"People want to live in a neighborhood that fights for its neighbors", writes Councilman Cimperman

Ward 13 Councilman Cimperman was attacked in his Tremont home [1] by vicious forces, which caused him personal harm and made him homeless. His trauma was relatively brief, as Councilman Cimperman is a powerful man with powerful friends and considerable resources at his disposal - it is safe to say he had insurance against his losses and could borrow money at a reasonable interest rate to rebuild. Ultimately, his quality of life will be better, as a result of his social condition, as a result of his tragedy. We pay him well.

Impoverished establishment outcast Frank Giglio was attacked in his Tremont home [2] by vicious forces, which caused him personal harm and made him homeless. His trauma has just begun, as homelessperson Giglio is a brutalized man with relatively powerless friends and few resources at his disposal - it is safe to say he had no insurance against his losses and could not borrow money at any interest rate to rebuild... his quality of life will be worse as a result of his social condition, as a result of his tragedy. We must now pay him well, as well. Perhaps for the rest of his life.

Cimperman's tragedy came five months before Giglio's. When Giglio's house was demolished, Cimperman knew what it was like to see his home in ruins and feel great fear, loss and violation.

In writing about his personal tragedy, for publication in the Plain Dealer, Cimperman concluded "People want to live in a neighborhood that fights for its neighbors, risking life and safety for old friends they've just met; people want to live in a neighborhood that cares for its own when they suffer, experience tragedy, and lose everything and still wake up and go to work everyday of the week, go to market on Saturday, and to worship on Sunday; people want to live in a neighborhood that disregards walls and tears the fences down among us, even if it takes seven times."

One would think such a life event would change a man, like Cimperman, and he would be looking out for potential victims of similar fates, above and beyond his duty to do just that, as councilman. Yet, just a few months after Councilman Cimperman's brush with homelessness, his administration took Frank Giglio's house away and made Giglio homeless, and a burden to society.

As described in the Plain Dealer: "'This decision was wrongful, it was shameful,' said Tom Coffey, a member of the Cleveland Landmarks Commission. 'The city can't even fill the potholes in the streets, but it can find the money and the political will to tear down this poor bastard's house.'"

The political will invested here and the severity of this demolition are so extreme: this looks like retaliation. It makes me wonder, does Cimperman know something about Giglio we don't? Was Cimperman's house torched by Giglio, or his "pagans", or his gang of Tremont artists and business owners who want to block Cimperman's gentrification agenda. Is Cimperman taking revenge by taking their houses? Is he simply demolishing all the houses of people who didn't vote for him in the primary against Kucinich (in which case, this will be a long cleansing...)? Worse, is he doing all this out of personal greed, and/or to reward the greed of others. Is this all part of a play for another higher office, requiring higher level support than is possible from the likes of Giglios.

I look forward to when those truly responsible for the demolition of Frank Giglio's house provide complete explanations, including the exact details of the demolition, including who were the contractors who invaded Frank's space, why this was such an urgent demolition, why Frank's house wasn't recycled, and what happened to the personal property wood, stone, trim, millwork, hardware, metal and other assets destroyed and stolen from Frank's property in the name of public service? I look forward to seeing a full accounting of the money behind the Giglio demolition, and the real costs to REAL NEO, and following that balance sheet until Frank's dying day. I look forward to learning what crimes Frank has committed that justified the level of retaliation seen here.

A great place to organize and keep alive forever the details about the Giglio demo is here on realneo, where access is free and open to all, and personal property is protected for the rightful owners.

Welcome, Giglio demolition crew. What exactly did you do, and why?