COMMISSIONERS GO PRIVATE AGAIN

Submitted by Roldo on Tue, 09/16/2008 - 16:17.

You have to wonder why the County Commissioners have any staff, never mind a former stripper on the payroll.

Having privatized the construction and management of the proposed Medical Mart and Convention Center, the Plain Dealer reports that it will hand MMPI (Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc.) the task of also dealing with Forest City Enterprises on the proposed site for the center.

Is there anything that Commissioners - Tim “Tax ‘em” Hagan, Jimmy Dimora and Peter Lawson Jones – can do with the staff we pay to operate the county? Apparently not.

MMPI will be paid $103 million to operate the Convention Center, if it is ever built.

Now the County Commissioners have hired them to deal with Sam Miller and the Ratner gang. The Miller-Ratners want $40 million for the land that some refer to as “a cliff.”

The PD story doesn’t say whether MMPI will be paid to do this dealing but I suspect MMPI isn’t so generous as to work free. Also, the PD quotes former state senator and former member of the dismantled Convention Center Authority Pat Sweeney to tell us that the Commissioners made a good choice.

“They are in the business of doing this all the time,” Sweeney told the PD of MMPI.

If you have to go to Pat Sweeney to get certification of MMPI’s qualifications, you might want to check with someone who knows something.

That might be too difficult for our Commissioners, however.

The Greater Cleveland Partnership decided for the County that the Ratner land would be just the thing for the County to build its $1-billion convention center. Cliff or no cliff.

You’ll remember that the County Commissioners do have some skills.

They voted (Hagan and Dimora) 2-1 to increase the sales tax for 20 years (that’s so far) to raise $40 million a year or $800 million over the 20-year period. Actually, they already know that the tax is bringing in $90 million more than expected.

The Commissioners seem adept at two things – raising your taxes and giving business to private interests.

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dismantling the government

Submitted by TimFerris on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 06:44.

I've always been a proponent of dismantling governments grown too large, of privatization, of contracts with and accountability to the public.

 

I'm not particularly fond of the methods these guys are using, though, in that they smack of gangsterism, unfairness, and the monopolization of the assets among "our friends." Taking pages from the playbook of "our thing" or Cosa Nostra arrangements, these guys are not merely dismantling government and placing it with their friends, but they are putting the public on the hook to support their friends for generations to come.

 

Perhaps we ought to state how much this costs all of us for the next seven generations, as the greens do.

Privatization and

Submitted by Roldo on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 12:07.

Privatization and deregulation have been the curses of
our time.

a friend commented

Submitted by Susan Miller on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 14:13.

that as we sit idly by biting our nails and hoping the soldiers will return from Iraq, that we won't be thrown into WWIII or into a not so cold, cold war with Russia, while we watch Sarah Palin strut with her "polished pit bull in lipstick" schick, (she's the neocon's latest trapeze artist in this three ring circus) the Bush administration is providing golden parachutes for the directors of financial institutions that are not exactly bleeding.

I didn't see the headline that said financial bosses at Lehman and Merrill Lynch are looking for HUD houses in Cleveland now since they (under deregulation) bankrupted their families, did you? Will Thomas Cruikshank be moving into Slavic Village? How about Richard Fuld who last year received a 22 million dollar bonus?

Is this a conspiracy?

And oil pricing (or should I say price fixing?)... How does it work in the capitalist model that one vertically integrated company searches for, drills, refines, transports AND retails the oil?
How can oil companies be making record profits when there is an "oil shortage" that is driving up prices? Shouldn't they be hurting a bit, too? Somebody's making money and it doesn't seem to be the US worker (that is those who have jobs).

Like the magician who has us distracted while he pulls a rabbit out of his hat, we're mesmerized by the threats and they're coming from every direction. Gas prices too high? Blame foreigners. Housing market collapsed? Blame people who bought homes without resources. Yeah! That's the ticket! Oh yeah... and keep it up, keep 'em terrified while we rake in the cash and parachute to "federal protection" or move to Dubai. Keep 'em wishing for a home makeover or a chance to be America's next top model.

In this morning's news I read that Dick Jacobs bought a big parcel of land to prepare for his "Vista" project in Avon. Hey! That's swell. Maybe we can give him our last thin dime to build another interchage out there in some deer's backyard. I mean... we need more shopping centers right? Hey, at least somebody in Avon is speaking up.

Roldo, I'm with you. I want my filmmaker subsidy, my golden parachute, abate my taxes - will ya?

another building project for Jacobs?

Submitted by Susan Miller on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 14:29.

Eaton likely leaving Cleveland for Beachwood

"As a result of our study, a location within the Chagrin Highlands development has emerged as the leading location. It is located off I-271 in Beachwood. We are working with the potential developer, The Richard E. Jacobs Group, to determine if we can reach a mutually advantageous agreement. It is important to emphasize that any potential move would likely not occur before mid-year 2011." - Sandy Cutler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

GREED

Submitted by lmcshane on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 15:01.

  Looks like Jacobs got the taxpayers to build his interchange on our dime, afterall. 

Anyone remember Mike White vs. Dick Jacobs, the Chagrin Highlands match?

Reference to above comments

Submitted by Roldo on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 19:56.

Reference to above comments - See:

http://www.lakewoodbuzz.com/RoldoBartimole/RB-071906-DickJacobs-ChagrinH...

Miller vs. Jacobs?

Submitted by lmcshane on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 20:10.

So, let's just let the octogenarians (?) duke it out in public.  Who'd pony up for that fight?