding news stories that draw our attention to low-level bureaucrats and poor folk who don't have the resources to fight their "false light, invasion of privacy" tactics. None provides any critical examination of important government contracts, practices, laws or policies.
The relationships between journalists and politicians is so blurred that Attorney Brent Larkin's wife worked for Jane Campbell's husband at the City of Cleveland when the newspaper endorsed her for Mayor. The Plain Dealer kept Larkin on staff even though he once worked out of Attorney John Climaco's law offices and used the newspaper to help one client as she sought to "expose" and prosecute her now deceased brother. Ed Gallek's wife once handled public relations for the very commissioners the televison station he works for now criticizes, and the Plain Dealer's Connie Shultz is married to U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. Former journalists like Plain Dealer editor Dave Abbott once served as the county administrator, and another former PD reporter works behind the scenes as an "agent" for various business interests selling everything from services to the Lorain County airport to video traffic camera services to catch speeders. One former Plain Dealer reporter, Steve Luttner, now handles public relations to promote county reform. Obviously, he has an inside connection that has helped him earn his living since the newspaper's reporting staff hasn't written one critical story that would harm the interests of their former colleague's "reform-minded" clients. Nothing is wrong with any of these people. They're all decent human beings. It's just that they work in a profession, unlike politicians, lawyers and doctors, that has no ethical board to monitor their conduct, relationships or conflicts of interests.
The county reform plan being promoted by the Plain Dealer, Mayor Martin Zanotti, Mayor Bruce Akers and Prosecutor William Mason is a bad plan that will promote a level of political thuggery the likes of which we have never seen before in Cuyahoga County. It is so poorly-conceived that voters have no choice but to reject it. The Plain Dealer has now only admitted that the plan has flaws but lacks the guts to admit they've made a mistake in promoting it and helping to fund its being placed on the ballot.
If the Plain Dealer had "educated" rather than "manipulated" its readers, everyone would know this Mr. Gillespie, including you. I mean you no disrespect and I understand your frustration. We all want change and are sick and tired of having our public funds squandered and stolen by corrupt and greedy politicians, bureaucrats and contractors. They suck the life out of communities and the people they are supposed to serve. No community has been ripped off more than East Cleveland and I personally and every day thank the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office for finally liberating us from the grips of our ex-mayor's corruption.
I met Attorney Ralph Cascarilla of Walter & Haverfield last week during a deposition involving a racketeering lawsuit I filed against CH2M Hill/OMI for contracting with an agent (Nate Gray), who bribed our former Mayor in exchange for an illegal and no-bid contract worth $3.6 million a year. That story's not been covered by the PD. While Mr. Cascarilla was representing the huge corporation against us, I thanked him for starting the public corruption unit of the local U.S. Attorney's office when he worked for former U.S. Attorney James Williams. In his own way he helped East Cleveland bring his client's allegedly corrupt relationships to light.
FBI investigations may take years, but I appreciate the agency's desire to be thorough. Nothing's worse than a bad investigation to undermine the credibility of a necessary organization. The FBI and U.S. Attorney, and not "our" county prosecutor, are the best deterrent against public corruption. Every politician I know is dotting all "I's" and crossing all "T's." No one wants to go to jail and that, to me, is one good way to promote government "reform."
Respectfully, Eric J. Brewer, Mayor City of East Cleveland
Mayor, you have a tough job. However, even if the PD where at least 'fair', if not 'honest', you would still have a problem: liberals are still promising the world. They know they don't have to deliver, they never have. And when they do 'deliver' like in the filth and stench of a public housing project, the response is always, 'we need to spend more money', presumably to bring more filth and crime?
Even in the best case scenario, when the PD urges people to increase education, become more flexible in their employment and offer better skills for better pay, liberals corrupt the process like many tyrants before them have. Which is easier, 'get to work' or 'I will protect you, stay as lazy as you are'?
Even way back in 1799 we knew welfare was a failure.
Once again, I do not wish to seem as though I'm making a personal attack on you. (One of the members of my extended family lives in your building and has repeatedly expressed a largely-favorable opinion of you personally and professionally.)
Nonetheless, I cannot help but feel that using "mayorbrewer" as your nickname (as opposed to, say, "ericbrewer") tends to support the assertion of arrogance made in my previous comment.
Every politician I know is dotting all "I's" and crossing all "T's." No one wants to go to jail and that, to me, is one good way to promote government "reform."
Well, you can't spell "corruption" without "I" and "T" (crossed and dotted or not). The best way for politicians to avoid going to jail is to not break the law in the first place.
If this is so difficult for even "honest politicians", that strongly suggests our present maze of complicated, conflicting laws and regulations ought to be scrapped in favor of significantly streamlined, unambiguous ones.
I WON'T VOTE FOR ANY REFORM PLAN THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE AN ANNUALLY SIGNED AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COUNTY AND THE EMPLOYEE. WE DON'T NEED UNENDING REFORM. WHAT WE NEED IS TO LAY OUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF WHAT HAPPENS IF ANY EMPLOYEE IS INVOLVED IN CORRUPTION ACCORDING TO A COURT OF LAW. A ONE-TWO PAGED TYPED AGREEMENT WHEREBY THE COUNTY CLEARLY DEFINES/LISTS ILLEGAL, CORRUPT BEHAVIORS AND THE CONSEQUENCES WHICH WILL FOLLOW IF A PERSON IS FOUND TO BE GUILTY OF ANY IN A COURT OF LAW.
THE CONSEQUENCES WOULD INCLUDE (NO DEBATE ON THIS, NO DEALS TO CHANGE THEM)...
1.RESTITUTION OF BRIBES RECEIVED FOR CASH/TRIPS/GIFTS/SERVICES OF MORE THAN $10 ONE TIME FROM A COMPANY, BUSINESS, OR POLITICIAN.
2.RESTITUTION TO THE TAXPAYERS OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY WILL COME FROM THE EMPLOYEE'S PENSION, SALE OF HOME AND CONTENTS, ASSETS, INVESTMENTS AND OTHER PROPERTIES OWNED BY THE EMPLOYEE.
3.RESTITUTION TO THE TAXPAYERS OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY, SHOULD THE PENSION AND SALE OF HOME AND CONTENTS, ASSETS, INVESTMENTS AND OTHER PROPERTIES OWNED BY THE EMPLOYEE BE FOUND INSUFFICIENT TO COVER THE ILLEGAL AMOUNTS INVOLVED IN CORRUPT TRANSACTIONS, SHALL BE MADE BY THE EMPLOYEE'S FAMILY MEMBERS (AS DESCRIBED IN #2)AS FAMILIES HAVE BENEFITTED FROM THE CORRUPTION, AND FUNDS/GIFTS/CASH/SERVICES, HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED OR TRANSFERRED INTO ACCOUNTS WITH A FAMILY MEMBER'S NAME INSTEAD OF THE EMPLOYEE'S NAME. **FAMILY KNOWLEDGE OF THE CORRUPTION BRIBERY IS A MOOT ISSUE. IF AN EMPLOYEE CHOOSES TO BE INVOLVED IN CORRUPTION, THEN HE/SHE PUTS HIS OR HER OWN FAMILY AT RISK.
