The image above was taken at a phony AmpOhio Cleveland City Council meeting.  Matt Zone - one of the main charaders in the Amp OHio 50 year coal contract, went up to whisper some strategy to Mr. Sweeney.  

Where these guys are on the public payroll, why are they whispering to each other? 

What's their secret?

Public business should have no secrets. 

 
... days and counting....

By PD standards --they have closed the case:

A Plain Dealer analysis of the leadership fund for 2008 did not find any patterns to the contributions suggesting $20,000 had been given on behalf of Forlani by intermediaries.

Everybody go home...and watch mind-numbing football in a stadium named for First Energy and powered by Cleveland Public Power...INSANE!  Don't ask yourself ...why the redistricting is overdue since July 2012:

http://realneo.us/system/files/RedistrictingProcessandTIMELINE.doc

(and BTW I am HOME today-not at work....)

AND -PD deleted my comment related to this mysterious allocation of monies through "Foreclosure Guru" Councilman Brancatelli in 2011:

Cimperman said he and two other members of Council, Phyllis Cleveland and Matt Zone, voted to eliminate funding for Flats Oxbow in November, instead of recommending the traditional allocation of federal Community Development Block Grant Funds. 

Newman said that nevertheless, the city provided $20,000 in funding, approved in part by Mayor Frank Jackson and Councilman Tony Brancatelli. He said that Flats Oxbow had no plans to dissolve and that it can survive without block grant funding.

 (HOW much money in leadership funds can be traced to "Land Bank" and "Opportunity Corridor" supporters??????)

http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2011/02/brainstorming_session_on_flats.html

REMEMBER Newman???

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/11/post_69.html

Ex-chief of Cleveland Flats Oxbow embezzled $583,000, feds say

 So Leila Atassi has been given free rein at Northeast Ohio Media Group to go after CLE Council ?  To what end?

Sam Allard covers the same nightmare racket in 2017:  https://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/kevin-kelleys-community-chest/Content?oid=13049277

Submitted by lmcshane on Sat, 02/23/2013 - 14:56.

My response to Councilman Cummins at Civic Commons:

http://theciviccommons.com/conversations/are-local-development-organizations-effective

NO-I returned to CLE in 1992 and began involvement with Tremont West as a volunteer and then hired briefly to help apply for grants.  At the time, Tremont was still reeling from arsons and disinvestment due to construction of inner belt, which cut the neighborhood off from most parts of the city. One of the causes at time was reopening Abbey Rd. bridge. CDCs at the time were still based on community organizing model and not on development of new housing.  And, funding was next to nothing.  Tremont West was to be merged into Southwest consolidation that would have included Clark-Fulton, Brooklyn Centre.  It didn't happen because your predecessor in Council -Emily Lipovan organized and worked her council support at time Paulenske.  Councilman Gus Frangos appointed Paulenske. He and his WRLC buddy had a Greektown a la Detroit scheme to develop the area around Annunciation parish. It's ironic that he doesn't include his stint as council in his bio or his time working at Board of Revision.  We have a funny way of revising history around here.  Frangos handed his council seat to Paulenske (who also worked BOR) and Paulenske handed off to Skrha who had family with Slavic Village ties who did not make it-he lost to Joe Cimperman in 1997:
 

PACs, or political action committees, account for nearly one-third of the money raised by a newly formed "Council Leadership Fund," which has collected $135,563 to retain a majority of council members who face re-election this year, according to documents filed yesterday with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. 

Political action committees representing area law firms, businesses and developers, many of which represent interests that do business with the city, contributed $42,800 to the fund. 



The fund is controlled by Council President Jay Westbrook. Mayor Michael R. White and businessman Sam Miller have pledged to help Westbrook raise $300,000. 

(the article continues)


In Ward 13, Gary Paulenske , who was appointed to his seat, has raised $10,385 since January. Gus Frangos , who appointed him to the seat, gave about 20% - $2,000 - of funds so far.Paulenske , who has spent all but about $600 of his money, also received $1,000 from Jacobs.  

So you see Brian - nothing changes except the names.  Frangos, Rokakis and their ilk found way to make CDCs work for them. And, their real estate games are killing this city. Foreclosure, flipping, demolitions and shoddy tax-abated new construction.  And, their little empire started with selling tax liens.

The law will let county boards of revision instead of the courts rule on foreclosure of abandoned property for back taxes. 

The Ohio House voted 86-1 Tuesday to concur with Senate changes in the bill, sending it to the governor for his signature. 

The change would be particularly helpful in Cuyahoga County, where the court system is flooded with foreclosures. The move would require approval from the county commissioners. 

A recent count showed that of 13,597 pending foreclosures, 2,053, or 15 percent, were filed by the county for back taxes. The other cases were filed by lenders against owners who were behind on their mortgages. 

