$$$$TUDY for some more $50,000 + to the Land Bank...

Submitted by lmcshane on Sun, 02/10/2013 - 15:14.
I am going to highlight in BOLD the parts you should definitely read in this post:
 
Should Cleveland help fund Housing/Demo Study?
Started on Feb 08, 2013 by Brian Cummins
This represents the beginning of a response to constituents regarding my eventual vote regarding the City of Cleveland's participation and contribution of $50,000, to a proposed study to analyze and document the linkage between demolition of housing structures and removal of blight to that of the causes and potential reduction of foreclosures. This began as a facebook conversation and due to the response has moved to the Civic Commons. I encourage thoughtful comments and suggestions of how to improve and better utilize our systems ans resources. -- I'll be making a decision on this next week but am likely to vote for the study. We're implementing a comprehensive initiative as best we can and with the resources we have to deal with the vacant and abandoned homes in our community. That includes our public/private partnership to get homes into the hands of responsible people, including residents that live near these structures as well as the local investor that have gone through a screening process and have contracts with claw-back clauses if work is not done to spec and in a timely manner. It also includes demos, which in our first two and half years have included more than 40 structures (out of appx 140) that were either within 1,000 feet of a school or that were partially burned and damaged but somehow sat for more than several years before being demolished. The volume of bank and owner walkaways that began increasing in numbers two years ago have left some structures in the condition of not being feasible to save, having been stripped, severely damaged by vandals or squatters etc.. All along the worst blighted properties have and will take a terrible toll on our real-estate values. The issue is compounded by what was an historical lack of effective code enforcement and difficulties that some home owners had in effectively maintaining their properties Within our ward and in the City in general more has to be done to ensure houses that can be salvaged are not demolished. We've had our share of successes and I believe we've achieved the highest rate of pulling structures out of abandonment and getting them rehabed in the City. We'll continue that work as well as trying to do more to promote historically significant homes and the Cleveland Restroration Society rehab loan product that serves potential new home owners well (@ 1.4% at 12-years, it is the lowest interest and best terms available in the market). The issue has been reported in an oversimplified way pitting the need for demo work with the desire to mothball and rehab. The issue is much more complicated and nuanced and there are lots of best practices and work being done that should be applauded. The bashing of anything and everything the County Land Bank is doing is counterproductive. My office and the local development office has had an excellent working relationship with the County and City and we’re achieving a great deal of success in coping with the huge volume of vacant and abandoned properties we have in the neighborhood. There are individual abuses within most systems but a trashing of the entire system achieves little, whereas working to improve the system and trying to gain benefits from it for our community is what I’m elected to do. See initial facebook conversation here -- http://www.facebook.com/brianjcummins

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/02/what_to_do_with_vacant_homes_i.html 

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Land Bank is beyond reproach

Submitted by lmcshane on Sun, 02/10/2013 - 15:16.

Because, of course, you and I as residents have no say in how the Land Bank conducts business.  We are obligated to blind trust based on  the PD, GCP and the elected officials who don't seem to care that money is sinking down a black hole...okay with you??

I for one would like the PD to publish

Submitted by lmcshane on Sun, 02/10/2013 - 15:23.

The entire list of contributions to Martin Sweeney's Leadership Fund.  I encourage REALNEO readers to contact the reporters at TomDispatch:

http://www.tomdispatch.com/contact/

Michelle Alexander is one of their authors.  We need more investigative reporting to especially expose the abuse of HUD funds in major metropolitan areas like Northeast Ohio.

 

Michelle Alexander

Michelle Alexander is the author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness  (The New Press, 2010). The former director of the Racial Justice Project of the ACLU in Northern California, she also served as a law clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court.  Currently, she holds a joint appointment with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University.  

http://realneo.us/events/michelle-alexander-author-new-jim-crow-olivet-bapitist-church

 

Sound the ALARM on the Land Bank!

Submitted by lmcshane on Tue, 02/12/2013 - 08:31.

Please add your 2 cents here:
http://theciviccommons.com/

 

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=4473497235275

Thank you Councilman Johnson - please watch and especially know that the Land Bank "gurus" have and continue to destroy and demolish in predominantly African-American neighborhoods.

http://realneo.us/content/demolition-cuyahoga-county-problem-or-solution...

