Planning & Zoning Issues and Election Shenanigans fill the void while Council finishes up its August recess.
Change of Leadership: Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z)
Although Council recessed for the entire month of August, P&Z did not.
One item listed on their August 22nd agenda particularly piqued my interest: “Election of P&Z Chair”.
One item listed on their August 22nd agenda particularly piqued my interest: “Election of P&Z Chair”.
Since P&Z usually elects a Chair in January, that agenda item was anything but business as usual.
Councilman Bob Mastrangelo has occupied the P&Z Chair for 15 years. He continued in that role after he was elected to Council (and appointed as Council’s rep to P&Z) two years ago.
At the August 22nd meeting Mastrangelo disclosed that he had decided to give up his role as P&Z Chair. He explained that his decision,
At the August 22nd meeting Mastrangelo disclosed that he had decided to give up his role as P&Z Chair. He explained that his decision,
”has nothing to do with this board, it has to do with the perception of people on council with me espousing certain positions. “
One of the “positions” that recently brought Mastrangelo into conflict with his fellow Council members was P&Z’s support of developer Lance Osborne’s request to change the city’s zoning code, to allow Giant Eagle to put a mega “Get-Go” gas station, car wash and convenience store/café on the Catalano’s grocery store property.
To give him credit, Mastrangelo also pointed out that all of the Council appointments would be up for grabs once a new Council was seated in January; someone else might be appointed as Council’s rep to P&Z the next time around. With that possibility in mind Mastrangelo said, “I’d like to give someone else a chance to get experience” as P&Z Chair.
Vince Adamus, an economic development professional, was quickly (and unanimously) elected to replace Mastrangelo as P&Z Chair.
While the P&Z members were prepared for Mastrangelo’s announcement, they clearly weren’t happy about it. They blamed Council for Mastrangelo’s resignation. They seemed to believe that Council resented Mastrangelo’s “leadership” on zoning issues.
Adamus said, ”The issue is not here, it is city Council.”
Speaking for the record, P&Z member Bill Urban declared,
“The city won’t be as well served by not having you as chair. It is disappointing that, for whatever political reasons, you have to take a step back.”
Mastrangelo did his best to reassure his peers.
“I’ll still be on (P&Z)…It will be easier if someone else is doing the (chair) job. I’ll only be reporting to Council instead of leading P&Z. ..You’re still stuck with me.”
Although his P&Z peers may think otherwise, Mastrangelo’s decision was a good one.
Mastrangelo is wearing a new hat these days: that of Councilman. He sits on P&Z not in his own right but as Council’s rep. There seemed to be some confusion on that point.
Giving up the Chair will make it much easier for Mastrangelo, residents, P&Z members and, most importantly, developers to keep his different roles straight.
OTHER P&Z TIDBITS
Getting an inch and taking 6 feet
One resident asked for, and received, a variance last spring, which allowed him to put a 6’ fence in his backyard. The resident was explicitly told at that time that the 6’ fencing had to stop at his home’s rear line and that all of the fencing next to his home, from the rear line forward, could not exceed 3 feet---the maximum allowed under city zoning laws.
The resident was forced to return to P&Z on August 22nd, after the city found out that he had installed a 6’ fence around his entire home.
The resident told P&Z that when he ordered supplies, he ordered only 6’ fence lengths, figuring that he would cut the fence down to 3’ where necessary after the fence was installed. He explained that after he installed a 6’ fence around his entire house,
“We liked it and the neighbors liked it, so we decided to ask for variance to have the entire fence 6’.”
During the discussion it came to light that the resident had not submitted an entirely accurate drawing of his home when he applied for his original variance; the drawing didn’t show a three-season sunroom that extended out the back. That omission was significant because the sunroom extended the home’s rear line further into the resident’s backyard. Bottom line, the resident had already received more of a variance than he would’ve received, had he accurately shown the rear line of his home last spring.
The resident wants an additional 37 foot variance, so he can keep the non-conforming 6’ fence that he intentionally and knowingly installed around his home---after being warned away from doing just that.
The resident was told that pursuant to applicable zoning law he will have to show “hardship” to get the variance he seeks. And, as outgoing P&Z Chair Bob Mastrangelo explained,
“the hardship can’t be because the fence is already up. “
Lobbying of P&Z members by developer Lance Osborne
P&Z member Don McFadden, a real estate attorney, revealed that developer Lance Osborne sent him a personal email after the last P&Z meeting, pitching changes to the proposed convenience store/café that Giant Eagle wants to put on the Catalano’s property.
Osborne’s e-mail equates to something attorneys call “ex parte communication” with a decision-maker---something that is generally frowned upon in the legal world.
For McFadden (who stated that he did not respond to the communication), the Osborne e-mail raised
“the issue of whether it is appropriate for member of (P&Z) to receive emails outside of commission meetings. …I don’t know if you were concerned about this,” said McFadden,” I thought it was odd. I just wondered whether it was appropriate and what we should do.”
Newly-elected P&Z chair, Vince Adamus replied:
“I’m not sure it’s an issue unless someone’s committing to something. As long as its informal discussion, I don’t know.”
