Johnny's is an upscale bar/restaurant in Ward 14 and I'm glad they are here.  Before redistricting, we had Bruno's on West 41st.  Both are/were an asset to Ward 14 and I wouldn't mind another such place in lieu of  Crystal's on Fulton. 

Kate, no one said that upscale is a dirty word. Please read the post that you responded to that uses the qualifier : trendy upscale bars that destroy any semblance of normal life. 

While you are speaking on behalf of Ward 14, this is also a prime example of why residents in both Ward 13 and Ward 14 should not support the proposed changes to the by-law and Articles of Incorposation. 

These proposed changes if passed will alter the committee structures to the extent that the TWDC Board will appoint the member of the most important committees - and the committees are in charge of making the decisions of endorsing and supporting businesses that come into our neighborhood.  If we the residents have no say and cannot be members with voting privileges of these important committees there will be many  more money grubbing hands representing their own agendas not to mention our communities will be over-run with unwanted businesses and development.  

Right now the way I see it, the part of Ward 14 that is serviced by Tremont West has only one hope of receiving their fair shake of  allocated funds and that is if Rick Nagin gets elected as their Councilman.  

Rick you need to get your constituents together and take them on a hay ride on November 11, 2009, as far away from anything to do with Tremont West as possible.

Issue 6 is much the same type of appointed leadership, but for all of Cuyahoga County.  This is why I am opposed to issue 6. 

And, I agree Jerleen, Ward 14 needs Rick Nagin to be elected to council if there is to be any hope for the residents of Ward 14. 

It’s not really development is it, restaurants and bars are not really developments.

How much taxes are being collected, social services are funded through the county primarily, through in part sales taxes and then mostly through federal taxes. That’s coming back by way of Washington through Columbus through the county. Its not your money is somebody else’s your coming up short again.

How much is being collected in taxes from these establishments? Not much I bet.

The CDC’s charter is to raise the value of the taxable base that funds the programs It indirect, that how they see it working.

Buying the best home on the worst street is going to loose value, having the worst home on the best street appreciates in value. The higher value increases the base at all levels, it requires higher incomes (higher income taxes) it raises property values (higher taxes). Income taxes pay for the public services and property taxes as well.

The grants are not intended to be direct payment for those services, that’s flat it goes no place. The Grants are intended to raise values. They are not pursuing anything more than higher values and higher relative taxes.

Then you get into how the city and county uses the funds, if and when they get more they spend more and you can’t see that, it gets eaten up in higher payments for labor and material, ineffiecent and wasteful. 

How much public funds went into this location then home much tax revenue is coming out? Before and after if it is a net gain then all the social services get a net gain. But what if it isn’t generating taxes?

You have the building and related property taxes, then the income taxes for all that employed there.

The point is that if any public funds are dispersed then accountability should be one hundred percent. Even the fact that nearly everything is taxable then any earned income needs to be disclosed. How do we know that others are paying taxes as we are?

That’s what I am attempting to explain, that being what is needed is parcel metrics and if government funds get applied then the results have to be demonstrated.

It's very obvious that if a something is built on vacant land even if property tax is abated it will generate income to the municipality it produces income taxes.

What they do is polarizing they should be defining the existing mean and working on that, they are cheating the system. I would not be sure any of it produces any net gains….but it may be. It could be how they decide which CDC gets additional funding. Actually it should be…but they may be running on instinct and intuitive feelings?

I personally think that Tremont got a layer of plastic and cheap laid on it. It a contrived value to me…fake.

Cleveland is F’d up it has too much poverty, its everywhere and spreading, its not placating it and patronizing it that will change that. But it concerns me the effort and the potential for inflation I have seen it and the ridiculous false values. Fake and nasty renovations over rotten and degrading….I have seen the vinyl siding pop off under the warped structures.

Then this whole ideal of the inalienable rights to live in squallier as if that’s an acceptable lifestyle choice? Then people aligning on that in defiance, advocating choices off the edge or better onto a tattered fringe.

  HUD monies and the camouflaged use of HUD funds to condemn structures and clear land for developers like NRP, especially along commercial corridors, are the new game in town--Jerleen.  NPI, Cleveland Foundation, Plain Dealer and lots of our paid political representatives on in on this game, but it's considered above the reproach directed towards the Dimora/Russo patronage/powerbrokering game and the Mason/O'Malley legal system game.  It's a complex real estate game that involves flipping, foreclosures, straw buyers, property tax revision and, especially, demolitions.

It would/and will  be interesting to see who paid for Fairfield demos that cleared land for parking and the great unknown development planned around Grace Hospital/Greek Orthodox Church and Frank Giglio's properties and ODOTs needs for this land for the new Innerbelt bridge....

And who will pay for demolitions in Tremont and their greater service area including streets surrounding Metrohealth and especially--along State Rt. 42/Pearl Rd./West 25th...the old Wooster Turnpike to Columbus???? 

The FBI investigation into CMHA and Cleveland Building and Housing department needs to be put into high gear.  Maybe, then, some of you will understand what I have been alluding to here.

Fact of the matter is the bars/restaurants/nightclubs that have overtaken the Tremont community actually gives little back to the neighborhood.  Any taxes that are paid goes into a general fund, the new high prices condos that have been built are tax abated for 10-15 years - the business owners employ a few residential people at minimum wage with no benefits,  so when you add it all up - the scales do not balance - the people in the community (especially the old time residents, the people of lesser advantage, the minorities, actually are disenfranchised to a great extent as a result of this so called development).  The do not profit, benefit or reap any of the proceeds that come from the "development" currently going on or that is proposed. 

The only people who benefit are those with money who have the affordability to wait out until the payoffs come in from their investments - poor people cannot do that and they are taken advantage of. 

The mere mention of a dollar store causes these high and mighty people to cringe.

I've only heard it mentioned once by Sammy Catania - but it makes a lot of things make sense on West 14th Street.  Sammy was also heard making the statement in front of several residents that this entire community was going to be rezoned "commercial" so they might as well accept it. 

I felt like a cosmic joke was being played tonight. I decided to go to the OSS meeting at the Library on Jefferson. All the spaces were taken in the library parking lot, and every space was taken on the street, both sides. I don't believe that all these people were in the library. As I drove through Tremont's narrow streets, I was reminded again of just how jammed in everything is now. Years ago, Tremont was just a neighborhood of people living there, and there was space to breath. Now it is people jammed on top of one another. What is the middle ground here and how does it get reached?