Posts Tagged Gomez
Whole Lot We Don’t Know about MMPI and Its Deal with Cuyahoga County
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Media, Politicians on April 18, 2010
April 18, 2010… Here are some questions I would appreciate answered from the Cuyahoga County Commissioners and/or their attorney Jeffery Applebaum. I don’t believe any of the questions would interfere with the sticky problem of negotiating the best prices for the project. That’s the excuse being used to keep the public in the dark, it appears.
Presumably, proper plans and a proper lease would answer these questions.
Here are my questions. Somehow I ended up with 13 categories of questions. I hope I didn’t jinx the project:
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers pay for the site and construction of the medical mart to be used as a private business of MMPI of Chicago? (Actually, we already know. The answer is yes.)
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers consider the MMPI Medical Mart a property tax exempt building? In other words, will it ever pay any property taxes? (I think we already know this answer, too. It’s yes.)
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers finance the furniture, furnishings, telephones, computers and all the other office equipment needed for the MMPI Medical Mart? (Don’t know but quite likely it will happen.)
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers finance any new restaurants in the Medical Mart or Convention Center – restaurants that will serve not just conventioneers but the general public?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers pay for the restaurant furniture and bar equipment, etc.? Chairs and tables? Knives and forks?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers pay for the full array of kitchen equipment, stoves, refrigerators, pans, pizza ovens and other incidental kitchen equipment?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers allow these restaurants to compete with other downtown restaurants? By this I mean could these restaurants not only serve conventioneers but the general public on a daily basis though they will be tax-subsidized and property tax free?
- Will there be any housing – apartment – allowed in the Medical Mart building for MMPI executives jetting out of Chicago and into Cleveland at sundry times?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers provide and fund any executive food service facilities in the Medical Mart for MMPI?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers provide free parking for MMPI employees or any other executives hired to operate this project?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers be responsible for upkeep and/or funding capital improvements?
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers share in any of the profits of this venture? Yes, I jest.
- Will Cuyahoga County taxpayers pay for the salaries of any MMPI Chicago executives once the project is completed? If so, how many, at what cost and what percentage of their time will be spent in Cleveland?
You can email the answers to Laura Johnston and Henry Gomez of
The Plain Dealer since they seem to believe you people are keeping secrets from us all. Now why would they think that?
Finally, a Sensible Voice on New County Governing
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Politicians on March 2, 2010
March 2, 2010… Finally, someone talks some sense about the duties of new Cuyahoga County Commissioners under the County reform – candidate Clark Broida. The task of the county government is services, not economic development, he says.
How about that, someone interested in the real tasks of government.
Here’s what Broida said to Henry Gomez of The Plain Dealer:
“Almost everyone says economic development. It drives me nuts. I just don’t think it’s the County’s overall role to create jobs – it’s to provide services. Our job is to provide an environment where the people have a better opportunity to achieve.”
Problem is that you have some greedy people looking out for their and their friends’ interests with the County taxes in mind.
Here’s Gomez’s piece:
Broida is right on the money as I see it. Government should be about doing its tasks and private business should provide for itself.
However, the Cuyahoga County transition team says otherwise. The transition team talks about cutting county expenditures 15 percent. That would “save” some $50 million to be used, the team urges, for economic development. That’s every year! That’s a honey pot that the sharpies could not resist.
What that really means is that county taxpayers will be lining the pockets of developers and others with $50 million each year. This invites the same old people – the Ratners, the Jacobses, the Ferchills, the Gilberts – to have their way by corrupting our politics with their desires.
It’s time that the vaunted private sector stopped sucking on the teat of government.
Especially when one of the people making decisions for this “economic development” fund is Joe Roman of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, front for greedy Cleveland corporate interests.
Here’s the article on the $50 million slush fund desired by the transition team:
This is a robbery you can stop before it takes place.