Cause for Concern?

Councilwoman Cathy Murphy on the Case

Cathy Murphy reported at last week's council meeting that an empty and foreclosed home in her neighborhood had been targeted by individuals, who entered the home and over a period of time began stripping it of sinks, toilets, carpeting, and other saleable items. The group was aslo so bold as to remove the wood from the home's outdoor deck and fence.

Although the rest of council seemed initially uninterested, Mrs. Murphy pressed to discuss the issue further at last night's committee of the whole meeting. Her concern, she said, was in preserving not only the foreclosed properties, but the values of surrounding properties, as the foreclosure process went forward.


I was quite impressed with the amount of homework Cathy Murphy did to prepare for the meeting. She talked to officials in both South Euclid and Lyndhurst, which already have procedures in place to ensure that foreclosed homes are properly secured, monitored, and maintained. She also brought copies of ordinances and forms used by those cities.

After hearing her presentation, the remaining council members agreed with the approach she suggested, and the Law Director, Tim Paluf, was directed to begin working on appropriate legislation.


Kudos to Cathy Murphy for her proactive initiative.

More carts put before horses...

It is getting a bit discouraging watching how things get done in the city. The latest example is street striping (repainting the lines on streets) and street paving.

The 2009 budget included money for both paving and striping. Commonsense and logic would dictate that you'd repave streets first, and then have them striped.

But this is Highland Heights.

City council awarded the striping contract last month. Striping is well underway. Meanwhile, the bids for the repaving work are due to be open at the end of this week. Guess what will have to be done after the streets are repaved? You're right! They'll have to be restriped...

Whiteford Park

The renovation work for Whiteford Park (in the Highland Woods neighborhood) was to include new street lighting.

Highland Woods residents worked very hard to get the old and deteriorating playground equipment replaced, which was no easy feat given that Mayor Coleman and some city officials initially refused to acknowledge that Whiteford Park was a city park. At the same time, the residents also expressed concern about the after-hours congregation of teenagers in the park. Therefore, it was decided that additional street lighting should be added as part of the park renovation.

While the equipment has gone in, along with a sign that Councilman Ted Anderson proclaimed was the "most attractive in the city," no additional lighting has been added.

I was stunned to hear Mr. Anderson announce last night that City Service Director, Tom Evans, had looked into the lighting issue and decided that it could not be done, because it required adding a new electrical line from Miner Road.

Mr. Evans never reported to council that there was any issue with getting more lighting for the park. Like the residents of Highland Woods, council--except, apparently, for Mr. Anderson-- was once again kept in the dark.

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