To view more detailed information regarding the 2015 Budget, please click on the following link:
PRELIMINARY 2015 Budget
Thursday, February 18, 2016
2016 Final Draft Budget
To view more detailed information regarding the 2015 Budget, please click on the following link:
PRELIMINARY 2015 Budget
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Judge Scrutinizes Mayor
Below is a May 2015 email from Judge Gayle Williams Byers to NEOMG reporter Sara Dorn:
Ms. Dorn,
My letter is self-explanatory.
What I'll do is note the contradictions in what you've been told by the mayor and her police chief.
#1 – According to you, the police chief says heroin is second behind marijuana as far as “enforcement” problems. I refer you to the state's drug laws. Marijuana is classified as a minor misdemeanor for personal use and is a non-criminal offense. Heroin is a felony. Using the chief's words, once or if marijuana becomes legal this year, then heroin will be South Euclid's #1 drug problem. That makes it an unaddressed problem today.
#2 – The chief contradicted Mayor Welo's assertion that South Euclid's municipal court didn't hear felony cases. Thanks for validating that she was wrong. I already knew.
#3 – The chief is blaming the decrease in narcotics enforcement on “normal influx.” What is “normal influx?” I won't attempt to interpret how you or he used those two words together. Here's what's on the record. Voters were asked by the mayor and police chief to support a “staffing levy” to address shortages in manpower. Voters supported a “staffing levy.” You have the mayor's email to me indicating her agreement that the safety levy was for “staffing,” not pension funds and sick leave payouts.
I haven't and won't examine 2013 staffing and compare those figures to 2014-2015 staffing, which is something I encourage you to do. But I've been informed by South Euclid police officers that staffing is still a problem and the reason for the lack of enforcement. I'm not going to quibble with the mayor, police chief or you over this issue. I'm not revealing the names of officers who shared this information with me in confidence. That information is not a public record.
I'm going to reassert that even according to the police chief, heroin is the city's #1 “felony” drug problem. Nearly-legal marijuana would be the city's #1 “misdemeanor” drug problem. And let's be real. It is absolutely ridiculous to compare the effect of nearly-legal marijuana on a person or a community in contrast to felony heroin addiction and trafficking.
#4 – What you've confirmed is the mayor's “bait and switch” methodology for how she's spent special levy money South Euclid voters approved for “staffing.” I didn't write that the mayor placed the money in the“pension line.” I repeated the mayor's assertion that she placed the money in the “pension line.” When she forwarded me a copy of the actual line item, I noted, as you should, that “sick leave payouts” were also being paid from the special levy voters approved for “staffing.” You have the mayor's email where she repeats that the money was intended for “staffing.”
You, not me, is making the claim that Welo “freed up about $1 million in the general fund (cost of pensions and about equal to what the levy brings in) that wasn't reinvested in the police and fire departments. That's because the general fund paid for the pensions before the safety levy.”
The general fund typically covers all the employees' expenses. That's no mystery.
What you're claiming is that instead of keeping the $1 million in the general fund that covered pensions and sick leave pay outs, and adding the $1 million per year voters approved for staffing; Welo deducted $1 million from the general fund for pensions and sick leave payouts, and left staffing relatively the same. She then used the $1 million she got from the special levy to pay pensions and sick leave payouts, which had once been general fund expenses.
I'll reiterate the words you used two paragraphs above this one. You specifically said the $1 million Welo is getting from the special levy “...wasn't reinvested in the police and fire departments.” You've confirmed, once again, that the mayor has maintained “status quo” staffing and did not use the levy money as it was sold by her administration and supported by the voters.
So your question to the mayor, not me, should be for her to identify how the staffing levy voters approved increased police and fire staffing. And if you've already confirmed that the mayor did not reinvest the $1 million in annual special levy money back into the police and fire departments, then I must assume you have some very critical questions to ask why she was not truthful to the city's voters when she asked them for money.
I, as a South Euclid voter, did not support a levy to maintain status quo police staffing. What you've confirmed is that in 2014 the $1 million a year “staffing” levy “... was used to pay for pensions, sick leave and medicare only. Medical insurance, workers comp and wages were added this year.” The italicized boldfaced and underlined words are yours.
Staffing is one word with its own definition. There are expenses for “benefits” that are relative to staffing. Mayor Welo did not sell a staffing levy to this city's voters based on her desire to strip $1 million from the general fund over three years to cover pension and sick leave pay-outs and subsequently maintain status quo staffing.
So what does she have in store for South Euclid residents once the three year “staffing” levy expires? Without the extra $1 million a year it seems logical that there will be at least $1 million in cuts or another “staffing” special levy request.
Hope these answers are helpful. By the way. There are two heroin addicts in jail now on theft charges.
Respectfully,
Judge GWB
Please click on the following links to view Safety Levy information:
Friday, March 27, 2015
Conflicted Interests
Video below: A taxpayer voices his concerns about some decisions made by Councilperson At-Large Dennis Fiorelli.