4.ANY PENSION, PERSONAL PROPERTY, ASSETS, INVESTMENTS, AND OTHER REALTY, ETC., WHICH WILL BE USED FOR RESTITUTION TO CUYAHOGA COUNTY TAXPAYERS INCLUDE THOSE ACQUIRED PRIOR TO,DURING, OR AFTER EMPLOYMENT WITH CUYAHOGA COUNTY. IF AN EMPLOYEE DIES PRIOR TO, DURING, OR AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY, RESTITUTION WILL BE MADE FROM THEIR ESTATE AND FROM THOSE WHO RECIEVED FUNDS, ETC., FROM THE ESTATE.
5.FUNDS, CASH, GIFTS AN EMPLOYEE HAS RECIEVED IN A CORRUPT ACT WHICH ARE DEPOSITED IN AN ACCOUNT THE OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. WHICH TAXPAYERS CANNOT ACCESS, WILL BE FROZEN, PER AGREEMENT OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY BANKS AND THE BANKS, ETC. OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. IF THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE, THE REMAINING RECIPIENTS OF THE ESTATE WILL BE MONITORED FOR A PERIOD OF 20 YEARS REGARDING THEIR FINANCIAL INTERACTIONS AND PURCHASES.
That's all we need. State the EXPECTATIONS clearly prior to hiring/being elected to office, require that ALL government workers, and/or those who do business with the governement, must sign the agreement, state the CONSEQUENCES clearly, and our government OF THE PEOPLE, must deliver them accordingly and consistently when an employee is found guilty.
If a person refuses to sign the agreement, they will lose the right and privelege to work for Cuyahoga County taxpayers.
If you want a corrupt-free, honest government, and government workers who are people of integrity, spell it out clearly in the agreement they must sign. THAT IS REFORM.
Mayor Brewer: It is my understanding that the reform is designed to change the structure of Cuyahoga County government, not to prefer one group of candidates or party over another. Merely changing the faces in the current system isn't going to solve the lack of accountiblity, for example when government jobs are handed out without following rules on postings to the public or administering civil service tests. If you have some specific objections to the plan, some examples of problems it will cause that outweigh the problems that we have now, please share them.
If you conduct a keyword search for "mayorbrewer" you will find a very detailed analyses of the county reform plan that I forwarded to the members of the Cuyahoga County Mayors & Managers Association after attending a reform meeting on June 4. I've offered commentary after each reform article published in the Plain Dealer since June 7.
Respectfully, Mayor Eric J. Brewer City of East Cleveland
Einstein described insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting differente results. In a county that is racially and ethnically divided and been run by one party for half a century, is it any wonder things need fixed?
Now, that said, the reform plan doesn't appear to be the real answer. After all, 11 politicans is creates a far bigger problem than 3. AND, the "reform" groups proposed by Hagan and Jones are equally poor response to this problem.
In the end educated and fed up voters will go to the polls and throw the bums out. If they don't they get what they deserve. But in this county folks vote race and ethnicity and the status quo will likely prevail.
One can only hope that change will really come this time.
That the PeeDee allows your nonsensical posts says much about their standards of publication and reporting. Your nonsense is apparent to all. You have done much harm to your own credibility,of which you have none at this point.
Wow, What does that make 9 posts today for that poor troubled poster soul against Cuyahoga County political reform and the end of patronage hiring?
I've seen people in my time who didn't want to leave home and make a real life for themselves but this is troubling.
The role of local government is not to provide office holders and their hangers on & relatives with a life time security blanket. It is to assist the needy, educate the youth, protect decent citizens from the criminal element and to promote private sector job growth.
Unfortunately too little of the latter has happened locally and the public is rightfully outraged. This anger I feel will be expressed at the ballot box this November when the old politics of corruption & cronyism is ended.
But can that kind of change work in Cuyahoga County?
If voters demand it, said Moore, of the Reason Foundation. But, he cautions, no one has devised a government structure that guarantees good governance.
"The only way to get good government is to get good people," Moore said. "It's not about the quality of the structure but quality of people. And that requires a population that cares."
WANT REAL REFORM? ELECT DIFFERENT POLITICIANS FROM THE "CURRENT MACHINE OF CORRUPTION" AND THEN HAVE THEM MAKE PROPOSALS FOR REFORM.
There's your two part solution to the start of county progress. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to request that the electorate give "county reform" any consideration, when it is architected by people of the current "machine of corruption".
Cuyahoga County voters would regret poorly thought-out reforms: Harriet Applegate
It is wrong to rely on the anger of the voters to pass a proposal that should pass or fail on its merits. It is ironic that while this group had no interest in getting public input into the development of their proposal, they want to use the public's anger and frustration to ensure its passage.
Sideras, now the chief financial officer at Case Western Reserve University, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview. Rego and West said through a MetroHealth spokeswoman that they do not recall any conversations with Joseph. They were not available for further comment.
The PD is really abusing their reporters as Mayor Brewer attests here. The Plain Dealer's credibility shrinks by the minute.
Submitted by Henry Gomez on Mon, 08/17/2009 - 22:09.
Just a note: Jim McCarty is a veteran reporter who writes for the Metro page. He covered courts for years and is one of the guys I seek out regularly when I need help with court documents and sources. He also happens to be a bird enthusiast and lends his expertise to the paper in this area.
Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 08/18/2009 - 08:16.
It is obvious the PD and Case are helping Sideras along in life, or to disappear rich, gracefully, like they help other operatives who have had to do some dirty deeds for the establishment. In a PD editorial today, that appears to criticize Sideras and Rego, the Establishment concludes:
Hospital officials say there was no way Sideris' administrative staff or the hospital board could have known what Carroll was doing.
That's hard to swallow. How could an aggressive internal investigation not have turned up something amiss, when so much involving Carroll was amiss?
Unfortunately, his denials were accepted at face value, and the taxpayers will never know.
Excuse me, Mr. PD Editors, but who says "the taxpayers will never know". When the PD first "exposed" the fact former MetroHealth VP Carroll wasn't working in secret, when he corrupted MetroHealth, they said his CEO Sideras, now a VP and CFO at Case, wasn't available for comment... and the PD still offers no comment. Bullshit... like the CFO of Case has anything more important to do or talk about, in the world. UNACCEPTABLE journalism, PD! This is your fault!
We, the taxpayers, are due much more than a comment, as we need a full explanation from Sideras and Rego about what happened to our $ millions in tax dollars, provided in a courtroom, under oath, before an honest judge (do we have any) and a jury of our peers.
While the PD is clearly protecting many people in the hopes "the taxpayers will never know", the PD is no longer a credible voice for "taxpayers" in this community, and this claim must be rejected. We must know all the detals of these affairs, as we own MetroHealth, and Sideras and Rego's incompetence has cost us $ millions, if not our public healthcare system, and Sideras is now in a position of influence in my immediate neighborhood of University Circle, where his employer, Case, has a history of being a VERY POOR NEIGHBOR, and intends to build a new powerplant, without public comment.
