No one can argue that Cleveland City Council needs better public grooming. Anything that can make the city’s legislative body look a bit better these days should top the legislative body’s Christmas list.

So that’s likely why PR-troubled Council President Marty Sweeney – who might be the most needy Council member – has hired political consultant and former Plain Dealer political editor Mary Anne Sharkey for some helpful advice.

I told Sharkey that she should use as her corporate name “Mission Impossible.” She laughed.

Over at Map the Mess, I've posted some thoughts on how the Keystone Hotel has emerged as a central feature to the Tower City bailout.

Read more.

I wanted to take a minute to revisit what Ed Hauser added to the Oct 2008 Midtown Brews conversation, NEO Next: Chapter One "The Changing Landscape of Public Advocacy: Citizen-Community Priorities and Web 2.0"

Here's a clip from our round-the-room introductions...

On March 1, 2007 Realneo carried this report about the RTA’s million dollar purchase of a wasted 7 story mill building at 6611 Euclid Avenue. The RTA purchased the building from Cleveland’s DeGeronimo family for a million dollars.

In the images of Frank Giglio's home, I saw a house that had been built with some of the tenets of the Arts and Crafts movement. Sadly, we have no appreciation for fine construction and buildings built to last. I google mapped Frank's house and realize now that Google has provided another way to capture the essence of an area: http://www.panoramio.com/

Much has been written about the long-standing battle "fought" by our "heroic" safety forces and the oppression they "endure," while their families "suffer" the indignity of having to actually "live" in the city that pays their wages.

"Cleveland of My Dreams' Postcard by Joe Stanley

Ed never missed an opportunity to advocate for what he believed.

Here we see Ed at a Meet the Bloggers on February 7, 2008. The Meet the Bloggers discussion, as I recall, was focused on the crazy 50 year City of Cleveland AmpOhio coal fired electricity contract.

But never mind, Ed was educating the crowd about the Whiskey Island Bulk Terminal plans.

There was a connection.

Has it been 30 years already?

Cleveland’s default, I was reminded by a call from WCPN, has an anniversary tomorrow - 30 years since the city was taken over the brink by Mayor Dennis Kucinich, Council President George Forbes, the Cleveland corporate community and the Plain Dealer.

A call from WCPN program host Rick Jackson sent me to check some old articles on the news of those days in Point of View, the newsletter I wrote to try and counter the propaganda of the Pee Dee and its corporate string-pullers. WCPN will have a report on the default Monday morning.

About the time some wacked-out over-empowered government wonks were demolishing Frank Giglio's Historic Landmark house, on his city-desecrated urban farm, all the "restorationists" in our Society were abuzz about the chance to rub elbows with Timothy "Art Is Back" Rub at the sell-out "36th installment of our Community Luncheon" Cleveland Restoration Society self-love-fest, held last week at Wyndham Cleveland, at Playhouse Square...

How do we make ourselves and our communities healthy? Gloria knows.

Steve Litt writes about transportation issues and Obama's infrastructure funding in NEO in today's PD:

Tonight (it's overcast in NEO so you can't see it) the moon is brighter and closer than it will be for another 8 years .

 And the moon has been up to other unusual activities as you can see in the photo above.  

The late Ed Hauser - who in death has become a symbol of responsible citizen action - reached out yesterday to seriously question the motives of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority’s operations via a letter based on a conversation he had the day before he died.

County Prosecutor Bill Mason yesterday dropped $50,000 into the lap of one of Cleveland’s premier political law firms – Climaco, Lefkowitz, Peca, Wilcox and Garofoli.

The firm also is a heavy political contributor via a political action committee (PAC). The Climaco firm PAC is typically prominent in political filings of campaign contributions.

When Squire-Sanders & Dempsey boss Fred Nance presented the report on the site selection committee for the medical mart and the convention center I thought the Greater Cleveland Partnership paid for the study.

Any reasonable person would.

The press conference (some four months ago) was held under the auspices of the Greater Cleveland Partnership and run by Nance.

LilaTovCocktail posts here bringing to our attention that not only the Plain Dirty Dealer, but other of our established news organizations - in this case NPR radio - are cutting back their reporting.

Mayor Frank Jackson in his latest “Cleveland – It’s Our Time” sends us a piece written about Pittsburgh that gives the lie to the Chamber of Commerce article on Cleveland’s rival city as presented by the Plain Dealer on its front page recently.

  Are there any citizens left in Cuyahoga County. I mean real CITIZENS.  If there are, please show some civic responsibility. Please raise your voices.

The Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District is encouraging residents of Cuyahoga County to participate in a survey to assess the level of awareness residents have regarding common household activities and their potential impact on the quality of our local water resources.

I do believe Mr. Dante skipped a step or two - nobody at the Central Block Club - the area in which his establishment is possibly going to reside - has heard  from anyone representing this business.  No proposals have been submitted.  Who's he stroking?  Where's he going to park his cars - everybody else has dibs on the spaces already?  Why did his fine dining joint not make in the previous place?  Inquiring minds want to know?

Cargill salt ponds, Bonaire

Let's not forget that what we see here in NEO isn't what most people see - these flamingos have their heads under water pecking for brine shrimp - to keep their feathers pink.

There is a world much sunnier, much bigger than Cleveland out there!

This positive, upbeat viewpoint is dedicated to Frank Giglio who lost his house today.

Perhaps it’s heresy here in NE Ohio, but I'm wondering how the auto industry bail out will succeed. Ultimately, the car companies need to sell more cars, but no one is forecasting American consumers are going to be in a better position to buy a year or more from now. If so, why aren't the big three going to be just as vulnerable next year as they are now, with the US squandering what few resources we have in the interim?

In a discussion on Friday’s Dick Feagler TV show, Plain Dealer editor Susan Goldberg mentioned the possibility that newspapers might drop Monday and Tuesday editions, starting the week with Wednesday when they have ads, usually from the supermarkets.

I’ve thought of that too.