Posts Tagged publisher
Knee Deep in Civic Corruption… Anyone Noticed?
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Media, Politicians on June 13th, 2010
June 13, 2010… So why have we wasted all the time and energy with a supposed “reformed” Cuyahoga County Government when Joe Roman and the Greater Cleveland Partnership can decide for us.
Why bother with any democracy? Who needs it.
The Plain Dealer – it its usual uncritical manner – reported last week that Joe Roman, according to the paper, “said community leaders discussed extending the sales tax increase more than a year ago as a possible way to fill gaps in medical mart funding.”
They want more bucks for downtown, of course. Another couple of hundred million dollars.
Why do we need a County chief executive? Why do we need a County Commission of 11 elected officials?
We have Joe Roman – the $451,241 a year GCP boss – to tell us what we need. How we should tax and what for.
“Roman,” said the Plain Dealer, “said the business community supports a transformation of the malls, Public Square and other areas in the central business district. He also recommends addressing the improvements before construction of the medical mart begins in October.”
Let the rest of the city rot.
Well by all means everybody, let’s get busy.
The arrogance of the Cleveland corporate community is amazing. There is no countervailing power to even hint at some balance.
I thought there might be a little more punch to the Plain Dealer editorial posture once Brent Larkin left and Betsy Sullivan took over. I was wrong. Dead wrong.
I guess the PD only deals with certain kinds of corruption. Certainly it doesn’t bother ever with civic corruption. Not even a whisper. It’s rampant in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County but it never riles the PD top honchos. Never seems to cross their minds.
Go get those pikers – Jimmy, Frankie and Gerry.
Mayor Frank Jackson – now Mayor Go Along – has appointed a committee (what a novel idea) to, I guess, try to improve on the 100 year old historic Daniel Burnham Cleveland Group Plan as part of the Joe Roman & the Corporates’ latest desires. Is there no one to scream, “NO. PLEASE, NO.”
Cleveland Planning Chairman Tony Coyne has been named to head up this committee.
Is this a joke? It must be. Tony Coyne hasn’t done one spirited or even near courageous thing in the 20 years he’s been on the City Plan Commission. He’s a dud. I guess then he’s perfect for the job then. Poor Mr. Burnham. Hacks to hack away at his work 100 years later.
They all also keep talking about the $425 million Medical Mart & Convention Center.
However, we know that the 20 year tax will bring in at least $40 million a year and that doesn’t equal $425 million. It equals at least $800 million – without possible overrun costs.
Let’s be honest a little honest about the cost. Interest is a cost as much as principal when you construct. And somehow it has to be paid. All with taxes.
Now, if you’re going to put, as they seem to suggest, big fancy stuff atop the underground convention center on the historic Malls it will mean you’ll need extra strength for the convention center ceilings. I just speculate that.
I suggest this will be the way MMPI will get out of the supposed deal it has with the county to absorb overruns. How can you hold them to the deal if you change the deal? Drastically.
To add insult to injury, Joe Roman and the Corporates – also eager for the $350 million Opportunity Corridor to University Circle – will be pushing Terry Hamilton Brown for the County chief executive spot. She’s their front for the short, expensive road to the Clinic. Opportunity Corridor has been pushed by the usual funding sources – the Gund and Cleveland Foundations. They gave $100,000 each.
But once again we see the powers that be – foundations and their corporate interests – wanting all public resources going to their agenda. Downtown and University Circle. The rest of the city, ah well, it can struggle on.
And our major source of information. Well, the Pd publisher Terry Egger sits on the Clinic Board and co-chair of the Opportunity Corridor. All aboard? Of course.
It’s business as usual. The road leads only one way. Down, folks.
It’s Fair Taxes for Honest City Revenue, Stupid
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Media, People, Politicians on November 12th, 2009
November 12, 2009… I haven’t read the 300-page-plus consulting report on management and efficiency of Cleveland government and I probably won’t. I’ll leave it to others. I know it won’t touch the one revenue source that Cleveland should tap if it had any concern for its citizens. It is out of the question. Won’t happen.
The so-called city income tax – the city’s largest revenue source by far – is really a payroll tax. It’s a tax on your wage income. It’s a regressive tax that takes from the first dollar someone earns. It’s a tax that hits people so poor that they don’t pay federal income taxes but must pay this tax. The feds at least tax somewhat progressively though the rich still get away with tax robbery.
If we really wanted a fair tax the so-called city income tax would be progressive. In other words, the guy who makes $150 a week would pay far less proportionally than the guy who makes $150 or $500 a day, or more.
It’s an obvious source of more revenue for cities. But it’s ignored. Why? Because wealthy people decide who gets taxed and by how much.