What dirty deed has Sideras done? Perhaps framing MetroHealth with "County Corruption", leading to bankruptcy of our "public" healthcare system (and privatization of public health in the region) for "bail-out" by some other (tax-exempt) hospital system, like like the other two where Sideras has worked, to eliminate competition with the County government for valuable Federal health dollars, which will pay-off masterfully as we move to socially equitable and fair healthcare that will undercut traditional healthcare profit dollars at the Clinic and UH, where Sideras now works (Case).
It seems to me Sideras and Rego had the job of destroying Metrohealth and public health in NEO, then bringing in Booz Allen to liquidate and merge US with UH, er Case, in cooperation with the Clinic, of course, as they all operate as one now.
Oh, for the days of government that cared about the public interest and anti-trustful monopolization by industry....
Handy the Opportunity Corridor will literally connect the back doors of Metro and its future owners, at $200+ million in taxpayer dollars... to send the opportune, spiffy rich people to one end of the corridor, in beautiful University Circle, and the ugly poor people to the other end, on bleak W.25th... send all the bills to the same PO box in Washington DC.
Now, we are starting to get to the bottom of the corruption in this region, centered at the PD and in University Circle... my home town!
BTW, all you doctors and hospital big-shots, out there, saving lives doesn't save your souls.
While the PD is clearly protecting many people in the hopes "the taxpayers will never know", the PD is no longer a credible voice for "taxpayers" in this community, and this claim must be rejected. We must know all the detals of these affairs, as we own MetroHealth, and Sideras and Rego's incompetence has cost us $ millions, if not our public healthcare system, and Sideras is now in a position of influence in my immediate neighborhood of University Circle, where his employer, Case, has a history of being a VERY POOR NEIGHBOR, and intends to build a new powerplant, without public comment.
It seems to me Sideras and Rego had the job of destroying Metrohealth and public health in NEO, then bringing in Booz Allen to liquidate and merge US with UH, er Case, in cooperation with the Clinic, of course, as they all operate as one now.
Oh, for the days of government that cared about the public interest and anti-trustful monopolization by industry....
Handy the Opportunity Corridor will literally connect the back doors of Metro and its future owners, at $200+ million in taxpayer dollars... to send the opportune, spiffy rich people to one end of the corridor, in beautiful University Circle, and the ugly poor people to the other end, on bleak W.25th... send all the bills to the same PO box in Washington DC.
Now, we are starting to get to the bottom of the corruption in this region, centered at the PD and in University Circle... my home town!
BTW, all you doctors and hospital big-shots, out there, saving lives doesn't save your souls.
Submitted by ward14resident on Mon, 08/17/2009 - 22:06.
Angel, it is too difficult to read your post when you write in all caps. Just wanted you to know that I tried to read it but stopped because of the caps.
Using caps in sentences, OTHER than one word, is the same as screaming. It has that impact on the reader. We are not allowed to use caps in our e-mails at work execpt in a word to draw attention to a qualifer because it is considered screaming. We had to read a policy on politeness in postings. At first, I thought that it was trite, but as time went on, it made sense.
Submitted by Lee Batdorff on Tue, 08/18/2009 - 23:22.
U.S. politics operates something like a bulldozer. Instead of a steering wheel there are two levers. Pull one and a left turn is made, pull the other and a right turn is made. As the system now operates there has been something like 50 years of one-party rule in Cuyahoga County (according to a comment above). At the least we have had mostly one-party-rule in Cuyahoga County for some time. The left lever has been pulled so long it is worn out and apparent corruption is the result. While I'm not one to easily pull the right lever, it is the only other lever there is to pull.
If the form of government Cuyahoga County is changed as one ballot proposal has it, representation will be broken up into districts. At least two districts will have a potential majority of Republican voters according to a recent survey by the Plain Dealer (Pee Dee). While I don't relish Republicans in the national and state scenes where they are doing much damage, I am willing to risk a couple Republicans getting into Cuyahoga County government, so someone who will react to corruption is looking over the shoulder of the rulers.
Of course, with a district approach, we risk that the representatives of districts will only push what is good for their district without regard to what is good for the whole. Perhaps a "two house" approach to Cuyahoga County governing could ameliorate this. One house would be composed of 7 to 11 districts and one house would be composed of an uneven smaller number of representatives chosen by the whole of Cuyahoga County voters.
There is at least one proviso to this approach. The representatives of the smaller opposing party to the majority in the "lower house" of district representatives need to be able to call out corruption that may occur in the "upper house," of the Cuyahoga County wide representatives who are all likely to be from the predominant party. As it has been for some time in Cuyahoga County, these are the Democrats. And it is Democrats in Cuyahoga County government that have been accused by the Feds (and the Pee Dee) to be corrupt.
Cuyahoga much worse...seems ok to commit fraud too...one good example is claiming a 'non-arms length transaction' when SELLING.
Normally the sales price would be listed and for commercial property (not residential)the appraisal becomes the ACTUAL sales price.
This is when the illegalities creepin and will cost MANY attorneys and title companies their licences to practice...or go to jail hopefully.
By claiming a 'non-arms length transaction' which means a transfer between related entities the sales price is both not reported and the all important APPRAISED VALUE does not change.
One good recent example is the ex DAFFY DAN bldg next to the plain dealer bldg...3101 superior.
At the artificially low appraisal, maintained by fraud and perjury ...Cleveland city council locked in the falsified rate for ANOTHER 15 years...and gave them a bunch of money.
Elizabeth Sullivan and micHELLe Jarboe if the PLAIN dealer where aware of this for 2 years.
They should be proud that these facts did not prejudice them in their reporting whatsoever...praise for the thieves and perjurers.
Reminds me of public square.(ooh the JOHN ave properties of Land studio boss GREG PECKHAM are interesting too how can you Alledgedly spend so muchos and the county say they are worth so little? Start by pulling no permits...did Jimmy dimora get permits for the naturestone??..amazing how cheap you can get stuff for yourself when you dispense public and nonprofit dollars like water).and the emperor's new clothes.. CONCURRENTLY.
all driven by the low appraisals they SELL.
DO SOME OF YOUR OWN RESEARCH...THE COUNTY REAL PROPERTY SITE IS EASY TO ACCESS.
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Just in case...
It's interesting to note that the PD assailed Bill Mason for being too political in the past as county prosecutor but endorse his political role in this reform effort.
A little consistency would be appreciated.
Alert us.
"There are certainly flaws in the proposed charter that deserve serious discussion between now and November."
The sentence above was lifted directly from the editorial above. The Plain Dealer finally acknowledges that "flaws" exist in the county reform charter proposed by a group led by Mayor Martin Zanotti, Mayor Bruce Akers and Prosecutor William Mason. I'm just not sure the writer understands how serious the flaws are, and how harmful they are to the interests of good government in Cuyahoga County. Why? Because the "flaws" have never been identified in any editorial or story authored by a Plain Dealer reporter. The newspaper has "promoted" rather than "examined" the "flawed" reform plan, which means it has failed to provide its readers with an honest review of a very complex topic.
The convolution in the editorial writer's thinking is that the Plain Dealer has already endorsed a "flawed" reform plan, has encouraged voters to sign petitions to get the flawed plan on the ballot, has helped fund Zanotti, Akers and Mason's petition drive, and now wants a "discussion" about their flawed plan before the November election as if a "discussion" provides an opportunity to modify it. This is exactly the flawed line of thinking the Plain Dealer's editorial writers offered on June 7 after its editors endorsed a plan they hadn't read, and Metro Editor Chris Quinn asked me for a copy of it the day after.
