No Backup Plan

SEOversight ```FLASHBACK```

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Please also see, Dissatisfied Customers.

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Please also see the SEO UPDATE to this post, Snow Job.

Toxic Tango

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Presented below is a word-for-word transcription of the audio clip from above.  South Euclid Council President, Dr. David B. Miller made this statement in reference to the pending Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proposal with Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District: 

“…let’s also understand that Cedar Center is moving forward and we are waiting for Cleveland Heights and University Heights School District to do what they’re supposed to do.  So with folks are saying we’re not moving, there is two in this dance, there's two in this tango, and this group has had its shoes on and have been waiting a long time for the other group. So please sometimes, make sure that the right information and the right venom; and the venom is directed at the right group."

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South Euclid Mayor Georgine Welo, her administration and various versions of the 7 city council people made some catastrophic financial blunders. To conceal the blowback of those bad decisions, the aforementioned, with the assistance of the local newspapers have intentionally disseminated information construed to be misleading.  It is unknown whether that combination is a result of the dictation-taking style of journalism often practiced around town, or just some good old fashioned collusion.  Regardless, there are some obvious cracks appearing in the city's armor. 

City officials and the Coral Company presumptuously devised the original Cedar Center development agreement without prior approval from the CHUH School District.  The key financial component of that agreement was the TIF proposal which city officials appear to consider themselves entitled.  The game quietly changed from the property being “sold to a developer” to a “public-private development.”  There’s been an assortment of county funds obtained by one means or another to help subsidize Cedar Center.

Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars are irreversibly engaged, while city officials refuse to divulge details and exactly how much has been spent thus far.

Now, in the event of failure at Cedar Center, South Euclid Council President David Miller points the finger of blame at the CHUH School District should they not agree to subsidize the project. 

Currently, South Euclid City government is nothing more and nothing less than a patronage machine that exists for the purpose of keeping the machine alive. 

Thank you for reading South Euclid Oversight.

Emilie DiFranco and Dave Furry

Please also reference a previous post, A Few Ideas.

For further information regarding South Euclid's proposal to the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District, please see, A Desperate Chase.

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Here is a link to the above article written by Bob Rosenbaum at the Heights Observer site which includes their reader's comments.

Please also see the Plain Dealer article, "Board of Revision problems..."

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Below: Please compare the Sun Messenger’s version of Council President Miller’s remarks, and his actual statement regarding the forthcoming decision by the CHUH School District on the TIF proposal.  Quite different indeed.

Councilperson Jane Goodman made the following statement during a committee meeting on Monday, April 19, 2010. That was the first and only time publicly, that a city official has taken some responsibility for the colossal mistakes that have occurred:

“We screwed ourselves, pardon my French, but it’s time for plain speaking—with some expenditures—some loans that—some things that we did that put us in iffy financial positions…And I know that our citizens want to see us spend less if we’re going to ask them to contribute more.”


To view video of the previous statement, please see the related SEO post, Bottomless Pit And Deep Pockets.

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Please also review the following SEO posts:

Failure To Communicate

A Very Costly Shell Game
One Or The Other

Ride It Out

"You Don't Have To Worry About It"...?!

Goodman Speaks Out

Welo Takes The Low Road

Pure Rubbish

Salaries Skyrocket Under Welo

Friends In High Places

A Desperate Chase

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As of February 10, 2011, per Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District officials;

"No formal written proposal has been made to the CHUH School District by the City of South Euclid, although legal counsel for both sides have been having conversations...."

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The City of South Euclid submitted an application (shown below) to the Cuyahoga County Department of Development seeking $800,000 from the Commercial Redevelopment Fund for Cedar Center.

It is unclear what exact date this application was submitted to Cuyahoga County. It was sometime between March 2007 when the property was purchased by the City of South Euclid and December 2008.

Several items of interest:

Question: What are the property taxes on this property for the current year?

Answer: $460,526.22

Question: What is the projected property tax on the site after cleanup?

Answer: $1,210,526.00

South Euclid Oversight Question: Was this 30 year projection of increased tax revenue plausible even at the time this application was submitted? 

Financing

Question #26: Are there any commitments from the municipality or other local resources to contribute to redevelopment costs?

Answer: Yes.

Question: If yes, what are they?

                Source of Commitment / Dollar Amount

Answer: Tax Increment Financing / $13 million (min)

South Euclid Oversight Question: How is it acceptable that the City of South Euclid stated on the application that they had a $13 million “commitment” for the TIF arrangement, when in fact years later they still have not received a commitment from the CHUH School District?  What happens if the CHUH District denies the request?  South Euclid recieved the $800,000 from Cuyahoga County for Cedar Center.  City officials engaged in a series of conflicting answers regarding the loan or grant status of the money.  It has never been revealed how much of that money was received as a loan rather than a grant and must be repaid by the taxpayers. 

Commercial Redevelopment Fund Application

 

Provided below are links to access further information about the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proposal between the City of South Euclid and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District:

• Toxic Tango - February 2011
• Failure To Communicate - December 2008
• Making It Us As They Go Along - April 2009
• Irreconcilable Details - August 2008

Unequal Time

Here is a link to a WCPN 90.3 FM broadcast from their show, The Sound of Ideas.  It was posted to their website on January 13^th.

The topic of discussion is Oakwood Country Club. 

 The guests are:

• Fran Mentch, president, Severance Neighborhood Organization
• Robin Dubin, Professor of Economics, CWRU Weatherhead School of Management
• Mitch Schneider, President and Chairman, First Interstate Properties, Ltd.
  Please note the listener comments which appear at the bottom of their page below the broadcast.

Please also see previous posts regarding the Oakwood Country Club property:

Oakwood Country Club For Sale

Uneven Playing Field

Lapsed Contract Kept Under Wraps

When did the most recent amended contract between Coral Company and the City of South Euclid expire? The document is dated July, 2009. If there has been no signed agreement with Coral Company, it seems city officials have done a good job of keeping that quiet. On February 3rd, a conversation between SEO and South Euclid Law Director Michael Lograsso revealed that the signed contract had expired.  Mr. Lograsso stated there is a “verbal agreement” between Coral and the City. Of course the contract was available on the city website. But aren’t elected officials supposed to keep people informed of what is taking place on their behalf? 


Mayor Georgine Welo and her administration, aided and abetted by the seven city council representatives at the time, Ed Icove, Moe Romeo, Sunny Simon, Ruth Gray, Diane Fistek, Dr. David B. Miller and Jane Goodman; they all made the decision in March 2007 to gamble $17 million of taxpayer money, and they lost. With interest, that amount is to date in excess of $20 million - and that amount only includes the actual price of the land. There’s been a continuous tangled web of stories emerging from city hall over the years regarding other funds acquired from county loans and supposed “grants” for the Cedar Center project. The astronomical amount of money spent on legal fees and consulting firms is yet to be revealed. Who knows how much the public tab really is?

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Please click on the link to access the now expired contract between the City of South Euclid and the Coral Company:

AMENDED AND RESTATED PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT AND CONTRACT FOR SALE OF LAND - July, 2009

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Article dated July 29, 2009

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Please see previous related SEO post:

 "What's The Public Tab?"

 

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Incomplete Picture

South Euclid Law Director's Report:  Gordon Foods Service will deposit $2.3 million into an escrow account on January 25th, 2011 for the purchase of property at Cedar Center.

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Agreement of Purchase and Sale - Gordon Foods Service

 

                                                                               

 Most Current Site Plans for Cedar Center

 

Please see previous related post: 

• Counting Her Chickens Before They're Hatched