Are Blight Rulings Justified?

This letter to the Editor appeared in the Plain Dealer on May 24, 2007

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Was This the Correct Choice?

Vince Fuedo is an attorney at the law firm Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper, LLC. City of South Euclid financial disclosure indicates $146,631.63 taxpayer dollars were spent at this law firm for the combined years of 2004, 2005 and 2006. The Sun Messenger article below appeared December 25, 2003. Please also reference previous posting at this site, "South Euclid Legal Fees", dated March 13, 2007. Why did Vince Fuedo get fired as Law Director, and then is frequently utilized at a much higher rate to do the job he was fired from in the first place? Please click on image to view full size.

Is Retail The Answer?

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The aerial photo above is Cedar Road between Warrensville Center Road and Richmond Road.

Does the "Hillcrest" area have sufficient retail stores?

Starting at the intersection of Cedar and Richmond Roads there is Beachwood Place/La Place shopping malls. Across the street in Lyndhurst is Legacy Village.

At Cedar and Green is a shopping area including a Heinen's grocery store. Cedar and Warrensville is Whole Foods, Target, JoAnn Fabrics and a variety of other stores. At Cedar Center on the South Euclid side is the shopping plaza which is soon to be torn down to make way for new development.

Other retail in the nearby area include:

• Severance Center in Cleveland Heights including Home Depot and Walmart
• Richmond Town Center in Richmond Heights and the shopping plaza across the street on Wilson Mills Road
• Mayfield Heights is chock full of retail up and down Mayfield Road, including: Costco, Walmart, and the entire Golden Gate shopping area.
• Also in Highland Heights at Wilson Mills and 271 is Home Depot, Kohl's and Dick's Sporting Goods.
• South Euclid also has stores at Mayfield and Green. Chain drugstores are generously dotted throughout the area.

All of this retail has not had an effect on the exodus from this area.

Too Much Retail Space?

The Plain Dealer: May 19, 2007- The article quotes James Kastelik a Cleveland State University professor:

• "There's not enough people and not enough income. A lot of communities think that retail is going to fuel growth, but it really doesn't."

Click on the link below to view the entire Plain Dealer article:

• http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business-2/117956505441380.xml&coll=2

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Behind Closed Doors

The discussions regarding the sale of the Cedar Center property took place in "executive session". Why not allow the public access to these discussions? Are there any audio recordings or written transcripts of executive sessions?

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Point-of-Sale Inspections Without A Vote?

The 2007 Budget as released by the City of South Euclid indicates appropriations for the Building Department for: "Inspector - Point of sale- 6 months" to be paid the hourly wage of $17.00. The individual who will fill this position is shown as having hospitalization coverage for a "family" as opposed to "single" coverage, so perhaps there may even be a candidate on deck. "Building Department Capital Expenditures 2007" reflects, "Car for Point of Sale Inspector" to be purchased at a cost of $14,000. Does this mean that the matter of Point-of-Sale inspections is moving ahead without voter approval? If so, why does the city feel the citizens are not fit to weigh in and decide such an important matter?

Controversial Topics Temporarily Disappear....

Recently, there has been no open discussion by city officials regarding the proposed joint-community "Recreation Center" or the subject of "Point-of-Sale" inspections. Both of these topics were hotly contested by taxpayers, residents and voters. Ah, yes....the voters. Is it possible that due to the controversial nature of these issues, there is an intentional avoidance of these subjects because of the impending election? If the voters don't remove the current administration from office, look for these matters to magically return to the docket once the November election returns are in.

Conflict Of Interest?

At the time the Cutter's Creek development at Anderson and Green Roads along the bank of the Euclid Creek was approved by the City of South Euclid, Mayor Georgine Welo was the Chairman of the Euclid Creek Watershed Council.

Was this a conflict of interest?

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Plain Dealer on May 2, 2007:

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Solon Voters Reject Initiative

On May 8, 2007 the voters of Solon, Ohio sent a strong message to a local developer. The following amendment was overwhelmingly defeated at the polls, as reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Charter amendment proposed by initiative petition to rezone 32 acres at 28500 Aurora Road from residential zoning that requires one-acre minimum lots to a senior citizen zoning that would allow 10 units per acre." -- Voter results = "YES" 691 / "NO" 2,452-------- October 4, 2006: The Plain Dealer reported that the Cedar Center developer pulled out of the project citing various reasons, including that the city and the developer "disagreed over changes in the company's plans." The developer "said he wanted to reduce almost every portion of the project..." The article continues, "Mayor Georgine Welo, who prefers higher density, wants the property, at Cedar and Warrensville Center roads, to become a lively hub for her aging inner-ring suburb."--At least the people of Solon had the opportunity to choose.