Most of Cuyahoga County's abandoned tax-delinquent properties are in Cleveland and East Cleveland, said County Treasurer Jim Rokakis, whose aide, Gus Frangos , wrote the original bill. State Rep. Sally Conway Kilbane, a Rocky River Republican, sponsored the legislation. 

Frangos , a former Cleveland councilman, said a tax foreclosure may stretch out for more than a year in court, but the Board of Revision could wrap up cases in four or five months. 

The board 's main job is to hear appeals of property valuations. 

If no one challenges the foreclosure, the board could immediately transfer the property to a new owner, Rokakis said. 

Properties that fail to draw interest from private bidders may be turned over to city land banks or nonprofit neighborhood groups for redevelopment. 

More than 20 other states have similar procedures, Frangos said.

Posted Feb 14, 2013

Search "Council Leadership Fund" here:
 

http://www.boe.cuyahogacounty.us/en-US/campaign-finance-reports.aspx

No surprise that Triad Group in Rocky River (responsible for redistricting) funds the slush fund....

Expect Sweeney to resign so redistricting can absorb his ward, thereby insuring the current slate of council folks can get put back in office-Brian Cummins is again in the hot seat along with Tony "mug-for-the camera" Bracatelli--of course, Rybka may want to retire from Building and Housing and that would put Land Bank Tony in charge of demos, which, of course, is what everyone wants...

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/12/cleveland.html

The balance of power will be changing in council....unless we go along with the same old...

Support all challengers.  They have a right to run against this status quo and should be supported in their efforts to destroy this machine.

Engineered by Rokakis-Frangos BEFORE subprime mortgage scandal: 

Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH) - Wednesday, May 17, 2006 

Author: Thomas Ott, Plain Dealer Reporter 

A new state law will allow counties to more quickly seize many abandoned properties.  

The law will let county boards of revision instead of the courts rule on foreclosure of abandoned property for back taxes.  

 

The Ohio House voted 86-1 Tuesday to concur with Senate changes in the bill, sending it to the governor for his signature.  

 

The change would be particularly helpful in Cuyahoga County, where the court system is flooded with foreclosures. The move would require approval from the county commissioners.  

 

A recent count showed that of 13,597 pending foreclosures, 2,053, or 15 percent, were filed by the county for back taxes. The other cases were filed by lenders against owners who were behind on their mortgages.  

 

Most of Cuyahoga County's abandoned tax-delinquent properties are in Cleveland and East Cleveland, said County Treasurer Jim Rokakis, whose aide, Gus Frangos , wrote the original bill. State Rep. Sally Conway Kilbane, a Rocky River Republican, sponsored the legislation.  

 

Frangos , a former Cleveland councilman, said a tax foreclosure may stretch out for more than a year in court, but the Board of Revision could wrap up cases in four or five months.  

 

The board 's main job is to hear appeals of property valuations.  

 

If no one challenges the foreclosure, the board could immediately transfer the property to a new owner, Rokakis said.  

 

Properties that fail to draw interest from private bidders may be turned over to city land banks or nonprofit neighborhood groups for redevelopment.  

While Rokakis controlled Treasurer's Office

and Frangos controlled Board of

Revision!!!!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My comment to Eric J Brewer on FB -regarding Challenger article on Councilman Jeffrey Johnson :

Again - I would say please focus this article on the real criminal - puppet Frank Jackson and the underlying racial politics that the cops use to drive real estate market in NEO. Jeffrey D. Johnson

 knows a thing or two about the sick plan and has tried to speak out against the demo machine using federal monies controlled by City of Cleveland and City Land Bank hatched ages ago by Frangos starting in Tremont and growing from there with massive swindle of HUD monies via CDCs - Housing Court started by Jim Rokakis to control code enforcement duplicating city inspectors and massive job creation for friends and family. Rokakis-Frangos controlled Treasurer's office and Board of Revision. Plain Dealer doesn't want to evaluate that real give-away program - it uncovers too many "investors" who made out all prior to subprime.

Sadly, Brewer's attack on Jeffrey Johnson only plays into the machine politics of dividing voters so that the machine controlling federal monies keeps humming along...sad.  We all love to watch people fight...look away and don't see the real crime.

 

* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*

I hope Sweeney goes down in the tiide of #metoo #timesup fury. Today is the Women's March downtown. Yesterday, Chris Quinn spoke on Ideastream about the failed Amazon HQ bid. Cuyahoga County and City of Cleveland lost because we prop up the careers of people like Martin Sweeney. There is much dead weight at Cuyahoga County and City of Cleveland. Cleveland has potential to be an economic powerhouse, but not with the entrenched politics that protect people like Martin Sweeney. We are stuck with Jackson for four more years - but at Cuyahoga County we can and must get rid of Budish. Who is the most likely contender to run against Budish?

http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2018/01/martin_j_sweeney_dogged_by_200.html