If the reform plan offered by Zanotti, Akers and Mason is flawed as the Plain Dealer now admits, then the newspaper should have encouraged reformers on June 7 to go back to the drawing board instead of promoting and helping to fund the petition drive to get it on the ballot. Once voters signed the petition to place the plan on the ballot, then it was too late to make changes. Their signatures meant they were adopting the plan "as is." The only choice voters now have is to accept or reject Zanotti, Akers and Mason's "flawed" reform plan in November, and the Plain Dealer's leadership doesn't have the guts to say its editorial bosses and writers made yet another mistake by actively involving the newspaper in political affairs rather than simply reporting the news.
Instead of attacking Commissioners Peter Lawson Jones and Tim Hagan by labeling their reform efforts as "phony," the newspaper's editorial writers don't have the sense to understand that their placing an alternative plan on the ballot gives the newspaper the opportunity to save face for the mistake they made on June 7. The Plain Dealer's editorial bosses can't label Zanotti, Akers and Mason's reform plan as flawed and then continue to endorse it. That makes no sense.
I'll say now what I've said before, and what many voters now understand that the Plain Dealer is stubbornly refusing to admit. Cuyahoga County government is not broken; there are simply broken people serving in government everywhere.
Americans didn't vote to change the way we elected presidents when Republican President Richard Nixon committed crimes in office, we changed presidents. Ohioans didn't vote to change the way governors were elected when Republican Governor Bob Taft was convicted in office, we changed governors. And if the investigation of corruption in Cuyahoga County government ever exposes acts of impropriety on the part of any elected official, we voters will have the opportunity once again to replace the officeholder. Real reform occurs at the ballot box.
Newspapers can help government improve by simply ensuring that journalists are thorough, objective and well-informed in their examination of complex issues. With all the staff reductions at the Plain Dealer, no reporter there is a specialist on any topic other than sports, entertainment, real estate, fashion and food. It takes time to develop knowledge and sources on a beat, and simply assigning a police beat reporter to cover a public meeting at the county administration building doesn't make that reporter an expert or his insights reliable.
A bit of advice. Leave politics to the politicians. The fact that the FBI is investigating and the U.S. Attorney is prosecuting public corruption all over America is a more effective "reform" tool than changing the form of government. Any elected or appointed official, or any contractor who is operating in a corrupt manner in today's environment is a fool.
Respectfully,
Eric J. Brewer, Mayor
City of East Cleveland
The voters of Cuyahoga County will have their chance in November to tell the DEMOCROOKS Hagan & Jones NO to their commission delay tactic, and YES to county reform government that is much needed. How many more DEMOCROOKS have to be indited or convicted before we get real reform and change to make Cuyahoga better? Just vote NO for the commission and YES for the reform.
Voinovich and Petro is the Plain dealer Serious. We need a second real newspaper in this town. Cronies and crooks.
Just wait until "Taxin" Tim, Chairman Jimmy & Frank "Dimples" Russo's mentally challenged patronage drones that haunt this site stagger out of bed and read this.
Hope their local beverage stores stocked plenty of cheap beer and Tylenol. The thought that they might soon have to obtain real jobs will flip them out and get them ranting again about lipstick. (Some sort of a gender issue I guess)
Mayor Brewer is absolutely correct. We have corrupt politicians in office currently. Why is it necessary to completely restructure the county government system to fix that?? Just vote them out! If you're worried that it will just result in more democratic candidates getting voted in to office -- don't worry, this FBI investigation is not going away anytime soon. I'm sure it will still be around, thrown in peoples' faces, giving the local democratic party a bad name. Changing the structure of elected positions isn't going to prevent the election of corrupt politicians.
I disagree with Mayor Brewer.
FBI investigations take years and frequently do not result in convictions even though politicians are clearly guilty of unethical, illegal & corrupt behavior. We can't rely on the FBI, which can be very slow and sadly be corrupt itself.
Cuyahoga County residents have had years & years at the ballot box to invoke change, change the status quo and remove the incumbent. They did not. Sadly, the poor, often illiterate voters in inner-city Cuyahoga rather have a democrat in office regardless of ethics, or perhaps they also just don't care.
Political power in this county needs to be sucked out of the city of Cleveland for meaningful reform to happen. Time and time again the voters of this county have elected corrupt politicians and destroyed this regions future.
The reform ballot initiative is far from perfect, but it is our best shot. Every day with corruption is another day for money laundering and misappropriation with our tax money. Every day with corruption is another missed opportunity to bring meaningful investment and jobs back to Northeast Ohio.
Perhaps Mayor Brewer would be correct if voting was rational, and if voters were literate and educated. Sadly, the voters under the current county governmental system have "blown it" time and time again by electing these toxic windbags.
Thank you, Mayor Brewer!
While George V was Mayor, George F ran the show.
This is another "hurry, we have to do this now" circus. Reform should be thoughtful and involve serious public debate and the "Plain Dealer" is hell bent on derailing any serious public input. Do not forget all these officials currently under investigation received ringing endorsements from this very paper for years. The PD's credibility is ZERO. Their emphasis is to dazzle the readers with sports drivel while the fat cats rob us and County citizens sink in a cesspool of corruption.
This did not start yesterday and will not be fixed tomorrow. Let the citizens start taking their civic responsibilities seriously and get some Town Hall style meetings going.
Do not forget Mason's responsibility in this mess, that he now claims he wants to "fix". I think we all know what this "fix" is about. The same "fix" that has been going on for years.
ebgillespie
"Political power in this county needs to be sucked out of the city of Cleveland for meaningful reform to happen. Time and time again the voters of this county have elected corrupt politicians and destroyed this regions future."
Are you serious?? Is it your suggestion that we eliminate the Right of the citizen to vote,because they do not vote "correctly" and they should be disenfranchised?
the reform is a cover to blame the form of government versus the actual people in the jobs...
vote no
Eric J. Brewer, Mayor
City of East Cleveland : no one will read your long winded comment, we all have ADD.
Mr. Brewer:
While you certainly raised some valid points in your comment, I find the one quoted above to be stunningly arrogant. Particularly coming from the mayor of a municipality which has had rather Brobdingnagian problems with corruption - even by the standards of Cuyahoga County - for many decades.
(This comment is not intended to be a personal attack on you; merely an exceedingly jaundiced, ironic observation on the tone-deafness of virtually all politicians at every level across this country.)
Cuyahoga County's corruption finally got bad enough to attract the attention of the Feds, which, given their general ineiptitude, ought to indicate just how bad it is; some sort of major overhaul is needed to dilute the power of its government.
Lastly, if one has read the Federalist Papers, it is abundantly clear the intent of our Founders' (those "dead, rich white men" so often disparaged for not being perfect enough to suit some) never suggested a professional political class was desirable.
Rather, they promoted the idea of actual "public servants" (as opposed to the "public masters" we now have) who would assume office for a term or two before stepping-down and resuming their private lives. They considered leaving public office as a promotion, as the bulk of power in America was vested in the individual.
