"I am continuing to reach out to people... "

Yes you are, Brian... in a sea of Luddites. Very impressive work.

And good work to Anthony Brancatelli and the other Council members who have questioned this Emergency Legislation...

I'm very interested in all efforts to open up and make equitable and intelliegent all regional government contracting - Sunpu Opto is not nearly our only problem in this respect - I'd like to take a look at what Cleveland is contracting for water meter automation... wifi... 2way radio... and anything else related to information technology... and HOW they are contracting all that.

Data driven government.

Disrupt IT

thank you for being "bold" and continuing to get the word out.  It is good to see you fighting for the  city and educating all on what a huge mistake the mayor and his administration is attempting to create.

The only 'emergency' that I see in this legislation is the emergency to stop it dead in its tracks.

What about UL testing?

A 10 year no-bid contract?  One would think that all those brillant minds would leave a little leeway for more reputable companies. 

Where is the plain common sense behind voting to approve this legislation?  Is this a just another "go along to get along" deal?

How did this issue become such an emergency?

These type of decisions is proof positive of how our city got into the shape it's in.

"UL has developed more than a thousand Standards for Safety, many of which are American National (ANSI) Standards, and evaluates nearly 20,000 types of products. A typical standard for electronic products includes not only requirements for electrical safety, but also spread of fire and mechanical hazards. UL evaluates products for compliance with specific safety requirements. UL certification does not guarantee the product will perform acceptably or that it is safe under all conditions (such as product misuse). UL develops its Standards to correlate with the requirements of model installation codes, such as the National Electrical Code.

The UL Mark does not carry any legal weight beyond that of any other trademark. In this sense, it is different from the CE Marking or the FCC Part 15 requirements for electronic devices, which are required by law. In practice, however, it may be more difficult to sell certain types of products without a UL Mark. It is common practice in many fields to specify Listed equipment or Recognized materials. Local jurisdictional authorities, such as building, electrical and fire inspectors, are charged with ensuring that construction in their jurisdictions complies with adopted building codes, which often require listed components. Recognition of a particular testing laboratory is left to the discretion of the authority having jurisdiction. The UL is listed as a "nationally-recognized testing laboratory", by OSHA, along with several other laboratories that are recognized"

The Political Gangster

                                                You know when they stop giving prizes in the cerial box trade marks and nothing else mean anything in Cleveland. Things are just being done like we don't even have city council they just do what they do and take what they take because they already know what kind of move the people are going to make. That same old wipe the back of the hand under the eyes.FIGHT!!!!! THAT'S WHY WE HAVE A VOICE.

 Here is an exchange from another blog (cleveland.com – see link below)…

http://www.cleveland.com/darcy/index.ssf/2010/05/clevelandchina_lighting_deal_e.html

Q. “Am I wrong Brian? What is missing, what is not being told to us. Why would Cleveland not move forward with a local company, the largest in the world? Rather seek lighting from a company a half a world away? These are the questions we are all waiting for? Who dropped the ball Brian?”

R. The stated reason for the no-bid exclusive contract has been that Sunpu Opto is the only company that can provide what the City of Cleveland wants — all four LED products (traffic lights, street lights, tubes (florescent replacements), and bulbs); and, it will locate its assembly and then manufacturing plant here as well as sales and R&D staff – beginning with 50 jobs in the first year and purportedly as many as 350 jobs by the 60th-month, or 5th year.

GE would not match the type of promises Sunpu Opto has made and says it would not do so because the technology/performance of LED bulbs and tubes are not there yet in terms of efficiency and performance.

To put it in perspective, The Dept. of Energy (DOE) just issued their first round of Energy Star rating criteria this past December 2009. In September 2009 the DOE launched what they call the L-Prize – a $10 million prize to the company that can manufacturer a bulb that can meet specific technical and performance requirements – Phillips is the only company to have submitted a bulb for testing for the prize so far.

Every expert in the industry that I’ve spoken to says the same thing — LED bulbs will be coming into the market later this year or earlier next year and tube replacements are likely to be as much as 2-years out due to technical hurdles not overcome.

See for yourself what the DOE’s Manager of the Solid State Lighting Program had to say about tubes and bulbs last week –

http://www.lightnowblog.com/2010/05/jim-brodrick-on-led-linear-replacement-lamps/

For info regarding what other municipalities are doing see the DOE’s Solid State Street Light Consortium info at:

www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/consortium.html

For a political update on some activities in council see –

http://www.brewedfreshdaily.com/2010/may-20th-memo-from-a-brancatelli-to-council-pres-m-sweeney-re-sunpu-opto

Regards,

Brian

THE GREAT LIGHT DEBATE
 

“Why weren't we informed; we could have helped you?” asked Hong Kong-born immigration attorney Margaret Wong. “What were you guys thinking?”

Ms. Wong made the statement last Thursday evening, May 20, in the Red Room, a conference room attached to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's office at Cleveland City Hall. She was there with a group of local small business owners, clergy and other civic leaders invited by the mayor to a meeting to enlist their support in his effort to bring Chinese lighting manufacturer Sunpu-Opto Semiconductor Co. to the city.

Ms. Wong was asking chief of staff Ken Silliman why the mayor, who was not present, hadn't sought the assistance of people such as her and the others in the room sooner in his attempt to make Cleveland the U.S. beachhead of Sunpu-Opto, a maker of energy-efficient LED lighting.

Mr. Silliman didn't have a ready answer.

 The mayor believes he has found an innovative way to spur job growth in Cleveland — his top priority — with his plan for the city to enter a 10-year deal to buy its lighting from Sunpu-Opto in exchange for the company building an LED lighting plant and establishing its U.S. headquarters here.

However, he may not have found the best way to test and execute this prototype of his jobs strategy.

At one time, several observers to this City Hall flare-up noted, a Cleveland mayor would have avoided this controversy by reaching out to business leaders committed to a “public-private partnership.” That's the way predecessors such as George Voinovich and Michael White, at least in his early years, did it.

A Cleveland mayor would have called on a few key CEOs or a management consulting firm to roll up their shirt sleeves and help him develop a strong new policy, then assist him in the complicated business negotiations that would produce a bulletproof deal.

A week ago, the Jackson administration believed it had a slam-dunk winner — the new LED lighting plant would create 350 jobs — and it would be the first of what Mayor Jackson hopes would be a series of similar deals where the city uses its purchasing power to attract new businesses and new jobs to the city.

At a time when communities bargain with hard dollars such as grants, loans and tax abatements to woo companies to town, the mayor believes a procurement agreement is a low-cost way to invest in economic development.

And it still may be a workable idea.

But an unexpected firestorm of opposition to the deal erupted. GE Lighting, the world's largest light bulb seller, which employs 700 people at its headquarters in East Cleveland, was the leader of the opponents. Its pride and maybe its pocketbook were wounded because its lighting products wouldn't be glowing from the traffic lights and street lamps of its home town. Before the week was over, two other companies joined in to say they could provide the city a better deal.

Legislation that would allow the city of Cleveland to sign an agreement with Sunpu-Opto will be before Cleveland City Council tonight, May 24. The legislation had a good chance of passage late last week, though a lawsuit to block the deal could follow any passed legislation.

link

The Political Gangster

                                                   WELL PUT!

  Has been updated--

The net is getting wider.  But IT contracts are nothing.  Look at Cuyahoga County services and consider the demolition contracts that are going out. 

Just a hint.