Land Bank Circle F*ck

Submitted by lmcshane on Mon, 05/20/2013 - 05:53.
 (NOTE: I archived Garry Kanter's comments- Cleveland.com SCRUBBED them...)
 
 
Somehow the Cuyahoga County Land bank came to own the property. 
 
The city bought it from them for $100,000. 
 
And the city & the land bank split the $60,000 cost of demolition. 
 
Which means the city paid just about the same for this unfit Noble road property - $130,000, as they agreed to sell the vital Lee-Meadowbrook property for - $125,000. (Not to mention the $4 MILLION in tax abatements.) 
 
This can happen when no one bothers to get appraisals. 
 
CH taxpayers paid $590,000 for the Lee-Meadowbrook properties the city council sold for $125,000. The US EPA spent $400,000 to remediate on of the 5 parcels and the Ohio PUC spent about $150,000 to remediate another of those parcels. 
 
So the city, without an appraisal, sold the Lee-Meadowbrook property for about $1 MILLION below cost. 
 
Or, about the same as the city, without an appraisal, paid Councilperson Stephenson's employer for the Medic property - $130,000. 
 
From the article above: 
"Councilwoman Cheryl Stephens, who serves as the land bank’s director of acquisitions, dispositions and development, spearheaded the city’s purchase of the site. Land bank president Gus Frangos was on hand for the start of demolition." 
... 
"“We have a very active relationship with Cleveland Heights,” Frangos said. “In Cleveland Heights, we have all the prongs of our organization in play.”" 
 
I wonder if the councilperson recused herself from the vote to purchase the Medic property? It doesn't ring any bells.
 
Well, early on in this story, yes, councilperson Stephenson *did* recuse herself from a vote. 
 
Here's the story from 2011, where the city declared the site a nuisance. 
 
http://clevelandheights.patch.com/articles/clevela... 
 
The land bank didn't own it then, but she recused herself. I suppose that means the land bank, her employer, had begun talks about acquiring the property from the owner. 
 
Which took place on November 12, 2012. Over a year later. For the $100,000. 
 
As of today, the property has not been transferred to the city of CH.
 
 
And councilperson Stephenson recused herself from the December 3, 2012 vote to purchase the property from the land bank for $100,000. 
 
Such a transaction is not reflected in the county's property database.

 

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Same bullshit low-ball appraisal for Cleveland School Board property- are we all chumps??  WHY, why, why do we put up with this #%##?  

 

http://www.coolcleveland.com/blog/2013/04/roldo-is-it-time-to-cry-yet/

Just rob us- rob us blind....and leave us with no services, no tax base, no local economy....WAKE UP!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

5/16/2013 In an effort to cement loyalty among the non-profit zombies - Gus Frangos just hired Lilah Zautner from Neigbhorhood Progress Inc, which will be forced to consolidate with Cleveland Neighborhood Development Corp - because Cleveland Foundation can't continue to fund so many useless non-profit placeholders for the machine.

http://www.npi-cle.org/about/staff3/lilah-zautner/

Save the date - you are all about to get the royal screw over again - courtesy of Frangos, Rokakis and the Land Bank:

http://realneo.us/content/cuyahoga-county-property-tax-lien-sale-may-31-2013-warning-pay-your-property-taxes-or-face-p

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://realneo.us/content/great-circle-fck-hatha-communications

and 

http://www.clevelandchallenger.com/platten-let-officials-take-office-illegally-while-mismanaging-cuyahoga-county-elections-board/

 

hahahaha that's what you (we) get!

Submitted by pavman on Sat, 05/18/2013 - 08:19.

I find it amusing to step back and read the endless foray of news about government scandal, extortion, and often downright racketeering.  You (we) have always had, and will always have, a government like this.  Not only is it the nature of government, but it's also the nature of voters. 

You may notice my lack of participation on these and other forums like it.  It's not because I don't have thoughts, commentary.  It's because it makes no difference.  I've come to the realization that time is the most important thing we have - more important than family or money.  And for me, I choose not to spend much time on things that make little difference.  We can write all day and complain, do all sorts of news expose's, studies, special reports... but at the end of the day, it changes little.

