I left the Sept. 13th Council meeting disappointed
and disgusted.
City leaders decided to play Santa Claus, instead of
prioritizing needs and making hard decisions about spending public money.
Council’s Cop-Out
As regular readers of this blog know, while Mayor Scott Coleman’s
2011 budget gave short-shrift to road repairs and ignored other significant
city infastructure issues---like flooding problems and the failing Highland
Road water main---he made sure to include a $175,000 appropriation to build a
new Party Barn Pavilion (PBP) in the park.
By all appearances that appropriation fulfills a campaign pledge that Coleman made when first ran for mayor in 2003---a fact seemingly confirmed by City Recreation Director David Ianiro, who told Council at a Sept. 6th Committee of the Whole meeting, “We’ve been trying to get the building for 8 years”.
Significantly, the $ 175,000 appropriation was in addition to
$629,850 in regular revenue designated for park and recreation use this year.
Dave Ianiro, who woefully underestimated the cost of an earlier version of
the PBP, confidently told Council that the latest PBP building would cost just $45,000
to erect---a real bargain.
Meanwhile, Council questioned whether the PBP was really a top priority park
need. It focused its attention on something studiously ignored by Mayor
Coleman, Recreation Director Dave Ianiro and the
city’s Park & Recreation Commission (P&R)--- something
that directly impacts almost every park visitor---the rutted and badly
deteriorated park roads.
Council decided to solicit bids for both the PBP and for repaving a portion
of the park roads, to get an idea of how much each project would cost. In
a prior meeting, residents were lead to believe that after looking at the bids,
Council would decide which project or projects to pursue---while keeping within
the mayor’s $175,000 appropriation.
The bids were opened at the end of August.
The repaving bid came in at $261,225. That cost includes
(as recommended by the city engineer) repaving the heavily used park entrance
road with full depth asphalt and using a cheaper, less durable “chip seal”
process on the Woodside access road.
There was only one bid submitted for the PBP. That bid was 128.50% more than the city engineer’s cost estimate. The cost for the PBP
building alone was $ 68,700 ---152.67% more than
the $45,000 figure that Rec Director Dave Ianiro so
confidently quoted to Council. With required “observation” fees factored in,
the PBP project’s total cost ended up at $117,405.20—a figure
that doesn’t include architect’s fees or renovating the Old Pool House
bathrooms---work that Ianiro claims must also be done.
Council acted on the bids at its Sept. 13th meeting.
That’s where my disgust and disappointment come in.
Councilman Bob Mastrangelo was the only council member to
balk at the PBP bid. He pointed out that Council,
“rejected the first greenspace gazebo bid for less of an overage. No one’s discussed that”.
Mastrangelo was referring to the fact that Council decided to re-advertise
the greenspace gazebo project after the only bid submitted exceeded the city engineer’s
cost estimate---by a much lower amount than the PBP bid. That decision resulted
in a significantly lower gazebo bid the second time around, one within the cost
estimates.
Did Mastrangelo’s comments spur Council to re-advertise the PBP project due
to the one, wildly overinflated bid it received? No, they did not.
Even worse, instead of considering and prioritizing all of the city’s
infastracture needs before making a decision, Council simply took the easy way
out----it approved both park projects, at a total cost of $384,000+---more
than twice the mayor’s $175,000 appropriation.
Legislative & Finance Committee Chairman, Councilman Leo
Lombardo, justified the decision by pointing out that the PBP bid came
in under $175,000. He argued that the city could afford to pony up the
additional cost to do both projects ($209,000) because the
city was raking in income taxes at levels above projected amounts.
Basically the messages sent by Mayor Coleman and Council were these:
1. The city’s got plenty of money, so it’s okay to spend it.
2. It’s okay to spend capital improvement money without considering, discussing or deciding which of the city’s infrastructure needs are most important.
3. It’s okay to let someone else (down the line) worry about more problematic things, like the city’s crumbling city streets, flooded basements, and the failing Highland Road water main.
4. It’s definitely okay to be Santa Claus in an election year.
Merry Christmas, Dave Ianiro!
Not surprisingly, Councilman Bob Mastrangelo voted against
accepting the bid for the PBP project. He said that he could,
“not support (the PBP) because there are other capital projects in the city that need more attention.For example, the new ambulance. We talked of leasing it (using a five year, lease-to-own arrangement) because we didn’t have the finances to pay for it. We should just pay for it.We’ve been talking about the park entrance.We shouldn’t approve any money until P&R gives us a 5 year plan and not just a wish list. I’ve been asking for that for three years.”
Councilman Bob Mastrangelo was willing to prioritize and make hard choices.
It’s very disappointing that Mayor
Coleman and the rest of Council weren’t willing to do that too.
Get-Go Update
Developer Lance Osborne appeared at the September 13th
Council meeting and asked Council to file his initiative petition with the
Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.…Well sort of.
What Osborne actually did was draft an Ordinance for Council to pass. The
Ordinance text was a boiled down version of his proposed zoning law
changes---once again packaged together and presented as an all or nothing
issue.