Plus, SEOversight ''''FLASHBACK>>> to January 12, 2015, when Mr. Fiorelli justifies his vote to retain the current Law Director.
- time: 8 min. 07 sec.
To view images below, RIGHT click on image, then LEFT click on "OPEN LINK."
Saturday, February 7, 2015
PRELIMINARY 2015 Budget
"...Officials who point their finger like a compass points North towards other bloated public salaries in justifying getting theirs, is starting to wear thin. Higher taxes and higher public salaries is not the answer most of us want to hear." - J.L.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Logic Defied: Lograsso Reconfirmed
- time: 16 min. 19 sec.
- time: 47 min. 04 sec.
Please click on the following links to view previous related posts:
Connect The Dots - Reveal The Lies
SLAPP
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Connect The Dots – Reveal The Lies
To view documents below full size, RIGHT click on document, then LEFT click on “OPEN LINK.”
UPDATE BELOW: WELO'S BLESSING
From the article above: "South Euclid Mayor Georgine Welo's son hired by law firm that works for city" - November 25, 2014
- ...the Mayor said Mansour Gavin will not work on any new business "to avoid any perceived appearance of impropriety or legal conflicts. It is the right thing to do to protect the integrity of the City and the residents we serve."
12-10-14 South Euclid councilwoman Ruth Gray accuses colleagues, law director of breaking executive sessio...
From the above article, "South Euclid Law Director Michael Lograsso owes thousands in delinquent federal income taxes" - December 17, 2014
- …Before he was hired as
law director in 2004, Lograsso was the
Video below: February 22, 2012 - City of South Euclid Budget Hearings.
Michael P. Lograsso, South Euclid Law Director:
- “…Contract negotiations, once again we have collective bargaining agreements being negotiated this year. It was the decision of the Mayor and the Finance Director and everyone on the Chiefs to engage some outside counsel, which we brought in Mansour Gavin to assist us because we anticipated some hard negotiations which is coming true…”
- “…Prior to last year we
used to pay Jon Bauman out of the outside legal expenses as well…Jon Bauman is
a consultant that we retained on a retainer basis to help us with economic
development issues, mostly Cedar Center.
He was actually an employee of the original developer Caitlin Properties
back in ’04 and ’05 when they were going to do
- time: 8 min. 18 sec.
Video below: February 27, 2012 - SEOversight asks questions about legal spending.
Dave Furry, South Euclid Oversight:
- “…In that budget hearing the
Law Director said that the city hired out Mansour Gavin to negotiate with the
police and fire unions and the service department untion. And that also he stated that in the
- “…I’m wondering if he
doesn’t negotiate with the unions and he doesn’t negotiate for
- time: 2 min. 59 sec.
Video below:
Ed Icove, Councilman Ward 3:
“There’s not a scintilla
of evidence that I should be censured for doing anything. I’m going to read to you the Ohio Public
Meeting exception. This section shall be
liberally construed to require public officials to take official action and
conduct all deliberations on official business only in public meetings unless
the subject matter is specifically exempted…”
“…Miles is a great
guy. As a matter of fact before he
worked for Mr. Coyne, he worked for me.
And then he went from my law firm he went to Mr. Coyne’s law firm over a
year and a half ago…”
“…The fact that Miles Welo worked for a company that does business with the city means that’s a matter of
public interest. Therefore that
discussion should be a public discussion.
It should have been disclosed a year and a half ago publicly if it was
going to be disclosed. Mr. Coyne disclosed
it 3 days before the executive session by letter to the Law Director and that
letter was a public record. I asked for
it, I got it. Ok? Anybody who wants it can have it. As a matter of fact we all got one. Therefore, this was not a matter that should
have been discussed in executive session…”
“…The fact that the Mayor’s
son works for a law firm that’s done hundreds of thousands of dollars with our
city - not a couple thousand – hundreds of
thousands. As a matter of fact he’s here
tonight so we can go into executive session and talk about collective
bargaining…”
“…I read the article
afterwards. I never talked to Sara Dorn
but I read the article afterwards. The
Mayor speaking through the law director said she was going to make the matter public…”
“…The Mayor knows it’s a
matter of public interest and she was going to disclose it because it was the
right thing to do. Unfortunately, she
should have disclosed it a year and a half ago if she wanted to publicly
disclose it. But she decided to disclose
it at that particular time. This is a
big mistake. And you all can do what you
want to do as far as this is concerned.
We can do as far as litigation is concerned. I want to tell you, in my tenure on Council I’ve
never seen anything like this before.
Especially this last minute superficial way of bringing it out. So that we can’t discuss this issue
publicly. And so that the public doesn’t
have input into this. And that’s the
reason legislation is not supposed to just be introduced on the floor of
Council. I don’t know if it’s even legal
to do this. At this particular
juncture. But it wasn’t amended before
hand. You know, it was amended on the
floor of Council so that people could be admonished without any evidence. And not only without any evidence, about
matters that clearly are public interest.
