Posts Tagged New York Times
Getting Stuff Off My Chest
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Media, Politicians on May 28th, 2010
May 28, 2010… It’s Friday and time to get some things “off my chest.” I have three items that I need to yell about. So here goes:
REP. FUDGE – YOU MADE THE WRONG DECISION
I guess my Congresswoman – Rep. Marcia Fudge – believes nothing she does will ever put any stress on her holding the 11th District job.
Maybe she thinks no one will notice that she sided with the big telecommunication companies and against her constituents. The big communications companies would like to control the internet and how much it costs to access it.
Fudge, along with 74 other Democratic Congress members, allied themselves with AT&T, Verizon ad Comcast by signing a letter that will undercut the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) “ability to make a fast, affordable and open internet available to everyone in America,” as a watchdog labels of the letter.
Fudge – who represents a district with many low income people – took the side that will deprive rural and low income communities from adequate internet access.
Shame on the Congresswoman.
Tell her she’s on the wrong side: 216-522-4900.
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CHINA ON MY MIND
Clevelanders and Ohioans should be angry about labor practices that discriminate against workers. Let’s start with China since we have a mayor that wants to marry Cleveland to a Chinese manufacturer.
I don’t know about you but I’ve been opposed to slavery for a long time.
Apparently, the Chinese government isn’t.
The New York Times had several articles that point to how the government there tramples all over its citizens. And that includes its state companies.
I guess developers here would like to have the same privileges the government has in China to spur development. People in the way? Just push them away.
They say new rules are being set to correct these problems. But before they take effect the Times reports the inhumane process. Some people are pressing back but not quickly enough:
“Today in Laogucheng, a dingy warren of apartments and shops slated for redevelopment on Beijing’s far west side, the fruits of that effort are on vivid display: a powerful developer is racing to demolish the neighborhood before the rules are passed, says the Times. What’s occurring around the country, says one holdout to the demolition, are “sudden and violent demolitions.”
Read the entire front page story from Thursday:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/world/asia/27china.html?th&emc=th
POOR WORK CONDITIONS PROMPT SUICIDES
The Times on its business page Thursday has a startling article about a firm, which supplies a number of American companies (Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard). It has such harsh work standards that a number of young workers have committed suicide. The company is Foxconn.
“There were bows and an apology from Terry Gou, one of the richest men in Asia and chairman of Foxconn Technology, reports the Times. The company employs some 400,000 people. Workers get some $32 for 40 hours work, the article says. Workers are housed 10 to a room.
Apologies are totally inadequate.
“Foxconn’s production line system is designed so well that no worker will rest even for one second during work; they make sure you’re always busy for every section,” says a spokesperson for China Labor Watch.
That’s great. Who needs a one second break?
Just what we need in Cleveland, right? I guess there are a few more questions Council can ask the Jackson administration about its no-bid deal to bring a Chinese LEDs company’s U. S. headquarters here.
No thanks.
The full Times piece on the China suicide company can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/technology/27suicide.html?th&emc=th
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PD NEEDS MORE PROOF THAN A TELEPHONE CALL
The Plain Dealer led the newspaper today (Friday) with a front-page headlines advertising a sparkling new Casino in downtown Cleveland. I know the PD wants to push positive stuff for the city. But it can’t be created by articles in the paper.
Shockingly, the basis of the article comes from a telephone call. That’s putting a lot of trust in talking to someone you can’t even see.
We’re not even shown the typically phony sketches for the advertised “sleek, contemporary building with large areas of glass at two main entrances along Huron Road and a row of restaurants and shops between them, facing the street and sidewalk.”
We’re to expected believe the developers. No thanks. The story is by Steve Litt, the Plain Dealer’s architect critic. Steve, you can do better than this.
We are given a lot of promises, including “the majority of the infrastructure will be borne by us,” meaning Dan Gilbert, who won the rights to build a Cleveland casino. I hope Steve saves that quote when the time comes for these “entrepreneurs” to do private enterprise. Without public money, that is. Laughable.
There’s a whole lot of flackery being peddled here.
Progressive Field Will Get a Facelift of Some Kind
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development on May 11th, 2010
May 11, 2010… You who are paying close attention may have noticed that in my last posting here I said that a Gateway official told me that – despite a contrary mention in a New York Times article – Progressive Field was NOT getting a re-do.
Well, apparently that’s not true. Sorry about that.
Crain’s Cleveland Business this week reports that the Cleveland baseball team will soon announce an agreement to make “significant changes to the ballpark.” As I said in the original post, who knew? Apparently, not us, the owners and taxpayers.
Apparently, the ball park owner, Gateway Development Corp., which you and I heavily helped pay to build, didn’t know either. Gateway said today it has not been advised of the changes. Crain’s knows but the owners don’t. Is that the way it’s supposed to go?
Bill Reidy, retired partner of PriceWaterhouseCoopers and a former city law director, is chairman of the Gateway board. Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland have representatives on the board.
I guess the Cleveland Indians and owner Larry Dolan make the decisions without much consultation with the owners – essentially us – the taxpayers of Cuyahoga County.
Gateway top two officials – Todd Greathouse and Brian Kelly – assured me that Gateway – even if the Indians made capital improvements – would not pay for them.
I kinda find that hard to believe if major changes are in the cards. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Here’s the Crain’s story, which doesn’t say anything about the cost possibilities or who will pay for them:
http://www.crainscleveland.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100510/SUB1/100509860
To a question of how much Gateway has in any capital fund, the pair assured me it has none. Further, capital improvements WOULD be paid by the team. Each year an operating and capital fund is established with the team meeting the costs.
However, if these are to be major changes unlike normal capital improvements, the public needs to be assured that the team will cover the costs. Especially when it appears that Dolan is making the decisions without even consulting with Gateway’s board.
The public should hear directly from Gateway board as an assurance that no more public money will be plowed into the stadium for the revenue enhancement of the team owners.
The team now pays both operating and capital funding. This resolution came about after a long fight over stadium and arena costs. Without this agreement a few years back Gateway was faced with the possibility of bankruptcy. The team owners, among others, would have been embarrassed by such an occurrence.
Progressive Field, first known as Jacobs Field, was built in the early 1990s primarily from revenue from the County’s sin taxes, which raised some $266 million for the stadium and arena. It opened in 1994. The County had to add revenues to the project because of cost overruns. In addition to the “sin” taxes each year the County has had to pay some $10 million on bonds let by Cuyahoga County to cover additional costs. These payments have cost taxpayers more than $100 million thus far and they continue to be paid. The stadium alone cost $176 million to build. It now has a seat capacity of 45,199.
The team is worth, according to a Forbes magazine compilation of MLB teams worth, $391 million. Dolan paid Jacobs $323 million for the team in 2000. Forbes says gross revenues of the team last year were $170 million. The team is 21st of the 30 teams in gross revenues. Gate receipts were $37 million, according to this listing.
The Gateway board meets only about four times a year. Coverage of the board meetings by the news media has been infrequent to none in recent years. Maybe it needs to be on the assignment list again.