I was disquieted by Adamus’s reaction.
I hate to think that, as P&Z Chair, he will encourage and/or condone backroom lobbying by developers and others seeking zoning approval from the city.
Off-the-record discussion (that should be on the record).
I was astounded when P&Z members formally adjourned their August 22nd meeting and then launched into discussion of agenda items.
P&Z meetings are supposed to be public, on-the-record meetings--- all of the discussion about public business and agenda items is supposed to take place during the meeting---and be reflected in the meeting minutes.
Apparently that wasn’t the first time that P&Z members held an off-the-record meeting after adjourning their official meeting. Doing that violates both the intent and spirit of the public meeting laws.
P&Z has a lot of new members who have never served on a public commission before. It might be helpful, and certainly not inappropriate, for Law Director Tim Paluf to meet with them and bring them up to speed on applicable ethics and public meeting laws.
ELECTION SHENANIGANS
City employees sometimes feel the heat when their boss is facing a contested reelection battle. Perhaps that explains the recent behavior of the Highland Heights pool manager Sarah Tufts.
According to a recent email sent by Council President Scott Mills to Mayor Scott Coleman (and copied to Council), during a late July staff meeting Tufts told pool employees:
“’that they would lose their jobs if Scott Mills was elected mayor’ and that they should ‘tell their parents to vote for Mayor Coleman.’
While… being paid by the city, (Tufts) voiced support for your re-election in an obvious attempt to influence the outcome of the upcoming mayoral election…I personally investigated (the) matter and spoke to several… pool employees, who… confirmed the truth surrounding (the) inappropriate meeting. I also spoke with Sarah and she admitted that she discussed the election and suggested what would happen if I was elected, although she denied expressly telling the pool employees that they would lose their jobs…I then contacted Recreational Director David Ianiro…Ironically, instead of appropriately addressing this matter, Mr. Ianiro also (stated that) he understood he would lose his job if I was elected mayor.”
While it is easy to chalk the incident up to politics, Mills was right to take issue with Tuft’s alleged conduct.
State law frowns on public employees politicking on the job. Ohio Revised Code § 9.03(C)(2) bars
State law frowns on public employees politicking on the job. Ohio Revised Code § 9.03(C)(2) bars
” (a) governing body of a political subdivision” from using public funds to compensate any employee …for time spent on any activity to influence the outcome of an election for the purpose of support(ing) …the election of a candidate for public office.”
Bottom line, city employees are supposed to spend their work hours focusing on doing their jobs---the jobs taxpayers are paying them to do. It is particularly inappropriate for supervisors to use scare tactics on their subordinates, in an attempt to round up votes for their public boss.
Isn’t that the type of behavior that led to the Cuyahoga County scandal?
OTHER POOL WOES
Highland Heights Pool Manager Sarah Tufts may have good cause to worry about retaining her job---for reasons that have nothing to do with politics.
At the July 26th Council meeting, resident and regular pool user Paulette Hughes expressed her concern about an ongoing issue at the pool: the state of cleanliness (or lack thereof) of the women’s bathroom. Hughes told Council,
“The ladies’ bathroom at the pool is way below standard… I got so upset with the lack of cleaning that I took a scrub brush and Tilex with me and scrubbed one shower and bench. There is so much scum in the cinderblock it’s yellow….where the floor and ceiling meet, there is a dark brown scum line. No one has taken any care of the bathroom... Whoever the cleaning people are…if they think they are cleaning, it’s not correct. “
While Hughes was assured by Mayor Scott Coleman at the Council meeting that her concerns would be investigated and addressed, apparently they were not. Hughes sent a followup email to the mayor and Council several weeks later, stating:
“Some of the rust has been removed from the two soap dispensers. Some of the scum has been removed from the base of the bench and the floor in the middle of the bathroom.
What remains undone: scuff marks on the walls, mold/missing paint in at least two of the showers, soap scum in crevices in cinder block in shower areas, brown scum remains at union between walls and floor. Two hooks still broken with internal sharp metal mounting brackets still exposed–one in a shower stall and one on the far wall in the bathroom, brownish smear still on wall above soap dispenser on right by sinks, yellowish stain on wall under soap dispenser to right of sink of left.
What remains undone: scuff marks on the walls, mold/missing paint in at least two of the showers, soap scum in crevices in cinder block in shower areas, brown scum remains at union between walls and floor. Two hooks still broken with internal sharp metal mounting brackets still exposed–one in a shower stall and one on the far wall in the bathroom, brownish smear still on wall above soap dispenser on right by sinks, yellowish stain on wall under soap dispenser to right of sink of left.
I am quite disappointed. …I really don’t understand the failure of those responsible for solving these issues when the burned out and missing fluorescent bulbs in one of the bathroom ceiling lights were replaced within a matter of hours.”
As pool manager, Tufts is responsible for the entire operation of the city’s million dollar pool facility----including making sure that the bathrooms are kept clean and in good repair. In that respect it appears her performance—to use Hughes’ words---has been “disappointing”.
Others might (less charitably) call it something else.