[For the record; I loathe both major political parties in our country equally; just for slightly different reasons.]
You may all begin flaming me now.
For those who missed my first "rant".
Posted by PoorRichrd2 on 08/15/09 at 7:21AM
Judging from this paper's past endorsements, no thank you. This is lipstick on a pig of an idea.
Dear Mayor Brewer,
A Life Lesson:
Back in the glory days when the Cleveland Browns under Coach Paul Brown were racking up NFL title after title one wintry Sunday they had to play an away game against the Chicago Bears.
The morning of the game a snow storm blanketed the city and when the Browns ran on the field a cadre of Chicago snow shovelers yelled insults at them and told them that the Bears were going to kick their butts.
Coach Brown gathered his team around him just before kick off and said "Young men don't ever pay much attention to someone with a shovel in their hand." They didn't and the Browns won easily.
Same thing here Mayor: If you headed a city that was financially solvent, safe to live in and had a school system that wasn't a disgrace you & the dem party hacks fighting reform might be relevant.
What a Cuyahoga County elected public official wears on his or her lips is not relevant to this topic.
CONCENTRATE & take your meds
Their emphasis is to dazzle the readers with sports drivel while the fat cats rob us and County citizens sink in a cesspool of corruption.
Wow!!! Lipstick fixation. Wonder what Dr. Melfi would say about that. Oh well, consider the source!!
HJGomez on 06/11/09 at 5:32PM
forestpkwy -
Zero.
This is sooooooooo funnnnnnnnnny!!!
Hope I can keep a straight face in church. One of Chairman Jimmy's people is calling someone else a "Fat Cat."
p.s. I also believe it's been awile since "Taxin" Tim & Frank "Dimples"Russo purchased a size 32 pair of pants.
I give Mayor Brewer credit for speaking up on this urgent topic. It is my opinion that the federal probe must reach its finish line before there is any talk of reform plans.
The corruption is in the foundation of our government entities and putting a new paint job on this rusted-out car still won't get it out of the driveway.
Well, we see how the civil thoughtful discourse is steered into drivel, innuendo and personal attack by some of the less articulate and intellectually challenged.
I think every politician should have regular random investigations, random audits, if you will. Every six months.
This reform initiative is a joke. If speading corruption amongst more politicians is your idea of reform, then vote for this nonsense. This plan will only compound the problems Cleveland faces. I know Bruce Akers and I would not use the word smart to describe him. As mayor of Pepper Pike, his main job is to make sure the garbage is picked up and the streets are plowed. Crime and poverty, two issues the mayor of Pepper Pike knows nothing about, are major issues facing Cleveland. If mayor Akers had to deal with either one of those issues in his city, he couldn't afford to pick up the trash and would be bounced from office. I like how the P.D. view Voinovich with rose-colored glasses. We are paying the price today for all of the tax abatements he gave away. His tax abatements crippled the Cleveland schools. What happened when the abatements expired? The companies and jobs left town. George Vionovich has never once held a job in the private sector yet he is today a multimillionaire. He is living proof that the county corruption is not limited to local democratic party bosses.
Mr. Gillespie, if you want to know why voters are ignorant, just point to their "sources" of information around greater Cleveland.
This year I'm campaigning for re-election. Soon I'll get an invitation from the Plain Dealer's editorial board to meet with me and my opponent to discuss our campaigns. Afterwards, the newspaper will endorse one of us to become East Cleveland's next Mayor. Last time it endorsed Emmanuel Onunwor over me in 2001 while he was under an FBI investigation. It's editorial board then endorsed Saratha Goggins in 2005 who'd been convicted for stabbing a man to death in 1982.
I've been Mayor since January 1, 2006 and the Plain Dealer has sent one reporter to cover one meeting of Council after my nearly four years in office. Council members should attend approximately 68 meetings annually, which includes the regular meetings, agenda reviews, and two committee meetings monthly each. The Plain Dealer, again, as attended one.
PD reporters have made three, perhaps four, public records requests for public records. Most of the news stories they've written have dealt with routine police beat stories about crime, although they don't have much to write about now since crime is down by 40 to 75 percent, and our homicide rate has been cut in half. Five people were murdered in 2008. We've had three homicides in 2009 and only 57 robberies until two weeks ago. All homicide suspects have been captured and prosecuted.
I've invited several reporters to drive through the city with me, and to spend some time to get to know East Cleveland so they can learn more and provide real coverage about what really transpires in a very proud community that's on the rebound. We're the home of John D. Rockefeller, the world's first billionaire. His sister's mansion is up for sale on Euclid Avenue. The world's first Standard Oil gasoline station still stands at Euclid & Page Avenue. We've rebuilt our police department, nearly tripled the size of our service department, stayed out of fiscal emergency for the last three years, and handled every emergency that's come our way. This includes repairing a 50 foot sinkhole on Taylor Road to getting 500 people safely out of 26-story apartment building, my home, when it caught on fire. Huron Hospital CEO Dr. Gus Kious is expanding his institution's footprint to a corner of Euclid Avenue, and a new $2.5 million medical arts building is being built by a private phsyician at Euclid & Eddy Road. The only reporter to drive the city with me in nearly four years is Joe Wagner, who grew up less than 500 feet from the East Cleveland border.
I say all this because the Plain Dealer's editorial writers are going to expect me to sit down with them to "evaluate" my four year tenure as Mayor and the newspaper has failed in its basic duties as a "tool" to inform the voters to cover my administration so they can "educate" the voters about my accomplishments, or my opponent's lack of accomplishments, in elected office. He presides over a council where one member's missed over 51 meetings, another 41 meetings and he himself just missed his 25th meeting last Thursday. The newspaper is going to offer their opinion about which of us deserves to be East Cleveland's next mayor and encourage voters to support one of us. I've already established by what I've described above that the PD has no "knowledge" base for offering any opinion about my term in office or his, but that won't stop them from offering it.
Journalists have "dumbed down" the residents of Cuyahoga County and made us all ignorant. With all due respect to PD Publisher Terry Egger and Editor Sussan Goldberg, neither of them are from Cleveland. Metro Editor Chris Quinn came here from Florida with former PD Editor Doug Clifton. Many of the reporting staff is from somewhere else. They have no historical perspective of any of the people and events that have shaped our home over the last 30 or 40 years, and yet we rely on them for "perspective" about "our" community.
The vast majority of television news editors and reporters, with the exception of those like Tom Beres, Leon Bibb and Wayne Dawson, have come from somewhere else. They bring their "formula" style of reporting to this news market and titilate their viewers with sensational stories about crime, dirty restaurants and trips to the Justice Center to cover murders, rapes and robberies. Investigator Carl Monday long ago lost his journalistic edge. He and other "investigators" bring us a steady diet of bottom feeding news stories that draw our attention to low-level bureaucrats and poor folk who don't have the resources to fight their "false light, invasion of privacy" tactics. None provides any critical examination of important government contracts, practices, laws or policies.
