Where Does The Buck Stop?

Mayor Georgine Welo has refused to make time to answer questions from South Euclid Oversight.

During these times, the residents of South Euclid need to be presented with more information, not less on how business is being conducted and money is spent.

One such avenue requiring a transparent scrubbing of public documents is the generous stipend lavished on outside legal firms.

While Mayor Welo heeds the advice of the sign on her desk to “Never Never Never Give Up,” she would do well to remember the sign adorning the desk of the 33rd President of the United States Harry S .Truman, “The Buck Stops Here.”

• Legal Spending: October 2007 - July 2008

• Legal Spending: Jan-Oct 2007

• More Legal Spending: Jan 2004 - Dec 2006

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Vanishing Integrity

The Sun Messenger version of the letter to the editor below seemed rather watered down compared to the monologue given to a room packed with publicly paid employees of City Hall. It seems odd that the local paper didn’t report on such a claim of discrimination. The Raise Revisited...And More

Somehow the suggestion of gender based discrimination vanished by the time it was presented to the general public in print version. See article below.

Who didn’t reveal all of the details?

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Not Reporting The Whole Story

The article below from the Sun Messenger is devoid of any details regarding the controversial once-proposed-then-reduced $15,000 pay increase for a Department Director.

Also, curiously absent are the specifics surrounding recent and significant various position enhancements at City Hall. Further investigation of the “2009 Salary Ordinance” is necessary to determine the extent of those changes. A public records request for that information is pending. Ohio law requires the Budget be passed by March 31, 2009.

Recent positional changes currently known are:

• position added for full time Housing Manager
• position added for part time Community Service
• administrative assistant to Community Center Director – from part to full time
• position added for full time assistant Service Director* interestingly, according to a Councilperson: this change is due to the Service Director’s extensive and increasing involvement at Cedar Center.

• time: 0 sec. 27 sec.

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Not All Taxpayers Are Created Equal

The post entitled The Raise Revisited...And More contains Councilman Miller’s pontification regarding several issues, including his disdain for “outsiders.” Apparently, that portion of his dogmatic monologue was directed toward South Euclid Oversight, despite homeownership and taxpayer status. That is perplexing due to the number of Administrative appointees who reside outside the city limits.

Although requested, a response to the letter below was never received.

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• Director of Community Services / Clerk of Council
• Place of Residence: Cleveland
• 2008 Salary: $65,00

• Economic Development Manager
• Place of Residence: Solon
• 2008 Salary: $69,659

• Fire Chief
• Place of Residence: Highland Heights
• 2008 Salary: $99,048

• Police Chief
• Place of Residence: Aurora (Portage County)
• 2008 Salary: $99,248

• Executive Secretary to Mayor and Law Department
• Place of Residence: Cleveland Heights
• 2008 Salary: $49,572

• City Engineer
• Place of Residence: Chardon (Geauga County)
• 2008 Earnings: unknown

• Law Director
• Place of Residence: Highland Heights
• 2008 Salary: *base pay = $54,416 (part time) + billable hours - please see below:

More Legal Spending: Jan 2004 - Dec 2006

Legal Spending: Jan-Oct 2007

Legal Spending: October 2007 - July 2008

The Raise Revisited...And More

Hang on to your hats folks. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier - it did. The following videos are of the South Euclid City Council Meeting held on March 9, 2009.

The first video is of Councilperson David Miller reading a statement which appears to be fueled by anger over a letter to the editor which was published in the Sun Messenger on March 5th. A link to that letter is included below along with the previous related posts on this subject. There are some blatant inaccuracies among his words. All of the city’s department heads are not men. Sally Martin is the head of the Housing Department and Georgine Welo serves as Safety Director as well as Mayor. More outrageous is that both he and Councilperson Ruth Gray (in the second video) insist that the reason for any objections to a proposed $15,000 pay increase is because the Director of the Community Center is a woman!

There were two “Budget Hearings”- the first was approximately a 4 hour session, the second was 1 hour. It is most important to note, at NO time during those meetings was there ANY mention of gender based discrimination during the discussions which included all 7 of the Councilpersons and the Finance Director. In fact, the only two Councilpersons who DID object to the amount of the proposed raise were Jane Goodman, who initially seemed aghast by the proposal, and Sunny Simon. Further, when the topic was brought up at the open session of Council on February 23rd by a female member of the public, nothing was said by either Miller or Gray on the subject.

Additionally, Ruth Gray incorrectly says that on February 23rd, Council President Moe Romeo took responsibility for the proposal of the raise. In reality, when questioned on who suggested the $15,000 increase, Mr. Romeo clearly indicated it was “the Administration.”

The need for such wanton theatrics over the matter is perplexing and pathetic, unless, City Hall feels South Euclid Oversight is truly having an impact on municipal issues.

Finally, if the elected officials of South Euclid feel justified in awarding such a salary increase to the Director of the Community Center, get on with it already and stop talking about it.

• time: 5 min. 03 sec.

• time: 4 min. 15 sec.

To view the previous related posts regarding this matter, please click on the following links:

• Hope You're Sitting Down For This One

• Standing By The Proposed Raise

• Modified Raise

• Taxpayers - Watch Your Back

Not Fulfilling Their Duties

According to Ohio Law:

"Duties Regarding Inspection and Requests for Copies"

"Once a member of the public has expressed an interest in inspecting or requesting copies, a public office has two basic duties under the public records law: to provide (1) prompt inspection of public records, and (2) copies within a reasonable period of time, if requested."

Below is a public records request sent via certified mail to the City of South Euclid on December 8, 2008. As of the date of this posting, the information has not been received. South Euclid Oversight will share this information as soon as it is obtained.

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Please click on the link below to view a previous post on SEO pertaining to PUBLIC RECORDS and your right to obtain them:

• Your Right To Know

Please click on the following links to view the original posts regarding the National League of Cities Conference held in Orlando, Florida, and attended by 4 members of South Euclid City Council in October 2008:

• Fun In The Sun

• Outrageous Opulent Spending

All Is Well For SOME In South Euclid

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Please see other related posts on South Euclid Oversight:

• Fiscal Fiesta?

• Limited Reality

• Mixed Messages

Taxpayers - Watch Your Back

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Please see previous posts regarding the proposed pay increase:

• Modified Raise

• Standing By The Proposed Raise

• Hope You're Sitting Down For This One

Short On Specifics

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Please also reference the previous post at SEO:

• Overdue Explanations Needed

Modified Raise

The once proposed pay raise of $15,000 for the Director of the Community Center has been reduced to $5,000.

Is it possible that public commentary by YOU, the readers and participants of South Euclid Oversight helped to shape the decision to alter this excessive pay increase?

• time: 1 min. 40 sec.