Quiet Rebellion or Quietly Humming Along?

City Watch


Item One: Contract to Demolish Old Church Building (OCB)
Status: Signed.

City Engineer Steve Hovancsek reported that the demolition contract was finally signed (by Mayor Coleman) , clearing the way (so to speak) for Ace Demolition to begin its work on Monday November 1st.


Fire Chief Bill Turner told me on Tuesday night that his department would continue to use the OCB for training until the demolition work began. In the past, the fire department apparently constructed prototype roofs to practice on, but Turner said nothing beat practicing on a real roof that was more than a story above the ground.

Item Two: Ethics/Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form
Status: Council’s Legislative & Finance Committee (L&F) is still waiting to receive a draft disclosure form from Finance Director Anthony Ianiro.

What’s the holdup? Who knows. During the review of the auditor’s management letter last July 13th, Ianiro indicated that it would not be difficult to come up with an ethics/disclosure form for city officials (elected and appointed) to use. The recommendation to require officials to publicly disclose their business ties was made after the city’s business dealings with Park & Recreation (P&R) official Tony Valentino’s HVAC company came to light last spring.


Tick, tick, tick. The next round of mayoral appointments will take place in January.

Item Three: Draft Legislation Covering the Use/Marking of City-Owned Vehicles
Status: L&F is still waiting to receive a copy of proposed legislation setting out the proper use and required marking of city-owned vehicles.

It is not clear who is doing the foot-dragging on this one: Mayor Coleman, Finance Director Tony Ianiro, or Law Director Tim Paluf.


The auditor recommended that the city enact legislation setting out the legal parameters for the marking and use of city-owned vehicles. While the mayor has apparently drafted a written “policy” addressing these issues, an ordinance is still necessary. Why? Policies are changeable at whim, and they aren’t published , so no one really knows whether they exist or what they say. More fundamentally, policies should flow out of, and follow, the law.


Therefore, it’s critical to have an ordinance in place that sets out the legal rules for the marking and using these vehicles. That way everyone--residents and city employees alike--will know what the rules are.

Item Four: Draft Legislation Reconfiguring the City’s Economic Development Committee
Status: Still Waiting to Receive Draft Legislation from Law Director Tim Paluf

Council President Scott Mills has been pushing to reinvigorate the city’s Economic Development Committee by once again adding citizen representatives to the mix.


In the past, citizens always served on the Committee. Mayor Scott Coleman changed that. He eliminated all citizen participation and put his appointees---the finance director, the police chief, and the fire chief---in their place. Unfortunately the Committee, as currently configured, has had no visible impact.


With the support of council, Mills has proposed adding several citizens, appointed by council, to the Committee, in an attempt to get economic development kick-started in the city.


Although Paluf was present in the building and had been asked to attend the L&F meeting to discuss the legislation needed to implement Mills’ plan, Paluf was a L&F no-show.


Did Tim Paluf’s absence reflect Mayor Coleman's displeasure with Mills’ proposal? I don't know for sure, but one thing I do know: the mayor likes control things going on at City Hall, and it certainly is much easier for him to control the Economic Development Committee in its current form, populated as it is with his own appointees....

Financial Matters

L&F attempted to address the surprise park lighting repair bill (the lighting contractor presented a bill almost 3 times as large as the pre-approved amount, after Service Director Thom Evans verbally ok’d performance of “additional” work. Apparently Evans never imposed a maximum dollar limit on the additional work, nor did he require Monaco Lighting to provide a list (with cost) of the additional work it wanted to do).


Although L&F chair Councilman Leo Lombardo attempted to discuss what steps would be taken to avoid such financial surprises in the future, he had little success. Finance Director Tony Ianiro had no direct involvement with the repair contract, and Evans (who was present in the building) failed to attend the meeting. Therefore, at this point, there is no guarantee that such “loosey goosey” financial transactions won’t keep occurring.
Since Evans gave his ok and the work was performed, L&F had no option but to approve paying the invoice.

L&F also reviewed the budget. As revealed by Councilwoman Cathy Murphy at the last council meeting, it looks like P&R was able to rein in its spending while maintaining its programming. The final figures still are not in, but it looks like P&R will end up in the black this year. That shouldn’t have been that difficult, really. After all, P&R receives 1 mil in property taxes each year for its own exclusive use. The budget projected that P&R would have at least $ 630,000 in revenue to spend this year.


The city’s general fund also looks to be in good shape. Although spending is higher than projected, the city has collected more in property and income tax than it expected to receive this year. Finance Director Tony Ianiro declared, “We’re looking real good at this point. Operatively, we’re all towing the line.”

Internet Cafes

You may not have noticed, but the region is getting peppered with businesses called “Internet Cafes” (One opened in Hilltop Plaza, Richmond Heights, in August). Basically these cafes operate either 24 hours a day or into the early morning hours. They have darkened windows and a bank of computers---resembling a Las Vegas casino, only with computers instead of slot machines (and no booze). They sell “phone cards” that are part of a pre-determined “sweepstakes.”  Apparently the phone cards are used to access online websites. Bottom line, people end up spending/losing alot of money trying to win sweepstake prizes using computers at these cafes.


The state has yet to weigh in on the legality of these operations.


Law Director Tim Paluf told council on Tuesday that he gets a call a day from individuals hoping to open Internet Cafes in Highland Heights. The property owner of the Miner-Highland Road business area (where Mulligan’s is located) also has been approached about putting an Internet Cafe there. He told council that he has turned all those proposals down.


At Paluf’s recommendation, council enacted a 9 month moratorium on the “acceptance and processing of applications for zoning, occupancy and/or building permit approvals for sweepstakes/internet cafes”. Hopefully, the state Attorney General will rule on the legality of these businesses once the election is over. In the meantime, the 9 month moratorium will give council time to adopt appropriate licensing fees and zoning/occupancy/building regulations, should these businesses be declared legal.


We may not want this kind of business in our city, but if they are declared legal, we will have no choice but to deal with them. Council needs to make sure they are properly regulated---and that the city derives an appropriate amount of income from them.


OCB “Treasure”

Mayor Coleman announced that the city had found “treasure” at the OCB.


Apparently the city was alerted to the existence of a time capsule that had been installed behind the corner stone that displayed the date that the OCB was constructed (1961).


According to the mayor, a trove of “moldy” papers was in the time capsule---mostly “church papers,” along with copies of Highland Heights and Richmond Heights city newsletters . The mayor told council that he took the capsule home with him, but he promised to bring it back to city hall later in the week.


If the city didn’t build the OCB or install the time capsule, and the capsule contains mostly “church papers,” shouldn’t it be given to the church organization whose affiliates built the OCB in the first place? It still exists and would be easy to find.


Does “ finders keepers, losers weepers” really apply (as the mayor seems to assume)? Should it?


Jefferson Drive Relining Project

According to Service Director Thom Evans, the county was legally required to reject all bids after they came in twice as high ($1.5 million) as the county engineer projected. At this point, the Jefferson Drive relining project is a no-go.


New Sign Ordinance

Okay, all of you folks who had new roofs and/or siding installed as a result of the May 7th hail storm, this pertains to you. LISTEN UP.


Under the city’s amended sign ordinance, contractors are allowed to post signs advertising their businesses only while they are actually working at the property where the sign is posted.


When they leave, the sign comes down.


Got it?


So if you are reading this while sitting under a new roof, your lawn should be full of leaves, but nothing else.


Pull up those roofing signs and put them in the garbage.  Now.