The relationships between journalists and politicians is so blurred that Attorney Brent Larkin's wife worked for Jane Campbell's husband at the City of Cleveland when the newspaper endorsed her for Mayor. The Plain Dealer kept Larkin on staff even though he once worked out of Attorney John Climaco's law offices and used the newspaper to help one client as she sought to "expose" and prosecute her now deceased brother. Ed Gallek's wife once handled public relations for the very commissioners the televison station he works for now criticizes, and the Plain Dealer's Connie Shultz is married to U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. Former journalists like Plain Dealer editor Dave Abbott once served as the county administrator, and another former PD reporter works behind the scenes as an "agent" for various business interests selling everything from services to the Lorain County airport to video traffic camera services to catch speeders. One former Plain Dealer reporter, Steve Luttner, now handles public relations to promote county reform. Obviously, he has an inside connection that has helped him earn his living since the newspaper's reporting staff hasn't written one critical story that would harm the interests of their former colleague's "reform-minded" clients. Nothing is wrong with any of these people. They're all decent human beings. It's just that they work in a profession, unlike politicians, lawyers and doctors, that has no ethical board to monitor their conduct, relationships or conflicts of interests.
The county reform plan being promoted by the Plain Dealer, Mayor Martin Zanotti, Mayor Bruce Akers and Prosecutor William Mason is a bad plan that will promote a level of political thuggery the likes of which we have never seen before in Cuyahoga County. It is so poorly-conceived that voters have no choice but to reject it. The Plain Dealer has now only admitted that the plan has flaws but lacks the guts to admit they've made a mistake in promoting it and helping to fund its being placed on the ballot.
If the Plain Dealer had "educated" rather than "manipulated" its readers, everyone would know this Mr. Gillespie, including you. I mean you no disrespect and I understand your frustration. We all want change and are sick and tired of having our public funds squandered and stolen by corrupt and greedy politicians, bureaucrats and contractors. They suck the life out of communities and the people they are supposed to serve. No community has been ripped off more than East Cleveland and I personally and every day thank the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's office for finally liberating us from the grips of our ex-mayor's corruption.
I met Attorney Ralph Cascarilla of Walter & Haverfield last week during a deposition involving a racketeering lawsuit I filed against CH2M Hill/OMI for contracting with an agent (Nate Gray), who bribed our former Mayor in exchange for an illegal and no-bid contract worth $3.6 million a year. That story's not been covered by the PD. While Mr. Cascarilla was representing the huge corporation against us, I thanked him for starting the public corruption unit of the local U.S. Attorney's office when he worked for former U.S. Attorney James Williams. In his own way he helped East Cleveland bring his client's allegedly corrupt relationships to light.
FBI investigations may take years, but I appreciate the agency's desire to be thorough. Nothing's worse than a bad investigation to undermine the credibility of a necessary organization. The FBI and U.S. Attorney, and not "our" county prosecutor, are the best deterrent against public corruption. Every politician I know is dotting all "I's" and crossing all "T's." No one wants to go to jail and that, to me, is one good way to promote government "reform."
Respectfully,
Eric J. Brewer, Mayor
City of East Cleveland
Mayor, you have a tough job. However, even if the PD where at least 'fair', if not 'honest', you would still have a problem: liberals are still promising the world. They know they don't have to deliver, they never have. And when they do 'deliver' like in the filth and stench of a public housing project, the response is always, 'we need to spend more money', presumably to bring more filth and crime?
Even in the best case scenario, when the PD urges people to increase education, become more flexible in their employment and offer better skills for better pay, liberals corrupt the process like many tyrants before them have. Which is easier, 'get to work' or 'I will protect you, stay as lazy as you are'?
Even way back in 1799 we knew welfare was a failure.
Term limits!
time to leave the county
Mayor, you and your minions obviously have a lot of free time to "craft" posts of such length.
Mr. Brewer:
Once again, I do not wish to seem as though I'm making a personal attack on you. (One of the members of my extended family lives in your building and has repeatedly expressed a largely-favorable opinion of you personally and professionally.)
Nonetheless, I cannot help but feel that using "mayorbrewer" as your nickname (as opposed to, say, "ericbrewer") tends to support the assertion of arrogance made in my previous comment.
Well, you can't spell "corruption" without "I" and "T" (crossed and dotted or not). The best way for politicians to avoid going to jail is to not break the law in the first place.
If this is so difficult for even "honest politicians", that strongly suggests our present maze of complicated, conflicting laws and regulations ought to be scrapped in favor of significantly streamlined, unambiguous ones.
I WON'T VOTE FOR ANY REFORM PLAN THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE AN ANNUALLY SIGNED AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COUNTY AND THE EMPLOYEE. WE DON'T NEED UNENDING REFORM. WHAT WE NEED IS TO LAY OUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF WHAT HAPPENS IF ANY EMPLOYEE IS INVOLVED IN CORRUPTION ACCORDING TO A COURT OF LAW. A ONE-TWO PAGED TYPED AGREEMENT WHEREBY THE COUNTY CLEARLY DEFINES/LISTS ILLEGAL, CORRUPT BEHAVIORS AND THE CONSEQUENCES WHICH WILL FOLLOW IF A PERSON IS FOUND TO BE GUILTY OF ANY IN A COURT OF LAW.
THE CONSEQUENCES WOULD INCLUDE (NO DEBATE ON THIS, NO DEALS TO CHANGE THEM)...
1.RESTITUTION OF BRIBES RECEIVED FOR CASH/TRIPS/GIFTS/SERVICES OF MORE THAN $10 ONE TIME FROM A COMPANY, BUSINESS, OR POLITICIAN.
2.RESTITUTION TO THE TAXPAYERS OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY WILL COME FROM THE EMPLOYEE'S PENSION, SALE OF HOME AND CONTENTS, ASSETS, INVESTMENTS AND OTHER PROPERTIES OWNED BY THE EMPLOYEE.
3.RESTITUTION TO THE TAXPAYERS OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY, SHOULD THE PENSION AND SALE OF HOME AND CONTENTS, ASSETS, INVESTMENTS AND OTHER PROPERTIES OWNED BY THE EMPLOYEE BE FOUND INSUFFICIENT TO COVER THE ILLEGAL AMOUNTS INVOLVED IN CORRUPT TRANSACTIONS, SHALL BE MADE BY THE EMPLOYEE'S FAMILY MEMBERS (AS DESCRIBED IN #2)AS FAMILIES HAVE BENEFITTED FROM THE CORRUPTION, AND FUNDS/GIFTS/CASH/SERVICES, HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED OR TRANSFERRED INTO ACCOUNTS WITH A FAMILY MEMBER'S NAME INSTEAD OF THE EMPLOYEE'S NAME. **FAMILY KNOWLEDGE OF THE CORRUPTION BRIBERY IS A MOOT ISSUE. IF AN EMPLOYEE CHOOSES TO BE INVOLVED IN CORRUPTION, THEN HE/SHE PUTS HIS OR HER OWN FAMILY AT RISK.
4.ANY PENSION, PERSONAL PROPERTY, ASSETS, INVESTMENTS, AND OTHER REALTY, ETC., WHICH WILL BE USED FOR RESTITUTION TO CUYAHOGA COUNTY TAXPAYERS INCLUDE THOSE ACQUIRED PRIOR TO,DURING, OR AFTER EMPLOYMENT WITH CUYAHOGA COUNTY. IF AN EMPLOYEE DIES PRIOR TO, DURING, OR AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY, RESTITUTION WILL BE MADE FROM THEIR ESTATE AND FROM THOSE WHO RECIEVED FUNDS, ETC., FROM THE ESTATE.