There’s no doubt about it. There’s
not a court in this land who won’t say that that’s a matter of public
interest. As a matter of fact, Mr. Coyne
himself admitted that in the letter that he wrote, he said, this is a matter of
public interest. And you guys
politically might want to discuss it.
And you might politically might want to not use our firm anymore – because
his working for us – which is the right thing to do. He shouldn’t be working for us. He shouldn’t be working for us now with
collective bargaining…”
“…I’d like to have Sara
Dorn here. And have her tell you, David,
that despite your innuendos and your inferences and your emotionalism and your
drama about this…”
Council President David Miller interrupts:
“…Don’t be pointing your
finger at me. Don’t you point your
finger at me. “
Ed Icove:
“…I’m gonna point my
finger at you…”
David Miller:
“Don’t you point your
finger at me.”
Ed Icove:
“…You have not a scintilla
of evidence David, and when you talk to Sara Dorn you’re gonna find out what
evidence there was and what evidence there wasn’t, and you’re gonna be very
very ashamed.”
David Miller:
“…Because someone
disagreed with what was discussed and the attorney that we had said it was
appropriate, that was enough for me. So
you can say someone’s being emotional, I didn’t stand up. You can talk about being back-doored. We can do a whole encyclopedia on that…”
- time: 12 min. 31 sec.
Note: At the end of
the regular council meeting, the meeting was adjourned and council members were
to assemble for executive session.
Credible eyewitness accounts report that Council President David Miller
quickly left the building without attending the executive session and drove
away. It is unknown who adjourned the
meeting after executive session since the Council President had left.
Please click on the following links for previous related SEOversight posts:
Thursday, December 11, 2014
SLAPP
To view documents below full size, RIGHT click on document, then LEFT click on “OPEN LINK.”
- time: 7 min. 54 sec.
Please click on Pattern Of Abuse to see entire original post.
- time: 6 min. 14 sec.
Please click on SEO Update: Pattern Of Abuse to see entire original post.
To view documents below full size, RIGHT click on document, then LEFT click on “OPEN LINK.”
JOURNAL ENTRY 6-12-2013
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Power Struggle
To view documents below full size, RIGHT click on document, then LEFT click on “OPEN LINK.”
Please click on the following link
to read a letter to the editor entitled,
Below are 3 links which will display
the legislation referred to at
the above link.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Pools: From Saving To Paving
To view documents below full size, RIGHT click on document, then LEFT click on “OPEN LINK.”
Do not miss the previous SEOversight post regarding the swimming pools at the link below:
SWIMMING POOLS ON LAST LEG
Please click on the following link to read a letter to the editor entitled, "Should cities lower their salaries or close swimming pools?"
Sunday, August 10, 2014
S.E.P.D. Calls Out City Leaders
To view document below full size, RIGHT click on document,
then LEFT click on “OPEN LINK.”
Please click on the following link to view READER COMMENTS posted to the online version of the above article.
Video below: February 19, 2014 - Budget Hearings - Mayor Welo and the finance director engage in an interesting conversation regarding "debt issuance cost" of Cedar Center and the Greenvale 9. Mayor Welo then stumbles through an amazingly poor response to Ruth Gray's question about safety force staffing levels. Welo: "We're maintaining those same numbers." Welo also commits to a formal presentation to inform council and the public of her administration's new innovative way to provide the same level of service with less staffing, despite what was previously sold to the public in order to obtain their vote to pass the safety levy.
- time: 11 min. 55 sec.
To view further information regarding the Safety Levy, please click on the following links:
One Lie After Another
Safety Levy Index
Friday, February 14, 2014
A Decade Of Excess
Please click on the following link to view W2 wages for all City of South Euclid employees for the years 2003 - 2012. Despite repeated claims by Mayor Georgine Welo that she is "cutting into the bone" regarding municipal finances, this compilation of W2 wages for all city employees during her administration proves the mayor's statements are untrue. The year 2003 was included as the last year of the previous Mayor's administration prior to Georgine Welo becoming Mayor. The names of individual employees have been removed. Individual wages are listed by department.
W2 WAGES FOR SOUTH EUCLID EMPLOYEES 2003-2012
Below please find a total employee W2 wage chart.
To view document below full size, RIGHT click on document, then LEFT click on "OPEN LINK."
Please also refer to the previous related SEO posts:
Administrative Salaries Must Be Cut
2013 Budget Hearings
2013 Budget
United For A Better South Euclid
Don't miss the following video pertaining to the hefty raises and administrative positions created during the Welo administration. This video is a SEO classic.
- time: 7 min. 11 sec.
Please click on the link provided to view a copy of the preliminary 2014 Budget at the City of South Euclid website.
2014 Budget Hearings will be held Tuesday, February 18 and Wednesday, February 19 at 5:00 p.m. in the Mayor's conference room. Please click HERE for a link providing the notice and schedule provided at the city website.
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