Osborne also asked Council to put his proposed zoning laws on the May 201
primary ballot---even though the Highland Heights Charter requires initiative
issues to be voted on during general or regular municipal elections, elections
that are likely to attract the maximum number of voters from all political
parties.
Law Director Tim Paluf told Council that Osborne’s request
complied with Charter requirements, but he has remained mum about what happens
next.
Although the Charter seems to indicate that Council must file Osborne’s petition with the Board of Elections, Paluf could possibly rule the petition legally insufficient, thereby rendering it ineligible for filing downtown. At a minimum, the city can file a protest, challenging the petition due to its obvious substantive and procedural deficiencies.
Although the Charter seems to indicate that Council must file Osborne’s petition with the Board of Elections, Paluf could possibly rule the petition legally insufficient, thereby rendering it ineligible for filing downtown. At a minimum, the city can file a protest, challenging the petition due to its obvious substantive and procedural deficiencies.
Meanwhile, Osborne was the sole presenter at the September 15th Highland
Heights Economic Development Committee (EDC) meeting, armed with
drawings and a site plan for the Catalano’s lot.
Osborne told the EDC that his deal to buy the Catalano’s property is
contingent on his getting the necessary zoning law changes and permits to
operate the proposed mega “Get-Go” at the site.
He stands to make a ton of money from the deal, as it involves a lease-back arrangement with Giant Eagle for the “Get-Go” portion of the property.
He stands to make a ton of money from the deal, as it involves a lease-back arrangement with Giant Eagle for the “Get-Go” portion of the property.
Although Council has taken a “hands off” approach to Osborne’s project, Finance
Director Anthony Ianiro---who heads the EDC---clearly wasn’t following
their lead. He seems to be setting the stage to pit the EDC against
Council---something which Osborne’s supporters would undoubtedly relish. Since
the finance director is one of Mayor Scott Coleman’s right
hand men, Tony Ianiro's actions may very well signal where Coleman stands on the
proposed mega “Get-Go”.
The finance director told the EDC members (who normally meet just 4 times a
year) that they could expect a follow-up meeting “in a couple of weeks”
to decide “what we want to do” and to “make a recommendation (to support the
project) or not.”
Since the EDC is focused solely on development---and not on other
things, such as supporting the city’s zoning laws or protecting residential
neighborhoods---there is little doubt what will happen when the EDC votes on
the Osborne/Giant Eagle mega “Get-Go” plan.
Osborne told the EDC that he thought the project would generate about 100
jobs---part-time and some fulltime jobs. While at first blush that might seem
to be a big deal, in reality it probably won’t mean a whole lot of new income
for the city. A bunch of minimum wage, part-time jobs simply don’t
translate into a significant amount of new tax money for the city.
To put it in perspective, consider this.
Tony Ianiro told the EDC that Catalano’s--- which employed
more than 100 people,
“wasn’t a huge picture (tax wise). They paid maybe $25,000 to $35,000 in payroll tax”.”
That’s $25,000 to $35,000 out of a $16 million budget.
Based on the city’s experience with Catalano’s, it’s more than likely that
the 100 jobs touted by Osborne would similarly be “(not) huge picture” as far
as additional payroll tax collections are concerned.
Meanwhile the Catalano’s property continues to generate revenue for the
city---in the form of property taxes that Giant Eagle pays each year, based on
the property’s $1.3 million appraised value.
As the finance director remarked,
“Property taxes are property taxes. The city always gets property tax whether there’s a business there or not.”
Quick Hits
Candidate No-shows
The Sun Messenger is holding interview sessions with Highland Heights candidates this week. Attending the sessions is important for any candidate who hopes to win a Sun Messenger endorsement.
Ted Anderson--who vehemently pledged to run again after he
was soundly defeated by Councilwoman Lisa Stickan for the Ward
One council seat two years ago---was a no-show.
It’s unclear whether Anderson lacked interest or was simply too busy to
attend the endorsement interview.
Shred That Paper!
The next city paper shredding day is coming up soon.
The service is free, and there will be helpers on hand to assist in
unloading whatever you bring.
Bring your old files and other paper to the Service Center Garage (behind
the police station/fire house) on Saturday October 1, from 9 am to 1 pm.
Absentee/Vote-by-Mail Ballots
The Ohio Secretary of State, Jon Husted, has barred the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections (BOE) from sending out postcards inviting voters to vote by mail---something the BOE has done for the past several years.
That means if you want an absentee/vote-by-mail ballot for the November 2011
election, you have to spend your own time and money to get one.
Or you can ask Council President Scott Mills to deliver an
application to you.
Apparently Mills picked up a bunch of absentee/vote-by-mail applications the
last time he was downtown.
He tells me he’s willing to share.
All you have to do is call him (440 477-5883) or e-mail him (smills@highlandhts.com)
and he’ll bring one right to your door.
Whatever method you choose, you’ll have to fill out the application and
either mail it back or drop it by the BOE office downtown for processing.
Only then will the BOE be allowed to send you an absentee/vote-by-mail ballot.
Any more hoops you want to make us jump through, Mr. Husted?
