Posts Tagged University Circle
Plain Dealer Egging on an Unnecessary Road Project
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Media on September 13, 2009
September 13, 2009… We have a problem Plain Dealer.
The monopoly newspaper has been pushing hard for the so-called Opportunity Corridor. The problem is that the co-chairman of the push is Terry Egger, publisher of The Plain Dealer. He’s a walking conflict of interests.
Multi-millionaire Egger is a board member of the Cleveland Clinic, likely the chief entity to benefit from the proposed road. The road would go from I-490 at East 55th street and slice to, well, the Clinic area.
So Egger has two conflicts of interest – his position as publisher and his position as a Clinic board member along with his position as head of the only newspaper in town.
I wrote Egger for information on his committee’s efforts a while back. Egger punted over to Terri Hamilton Brown. She’s the project head, working at the Greater Cleveland Partnership. The Partnership helped finance a study on the importance of the road, helped with matching $100,000 contributions from the Cleveland and Gund Foundations.
Money is easily gotten for projects that benefit the powerful and wealthy.
Once again today the PD had big headlines: “Opportunity Corridor needed even more now, officials say,” read the top headline on the Metro Page. I had a hard time finding in the article any officials, other than Ms. Hamilton Brown, making comment that would back up that headline.
The same old line is given us by the Pee Dee. The urgency deals with “spawning” economic and community development. Please, give me a break.
What I did notice, however, is that the price of the 2-3/4 mile road has already gone up since the last article by $25 million, from $350 million to $375 million.
Egger, who once complained to me that I overstated his income from the sale of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, made millions on the deal. The numbers came from the St. Louis Journalism Review, which cited Security & Exchange Commission figures. See here for Egger’s wealth:
I inquired about meetings of Egger’s Corridor group. The answer came from Ms. Hamilton Brown.
“The Steering Committee held a kick-off meeting on May 15 at the Plain Dealer…” Well, isn’t that convenient for Mr. Egger.
The next meeting was scheduled for Sept. 1 and was held “in the board room of the Greater Cleveland Partnership.” Also, convenient for those most interested.
The public, well, not so convenient, especially meeting at 9 a.m.
Well, I asked for minutes of the meetings. I’d like to see what’s going on. Wouldn’t you?
“Minutes from the Sept. 1 meeting have not been completed and I am now out of town until Sept. 21. I will forward minutes from both meetings when I return to the office.”
No mention of minutes from the May meeting?
Anyway, I don’t expect too much in the way of cooperation.
Egger is busy putting out an inferior newspaper. The Partnership is busy doing what it always does – taking care of those with power. The Cleveland and Gund foundations are busy doing that they typically do – funding what those in power want funded.
This is a disgrace. Opportunity Corridor, indeed. When people who need transportation are being hit with increased fares and lesser service by the Regional Transit Authority, our leaders are busy wrangling $375 million (so far) for a road we don’t need, for the convenience of people who can afford to travel Cleveland’s streets.
This is simply a very expensive bypass of ghetto residents for those who don’t want to see the seamy side of Cleveland. Let them take Woodland, Carnegie, Cedar, and Chester to University Circle. These are roads, already built, already convenient, and already paved.
You don’t hear much from the black political leadership. I remember when this issue came up years ago, Frank Jackson, then Council President, was a bit hesitant, as I remember. After all, the proposed road went through his ward.
Hardly a stir can one hear from Jackson or any other African-American politician.
Let’s stop building ghetto by-passes and calling them an OPPORTUNITY.
RTA Getting Out of the Transit Business… Really
Posted by Roldo Bartimole in Economic Development, Media on August 19, 2009
August 19, 2009… The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) is planning to drop “Transit” from its name. You can tell that because it keeps eliminating transportation for people. In fact, it can change its name to the Greater Cleveland Downtown Pleasing Authority.
At least that’s the way it seems to me as Joe Calabrese, general manager, becomes a leading excuse maker and weaker executive than we now need.
How hard is it to NOT provide transportation if you’re a transit operation? Apparently, not hard at all.
RTA will cut all circulators in a few weeks and will cut back on services on 16 bus routes.
AND will raise the price of a ride by 25 cents.
That’s a solution to dropping ridership? That’s a recipe for fewer and fewer riders.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. RTA management didn’t say NO to the downtown gang when it needed some $200 million to beautify Euclid Avenue from Public Square to University Circle. I’d like to know how much money RTA is now losing on that operation.
RTA management didn’t say NO when it paid some $69 million for the useless Waterfront Line. Totally from local RTA funds. The downtown cabal forced it to forgo federal funds for the line because it wanted the line pronto for the city’s Bicentennial and the opening of the Rock Hall.
When it comes to the ordinary riders Calabrese and his RTA board finds it easy to say, “No, we can’t do it.” When it comes to the downtown crowd, “ain’t nothing we can’t do.”
When I asked for figures on ridership on the Waterfront Line, RTA couldn’t come up with figures. Don’t keep those figures, I was told. But you noticed The Plain Dealer used detailed figures on the circulators and the supposed decline. (Does the decline come as a result of RTA’s performance and desire to curtail this service? And don’t tell me that the figures are true actual counts either because I don’t believe you.)
The Waterfront Line should be stopped and put out of business before the circulators are, if cost is a problem.
RTA management didn’t say NO to the $13 million or so walkway to Gateway from Sam Miller’s Tower City. If Gateway felt it needed that help, it should have paid for it and it should pay for the use of that property and its maintenance costs now.
I don’t want to hear that sales tax revenue is down. Should have thought of that a long time ago.
Unload some of the heavy executive staff. Cut that downtown free downtown trolley service. That should go first.
It’s time that RTA took its job seriously and started fighting for more money, too.
If we can think about spending $350 million on a so-called Opportunity Corridor, pushed by the downtown Greater Cleveland Partnership, along with PD publisher Terry Egger, its co-chairman, we can think about getting some more money for transit dependent people. Those who don’t have cars to get to their jobs, to their medical appointments, even to get downtown.