I ran for public office a few years ago.  The lackluster response to my candidacy is the quintessential example of why we have -and will always have- a government like this.  What our society needs are more 'average joe' citizens like me to run for office.  But in my campaign I got very little for free.  I PAID for just about everything.  There were few volunteers lining up to help me... (but many people volunteered, only to do nothing) I had to PAY people.  I even had to pay our local neighborhood restaurant to hold a fundraiser for us... while Tony George hosted a few events for absolutely nothing at the Barley House downtown.  I still have an almost $10k debt because of that campaign (I still have campaign finance committee open in case anyone wants to donate/send a few thousand my way.. hahahaha)  ... Was I the perfect candidate?  No.  But that's why I would've done a good job.  Instead of support and donations - I was criticized for not being heavily involved with the political party... I had no 'experience' as a politician.... I am an 'unknown'.   Voters would rather have the same old known corrupt politicians.  My campaign debt is my daily reminder of our political systems failure.
 
Please don't misunderstand me: I'm very happy to have had the opportunity to run for office in a city of almost 400k people against a politically entrenched incumbant - who is still collecting over $140k yr in public money (his retirement + current double dippin salary).  But people should stop and realize this is why you (we) have, and will continue, to get cheated by your government.  Just keep doing what you've always done, and you'll keep getting what you've always got.  And the reason for my silence.
 
Laura: if you're writing for personal reasons, super, I'm happy for you and I hope it's helping you.  But if you're trying to change something, while we appreiciate and applaud your efforts, save your breath, ummm, fingers: nobody is listening.

nobody is listening.

Submitted by Gone Fishin on Sat, 05/18/2013 - 08:25.

Sad, but true.   All of the thieves are connected and honest people don't stand a chance.

Voters are ignorant.  

 

 

* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*

Venting...

Submitted by lmcshane on Sat, 05/18/2013 - 09:39.

 

Phil: I am grateful that at least you are reading my posts  (and Lily's and Dianna's and others :)  

So, if you are reading then MAYBE, just maybe...other enlightened folks are also reading.  You are a hero in my book for running for Clerk of Courts.  I hope you will run again.  

I wish I had deep pockets to support all of the candidates running against the entrenched machine in this town.  I can't pay off your debt, but I can buy you a drink :)

 

I concur with all above....

Submitted by ANGELnWard14 on Sat, 05/18/2013 - 12:02.

Until we unite to disrupt the old school corruption; it shall continue. Voters support corruption.

However; let's back up and say that our local government thrived off of countless dead people's votes via the Board of Elections...and countless voter registration cards that have not been updated. There should be laws against people being registered to vote--and not voting for so long. A letter should be sent to all the voters listed who haven't voted at all in like 3 years----and they should be removed from the voter listings.... once and for all a new updated voter registration list should be cleaned up. Moreover; a state law should be lobbied which makes it a law for anyone associated with the death of a human being to notify the board of elections of their passing---and the Social Security and BMV of them being dead....

But again; we need lobbying citizens who are prepared to fight the regime of corruption.

I'd call them all CHICKEN SH.T MOTHER FLOWERS----but I am a perfect example of the POLITICAL RETALIATION ENDURED for speaking up against the regime!

YES: It's all pay to play!

Sorry, Phil...I wish I could help you with that campaign debt; but I understand your position all too well...

Take it from the ignorant hillbilly---you're so right about time and life...it's all a commodity and too short!

If we collectively united to disrupt all this crap---we'd probably have a fighting chance.... God Bless.

Always Appreciative,
"ANGELnWard14"

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Thank God for Small Mercies

Submitted by lmcshane on Sat, 05/18/2013 - 15:53.

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/05/cuyahoga_county_executive_race.html#incart_river

Rokakis isn't going to run - for county executive. Thank God.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/05/jim_rokakis_takes_himself_out.html

My comments - soon deleted:
 

Thank G-D for small mercies - entire county will wake up someday to realize the crimes perpetrated by the NGO known as Land Bank and before the Land Bank, investor schemes hatched by duo of Treasurer/Deputy Treasurer Rokakis-Frangos and their tax sale liens and manipulation of the Board of Revision - in meantime, visit REALNEO.

no no not about money

Submitted by pavman on Sat, 05/18/2013 - 21:38.

No no my post wasn't about money... money is just money, it comes and goes.  Our time is most important.  And until/unless enough people step up to the plate... with their TIME and MONEY and FAMILIES... things won't change.