5.FUNDS, CASH, GIFTS AN EMPLOYEE HAS RECIEVED IN A CORRUPT ACT WHICH ARE DEPOSITED IN AN ACCOUNT THE OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. WHICH TAXPAYERS CANNOT ACCESS, WILL BE FROZEN, PER AGREEMENT OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY BANKS AND THE BANKS, ETC. OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. IF THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE, THE REMAINING RECIPIENTS OF THE ESTATE WILL BE MONITORED FOR A PERIOD OF 20 YEARS REGARDING THEIR FINANCIAL INTERACTIONS AND PURCHASES.
That's all we need. State the EXPECTATIONS clearly prior to hiring/being elected to office, require that ALL government workers, and/or those who do business with the governement, must sign the agreement, state the CONSEQUENCES clearly, and our government OF THE PEOPLE, must deliver them accordingly and consistently when an employee is found guilty.
If a person refuses to sign the agreement, they will lose the right and privelege to work for Cuyahoga County taxpayers.
If you want a corrupt-free, honest government, and government workers who are people of integrity, spell it out clearly in the agreement they must sign. THAT IS REFORM.
Mayor Brewer:
It is my understanding that the reform is designed to change the structure of Cuyahoga County government, not to prefer one group of candidates or party over another. Merely changing the faces in the current system isn't going to solve the lack of accountiblity, for example when government jobs are handed out without following rules on postings to the public or administering civil service tests.
If you have some specific objections to the plan, some examples of problems it will cause that outweigh the problems that we have now, please share them.
pdpjd
If you conduct a keyword search for "mayorbrewer" you will find a very detailed analyses of the county reform plan that I forwarded to the members of the Cuyahoga County Mayors & Managers Association after attending a reform meeting on June 4. I've offered commentary after each reform article published in the Plain Dealer since June 7.
Respectfully,
Mayor Eric J. Brewer
City of East Cleveland
Entrenched interests are fighting to deny Cuyahoga County the reform it needs
There seems, from the comments, to be quite a difference between who the posters consider "entrenched interests" and the editors.
Re: "Taxin Tim",Chairman Jimmy, Frank "Dimples" Russo & their patronage drone followers version of Cuyahoga County Reform:
BOHICA!!!!!!
P.s. Per WEBMD: "A constant fixation on the grooming habits of other genders (lipstick)could signal a Freudian issue."
Thought so!!
Einstein described insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting differente results. In a county that is racially and ethnically divided and been run by one party for half a century, is it any wonder things need fixed?
Now, that said, the reform plan doesn't appear to be the real answer. After all, 11 politicans is creates a far bigger problem than 3. AND, the "reform" groups proposed by Hagan and Jones are equally poor response to this problem.
In the end educated and fed up voters will go to the polls and throw the bums out. If they don't they get what they deserve. But in this county folks vote race and ethnicity and the status quo will likely prevail.
One can only hope that change will really come this time.
forestpkwy
That the PeeDee allows your nonsensical posts says much about their standards of publication and reporting. Your nonsense is apparent to all. You have done much harm to your own credibility,of which you have none at this point.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
I am embarrassed for you.
Wow, What does that make 9 posts today for that poor troubled poster soul against Cuyahoga County political reform and the end of patronage hiring?
I've seen people in my time who didn't want to leave home and make a real life for themselves but this is troubling.
The role of local government is not to provide office holders and their hangers on & relatives with a life time security blanket. It is to assist the needy, educate the youth, protect decent citizens from the criminal element and to promote private sector job growth.
Unfortunately too little of the latter has happened locally and the public is rightfully outraged. This anger I feel will be expressed at the ballot box this November when the old politics of corruption & cronyism is ended.
Good for you.
Wow, what does that make 7 posts for you today and 1 finally makes sense. That's a personal best for you. You keep up the good work.
From today's paper
But can that kind of change work in Cuyahoga County?
If voters demand it, said Moore, of the Reason Foundation. But, he cautions, no one has devised a government structure that guarantees good governance.
"The only way to get good government is to get good people," Moore said. "It's not about the quality of the structure but quality of people. And that requires a population that cares."
As non-partisan as I could state this:
WANT REAL REFORM? ELECT DIFFERENT POLITICIANS FROM THE "CURRENT MACHINE OF CORRUPTION" AND THEN HAVE THEM MAKE PROPOSALS FOR REFORM.
There's your two part solution to the start of county progress. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to request that the electorate give "county reform" any consideration, when it is architected by people of the current "machine of corruption".
Cuyahoga County voters would regret poorly thought-out reforms: Harriet Applegate
It is wrong to rely on the anger of the voters to pass a proposal that should pass or fail on its merits. It is ironic that while this group had no interest in getting public input into the development of their proposal, they want to use the public's anger and frustration to ensure its passage.
Honestly
I was amazed to see that Jim McCarty, who usually pens the birding columns, wrote up the Metrohealth story on John Carroll...with a kid glove treatment for Sideras and Rego.
Sideras, now the chief financial officer at Case Western Reserve University, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview. Rego and West said through a MetroHealth spokeswoman that they do not recall any conversations with Joseph. They were not available for further comment.
The PD is really abusing their reporters as Mayor Brewer attests here. The Plain Dealer's credibility shrinks by the minute.
Jim
Just a note: Jim McCarty is a veteran reporter who writes for the Metro page. He covered courts for years and is one of the guys I seek out regularly when I need help with court documents and sources. He also happens to be a bird enthusiast and lends his expertise to the paper in this area.
I was shocked by kid glove treatment for Sideras and Rego too
But then just about everything about MetroHealth and Case shocks me these days....
Disrupt IT
The PD adds a hug and a kiss for Metrohealth CEO and Chairwoman
It is obvious the PD and Case are helping Sideras along in life, or to disappear rich, gracefully, like they help other operatives who have had to do some dirty deeds for the establishment. In a PD editorial today, that appears to criticize Sideras and Rego, the Establishment concludes:
Excuse me, Mr. PD Editors, but who says "the taxpayers will never know". When the PD first "exposed" the fact former MetroHealth VP Carroll wasn't working in secret, when he corrupted MetroHealth, they said his CEO Sideras, now a VP and CFO at Case, wasn't available for comment... and the PD still offers no comment. Bullshit... like the CFO of Case has anything more important to do or talk about, in the world. UNACCEPTABLE journalism, PD! This is your fault!
We, the taxpayers, are due much more than a comment, as we need a full explanation from Sideras and Rego about what happened to our $ millions in tax dollars, provided in a courtroom, under oath, before an honest judge (do we have any) and a jury of our peers.
While the PD is clearly protecting many people in the hopes "the taxpayers will never know", the PD is no longer a credible voice for "taxpayers" in this community, and this claim must be rejected. We must know all the detals of these affairs, as we own MetroHealth, and Sideras and Rego's incompetence has cost us $ millions, if not our public healthcare system, and Sideras is now in a position of influence in my immediate neighborhood of University Circle, where his employer, Case, has a history of being a VERY POOR NEIGHBOR, and intends to build a new powerplant, without public comment.