It’s legal theft calculatedly devised by professional hired thugs. Sometimes called lawyers or legislators.
Cleveland residents pay 2 percent on their earnings. If they work outside Cleveland and pay in the work community they may reduce the Cleveland tax by one-half, up to 1 percent. So, in other words, if they work in another city aside Cleveland they pay the 2 percent to the work community but get a half off Cleveland’s 2 percent.
So they pay 3 percent total. Someone who makes a lousy $10,000 has to fork over $300 to the city. That’s a paycheck and a half a week. A lot of money to a low income working stiff.
That’s a lot of money right off the top. No deductions. You pay on dollar number one. The city doesn’t care if you have heavy medical bills or other hefty expenses. Pay up. Now. In fact, before you take your pay home.
So it’s obvious if local government wants to raise revenue it should not go to unnecessary fees – increased sales taxes, catching people on minor traffic infraction and charging $100. THEY SHOULD GO WHERE THE MONEY IS. But they can’t seem to find the path.
Oh, that would be horrible, wouldn’t it? Taxing people with money. Outrageous.
- When the County Commissioners – Tim Hagan, Jimmy Dimora and Peter Lawson Jones (who didn’t vote for it but has gone along, as usual, for the ride) – wanted to raise big money for a medical mart and convention center, they didn’t go where the big money people live, but went to the small money people. They increased the most regressive of taxes – a one-quarter percent sales tax hike. It has raised $74 million as of last month.
It hits the little people hardest. Another quarter-percent to someone making $100,000, or $400,000 as Joe Roman at Greater Cleveland Partnership does, means nothing to them. But the pennies to someone trying to get by, that can add up to pain. Sometimes more pain than they can take.
- When Cuyahoga County, led by Hagan the Great White Liberal, wanted to raise funds for Gateway it didn’t go to those who HAVE money but to more sales taxes, so-called sin taxes on beer, cigarettes, wine and alcohol. And most heavily on cigarettes and beer. Plus, they charge sales tax on the sin tax!
- When the city wanted to build Browns Stadium, Mayor White, the African-American liberal, came up with an 8 percent parking tax, added 2 percent admission tax, increased the tax on car rentals, and best of all, added a 10-year extension of the sin taxes ($58 million collected as of last month).
This is FAR greater a mugging than anything stolen by the political thieves now being pursued by the FBI. I wish they could go after the legal thievery. That’s where the real money is.
But it passes without even a hint that a robbery is in progress.
In fact, The Plain Dealer promotes and propagandizes for these taxes without a hesitation or demands for an examination of other ways to pay for these projects. Unfortunately, the Pee Dee is the only major source of information for the public. That’s why it is so central to the ills we see.
So the public is essentially in the dark.
As an example, I wrote in 1995 when Council addressed the football stadium taxes, “The day council debated this issue for seven plus hours NOT ONE SINGLE MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC was present in the room.”
It’s not the first time. We have so little real citizenship here that it is no wonder that government is so bad.
But as usual the people who feed off government were much in attendance. I wrote: “The lineup was impressive. Tony Garofoli of Climaco, Climaco, Seminatore, Leftkowitz, told council what a good deal the legislation was. Garofoli, in this scheme, is the best representative for the city. After all, he had negotiated the Gateway leases at the stadium and the arena, both sweetheart deals for the team owners, and he had negotiated the sweetheart lease for Figgie (Chagrin Highlands), now in court… He’s got the perfect record of selling the citizen interests out.”
Who else was there?
“There was Joe Roman, executive director of Cleveland Tomorrow (now Greater Cleveland Partnership), the tail that wags city government. (He) had an entourage of professionals, including Bob Dykes, a political researcher and pollsters popular at city hall; Andy Juniewicz of Wm. Silverman, politically popular public relations firm, and testifying to what a good deal the city had before it was CT member and member of the mayor’s task force, Paul Carleton, managing director of Carleton, McCreary, Holmes, another investment firm.
“Tim Offtermatt, former chief financial officer at Gateway (certainly a qualification for another smelly deal), now with A. G. Edwards, a broker and public finance firm, was there, along with Alan Baucco of the firm. The financial data presented was worked up by Paul Komlosi of McDonald & Co., so you can expect that firm to be part of the deal.
“All the pros were there for their bite of the apple.”
So the average guy doesn’t stand a chance here or in Washington, D. C. because he’s absent in the decision-making.
But there should be no crisis in government funding – here or nationally – if only the rich are taxed fairly.
Can we make that happen? Just a little bit. A city income tax with a graduated tax to slightly even the score.
It would take Ms. Susan Goldberg and Mr. Terry Egger to use their front page headlines in the manner of selling Issue 6 to do that. Can we expect it? Tell me.