What dirty deed has Sideras done? Perhaps framing MetroHealth with "County Corruption", leading to bankruptcy of our "public" healthcare system (and privatization of public health in the region) for "bail-out" by some other (tax-exempt) hospital system, like like the other two where Sideras has worked, to eliminate competition with the County government for valuable Federal health dollars, which will pay-off masterfully as we move to socially equitable and fair healthcare that will undercut traditional healthcare profit dollars at the Clinic and UH, where Sideras now works (Case).
It seems to me Sideras and Rego had the job of destroying Metrohealth and public health in NEO, then bringing in Booz Allen to liquidate and merge US with UH, er Case, in cooperation with the Clinic, of course, as they all operate as one now.
Oh, for the days of government that cared about the public interest and anti-trustful monopolization by industry....
Handy the Opportunity Corridor will literally connect the back doors of Metro and its future owners, at $200+ million in taxpayer dollars... to send the opportune, spiffy rich people to one end of the corridor, in beautiful University Circle, and the ugly poor people to the other end, on bleak W.25th... send all the bills to the same PO box in Washington DC.
Now, we are starting to get to the bottom of the corruption in this region, centered at the PD and in University Circle... my home town!
BTW, all you doctors and hospital big-shots, out there, saving lives doesn't save your souls.
Disrupt IT
Tale of Two Cities
Ironically--Cleveland is hosting the International Dickens Fellowship this year....please read and reread Norm's post above.
While the PD is clearly protecting many people in the hopes "the taxpayers will never know", the PD is no longer a credible voice for "taxpayers" in this community, and this claim must be rejected. We must know all the detals of these affairs, as we own MetroHealth, and Sideras and Rego's incompetence has cost us $ millions, if not our public healthcare system, and Sideras is now in a position of influence in my immediate neighborhood of University Circle, where his employer, Case, has a history of being a VERY POOR NEIGHBOR, and intends to build a new powerplant, without public comment.
Saving souls
It seems to me Sideras and Rego had the job of destroying Metrohealth and public health in NEO, then bringing in Booz Allen to liquidate and merge US with UH, er Case, in cooperation with the Clinic, of course, as they all operate as one now.
Oh, for the days of government that cared about the public interest and anti-trustful monopolization by industry....
Handy the Opportunity Corridor will literally connect the back doors of Metro and its future owners, at $200+ million in taxpayer dollars... to send the opportune, spiffy rich people to one end of the corridor, in beautiful University Circle, and the ugly poor people to the other end, on bleak W.25th... send all the bills to the same PO box in Washington DC.
Now, we are starting to get to the bottom of the corruption in this region, centered at the PD and in University Circle... my home town!
BTW, all you doctors and hospital big-shots, out there, saving lives doesn't save your souls.
I can't say it any better...
Angel, it is too difficult
Angel, it is too difficult to read your post when you write in all caps. Just wanted you to know that I tried to read it but stopped because of the caps.
caps
Using caps in sentences, OTHER than one word, is the same as screaming. It has that impact on the reader. We are not allowed to use caps in our e-mails at work execpt in a word to draw attention to a qualifer because it is considered screaming. We had to read a policy on politeness in postings. At first, I thought that it was trite, but as time went on, it made sense.
makes me avOId it....
makes me avOId it....
We need someone to look over the shoulder of the rulers!!!
U.S. politics operates something like a bulldozer. Instead of a steering wheel there are two levers. Pull one and a left turn is made, pull the other and a right turn is made. As the system now operates there has been something like 50 years of one-party rule in Cuyahoga County (according to a comment above). At the least we have had mostly one-party-rule in Cuyahoga County for some time. The left lever has been pulled so long it is worn out and apparent corruption is the result. While I'm not one to easily pull the right lever, it is the only other lever there is to pull.
If the form of government Cuyahoga County is changed as one ballot proposal has it, representation will be broken up into districts. At least two districts will have a potential majority of Republican voters according to a recent survey by the Plain Dealer (Pee Dee). While I don't relish Republicans in the national and state scenes where they are doing much damage, I am willing to risk a couple Republicans getting into Cuyahoga County government, so someone who will react to corruption is looking over the shoulder of the rulers.
Of course, with a district approach, we risk that the representatives of districts will only push what is good for their district without regard to what is good for the whole. Perhaps a "two house" approach to Cuyahoga County governing could ameliorate this. One house would be composed of 7 to 11 districts and one house would be composed of an uneven smaller number of representatives chosen by the whole of Cuyahoga County voters.
There is at least one proviso to this approach. The representatives of the smaller opposing party to the majority in the "lower house" of district representatives need to be able to call out corruption that may occur in the "upper house," of the Cuyahoga County wide representatives who are all likely to be from the predominant party. As it has been for some time in Cuyahoga County, these are the Democrats. And it is Democrats in Cuyahoga County government that have been accused by the Feds (and the Pee Dee) to be corrupt.
Connie Shutlz of the Plain Dealer RESIGNS?
Puts conflict of interest for husband's campaign ahead of her role at the Plain Dealer? Wow.....
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
Ms. Schultz you are welcome at Realneo
Realneo knows how to handle conflicts of interest - everyday.
The pay isn't the best at Realneo, Connie, but you will be heard without any editorial two stepping.
Give the main stream media (Realneo) a try!
Best,
Jeff b
Here is Washington Post article on Ms. Schultz "resigning" Dealer
Cuyahoga County "Reform" has not changed CC Corruption
From Mitchell Paul on Facebook:
Cuyahoga much worse...seems ok to commit fraud too...one good example is claiming a 'non-arms length transaction' when SELLING.
Normally the sales price would be listed and for commercial property (not residential)the appraisal becomes the ACTUAL sales price.
This is when the illegalities creepin and will cost MANY attorneys and title companies their licences to practice...or go to jail hopefully.
By claiming a 'non-arms length transaction' which means a transfer between related entities the sales price is both not reported and the all important APPRAISED VALUE does not change.
One good recent example is the ex DAFFY DAN bldg next to the plain dealer bldg...3101 superior.
At the artificially low appraisal, maintained by fraud and perjury ...Cleveland city council locked in the falsified rate for ANOTHER 15 years...and gave them a bunch of money.
Elizabeth Sullivan and micHELLe Jarboe if the PLAIN dealer where aware of this for 2 years.
They should be proud that these facts did not prejudice them in their reporting whatsoever...praise for the thieves and perjurers.
Reminds me of public square.(ooh the JOHN ave properties of Land studio boss GREG PECKHAM are interesting too how can you Alledgedly spend so muchos and the county say they are worth so little? Start by pulling no permits...did Jimmy dimora get permits for the naturestone??..amazing how cheap you can get stuff for yourself when you dispense public and nonprofit dollars like water).and the emperor's new clothes.. CONCURRENTLY.
all driven by the low appraisals they SELL.
DO SOME OF YOUR OWN RESEARCH...THE COUNTY REAL PROPERTY SITE IS EASY TO ACCESS.
https://www.propublica.org/article/watchdog-group-calls-for-reform-to-cook-county-assessors-office